South African Game Conservation
The Elephant Coast is home to dozens of game parks and wilderness areas and according to Ranger Richard Venter, this is actually a good thing as the parks in effect create separate gene pools where game animals can be exchanged and sold to keep each species from in-breeding and extinction.
Richard is one of those people who can turn his hand to whatever needs to be done within the Falaza Game Park & Spa, taking people on game drives, walks & looking after the animals in the park. He spoke openly about the environmental issues facing South Africa.
Richard is an interesting character who grew up wanting to be a hunter, but he is also very much the conservationist. It is very clear that he objects to man’s treatment of the environment and went into great detail about how dams have ruined eco systems and is none too pleased with what is happening in Kruger National Park, the most well known reserve in South Africa.
It all comes down to space. There simply is precious little left for free-roaming animals. In an alternate view, he believes that in South Africa (ie not Africa as a whole) nothing is really on the verge of becoming a history lesson, and in fact there are so many game animals about, South Africa is now breeding and exporting a huge number of animals annually.
Echoing the great kangaroo culling debate in Australia, in Kruger National Park there used to be 7,000 elephants and apparently not so long ago, culling was stopped after a vociferous campaign and now numbers are 14,000 plus. Richard reckons the huge increase in numbers is allowing the elephant to systematically destroy Kruger – and he strongly believes that animal numbers should be governed by space available.
Richard is very pro-hunting certain species. Firstly he maintains that it helps reduce overpopulation and that in terms of income, one hunter brings in the equivalent of twelve tourists, so everyone wins, including the environment and the game.
Whatever your personal stance on these sorts of issues, it was intriguing to meet someone who is so absolutely passionate about conserving the unique African environment and its game animals, but who regards controlled hunting simply as a profitable balancing mechanism for preservation.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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