Mabamba Swamp is a bird-lovers dream destination. It is home to 260 bird species, including the massive shoebill – Uganda’s most sought-after bird!
Category Archives:
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?
Photographer of the Year 2017 Top 101 Finalists Part 1
Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year 2017 Top 101 Finalists – images that will have you booking your next safari
Photographer of the Year 2017 Top 101 Finalists Part 4
Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year 2017 Top 101 Finalists – images that will have you booking your next safari
Photographer of the Year 2017 Top 101 Finalists Part 3
Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year 2017 Top 101 Finalists – images that will have you booking your next safari
Photographer of the Year 2017 Top 101 Finalists Part 2
Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year 2017 Top 101 Finalists – images that will have you booking your next safari
The link between hunting & tourism in Namibia
I am not a hunter. Nor have I ever been. I am a vegetarian (since the age of about 11), I am part of the environmental NGO sector and I have interests in the tourism industry in Namibia. So, it might surprise you that I am a strong supporter of the hunting industry in Namibia, and indeed, throughout Africa.
6 Tips to sketch a cheetah hunt
Wildlife artist and art safari host Alison Nicholls shares tips for sketching a hunting cheetah hunt – including field sketches and photos
Human-wildlife conflict in East Africa
Human-wildlife conflict is one of the biggest causes of reduction in wildlife populations across Africa – we unpack various solutions
South Luangwa: dog detection unit hounds poaching
In eastern Zambia, Conservation South Luangwa, in partnership with Working Dogs for Conservation and Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife has launched a fantastic initiative: Zambia’s first ever canine wildlife detection unit.
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.
Namibia’s desert-adapted lions
Namibia’s desert-adapted lions are hardy survivors that eke out a living in the inhospitable arid west of this beautiful country
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
In the Footsteps of Giants
Award-winning photographer Greg du Toit shares with us his favourite elephant images, and explains why each image impacted on him
Baby elephant tragedy leads to appeal for help
Eric Sagwe of Wildlife Works received an early morning phone call that a baby elephant had been hit by a large truck in Tsavo, Kenya.
Elephant Ignite Expedition
Elephant Ignite embarked on a 16 000km, 100-day journey across 10 African countries to cast the spotlight on the elephant poaching crisis
Love for elephants on the Elephant Ignite Expedition
The Elephant Ignite Expedition travelled to 10 different countries, to visit projects that work tirelessly to save elephants
R.I.P SATAO 2
SATAO 2 has died, at the hands of ivory poachers. We pay tribute to this giant elephant by quoting several people who met him
Spending time on safari at a Maasai village
Safari report-back: Spice up your Kenyan safari with a fascinating visit to a Maasai village. By Giada and Gianluca Ventura
Satao 2 poached in Tsavo – 6 super tuskers left
SATAO 2 is dead, and another of the last super tuskers left in Africa has been poached, leaving only 6 of these giants in the Tsavo Conservation Area in southern Kenya.
18% crash in Kruger white rhino population
Drought & poaching have reduced estimated white rhino numbers in South Africa’s Kruger National Park by 18% during the past year
Trophy hunting: leopard update
Earlier this year, South African Environmental Affairs minister Edna Molewa announced a ZERO quota for leopard hunts in 2017, a continuation of the 2016 ruling.
Of leatherbacks and loggerheads
As our guide brought the open game vehicle coasting to a halt, the only sound was of waves breaking gently on the sand. That morning, Sodwana Bay had been clamorous with tractors and trailers, speedboats and scuba divers. But now, late at night, the beach was utterly empty. And out there, somewhere, an ancient and …
Protecting pangolins with the Tikki Hywood Trust
The Tikki Hywood Trust is doing great things to protect the remaining wild populations of pangolins – the most trafficked animal in the world
Rhino orphans released into iSimangaliso
On Monday, three white rhino orphans were peacefully released into their new home within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
New species of dwarf lemur discovered in Madagascar
Scientists have discovered a new species of dwarf lemur In the forests of northern Madagascar – weighing in just 100 grams
Rhino Bombshell: SA Minister plans to permit trade in horn
South African Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has declared that she plans to permit the trade in rhino horn domestically and, in what looks like a loophole big enough to drive a tractor through, the export internationally of horn for ‘personal purposes’.
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
Finding Africa’s rarest parrot – Cape Parrots in Magoebaskloof
A birding trip into the Magoesbaskloof in Limpopo, South Africa to find the Cape parrot – Africa’s rarest parrot
Hunting: the colour game is over
The breeding of wildlife to produce unusually coloured animals, in the hope that hunters would pay a lot more to shoot them, has fallen flat in a spectacular manner — with the practice being widely condemned.
Lion bones: SA public has no time to contest sale
South Africa is about to permit the export of lion bones to produce fake tiger wine but has given the public almost no time to object. The permit will allow an annual export of 800 skeletons to Asia.
Chinese traders going after Africa’s donkeys
According to several sources, there is a growing demand in Chinese markets for donkey pelts, and some rural areas in Africa are reportedly being stripped of free-roaming donkeys to feed the demand.
Lion skeletons – 800 to be exported annually
SANBI’s recommendation to the Department of Environmental Affairs to allow export of 800 captive-bred lion skeletons from South Africa is coming under fire from Humane Society International and the producer of the film Blood Lions.
A closer look at pangolins and the pangolin men
Imagine the possibility of walking with pangolins. Adrian Steirn’s recent photographic series The Pangolin Men captures a unique and exceptional scenario of beasts and men.
Kruger Walking Magic
The three-night Mphongolo Backpack Trail in the Kruger National Park takes takes your soul to a deeper understanding of wilderness
Supernatural South Luangwa
“Turn left. Continue along the road, through a dry riverbed. When the road forks, keep to the left.” We were 371km from home, six hours into our journey, and at the bottom of page two of a three-page printout of detailed instructions describing how to get to South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. We weren’t …
China announces end of legal ivory trade
China announces 2017 timeline for domestic ivory ban.
The Askari Project: a Tsavo tusker conservation initiative
As part of their fundraising initiatives to help protect the giant (tusker) elephants of Tsavo, The Askari Project offers two adventure tours
Trophy Hunting: unethical Namibian hunters to blame for poor image
Unethical hunters cause poor international image of trophy hunting – says past president of the Namibian Professional Hunting Association
Kicking back in Mauritius
The year is all but done, the mountain of admin has got the better of you, and strings of last-minute things to do are being pulled from your threadbare brain like a magician’s trick. It’s now, more than ever, that you need to be sitting on a beach, staring out over the turquoise water with …
iSimangaliso: the moving release of two rehabilitated turtles
On 28 November 2016, two rehabilitated green turtles nicknamed ‘Mel’ and ‘Grotto’ were released here at Mabibi by park CEO Andrew Zaloumis and senior aquarist Robert Kyle from SAAMBR.
Hwange
The annual wildlife count in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park is a wonderful citizen-science project for all – Tony Park tells his story
Himba: Hearts of Sand
The Himba tribe in Namibia are a semi-nomadic people who have largely resisted modernisation. This fantastic gallery celebrates their lives
Trophy hunting: sustainability problems in Zimbabwe exposed
Trophy hunting in Zimbabwe’s Matetsi Safari Area is not sustainable at current levels as trophy sizes are declining, there is little scientific data supporting quota sizes and hunting management is seriously incapacitated.
Anti-poaching pooches
Kruger National Park’s anti-poaching dogs work hard all day to keep our rhinos and other wildlife safe. Learn more about them here
PHASA to defend captive-bred lion resolution
The Professional Hunters Association of South Africa (PHASA) is to defend its position on captive-bred lion hunting and breeding in the Pretoria High Court on 22 November.
The art of pottery making in Sudan
The streets in Sudan are lined with pottery. Look behind the scenes of this dying age-old tradition passed down through the generations
A petrified forest in Sibiloi National Park
Sibiloi National Park in northern Kenya is vast, arid and remote – miles from other wildlife areas that the country is famous for
The model and the San
Model and actress Aleksandra Ørbeck-Nilssen has such huge respect for the San people of Namibia that she dedicates a chunk of her life to them
Zambian poaching crisis fuelled by Chinese military
Zambia’s elephant population has declined by about 90% due to poaching. Its black rhino population, estimated at 13,000 in 1981, is now extinct.