How many rhinos do we have left in our National Parks? An open letter to South African Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy.
Author Archives: Simon Espley
Yes or no – boycott tourism lodges in Greater Kruger because of neighbouring trophy hunting operations?
Does it make sense to boycott tourism lodges in the Greater Kruger because of trophy hunting on neighbouring properties? Our CEO answers the question.
Opinion: The future is here – safari game drives will never be the same again
Our CEO test drives the best electric 4×4 vehicle around, and wants one.
Opinion: Our CEO asks whether the trophy hunting industry could ruin Kruger’s big expansion plan
Our CEO asks whether the trophy hunting industry will bring the Greater Kruger to its knees.
Here’s how YOU can make a difference for RHINOS
Our CEO has a message for those of you who want to make a difference for rhinos. Start by watching STROOP, then take action.
Video: South African rhino doing circus tricks in Russia – what’s next for our wildlife industry?
A two-ton white rhino, sold from a South African farm, is being forced to perform tricks at Russian circuses.
The Extinction Business: Lion bone trade threatens world’s big cats
The Extinction Business: South Africa’s ‘Lion’ Bone Trade is an investigative report by EMS Foundation and Ban Animal Trading that reveals startling and alarming factors that have a significant negative impact on worldwide big cat conservation.
Skye the lion – the beginning of the end for trophy hunting in the Greater Kruger?
The highly controversial shooting of a male lion by a trophy hunter in the Umbabat section of the Greater Kruger could conceivably mark the beginning of the end for trophy hunting in this part of Africa.
Video: Lions make a comeback
With wild lions under pressure from so many threats, this is a wonderful story of lions being reintroduced to an area that used to have lions.
Will Zambia’s Luangwa River be dammed? Have your say
Zambia’s wildlife paradise and legendary safari mecca of Luangwa Valley may in future partially function as one giant tap for some of Zambia’s growing water needs. Gone will be the seasonal, natural water cycles that sustain and nurture this incredibly fecund river valley. You see, a sizeable chunk of Luangwa Valley may be dammed in the near future, at Ndevu Gorge
Kruger lion hunted – what we know
A large male lion was trophy hunted on Thursday morning last week in the Greater Kruger National Park.
Zambia’s hippo cull: Valid concerns and questions from those affected
A showdown is looming between tourism operators in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park and trophy hunters, in the wake of the Zambian government’s decision to cull up to 2,000 hippos over a 5-year period in Luangwa Valley, across the river from the tourism lodges – and to award the culling contract to a South African trophy hunting outfit Umlilo Safaris (so much for the empowerment of local people and generation of revenue that stays in Zambia).
Opinion: Africa is not Disneyland
Some imagery that comes to our screens can be tough to stomach, and every now and then Africa really tests one’s emotional make-up.
Mr President: Selling wild-caught baby elephants to China is just plain evil
An open letter to the president of Zimbabwe regarding the recent exportation of wild-caught baby elephants from Zimbabwe to China.
Benny the elephant and Mike – a touching African story
When the dry season sets in and water is scarce, barriers blur and relationships are forged out of necessity. One such relationship is that of Benny the elephant and Mike the human.
The BIG LIE about lion trophy hunting
The trophy hunting of Africa’s wild, free-roaming lions is not sustainable and has to stop – opinion piece by Simon Espley
Why Namibia’s desert-adapted lions are being killed
Namibia’s desert-adapted lions in the Tomakas region of Namibia are being killed off in a sad whirlpool of human politics, with the recent killing of the last of the famous ‘5 Musketeers’ being one such example.
Let’s boycott African tourism. Not
Some keyboard warriors regularly call for the boycott of an entire country’s tourism industry in reaction to the death of animals that could conceivably have been prevented.
Rhinos to Australia: is this conservation?
There are plans afoot to move rhinos from Africa to Australia as an ‘insurance policy’ and for ‘safekeeping’ in large grass paddocks amongst the gum trees. Is this a valid conservation project (as claimed) or a misdirection of energy and resources by a well-meaning Western society intent on privatising African conservation into their own backyard?
Opinion: Rhino horn trade = extinction in the wild
It is now legal in South Africa to trade domestically in rhino horn, after this country’s Constitutional Court recently overturned an eight-year ban on domestic trade, based on a technicality.
No Timbavati ‘100 Pounder’ elephant hunt
The last few weeks have witnessed some pretty vicious social media attacks on lodges within Timbavati Private Nature Reserve in the Greater Kruger National Park
Why conservation is failing
There is a war going on in African conservation, and the other side is winning hands down – why is that? Op-ed by Simon Espley
USA bans trophy imports of captive South African lions
The USA government has tightened regulations about the importation of lion trophies – focusing on South African captive lion trophies
CITES CoP17 – Africa in a nutshell
A brief summary of the main decisions taken at CITES CoP17 that affect African wildlife species.
Book Review: Elephant Dawn by Sharon Pincott
Every now and then a book comes along that breaks through the wallpaper of life and delivers its message intravenously. Elephant Dawn by Sharon Pincott does that – it is an intense read, inspiring and moving.
Why you should vote to stop trade in African grey parrots
Sign this petition and help to save thousands of wild African grey parrots!
STROOP – your chance to make a difference for rhinos
STROOP: Our CEO implores YOU to help ensure a controversial new documentary about rhinos is completed without censorship
Lions, trophy hunting and the US government – the 27 facts you need to know
27 things you need to know about lion trophy imports in the US, and the impact hunting is having on lions in Africa.
Fly SA Express at your peril
Open letter to SA Express CEO, Inati Ntshanga.
Rehabilitated Cape parrot thriving
A wild-born female Cape parrot rehabilitated from a deadly viral infection and released back into the wild in 2011 has been seen on several occasions, apparently healthy and living the life.
The Thing About Hunting
The thing about hunting is that the topic is so polarising that it prevents meaningful discourse between people who probably have more in common than they care to admit. And, while the protagonists battle it out, the grim reapers continue to harvest Africa’s wildlife and other natural resources. We humans tend to silo information to …
Hyena Men
This series of disturbing and yet fascinating images from photographers Pieter Hugo and Adetokunbo Abiola in their book The Hyena & Other Men
