Hi all,
We're planning to go to southern Africa for a couple of weeks - game drives, bush camping, etc.
I found out that one of the lodges we're booked in runs a separate hunting business in a completely different part of the country. It's got nothing to do with the lodge we're staying in, which is purely photographic.
Though the hunting is legal, I personally find it reprehensible and am conflicted about staying at this lodge now. I've exchanged a few emails with the owner who said that a lot of game lodges in said country are owned by professional hunters/ex-hunters.
Am I over-analyzing the situation, or shall I follow my heart and just go somewhere else?
Thank you.
Insomniac - The hunting debate is often made black and white by most people outside of Africa, without necessarily considering the implications of opposing and being pro.
The hunting system in each country will also be different, which puts a different slant on the benefits of hunting. The types of hunting that occurs also causes confusion and does not help the situation. For example, South Africa has canned hunting, where lions are bred to be shot, in other countries you shot wild lions. South Africa has private fenced hunting areas, whilst other countries have wildlife buffer zones around National Parks that are used for hunting.
Both have different implications, one is the morality of raising an animal just to be shot, the other, in the wild lion case, the loss of a pride male will significantly impact on a wild population. A vacuum will be created, the cubs will be killed by the incoming male, and the cycle repeats itself.
I have been fortunate to work in Botswana and Zambia, and also run photographic safaris for small groups. Visiting numerous locations over the years, I see hunting as a neccessary evil.
I would be interested to see where this lodge are conducting their hunting, as my instinct would say it is away from their core safari area. Lets face it, not all ares will work for photographic safaris.
Take Botswana for example, no operator is going to open a camp in the thick mopane woodlands you can bearly drive through. And during the hunting season, are often thick scrub with limited game due to the lack of water. However, these areas provide important wet seaon dispersal ranges for wildlife (when hunting is no permitted).
In a number of instances communities will benefit from the hunting income. Giving wildlife this value means they do not graze their cattle or turn these important areas into human zones. Under the old Zim campfire programme, communities living in rural poverty benefited from up to 80% of the hunting quota revenues as an incentive to co-exist. They also enjoyed employement through the operators.
In terms of culling on game farms, this is all happening on private land in places like South Africa. These fenced reserves require management, and the revenues help keep these places wild rather than cattle farms. In fact, a number were and are now converted back to wildlife, which has helped bio-diversity across Southern Africa with the breeding that occurs.
Generally, if an area has quality game viewing and can support photographic tourism, it will tend to do so. Hunting predominately occurs in areas where this is not the case.
I am guessing by the price bracket and the mix of locations, you are looking at the Sabi Sand/private Kruger reserves for an element of the safari? This kind of setup would also be potentially more common in Namibia/Zambia.
If you are that concerned, green season your budget could stretch to Wilderness Safaris in Bots, with a good conservation ethic, or across Southern Africa, someone like AndBeyond.
I guess the point is, nothing is black and white, for a number of lodges, there is a lot going behind the scenes you will never know about. For example, when Botswana was transitioning to fully photographic over the last 20 years, many top operators were happily splitting their concessions with hunting operators.
Even within the hunting world, there are a variety of shades you may consider acceptable.
I would recommend logging onto
www.safaritalk.net
You will not meet a bunch of more knowledge safari goers if you are concerned about companies with any relation to hunting.
