Big Five African Game Hunting and its Role in Wildlife Conservation

Big five african game hunting, plays a very important role in the conservation of wildlife, especially in South Africa. It is conducted mostly through responsible conservation and culling practices.

African Bull Elephant

Instead of criticizing it as being a politically incorrect sport, many environmentalists view game (wildlife) ranching and big five african game hunting as promoting conservation and increasing the population of many wild animal species.

South Africa is the only country in the world where all of the Big Five (lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard, and rhino) can be legally hunted. This attracts trophy hunters from the U.S.A., and European countries such as Spain, Austria, Germany and Italy.

Conservation Through Wildlife Hunting and Culling

The hunting industry does a great deal to promote conservation.

Professor Graham Kerley, Director of the Terrestrial Ecology Research Unit at the University of Port Elizabeth says that this industry has made a tremendous contribution to conservation.

This viewpoint is also supported by Professor Kobus Bothma of the Centre for Wildlife Management at the University of Pretoria. He says that there is more wildlife in South Africa today than at any time in the past 100 years. He goes on to say "Wildlife ranching has contributed significantly to this recovery. Some 19,576 wild animals were sold live at 58 auctions in 2003, and some 8,900 head of game were hunted in the Eastern Cape in 2001 alone."

Two Lions

The Eastern Cape and Limpopo are the major regions for this activity. In the Eastern Cape the number of game ranches are rapidly growing. Over 20% of the province is used for wildlife and this area is rapidly growing.

An interesting observation is that while in Central and East Africa the wildlife areas are being threatened by cattle grazing, in South Africa some estimates show that each year, about 500,000 hectares of land are being converted from cattle to wildlife ranching.

Ironically, this industry also benefits endangered species. Rare animals fetch a high price at wildlife auctions. The higher the prices that the endangered animals sell for, the greater the effort put into increasing their numbers.

African Leopard Photo

Wildlife conservation in South Africa is very effective with wildlife farms flourishing and supplying a greater number of wildlife.

In order to keep the ecological balance, herds need to be periodically culled. This gives rise to selective commercial big game hunting. Part of this income generated is contributed to conservation programs and the overall management and upkeep of these wildlife sanctuaries. Also on hand are expert taxidermists to undertake the treatment, mounting and shipment of big game hunting trophies.