Can hunting endangered animals save the species?

Interesting reporting on 60 minutes.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?...g;mostpopvideo

the basic idea is the reason these exotic & endanger animals are still alive is because these private hunting ranches have a value on the animals. they have an incentive to make sure there isn't any poaching, and that the heard can regenerate it self to continue the money stream.

you could also argue it's the same reason bison have made a come back because of it's value, for food & hunting.

taking away hunting from these private herd removes this incentive and could lead to extinction or unhealthy herd

arguments I could see against is the absence of natural selection from natural predators (other than humans which target the "trophy" of the herd), while natural predators target the weakest of the herd rather than the strongest. evolution would contribute to a stronger healthy species.

another argument against I could see is it places a price. for $x you could legal hunt these in the US or for cheaper $A you could fly to africa & poach one.

& another is the hunt really sporty if done on a ranch?

You would think that all the animals taken are trophies, however this is not true. In fact many of the animals harvested are what you would call management. Management animals consist of many variables such as; broken horns and tusks, older with genetic imperfections, etc... These ranches profit in no way by harvesting all of their best animals, very few of these animals are harvested and that is at a very very high price. By doing this the species is guaranteed to flourish, and quality genetics prevails.