Table of contents for Huntinamibia 2020 (English) in Huntinamibia

Schoeman was a true-blood adventurer. He grew up on a farm in Kwazulu-Natal where he hunted with his Zulu hunting mates from an early age. He had great respect for the Zulu people and their traditions and wisdoms, and spoke the Zulu language fluently. After obtaining a B.A. degree in Anthropology at Stellenbosch University in 1930, he undertook a long single-man journey through East Africa, covering more than 4000 kilometres on foot and living with pastoral peoples in their home villages. He fell seriously ill with blackwater fever, the deadly version of malaria, before he returned to South Africa. He wrote his first novel with hunting as a theme: Die Swerwerjagter (The Wanderer-hunter) in 1930, followed by Die Jagterprins (The Hunting Prince) and Drie Jong Jagters (Three Young Hunters). These…

Early in the morning, after a mug of strong, hot coffee and a sandwich with farm-smoked meat and prickly pear jam we are rumbling across the rugged Schwarzrand landscape in the south of Namibia. The morning sky to the east slowly announces the impending sunrise, and the ice-cold wind hits our faces. We are wrapped in thick coats and wear beanies. Eventually the first pinkish-orange sun rays appear over the horizon and immerse the grand, endless landscape in a golden light. The dry grass sways ever so lightly and the pods of the trumpet-thorn rattle in the wind, bringing a slight restlessness to the otherwise peaceful mood of this incredibly beautiful clear morning in our semi-desert terrain. My face and hands are freezing, and I cannot even feel my nose…

My husband Oliver and I only had to look at each other to give our kids an answer: “This coming fall!” Before we could say more we were interrupted by loud jubilation from our boys. Since our trip to the Kalahari a few years ago we had built a friendship with professional hunter Volca Otto who ran Ondjiviro Hunting Safaris. The decision to choose a hunting destination in Africa was a foregone conclusion. A phone call later our plans were finalised; we wanted to go on a family hunting trip, which our sons would enjoy, too. As Volca has two sons himself, he knows what a hunter’s family needs and he is the perfect choice for us. The remaining weeks until we leave for Namibia fly by. Volca picks us…

The Namibian government recognises threats to hunting as threats to its strategies for sustainable development and conservation, which are based on maximising the value of native wildlife species to Namibian landowners and rural communities. Conservation organisations in Namibia also recognise the threat, as history has shown that sustainable use plays an important role in promoting wildlife-friendly land uses and habitat conservation throughout the country. Hunting professionals in Namibia agree with the above views and are furthermore concerned with providing a more accurate picture of their contributions to conservation for the global community. Representatives of these three key stakeholders have therefore come together to develop the National Best Practice Guidelines for Conservation Hunting in Namibia. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET), representing government, highlighted the need for these guidelines and…

Namibia has adopted a number of innovative strategies to achieve biodiversity conservation within the framework of national development plans and poverty eradication. One of the strategies is the Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Programme, which allows for the formation of communal conservancies through which rural communities have gained rights over management of wildlife and tourism. The CBNRM programme provides a number of incentives to rural communities who are managing these natural resources and generate income from the sustainable utilisation of wildlife and tourism management. The Namibian conservation model, which has received international acclaim, is based on the premise that people living with wildlife are the rightful custodians. Our legislation and policies thus provide for rural communities and private landowners to manage their wildlife populations sustainably and derive financial and other…

DEFINITIONS Indigenous – where the species occurs naturally without any human intervention. This refers to the species’ actual distribution, not the countries where it occurs. For example, Waterbuck and Lechwe are indigenous to the wetland systems of NE Namibia – they are not indigenous to the whole of Namibia. Similarly, Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra are indigenous to the western escarpment and central plateau of Namibia, but not to the Kalahari. Endemic – where an indigenous species has a naturally restricted range. Thus, a Namibian endemic means that the species occurs naturally only in Namibia. We therefore have a special responsibility for its conservation. A Southern African endemic means that the natural global distribution of a species is confined to south of the Kunene and Zambezi rivers. Near-endemic – where about 80%…

We were roaming the bush for days and scanned the valleys and the surroundings from the hilltops. The bush was sparse and offered little cover. No eland in sight, although it should have been easy to spot them. Our search and daily hunting excursion, however, taught us a valuable lesson: despite their massive bodies, eland are very secretive and quiet. We had some successful hunting in between, bagging a big hartebeest bull, which of course was to be expected in the prime area and cradle of red hartebeest. At sunrise on the fifth hunting day we were out again, still looking for that elusive eland bull. From hilltop to hilltop we went, when we suddenly heard something making a racket in the bush below us: two eland bulls trotted through…

At a time when wildlife conservation appears to be at a crossroads, the 66th CIC General Assembly took place in Windhoek, Namibia, under the theme “Crossroads - Leading the Way for Wildlife Conservation”. Bringing together stakeholders from across the globe to share wildlife conservation successes and challenges, the CIC chose stories of best practices in Namibian conservation as a backdrop. As each speaker took to the podium, the visionary approach Namibia has taken in conservation became more acutely apparent to the audience. The conference, hosted by Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism, served as a platform for workshop-style discussions and presentations on wildlife conservation successes, challenges and best practices in Namibia, Africa and across the world. The ultimate aim being to bring conservation efforts together onto a common path. At…

Founding Member of NAPHA* Namibia Professional Hunting Association 1974 NGC SWA National Game Committee) 1980 FENATA Federation of Namibian Tourism Association) APHA* African Professional Hunters Association SWAPH+G CANAM* Conservancy Association Namibia BOD NATH* Namibian Academy/Training in Hospitality NAMATANGA Conservancy* Proprietor of ANVO Hunting Safaris* since 1970 ERHS “Eagle Rock” Hunting School since 1974 Etango Ranch 1996 ERPHAN* “Eagle Rock” Professional Hunting Academy Namibia since 2000 Etango Ranch Guest Farm 2003 President of NAPHA Namibia Professional Hunting Association 1983 - 1991 Vice President of FENATA Federation of Namibian Tourism Associations 1992 - 1997 IPHA International Professional Hunters Association NGC National Game Committee of Namibia 1989 - 1990 Past President of SCI – Safari Club Africa Chapter 1997 Managing Director of SWA Safaris & ANVO (Pty) Ltd 1974 Chairman of Damaraland Safaris…

You must own your land, or be a majority shareholder Your land must be game-fenced Not smaller than 10 000 ha of continuous land Finances must be sound You must agree that the rhinos remain State property What does MET consider before granting your wish: Is this land right for rhino: is the land suitably fenced, are there enough water points, is the habitat suitable, is your management of the land appropriate and is the security of the property adequate. The Rhino Technical Advisory Group advises the Rhino Management Committee, which then makes the final decision. Upon approval, the animals are translocated within a year or two, depending on the capture programme. Rhinos are dehorned before translocation and if you can carry the cost, radio or satellite collars can also…

The year 2019 was marked by more environmental issues than I have consciously witnessed ever before, and all of them while the drought in Namibia lingered heavily on our minds. Sixteen-year-old activist Greta Thunberg has campaigned fiercely for urgent action against climate change and habitat loss. She became the voice and face for what many others have cautioned against for years already: the destruction and loss of habitat on a terrific scale and the extinction of species, claiming that we are at the beginning of the sixth mass extinction. While many have denounced all of this as nonsense, no-one can dispute the fact that habitats are being threatened at an escalating pace. And with that comes the extinction of species. According to Professor Francois Durand from the University of Johannesburg,…

DIrk de Bot The 2019 trophy is great news for Namibia not only because of its size in an area which is considered not to host such big old elephant, but also for Koos, a veteran PH of 20 years, who has guided in that part of Namibia all of his professional life. In this specific concession, which he runs Huntafrica Safaris Namibia, with James and Christine Chapman, he has hunted for the past decade and prior to that another four years. He knows the seasons, the animals’ behaviour and the people of the San community who live in the multi-use park and who benefit directly from the hunting operations. Over the years he also got to know the ways of the poachers. Anti-poaching efforts have been a key responsibility…

I taught my nephew Adriaan as a young boy how to handle a rifle safely, and in the beginning we often went out hunting with the .22 long rifle. The most common game species in our area, besides gemsbok, is the red hartebeest. We normally hunt hartebeest for the kitchen and for staff rations. After I was satisfied that Adriaan was comfortable and responsible with the small calibre over open sights, he successfully hunted his first gemsbok. And now he was ready to hunt his first hartebeest with me, here on Petersfarm. It is always a delight to stalk in our diverse surroundings; to hunt on foot without knowing what might be behind the next bush, and to be able to freely hunt for venison. I am very fond of…

When the editor of Huntinamibia asked me to write a short article on P.J. Schoeman, I found an archive picture of him sitting next to a downed lioness. At that time Schoeman was definitely a much younger man than when I met him during his last years. When I was young myself and in love, I read his love story Where the Far Winds Blow, in which he used a lion charge to bring the story to its fatal ending. The picture of my mentor with his lioness made me think back to my own lion, which I shot in what was then Namibia’s Bushmanland (now part of the Otjozondjupa Region). I was working for the Nyae Nyae Foundation. My job was to instruct the Ju/’hoansi hunter-gatherers in cattle herding…

Granted, I was damn lucky to be able to watch a honey badger for almost an hour in an extraordinary and exciting situation. Adventurous stories came to mind, of honey badgers that successfully fight a black mamba or even leopards and lions. Tall tales? Blooming imagination, I figured, and I would still think so if I had not seen the battle with my own eyes and captured it on camera. It was last year – 2019, the terrible record-breaking year of drought – on one of those mornings when you wondered if it really made any sense to go hunting. The game was suffering and you did not want to add to its distress. But our hunting farm Gross-Okandjou is also a farm like many others. The workers need meat.…

In a discussion paper the NCE posed the following question: Given the importance of hunting to conservation and the economy, why do some members of the professional hunting fraternity act in ways that put the sector at risk, and that play into the hands of the animal rights movement? The NCE and its members do not support unethical hunting behaviour and believe that there are five fundamental principles that hunters should uphold if they are to be characterised as “professional” and be allowed to practice in Namibia. These are: These principles translate into five key areas of responsibility for hunters: Unprofessional behaviour feeds the narrative of those opposed to the sustainable use of biodiversity. Such unprofessional behaviour affects not only the hunting sector but also conservancies, wildlife ranches, conservation in…

A research paper on Small Arms Control and Crime in Namibia, released in November 2017, revealed that the new Firearms Draft Amendment Bill includes a section that makes ballistic testing obligatory for all privately owned firearms. The bill was tabled in the National Assembly in August 2019. It authorises the Inspector General of the Namibian Police to compel any licensed firearm owner and gun dealer to present all firearms, together with ammunition, for a ballistic test or any other tests considered to be necessary. Similar laws on compulsory ballistic testing were introduced in the US states of Maryland and New York following a call from interest groups that all new handguns needed to be test-fired and the ballistic profile registered in a system that allows comparison with cartridge cases and/or…

“We spent a whole week in the field learning about the different trees and plants and their natural uses and we also learnt how to track animals.” “This trip was great, especially for us kids who live in town. Everyone learnt how to survive and we appreciate nature more than before. We also bonded with our classmates in a way we never thought we could.” We want our children to learn about nature, to sleep under the stars, to hear the sound of a jackal, share thoughts around the campfire. To realise how fortunate they are to still have so much wilderness in Namibia and to become aware of their responsibility to conserve it. We also want to equip our children with the correct information regarding Namibia’s stand on the…