I find this all highly dubious. Maybe trophy hunt fees make some little percentage of park funds but not the entirety and more would be made with out such trophy hunting. The funds for conservation efforts generally come from park fees and subsidies. The subsidies are a wise investment toward tourism and even the most corrupt governments in the world are desperate to protect tourism. They take this money from the rest of the sectors of the market which directly benefit from tourism such as airlines, hotels etc. This is how it works everywhere in the world that has natural attractions. EG The Philippines, Indonesia, Mexico, all very corrupt, all with huge tourism numbers.
I understand the argument you are conveying, that allowing hunters to remove a few makes it possible to protect the population, I just disagree with this so called logic. Furthermore, I can't find any verifiable real world example of it. There is a lot more money to be made in tourism that does not result in the death of endangered animals. More guides are needed, more scientific study is needed, longer hotel stays are needed and for these reasons more foreign money is spent as a result. That doesn't even take into account the amount of effort needed to deal with protests against trophy hunting.
Anyone with more than 5 stamps in their passport can tell you that shady markets in regards to wildlife tourism are widely boycotted by travelers. Shady rich people looking to justify the slaughter of endangered species however, are known to push false narratives to preserve their shady pastimes.
Source, I am in fact an expert in wildlife tourism (dive guide and instructor) and specifically ocean conservation. As such, I can say with certainty that it costs very little to poach and the fees are paid to corrupt authorities with access. Poor locals who poach (or guide rich poachers) are operating completely outside of the law. Conversely, the death of that cheetah might have made a few people in that community each a small payday, but left alive would make a community hundreds of thousands of dollars in its lifetime. Professional cameras cost more than rifles and the pictures captured of animals on safari go on to create yet more wealth, unless they are a trophy kill, in which case they create only controversy.
