Bullets for booze

Jan 15, 2021 | News

By Ricardo Leone

Our hunting destination in 2013 was the Kizigo Hunting Block in the Singida Region of the Manyoni District in Tanzania. We were hunting with Palahala Safaris, the Tanzanian arm of Kwalata Safaris of Zambia operated by Peter Chipman who was also our main professional hunter. This was my second safari with Peter who is now an adopted member of my family.

While our camp was the main camp for the Hunting Block, there was a satellite camp on the same block where a Portuguese Doctor, José Manuel Mendes Furtado, and his uncle Antonio, were bowhunting – specifically for lion and leopard. José was close to my age at the time; Antonio was easily into his 70s, a very experienced African hunter having taken many trophies, most with a bow.

This trip had several setbacks, the first being gun troubles for both camps. There was Tarek, my longtime business partner and friend – his gun did not make the initial flight from London, ultimately arriving seven days late. Our bowhunting neighbors had a gun, mainly used to shoot bait for cats. However, their gun’s scope had been compromised somewhere along their journey.

The satellite camp’s PH, Werner van Noodwyk, visited our main camp daily for satellite/internet access and supplies and the two camps were able to communicate via shortwave radio. The day after I shot my Cape buffalo, Werner radioed over to our camp asking if we had shot anything that could be used for bait. The answer segued to the second subplot of our trip – specifically our miscalculation of booze supply. We had not properly factored in for Yves, Tarek’s childhood friend, who was an observer on this safari. We had actually miscalculated the demand side of the equation – specifically Yves’s demand.

So, to answer the bait question, we said to Werner that we had a hindquarter of my very old buffalo if they would trade for a bottle (or two) of wine. Buffalo for booze seemed a fair balance of trade. The following day Werner radioed again asking if we had any .375 ammo. Apparently José and Uncle Antonio had struggled to put their scope right, thereby using all their ammo in the process. You must know that when you travel to the bush – there is no corner store for ANYTHING. I always overpack on these trips, normally bringing twice the ammo needed – I was not going be caught short of ammo! Given that I was the only one in camp with extra .375 ammo, my answer was, “Yes.”

But what were we going to ask for in exchange? We knew Yves would suggest more booze. However, our satellite camp neighbors had their own wine limitations. If it came to money, I could ask for any amount, but that would not be in good spirit among hunting brethren. My answer was to offer an extra box of .375 ammo and ask José and Uncle Antonio to send me a bottle of good port when they returned to Portugal. They agreed to my bullets-for-booze offer. I sent my ammo via Werner along with my business card, and did not give it another thought. José and Uncle Antonio were back on track – they joined us at our evening fire for cocktails a couple of times, and we did not hear much more from them during the remainder of our safari.

Two weeks after I returned from Tanzania, I received an incredible email at my New York City office. José wrote to me, not only to thank me for the ammo, but more importantly to share his incredible hunting success. José and Uncle Antonio were successful with their bowhunting mission and had time left to hunt their own Cape buffalo – this time using their rifle. José shot his buff, and once his buff was down, a second buff came to nudge his fallen partner – something my son Zach and I personally experienced years later in Zambia. José handed Uncle Antonio his gun, and Uncle Antonio wasted no time shooting the other old buff. Yes, two hunters, two buffs, two meters apart, both with one gun in a span of two minutes – and with my bullets! José went on to tell me that he had not forgotten our deal, and that the port was on the way via a nephew who often travels to New York City.

José and Uncle Antonio are men of their word. A few weeks later a nicely presented package was delivered to my office, not with one bottle, but two bottles of vintage port – very nice port. I waited until Tarek next visited me in my home in Connecticut before I opened the first bottle to enjoy a glass of port together and to recount the story. The second bottle, a 1986 Fonseca, I stored away – I actually forgot about it. Recently I found the 1986 port and decided to give this special bottle of port to my son Jason and his beautiful bride Jess, both who were born in 1986 – yes, a very good year. I told them the origins of their new bottle of port and my daughter-in- law thanked me for making them part of such an incredible story.

José and Uncle Tony – two hunters, two buffs, two meters apart, both with one gun in a span of two minutes

Bullets for Booze – .375ammo for vintage Portuguese Port

On safari with Drikus Swanepoel

Jan 15, 2021 | News

When and where were you born?
10 March 1985 in Windhoek, Namibia

How did you get into hunting – what was it that influenced you?
I was raised on a cattle ranch in central Namibia where hunting was part of growing up.

Drikus is a PH with Ekuja Hunting Safaris

With whom did you train, apprentice and learn from?
When I was in primary school, our cattle ranch was converted into a game ranch where various well-known professional hunters came to hunt on the ranch. Throughout my school career I made use of every opportunity to accompany these hunts and built up a vast amount of experience.

What was the most important thing you learned during those early years?
To be patient and always treat all the clients the same, whether it’s an elephant hunt or a normal plains game safari.

Any specific client experiences that stood out?
My first years of professional hunting were hunting plains game in central Namibia.
I had a Spanish-speaking client who tried to explain something to me for 30 minutes and I didn’t understand a word. All of a sudden, he started shouting and stopped the Land Cruiser. He jumped off and took a dump right next to the vehicle. Only then I realized what he was trying to explain the whole time.
As a professional hunter, each client brings a special experience with him. Whether it’s the excitement of hunting Africa for the first time or a collector getting that specific species that he’s after.

Anything you learned about what not to do?
Always try to avoid talking politics in the hunting camp.

Which countries/areas have you hunted since then?
Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Zambia.

If you could return to any time or place in Africa, where would it be?
To the time where politics and uninformed keyboard warriors didn’t have a say in the hunting industry.

Which is your favourite trophy animal to hunt? And why?
Elephant. There’s nothing more thrilling than getting in the personal space of a big old elephant bull.

Tell us about two of your most memorable hunts.
Hunting my first 60-plus inch Kudu bull with a client in the first few years of my hunting career. In later years, taking two extraordinary elephants just a few days apart on a 21-day safari.

What are your recommendations on guns, ammo, or equipment for the first-time hunter to Africa?
Make sure that whatever gun you shoot, you are comfortable with and not afraid of the recoil. Always practice off shooting sticks.

Which guns and ammo are you using to back-up on dangerous or wounded game and tell us why?
500 Nitro-express as it has awesome stopping power.

How has the hunting industry changed in your opinion over the past number of years?
Social media and the internet have given people the right to have an opinion on Africa and how the hunting industry should be managed. Most of these people are true keyboard warriors and should not even had an opinion as they are ill informed and have no idea on what’s going on in Africa.

If you should suggest one thing to your hunting clients to improve their safari experience, with you, or with anyone else for that matter, what would it be?
Take time and effort to complete your questionnaire in as much detail as possible as a lot of hunting camps are remote.

What can the industry do to contribute to the long-term conservation of Africa’s wildlife?
Any animal must always have a value. The more valuable a specific species is, the longer it would be preserved.

What would be your ideal safari if you have one last safari?
Hunting all of the Big 5 with one client on one safari in what is left of wild Africa.

On safari with Johan Calitz

Jan 15, 2021 | News

When I think about my professional hunting career, I wonder if my yearning to be a hunter was not perhaps embedded in my DNA from birth, or whether it was a love cultivated from a very young age when my father introduced me to the sport of hunting.

Perhaps it was around the campfire when my father told me about the great hunters of old. Or during the early morning mountain reedbuck hunts, where my shoes broke the frost in the mountains of the Free State, daydreaming about showing people from faraway countries how to hunt African animals, instead of being a doctor, lawyer or whatever my father ‘s dream was for me. I am not exactly sure . . .

Learn more about Johan Calitz Safaris

My dangerous-game hunting experience started early in my life. I accompanied my father on many a hunting trip to the then Northern and Southern Rhodesia, where I could do the back-up shots on elephant and buffalo. My father’s friend and professional hunter, Hendrik Coetzee, was my biggest mentor. He was probably one of the last people who sold ivory for an income from which he later started his own business. It was he who encouraged my first tentative steps into dangerous-game hunting as a career.

I was 14 when I shot my first elephant and buffalo in the Zambezi Valley under the supervision of my father, Dr FJW Calitz and Uncle Hendrik, as he was known. It was a sweltering hot day in the Zambezi Valley. We found the tracks of a smallish cow herd early in the morning. By midday the heat was starting to wear us down. My shirt clung to my shoulders and my hair and forehead were drenched with sweat. The nervousness and anticipation took a heavy toll on me, and I was losing my concentration. Suddenly the huge, broad-shouldered frame in front of me came to halt. His right hand went up indicating that we should stop. The sound of breaking trees and heart-stopping vocal rumbling could be heard in the distance. We were very close. The reassuring voices of my father and Uncle Hendrik told me that everything would be fine. Days before this moment, I was taught different shot placements on elephant, and I knew that the position of the elephant and the surrounding environment would dictate the shot. We moved in for the final approach. I still remember my thoughts at that very moment: How is it possible for a man of 230 lbs (Uncle Hendrik) to move like a ballerina?

I could hear my father’s breathing behind me, and the knowledge that he was there calmed my nerves. The bush was thick – everybody called it jesse bush. I could see how Uncle Hendrik calculated each careful step to avoid unnecessary noise. Dad and I followed in his footsteps. Thinking back today, those were huge footprints to follow . . . literally and figuratively.

Then I saw grey figures in the bush ahead of me and knew that the time of reckoning had come. Uncle Hendrik stopped, motioned me in, grabbed me by the shoulders, like a Great Dane would grab a Jack Russell, and moved me into position.

An old cow loomed in front of us, presenting for a side brain shot. A whisper in my ear . . . I shouldered the rifle without a second thought and felt the recoil of the 9.3 x 64 Brenneke. The hind legs of the old lady collapsed, the trunk came up and whipped down, and she hit the ground, stone dead. At that moment I knew that I would like to become a Hendrik Coetzee!

Before I reached the age of 21, I had hunted most dangerous African game animals, including all of the Big Five. But I mostly hunted elephant as a young man. Somehow, these gigantic animals intrigued me more than any other species on the planet.

In the years that followed, people such as Ronnie van Heerden, who hunted with us from Robinson’s Camp in the Hwange National Park, Uncle Bruce Austin, who was one of the directors of Austin Braybrooke and McCloud Safaris, Barry Duckworth, Uncle Willie de Beer, Harry Selby and others, made such an indelible impression on me that I was determined to become a professional hunter and nothing else.

Years of apprenticeship under the hawk eye of Uncle Hendrik taught me the art of tracking, hunting and bushcraft. The hours I spent with the people mentioned above in the University of the Bush, watching, learning and listening, laid the foundations of my career as a PH.

In the seventies, there was no government control over professional hunting in South Africa, so hunting for a reward was quite easy in those early days. I guess my first client was my father. I started to outfit and conduct safaris for a reward during my student days. With my father, the reward most of the time was that I could hunt a buffalo, elephant, lion or leopard myself. Later I started guiding friends of my father’s from abroad and South Africa for a reward.

So I guess my career as PH started in the mid-70s. Up until 1985, most of my dangerous-game hunts for myself and/or clients were done in Zimbabwe. In the late 1980s, my dream came true when I started hunting with Guides and Outfitters Botswana. I later worked with Micheletti Bates Safaris and Vira Safaris. Johan Calitz Hunting Safaris has featured as my own entity right from the early years up until now.

All of God’s animals are my favourite. To watch the silliness of a warthog, the agility of a leopard, the brutal speed and force of a lion, the tenacity of a buffalo and the grandeur of an elephant bull is an absolute privilege.

I have hunted and guided many of the dangerous Big Five animals over the last four decades. Many a night I would lie in a camp bed, listening to the distant roar of a male lion, overpowering the more subtle sounds of the African night. With first light I would be ready to track the biggest cat in Africa with my trusted Bushman trackers.

Seeing the disturbance the big cat’s body caused to the dewdrops on the leaves and tall grass, looking at a track the size of a small plate in the Kalahari sand, following the king of the African bush from the freshness of the morning, through the sweltering heat of the day and finally finding him fast asleep in the shade of a smallish bush or tree, is hunting at its best!

You get into position, sometimes as close as 15 yards, heart pounding in your ears, weighing up your options and shot placements . . . To triumph over the king of beasts with just one bullet must be the most exhilarating experience!

Waiting in a blind during the late afternoon or early morning, alone with your thoughts, when suddenly a big male leopard appears on a branch, is electrifying. Following buffalo tracks into the famous date palm (Tsaro palm) and having a big black brutal explosion a few yards in front of you is as exciting as it gets.

Years ago I followed a wounded buffalo with a PH in Tanzania. The tracks of the lone bull disappeared into the dense brush in front of us. The trackers at our side tried to pick up the wounded buffalo’s tracks, when suddenly there was a stampede in front of us. The Tanzanian PH and I ran in the direction of the noise when the buffalo turned and brought the fight to us.

He was in full charge. Shots went off beside me as the buffalo came for us. Everything happened at once. I heard shots but it had absolutely no effect on the buffalo. I jumped in front of the PH while lifting the .500 Nitro Searcy, to my shoulder. I underestimated the quickness and tenacity of the buffalo that reached me before I could blink an eye. I fired from the hip but missed its brain. By then the buffalo was on top of me – it gored me, flung me into the air and then pushed me around on the ground for several minutes.

I heard a shot. The animal towering over me lifted its head from my chest. For a brief moment I saw the anger and pain in the beast’s eyes as his full weight crashed down on me, forcing the air from my lungs and crushing the bones in my body.

The PH and trackers rolled the dead weight off me. After a few hours on the back of a pick-up, I was flown to Dar es Salaam and then to Nairobi where I was operated on and later flown to the Garden City clinic in Johannesburg. Several operations and long weeks of slow and painful recovery followed. Yes, I have experienced buffalo hunting at its best . . . and its worst . . .

Rhino hunting does not particularly intrigue me, but I have been privileged to hunt these prehistoric beasts in some of the most rugged and most beautiful hunting areas in Southern Africa.

For me the greatest game animal in Africa to hunt is the elephant, particularly the elephant of Botswana, because of the massive size of their bodies and tusks. No other experience has brought me so much joy and satisfaction while at the same time causing so much emotional turmoil and pain, as hunting the big Botswana tuskers.

From the age of 14, I have hunted elephant in various countries. For the past 14 years my professional hunters and I have hunted over 700 of these magnificent animals in Botswana alone. We live, sleep, eat and dream big tuskers. This is what we do; this is all we want to do! It is physically and emotionally taxing, yet there is no greater life-altering experience than hunting the biggest land mammal on earth! It is hard work finding the right tuskers. You work under pressure; you operate within the secret folds of nature and against high expectations of your clients and peers. You see many elephant, some with broken tusks, small tusks or no tusks, but then you see the elephant that both you and your client know is the one! It is those moments that produce the firewood of your old age, of having lived a life worth remembering!

One of the reasons for Botswana’s healthy elephant population is the country’s vegetation, security, water, and little interference from mankind, but mostly because of the authorities’ sensible approach to wildlife management. The Government, together with the hunting industry, realises that cooperative and scientific management of the country’s wildlife resources will secure the co-existence of man and beast to the benefit of both. It is of the utmost importance that Government and the hunting industry join hands to ensure the survival of this magnificent species and to conserve the natural habitat it shares with other creatures.

The quality of the hunt and the quality of the trophies taken undoubtedly makes Botswana the best elephant hunting destination in Africa today. Interestingly, statistics prove that the quality of trophies has not only stabilized, but has steadily improved since the reopening of elephant hunting in 1996.

With careful planning, monitoring the movement of elephant throughout the year and assessing the hunt day by day, your PH will narrow down the odds for you and with a little bit of luck you will get your elephant in the right place at the right time. The combination of your PH’s knowledge and skills and your good shooting will turn your dream into reality.

It is said that the days of hundred-pounders are basically gone. Ninety-pounders, eighty-pounders, yes – it happens! Seventy pounders, yes – that happens more often. Sixty pounders happen a lot. The men that pursue big tuskers spend days, year after year, looking for that big one. You get despondent, you think of giving up, and then it happens – around the corner, your bull is suddenly there! The one you have always dreamt of . . . The year 2010 was such a year for us when one of our clients was blessed with a magnificent 104lbs tusker.

I have no regrets for having chosen professional hunting as a career. The opportunity to meet and guide clients is very rewarding. Each friend I have made over the years, who started off as a client, has a special place in my heart. The bond between people formed by life-and-death situations is unforgettable and unbreakable.

The financial rewards of being a PH aren’t great but one can make a decent living out of it if you put body and soul into it. The actual reward is being with your mistress, the bush, where you can live a life not unlike that of your forefathers and pioneers of old.

To wake up in the morning to the call of francolin on the other side of the canvas; to hear the chatter of monkeys and barking of baboons; to see buffalo in a herd counting hundreds; to see elephant in northern Botswana coming together from all directions to form a herd of a hundred individuals or more; to encourter 500 or more elephant in a single day from a makoro (dug-out canoe) on the river; to have the privilege of following sitatunga in a makoro that silently makes its way through the papyrus; to view the abundance of plans game around you; to encounter leopard and lion on a regular basis; to see the day end in all its splendor, watching the animals relax for a brief moment before sensing the dangers that might lurk in the night ahead; the deep roar of a big lion male making his presence known – all of this is priceless! Money can never pay for what we experience on a daily basis.

My only regret is probably the sacrifice one has to make, not being there for my family when they need me, and missing out on so much happening in their lives…

In a career that spreads over many years, it is difficult to highlight a single moment. What I do for a living is a highlight in itself. There are so many highlights, each with its own charm and reward. Is the taking of a 100 lbs elephant a bigger career highlight than a 66” kudu or a 48” buffalo? Is hunting with a king a greater honor that hunting with my dear friend, Abe, the plumber from Lena, Illinois, who shot all of his Big Five with me using the same rifle? For me, it is a highlight every time I see clients and friends taking a worthy trophy. Each moment is different, each reaction and smile unique, each happy moment a highlight.

Being able to guide my father and my son on the same safari during which each hunted a buffalo was very special. To watch the emotions on a 13-year-old boy’s face when he pulls the trigger on his first buffalo and to experience the emotions of a 65-year-old man shooting his last buffalo and last animal of his hunting life, is something one cannot put into words.

Being able to guide my son Cobus on his first elephant safari and to witness his happiness years later when his client shot a 94 lbs elephant, was very special to me. To have been with my friend, Jose Luis Dias, when he took his 94 lbs trophy was a highlight.

To have been chosen in the 90s to conduct one of the first professional hunting schools in South Africa was an honor. Standing next to people of the caliber of Kobus Schoeman and Ronnie Rowland in front of a class of bright-eyed want-to-be professional hunters left an indelible impression on me. I learned something new on each occasion, watching these two dear friends sharing their infinite knowledge and wisdom with the students. Playing a small part in shaping apprenticeships is a feather in my cap. Today, many of them are world-renowned professional hunters and very successful outfitters.

To have served on the executive committee of PHASA and BWMA is certainly a highlight. Having had the honor to feature on many podiums, videos and outdoor television channels, and especially Tony Makris’s very popular Under Wild Skies series is a great privilege. I can never thank then enough for the wonderful exposure this has given me. Being asked to write a foreword to Graig Boddington’s book on elephant is another highlight.

These are just examples, of course, less career highlights I experience as a PH.

The biggest highlight of all is being to be able to work and live so close with Creation and to be blessed with so many special friends and colleagues each enriching my life in so many ways and making me a more complete human being.

Botswana is an artist’s pallet and every hunter’s lifelong dream. The diversity of its fauna and flora, the sunsets, the people, the sheer abundance of animals and trophy quality, make it a great destination. I have hunted many other areas in my career, but the ease of getting to and from the hunting area, the true wildness and abundance of wildlife in different areas of Botswana, makes this country one of my favorite hunting areas.

The Okavango Delta with its extreme beauty, its rivers, streams, islands and palm groves was, and still is, a great place to hunt elephant, buffalo and other animals. Cat hunting is no longer allowed in Botswana, but the lion and leopard hunting in the Delta was an experience of ten lifetimes! The Delta is one of the most beautiful spots in Africa and my favorite hunting area.

Thousands of elephant roam the drier Chobe regions of Botswana and hunting these big beasts is an awe-inspiring experience. Nothing beats the sight of so many elephant each day and being spoilt for choice. The quality of the trophies taken each year in these drier areas easily puts them on par with a hunt in the Delta.

I agree that I am prejudiced. I have hunted Mozambique, Tanzania, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and other parts of the world, but the country that I chose to call home, namely Botswana, remains closest to my heart.

Thinking about the difference between an agreeable and a difficult client, I guess that it is all about expectations. A client may become difficult if you are not meeting his expectations, for instance by refusing to do things which are beyond the boundaries of legal and ethical practices.

A client can become difficult if his pre-hunt expectations differ vastly from the reality of the hunt. He may feel cheated if things are different from what has been promised. Prior to, and during a hunt, it is vital to play open cards with clients, create realistic expectations, address all possible grey areas and stick to the contractual agreement. That way you minimize, if not prevent, nasty disagreements and unhappy clients.

A difficult client can also be one that is disappointed with his PH’s call. A client that sets the end result as a marker and not the overall experience as his goal is often difficult to deal with. A person without respect for God’s creation and the laws of nature and the land he is hunting on is almost always difficult to deal with.

On the other hand, it is a pleasure to hunt with a person who is in pursuit of a holistic experience and enjoys the wonder and lessons of life and nature every day! This is a person who notices a beautiful bird, a female kudu with her young; a person who watches in awe as the dust and thunder rise from underneath the hooves of a buffalo herd; a person whose heart melts at the sight of lion cubs playing with their mother’s tail . . .

An agreeable client is a person who works hard, has realistic expectations, respects the environment and uses the full impact of his hunting experience and being close to nature as firewood for his old age. An agreeable client is also one that respects the decisions of his PH and trackers, and trusts them to come up with the best possible trophy available at the time without overstepping the boundaries of the law. An agreeable client is one that realizes and respects the fact that his PH will always try and act in his best interest without jeopardizing his or his companion’s safety. He is also one who is man enough to acknowledge the fact that nature has won if he does not get his trophy, and who then walks away with dignity, humbleness and respect.

To be able to hunt may be a God-given right, but to give it true meaning one has to realize that this right is a huge privilege that also comes with huge responsibilities. The quality of a hunt can be defined as that moment when man and animal become one, and man executes his right to take life in an honorable way with dignity and respect.

The quality of a hunt is when a PH and his client respect the laws of nature and wildlife, when they pursue an animal that is old and near the end of its life, and only take it if it meets the expectations of the client. The in-between, from start to end, is what matters. The true reward lies in the knowledge and satisfaction that both the PH and client practiced fair chase and hunted in a humane manner.

For me, the quality of a hunt is defined as a cocktail of emotions, of fear, anticipation, euphoria and of sadness. I regard each hunt that contained this mix of emotions as one that added quality to my life.

Gorongoza in Mozambique – Rising and Rising

Jan 14, 2021 | News

The story of Gorongoza National Park in Mozambique is a remarkable epic of hope and of restoration after destruction. It is the story of the resilience of nature and its wild creatures, given the human commitment to nurture and conserve wild places and wild animals. This commitment is the fundamental key to success. Protected areas cannot survive without the support of their neighbours – the people who live outside its borders. Understanding this is fundamental to successful management of any park, and Mozambique has been blessed by having the support of Dr Greg Carr, a philanthropist who understands that human development and conservation go hand in hand. This remarkable American has pledged to invest US$40 million into the development of Gorongoza over a period of 30 years.

The late 1960s saw the first comprehensive scientific studies of the Park, led by Kenneth Tinley, a South African ecologist. In the first-ever aerial survey, Tinley and his team counted about 200 lions, 2,200 elephants, 14,000 buffalo, 5,500 wildebeest, 3,000 zebra, 3,500 waterbuck, 2,000 impala, 3,500 hippos, and large herds of eland, sable and hartebeest numbering more than 500. Tinley also discovered that many people, and most of the wildlife, living in and around the Park depended on one river, the Vunduzi, which originates on the slopes of nearby Mount Gorongosa.

Because the mountain was outside of the Park’s boundaries, Tinley proposed expanding the Park to include the mountain as a key element in a ‘Greater Gorongosa’ ecosystem of about 8,200 square kilometers. In 1977 Tinley published his D.Sc. thesis, ‘Framework of the Gorongosa Ecosystem’ and in 2020 the Gorongosa Project made it available to all in a beautiful book format entitled Montane to Mangrove.

But in that same year of 1977, a civil war broke out in Mozambique that was to last for 15 years. The country was devastated, a million people lost their lives, and 95% of the large animals in Gorongoza were slaughtered. The wildlife paradise was reduced to ruins, a vast killing field littered with the bones of thousands and thousands of animals.

Greg Carr first visited Mozambique in 2002 and was impressed by the amazing landscapes, from mountains, forests, plains, swamps, lakes and wetlands, stretching all the way down to the mangroves of the Indian Ocean. In 2004 he signed agreements with the government, and started implementing his dream of restoring Gorongosa to its former glory.

Gorongosa has just published its annual report for 2020, and it makes for inspiring reading. You are encouraged to take look yourself; click here to view it.

The 60^th birthday of Mozambique’s flagship national park was celebrated on 23 July 2020. The official ceremony featured just 20 guests due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and one of them was the President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi. At the function the President was told that the Park’s restoration efforts had increased the number of large mammal survivors of the civil war from a few to over 100,000. They share the Park with over 6,300 other species of smaller animals and plants recorded so far and which continues to rise. As a birthday present, Greg Carr pledged that he and other donor partners (including USAID) will build 40 primary schools in communities surrounding Gorongosa. The Gorongosa Project already works directly with 50 primary schools and six secondary schools with youth clubs, and plans to increase the number of after-school clubs established in these schools.

Some highlights from the 2020 Annual Report include the following:

African Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus) are the second-most endangered carnivore on the continent. In collaboration with the Endangered Wildlife Trust, a pack of 14 animals was introduced into Gorongoza in 2018 and then 15 more in 2019. With the addition of more than 50 pups born in 2020, Gorongosa Park’s wild dog population has grown to 85.

• During November 2020 an aerial wildlife count of the Park recorded nearly 90,000 animals in the survey area that covered 60% of the Park. This included the highest number of elephant (781), blue wildebeest (815), hippo (766) and buffalo (1,221) ever counted since the restoration of the Park began.
• Park Warden Pedro Muagura received the IUCN’s Kenton Miller award for taking bold steps to help preserve protected areas and natural treasures like Gorongosa National Park. According to the IUCN news release, Mr. Muagura represents “… a beacon of hope in regions which have had a turbulent history, affecting both humans and nature in profound ways over the past decades.”
  

  From novataxa.blogspot.com (photograph by Piotr Naskrecki)

• A new bat species (Miniopterus wilsoni) named for the renowned biologist and ardent supporter of biodiversity conservation, Professor Edward O Wilson, was discovered on Mount Gorongosa and in the mountains of central and northern Mozambique, and southern Malawi.
• Gorongosa established the nation’s first pangolin rescue facility and pioneered veterinary care and rehabilitation of the species in Mozambique. To date, 40 pangolins have been rescued and returned to the wild.
• The elephant population in Gorongosa crashed from around 2,500 to less than 250 individuals as a result of Mozambique’s civil war. Since the inception of the Gorongosa Project, increased protection of the Park has led to a remarkably fast recovery. The Park’s elephant population now numbers about 800 individual animals. This conservation achievement is complicated by the fact that 200,000 people live around the Park, and agricultural areas have expanded. Human-elephant conflict (HEC) has therefore intensified, resulting in crop destruction by elephants. The Elephant Ecology Project is doing research to help resolve these conflicts. Fifty trail cameras monitor elephant population size, structure and habitat use. ‘Beehive fences’ capitalize on elephants’ fear of African honeybees, and hives distributed along fence lines are a natural deterrent. Beehive fences and elephant-proof silos are key to the Park’s elephant and human coexistence initiative.

The achievements in the restoration of Gorongoza are both amazing and inspiring. You can learn more by visiting their Facebook page. There is also interesting background about the remarkable Dr Greg Carr that you can read here.

There are also many ways in which you can support the work of the Gorongosa team. Please contact them if you are willing to contribute in any way. contact@gorongosa.net

Dr John Ledger is a past Director of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, now a consultant, writer and teacher on the environment, energy and wildlife; he is a columnist for the African Hunting Gazette. He lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. John.Ledger@wol.co.za

Sitatunga

Jan 14, 2021 | News

This antelope has a relatively long-haired and shaggy coat; both sexes have white chevron between eyes. The bushy tail is brown above and white below, and have longer hooves than any other antelope (to 1 cm/7.0″). The extremely long hooves, capable of splaying widely, are an adaptation to assist walking on mats of floating vegetation and soft mud. When walking on hard ground they appear clumsy and vulnerable. Only ram carries the long, lightly spiralled horns. A number of subspecies are recognized. The western race (T. s. gratus) within Congo Basin has both sexes with abundant white spots and striping, eastern T. s. spekei rams have little or no white markings, although ewes are reddish with numerous white spots and stripes. The southern, or Selous’s sitatunga (T.s.selousi) have few white body markings in either sex.

Copyright Divan Labuschange

Copyright Divan Labuschange

Distribution

Northern race centres around the Congo Basin with a few outliers in West Africa, eastern race is in the Victoria and upper Nile Basin, southern race in the basins of Bangweulu, Zambesi and Okavango rivers. Hunting can be undertaken in Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania, CAR, Congo Brazzaville and Cameroon.

Conservation standing

In some areas they reach high densities, such as Bangweulu (>10 000) and Kasanka of north-east Zambia, Botswana’s Okavango Delta and northern Congo Brazzaville. West African and Kenyan populations generally considered threatened. In some areas they are heavily hunted and in some countries, such as DR Congo, they occur frequently in the bushmeat markets. Frequent burning of reedbeds has also resulted in the disappearance of, or major declines in, some populations.

Habitats

Dense reedbeds and well vegetated aquatic environments, but move into adjacent woodlands to feed. In some areas make greater use of woodland and known as woodland sitatunga.

Behaviour

Form loose groupings and not cohesive herds of one adult ram with several ewes and their young, averaging six animals. Solitary animals, especially rams, common, as are groups of young animals of mixed sex. Mainly day active, but usually only feed in woodland at night. During hottest hours lie up in the cover of reedbeds. If disturbed, or threatened, they take readily to deep water, and can swim well. Home ranges small because of abundance and richness of their food. Can reach high densities, for example in the Okavango it was estimated that there were 234 sitatunga in just 300 km2 (116 mi2), and even higher densities in Kasanka and Bangweulu.

Food

Papyrus, other reeds, aquatic grasses, dryland and floodplain grasses and occasionally browse in adjacent woodlands.

The western race of the sitatunga, here an ewe, is more distinctly marked than other races.

The gerenuk

Dec 11, 2020 | News

The most bizarre looking of the gazelles, the gerenuk gives a first impression of being of an impala with very long legs and neck. Which is why it is sometimes called the giraffe-necked antelope. The ears are quite large, as are the eyes, and the muzzle has a “pinched” appearance. The upperparts are rufous-fawn, with paler sides and a thin dark line separating upperparts from white underparts. Only rams carry the relatively short, robust, heavily ringed, tight lyre-shaped horns. It is one of only two antelope species (the other being the dibatag) that can stand vertically on the hind legs when feeding. Two subspecies have been named, the northern (L. w. sclateri) and the southern (L. w. walleri) gerenuk, with some being of the opinion that these constitute separate species.

Distribution

Extends from north-eastern Tanzania, eastern and northern Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. Can be hunted in Tanzania and Ethiopia.

Conservation standing

Estimated numbers range from a low of 24,000 to a high of just under 100,000; largest population in Kenya and adjoining areas of Ethiopia. Has benefited from overgrazing by domestic livestock, as this has increased levels of thicket growth and bush encroachment. It still occurs across much of its original range but the population in Somalia is believed to be under severe pressure. In Kenya it is estimated that numbers have at least halved in recent years outside conservation areas as a result of poaching and competition for food with domestic livestock, especially goats. Such impacts in Ethiopia and Somalia are even greater.

Habitats

Arid thorn scrub and thicket.

Gerenuk ram shot in northern Tanzania

Behaviour

Adult rams are generally solitary, but small mixed groups consisting of a ram and a small number of ewes and their young. Ewe and lamb groups are also commonly seen. Although up to eight animals may be seen together, they are usually spaced several metres apart when resting or feeding. Home range of a single adult ranges from 2-6 km² (500-1,500 acres) with size depending largely on conditions and food availability. Ram territories average from 2-4 km² (500-990 acres), are permanently held, and intruding rams are driven away. Subadult rams are tolerated if they enter established territories as long as they are subservient. Animals are closely bound to their ranges and remain there throughout their lives. Very little work has been done on gerenuk densities but they are generally held to be low, a measure of the arid habitat they occupy.

Food

Browsers that take new leaf growth, buds, twig tips, flowers and pods, especially of Acacia tree and bush species. They are independent of drinking water.

Namibia Running Out of Patience with CITES

Dec 10, 2020 | News

At the Eighteenth Conference of the Parties (CoP18) to CITES held last year, five southern African countries, Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia proposed that the ban on ivory trade be lifted. These countries constitute the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA) which holds two-thirds of the continent’s approximately 400,000 African elephants. The Conference rejected this proposal, which elicited a great deal of frustration with the body which is supposed to manage and facilitate the international trade in wildlife and wildlife products. Recently Namibia’s Minister for the Environment, Pohamba Shifeta, said that his country was running out of patience with CITES.

The Minister presented the keynote address at a national elephant conservation and management plan consultative workshop in Windhoek in November 2020. With a healthy elephant population in the country, Shifeta said Namibia’s elephant conservation efforts are being hindered by the decisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

“The most important incentive, namely the value that can be generated from trade in ivory, is currently severely compromised by the actions of animal rights groups who have influenced decisions at the Cites [conference] that undermine Namibia’s conservation programmes. For how long this is going to be the case is unclear, but our tolerance is being severely tested,” he said.

“Elephants are part of the natural resources of Namibia over which we have full sovereignty and there is a limit to how much external interference we will accept in the use of this resource. We favour a collective approach on the regulation of international trade but ultimately, we have to act in the interest of conservation and the rural people that are so important in determining the fate of elephants in the long term.

“Namibia has major stockpiles of valuable wildlife products including ivory which it can produce sustainably and regulate properly, and which if traded internationally could support our elephant conservation and management for decades to come,” said the Minister.

Namibia has been desperate to have the ban on ivory trade lifted so that the country can sell and benefit from its growing ivory stockpile. The environment ministry has previously expressed concern about the safety implications of keeping ivory stockpiles, as well as the cost thereof.

Both Botswana and Zimbabwe have burgeoning elephant populations, with the former being home to around 130,000 animals and Zimbabwe around 85,000. Natural mortality, particularly during the regular droughts that are normal in southern Africa, yields large quantities of elephant tusks. Hunting quotas for male elephants in both countries yield yet more ivory. By denying the right for southern Africa countries, who manage their elephants well, to sell their ivory on the international market, CITES is unilaterally denying these countries the opportunity to realise the full value of their wildlife resources.

The world should not expect these countries to continue to suffer economic hardship when they have the means to generate valuable income in their own hands. Since tourism and hunting have come to a complete standstill in Africa as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, people living in rural areas in wildlife management areas or adjacent to protected areas have suffered the total loss of revenue from hunting and tourism.

Botswana, had a quota of 400 elephant hunts for 2020, and Zimbabwe around 500. These lost opportunities are costing both countries millions of dollars. It should also be remembered that those 400 potential male elephants that could have been hunted in Botswana in 2020 represent just 3% of the available males in the country.

With financial hardship and even starvation stalking many people in rural areas of southern Africa, are their governments going to continue to look at their growing stockpiles of ivory and tell their citizens to carry on being nice to elephants?

I think not, and I suspect that 2020 will prove to be the year that CITES finally reaches the end of the road of tolerance by African countries whose economic wellbeing is being compromised, because they are not allowed to sell the products of their successful wildlife management policies.

_____________________________

Dr John Ledger is a past Director of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, now a consultant, writer and teacher on the environment, energy and wildlife; he is a columnist for the African Hunting Gazette. He lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. John.Ledger@wol.co.za

On safari with Thierry Labat

Dec 10, 2020 | News

Both my parents immigrated to then Rhodesia from Mauritius. My father was only 20 years old in 1964 when he left Mauritius to come and work in the sugar industry in a place called Hippo Valley, in south-eastern Rhodesia. He started as an assistant section manager, then manager, until he was able to buy his own sugar farm in the early seventies. My mother was only 16 years old when she moved to Rhodesia with her parents. My parents married when she was 19. Three children and 52 years later they are still married. Unfortunately, events that happened in Zimbabwe in the early 2000s forced them back to Mauritius where they are today.I was born on 19 Feb 1979 in a small town called Triangle in the south-east of Rhodesia now Zimbabwe.

My father was a very keen hunter and he would take me hunting from a very young age. Without doubt he was my biggest influence and taught me so much about hunting, gun safety, etc. To this day when I’m faced with decisions in the field, I often ask myself, “What would the Old Man do?”

I did my apprenticeship under Roger Whittall. Roger is definitely one of the legends and pioneers of the safari industry in Zimbabwe and am so privileged to have been mentored by him. Working for Roger Whittall at the time as a PH was a local man called Magara. He was truly an amazing hunter/tracker. He too taught me very valuable lessons indeed.

It’s hard to pick any one particular lesson learnt during my early years as an apprentice because there were many but one of the things that I will never forget was the point Magara made to me once when we were on an elephant bull hunt. We caught up to a bull after several hours of tracking and it turned out not to be the trophy we were hoping for, so instead of just walking away I wanted to get the client in close to the bull and explain the various shot placements, get the adrenaline pumping, etc. Like a dress rehearsal! We were about 60yards away and I wanted to get to at least 20 yards from it. As I started taking the client closer Magara touched me on the shoulder and asked me if I was going to shoot that elephant. I told him no, and explained what I wanted to do. He asked me why we should go, and if we couldn’t see it from where we were.

He said, “Look through your binoculars and explain to the client where to shoot because if we go closer and the elephant ends up charging, we might end up having to shoot it in self-defense and it would be a waste of an animal’s life.” This made a lot of sense, so basically I’ve learnt not to unnecessarily and purposely put myself into a situation that can go south quickly.

My early years of professional hunting started in the Zambezi Valley in an area called Chewore South. It truly was an incredible place back then. It was on one of my first hunts there that I learnt it was not ideal to build a blind on a well-used elephant path.

We had a nice tom leopard on bait, so we built a blind and the plan was to walk into the blind in the early hours of the morning and wait for it to get light and, hopefully, catch the leopard there. Upon quietly sneaking in towards the blind it became evident to us that it had been completely destroyed by elephants and no longer existed. Back to the drawing board, and a lesson well learnt.

Another rather awkward moment was when I was hunting leopard on Humani. The client and I were in a tree blind about 20feet off the ground when the client informed me that he was having a movement of the large intestine. Murphy’s law. The leopard was close as I’d just heard a bushbuck bark less than a few hundred yards away. I told the client to do his business and to avoid going to the ground and walking around with a flash light. I suggested he tried just hanging off the ladder. He tried. To cut a long story short, the leopard never came in, and the climb down the ladder proved for obvious reasons very challenging for me when it was time to get back down.

Sitatunga from Uganda

My career has taken me to countries and places I would otherwise never have been to. I am blessed to have guided in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Cameroon, Uganda, C.A.R. and Mauritius. I have also accompanied clients on hunts to Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Ethiopia. Today the only country I no longer go to is C.A.R, and most of my hunting is in Zimbabwe.

My father and I with the 60lb bull from Sapi 2009

I have had so many interesting and successful, fun hunts along the way. But the one fondest memory that I have of is the elephant bull hunt I did with my father in 2009. He was my client, so to speak. The hunt took place in Sapi, Zambezi Valley, and after a couple hours of tracking we managed to get a 60lb bull on the fourth day of the hunt. I remember being with my father on his very first elephant bull hunt in Nyakasanga, Zambezi Valley in 1986 when I was just seven years old, so to be able to personally guide him onto such a great bull 23years later was special.

If I had to choose to return to any time or place in Africa, that would be a tough question. Having been fortunate to hunt in so many countries and areas, perhaps I’d have to say it was my time in the Chinko area of eastern C.A.R in the early 2000s. C.A.R was an incredible hunting destination and usually you earned every trophy you got. Areas were massive, logistics tough, and roads were limited. I mean imagine hunting an area that was 4 million acres and where you could realistically hunt 20 different native species on one safari in one area. But from reading and listening to stories from older PHs, I feel I was born 25years too late, anyway.

I truly enjoy hunting all species, but my favorite hunt has to be leopard. I really enjoy the challenge of trying to outsmart a large, old tom. Leopard hunting is a roller coaster of emotions, and you have to be mentally strong to put up with the monotonous routine of hanging, checking, replacing baits, driving the same roads and building blinds. However, the euphoria of finally getting your hands onto a cat you have specifically targeted is hard to explain. One of my fondest memories of a leopard hunt was with good friend Will Parks, and was for a cat nicknamed “The Professor”, a smart cat that had been shot at and lightly wounded by another client a few years prior. Since then the tom would never hit the same bait twice, but after we persisted, he finally made a mistake and we got “The Professor”.

Will Parks and me with “The Professor”

My favorite hunt

Zimbabwe Lowveld Leopard

One of my top 5: yellow-backed duiker from C. A. R.

It’s hard to single out any one particular trophy that stands out as the best trophy taken by one of my clients, as there have been many. But, if judging the best trophy as to where it would be ranked in the record books, I’d have to say a blue duiker and a yellow-backed duiker taken by the same client in C.A.R., both ranking in the top five at the time. To mention a few other outstanding trophies I’d say a 32” roan, a 17¼” leopard, a 75lb elephant, a 45” buffalo, a 52” Lord Derby, an 18¾” Chobe bushbuck, a 61” kudu, a 30” common nyala, a 33” waterbuck, a 16” warthog, and a 7½” bushpig.

One of my top 5: yellow-backed duiker from C. A. R.

52” Lord Derby from C.A.R.

45” buffalo

One of my most memorable hunts was one I have just completed this year. In 14 days we managed to get two great lion, a 53lb elephant, a 13,5ft crocodile, two awesome buffalo, and a bunch of plains game. Equally as memorable was a hunt I did with a good friend from Honduras. On that particular safari we got a 75lb elephant and a 17¼” leopard. Turned out that those two trophies were the biggest of their species for the year in Zimbabwe. Talk about a lucky hunter!

One of the two lions from one of my most memorable hunts

Thankfully, disaster clients are very few and far between, but one that stands out was a guy who’d come for an early season elephant/leopard/hippo hunt in the Zambezi Valley. Chewore North, to be precise. The bush was thick that time of year with some rain still around. He arrived with a .416 Rigby which he personally had never shot. Supposedly the guys that had sold him the rifle had zeroed it in for him. Anyway, as always before starting a safari, we went to the range to check that the rifle and scope had made the journey – it also gives me an idea of the client’s shooting abilities.

Well! His abilities were not great and it wasn’t the rifle and scope that was the problem, as I eventually shot it myself to see, and it was dead on at 100 yards. The client argued with me that he never shot well at paper, but at animals he was a sniper of note! Reluctantly I agreed to give him the benefit of doubt. Lesson learnt.

He wounded, and we lost his leopard in the early morning, and wounded and lost his elephant bull in the afternoon of the same day. The leopard bled a few drops only for the first 15 yards from the tree, and as thick as the bush was then it was impossible to follow the tracks without blood. His elephant we followed until late in the evening, and we were to return in the morning, but that night it poured with rain which erased all tracks. Gone!

The client then went on to miss three separate hippos in the water during the course of the hunt. The only trophy he got to take home was a gut-shot zebra which we eventually found. Upon saying goodbye I advised him to spend a bit more time at the range before coming on a hunt to Africa, and to rather get himself a .375 which would be easier for him to shoot. For some reason I’ve never heard from him again.

For a first-time hunter to Africa and depending where and what he’s coming to hunt, I generally recommend a .300 Win Mag for plains game and a .375 H&H for dangerous game. Both those calibers are more than adequate and ammunition for those calibers is easy to find in Africa should for any reason client’s ammo doesn’t make it. As far as ammo goes, any of the premium softs will work. Personally I like the 180g Swift A-Frames out of the .300 and 300g Swifts or Bear Claws out of the .375. Always bring about 10 solids for the .375 especially if hunting elephant. I like the Federal Sledge Hammers, Barnes and Woodleigh solids.

My .458 Lott

Personally I carry a .458 Lott which was custom-built for me by Sabi Arms in South Africa. It’s built on a CZ action, has a 22” barrel, peep sights and a Winchester-type safe. The stock is made from Turkish walnut. I’ve been carrying that particular rifle since 2005 and it’s got me out of trouble on numerous occasions. I like that caliber as it is pretty versatile. It’s fairly flat shooting for a heavy caliber and delivers good knock-down power. I generally carry it loaded with 500g solids, but will change to 500g softs when following wounded cats. I also have a .375 H&H Dakota built for me by my good friend Duke McCaa of Gulf Breeze. It’s fitted with a Swarovski Z6i 1,5 – 10. My tracker Mudini always carries my .375 just in case there is a longer shot on a wounded animal. Clients are also welcome to use this rifle should they wish to travel without guns. My light caliber is a .300 Win Mag, Parker Hale, fitted with a Swarovski 2-12, illuminated reticule.

My closest brush with death was one time I really annoyed my wife… (Joke!)

I have been charged by all of the big four that we hunt in Zimbabwe – three times by buffalo, twice by elephant, once by each of the cats, and they thankfully all ended well, but I must say the one that I truly felt could’ve gone badly wrong was the elephant bull.

The client had attempted a side brain shot with his .500 double. The first shot actually dropped it, but I could see it was not a direct hit to the brain. He followed up with the second shot to the body somewhere as it was going down. Normally at this point I tell the client to put an insurance shot to the back of the head and another into the heart/lung area, but where the bull had fallen you could not see the back of its head as it was covered by a large bush, so we walked around and I got the client to put another two shots into the heart area. I still wasn’t happy with the insurance shots as I felt they were too low, so thought I’d walk to the front of the bull and get the client to put another couple of rounds into the chest area. As we were making our way around, the bull started rocking from side to side with his head up off the ground trying to stand up, at which point I told the client to shoot it in the head/brain. He fired one shot, and I was waiting for him to fire the second shot but it never came.

The bull was still trying to get up, and at this point was close to getting back onto his feet. I personally didn’t want to shoot the bull myself – after all it was the client’s elephant. Lesson learnt! I took my eyes off the bull to see what the client was doing and why he wasn’t firing his second shot. Turns out he had only reloaded one barrel, so after that shot he back-tracked while trying to reload his double. When I turned back towards the bull, to my surprise I found it on its feet and staring down at me. I fired my first shot in haste, but instantly knew that I’d hit it too high. It lifted its head and then lowered its head and started coming for me. Thankfully, my second shot brained it properly and it fell with its front feet tucked under its chest and tusks impaled into the ground. It was literally five paces from me. If I had missed that shot I believe I would’ve been tickets! Nothing more daunting than a big-bodied elephant bull with 55lb tusks staring down at you. I learnt a valuable lesson that day.

Close call!

I feel the hunting industry has changed a lot due to all the pressure from the anti-hunters. There seems to be a lot more rules and regulations in place to help appease those folks, such as minimum age limits on lion and leopard, for example, and because of this, modern technology – such as trail cameras – is today a must have for any PH, as they help us guess the age of the cat on bait. The fast pace of today’s world also means that safaris are getting shorter and shorter, as not many people today can afford to spend 3-4 weeks away from work, so effectively people are trying to accomplish in 10 – 14 days what used to be a minimum of 21 days. All of this adds immense pressure to us as PHs. I feel there are some good changes, however. I feel we as PHs are trying to put more emphasis on the age of the animal hunted rather than the size, and in my opinion this is what it should all be about. A great hunting experience culminating in the taking of an old animal.

To improve your hunting experience, practice at the range as often as you can. Practice shooting from various positions. Sitting positions, off shooting sticks, free hand, off your knees. I can think of hundreds of opportunities missed by clients because they weren’t comfortable shooting at something that wasn’t quite standing broadside, in the open, and because they weren’t happy shooting off sticks, etc. Practice, practice, practice. Bullets are cheap compared to the total cost of your safari. It also helps to study and learn the anatomy of the animals you’ll be hunting. Lots of good books are out there on shot placement.

I think our industry is under immense pressure and in a huge battle with the antis, and unless we can convince the majority of the uninformed that sustainable utilization of wildlife is key to its longevity, we will lose the battle. The way to do this is to prove to them with facts that hunting contributes to conservation. It’s up to us to make sure quotas are set correctly and that hunting ethics are maintained. We must also try and move away from judging the success of a safari on how big the trophies taken were, and rather on how old the animal is. In general I feel that as an industry as a whole we are trying hard and we are moving in the right direction.

And a dream… If I were to have one last safari, it would be a 28-day safari with leopard, lion, elephant bull and multiple buffalo (at least 10) on license. My father would be the primary client with my mother, wife and son as observers.

On safari with Pete de Villiers

Dec 10, 2020 | News

My ancestors were from the two original de Villiers brothers who came to the Cape in the 1670s and started Boschendal Wine Farm.

I was born in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1959. We ranched at Matetsi in Zimbabwe. In the 1950s and 1960s in that area, my father, Max de Villiers hunted problem lions that killed cattle there, and I hunted with him, so that is what started my hunting interest. I did my apprenticeship under the late Ian Lennox and Clive Lennox, and an important aspect I learnt was to respect all wildlife, otherwise you will get hurt.

I moved to South Africa and hunted for Bophuthatswana Parks Board under the State-owned Parks Board hunting company, and then I opened my own hunting company. I have hunted mainly in South Africa.

My favorite trophy animals to hunt are buffalo and kudu. I hunted a beautiful 46” inch spread buffalo on the State Reserve of Letaba Ranch, and received the award from PHASA for the Outstanding Trophy Taken in 2018.

The weapon I recommend to my clients to hunt Africa is a .375 H&H as a good allrounder caliber, with Swift A-Frame and FMJ Solids.

In the old days, hunting logistics and everything pertaining to the hunt was easy and not so modern. The way it should be. Nowadays the technology is crazy, and I prefer not to deal with modern stuff, just good old basics to conduct a good safari.

I always suggest to clients to practice well before a safari and be totally familiar with their firearm, and equipment.

For the future of wildlife, the industry must continue to plough back into conservation so that hunting can continue and wildlife can be managed and protected.

If I could ever go back to sometime in Africa for a classic hunt, it would be 21 days of collecting an array of species with the old traditions in place.