In the African country of Zimbabwe, farmers often live close to elephant herds in the Hwange National Park. The elephants can damage crops and sometimes cause injuries to people. According to Catherine Semcer of the Property and Environment Research Center, in 2014: the U.S. government used its authority under the Endangered Species Act to impose a temporary ban on imports of elephant hunting trophies from Zimbabwe. . . . African conservationists greeted the news with concern. They feared the U.S. policy would threaten the very elephants it intended to conserve, as key economic incentives for conservation disappeared. Semcer notes that “rural communities receive half of revenues from trophy-hunting operations, as well as access to meat from animals killed by foreign hunters.”
a. Are elephants in Zimbabwe a public good? Briefly explain.
b. Why might a ban on hunting elephants actually reduce their numbers?