Under lockdown level 3, many sectors have been allowed to trade or operate to some degree. However, the tourism and leisure sectors have remained closed for months, impacting on thousands of jobs and the finances and well-being of millions of South Africans. Reopening local tourism may contribute to securing employment for many, which would act as a lifeboat for vulnerable … [Read more...]
Help protect our game rangers and their families
Protecting our wildlife across Africa is no longer what it used to be. Dedicated individuals across the marine and terrestrial sectors work tirelessly to keep our heritage safe. During this global pandemic, let us not forget about our rangers. As lockdowns are implemented across the world, rangers are being classified as essential services in South Africa to ensure our … [Read more...]
Celebrating the continent’s largest African Wild Dog reintroduction
Thanks to a huge restoration effort implemented after Mozambique’s brutal civil war that destroyed most of the country’s wildlife, Gorongosa National Park is now an extensive protected area with an abundance of game. The restoration of Gorongosa – funded by entrepreneur and philanthropist, Gregg Carr – has been a huge effort involving national government, including the … [Read more...]
Exciting journey ahead for Somkhanda
Somkhanda Game Reserve covers over 12 000 hectares of land and is a community reserve owned by the Emvokweni Community Trust (ECT) and co-managed with WILDLANDS, a programme of the WILDTRUST. Since its establishment in 2005, it has achieved major milestones and has in the process earned its status of being a ‘Big Five’ reserve. Currently, over 80 community members are employed … [Read more...]
The rhino killing fields of KwaZulu-Natal
Conservationists warned that the lifting of the ban on the South African domestic trade in rhino horn would spell an all out war on South Africa's remaining rhino. This certainly seems evident after the discovery of two more rhino carcasses this week. This gruesome find brings the total number of rhino poached in a five month period to the highest ever recorded in the … [Read more...]
A ranger’s view on the rhino poaching epidemic
Rangers working in the Kruger National Park (KNP) refer to it as ‘the beast’. With a size of 19 485km² and temperatures that sore to a blistering 50°C, working in the field is not for the faint-hearted. Rangers work up to 21 days in the bush under these harsh conditions, without the luxuries many of us take for granted, and away from their families and loved ones. While only … [Read more...]
Why the longnecks are becoming extinct in Africa
A researcher from the University of the Free State (UFS) played a role in the important new film Last of the Longnecks which was screened at the US Environmental Film Festival. Dr Francois Deacon, lecturer and researcher in the Department of Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences at the UFS, who also has a role in the film, attended the preview at the Carnegie Institution … [Read more...]
Why southern Africa’s iconic baboon is on the decline
Southern Africans have a love-hate relationship with chacma baboons. They have an unmistakable presence on the landscape, but their reputation as notorious troublemakers makes them unpopular. Lethal removal is common throughout their range; humans are the principal cause of the population decline. The people of southern Africa associate the infamous primates with home, even … [Read more...]
Help stop the mass extinction
We can never do enough for our rhinos, who are in danger of extinction. In 2009 there was a dramatic increase in rhino poaching, with 135 animals killed. In 2010, a staggering 333 animals were brutally slaughtered for their horns. Our planet is currently undergoing the largest mass extinction in its history with at least 30, 000 species going extinct every year. However, all … [Read more...]
Botswana Bushmen’s borehole breakthrough
Survival International has been speaking to Bushmen from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve as they celebrate drinking water from the Mothomelo borehole for the first time in nine years. It marks a significant step towards their full return to their ancestral lands following a landmark court ruling in 2006. Despite winning Botswana's longest running court case over four … [Read more...]
