Ganyana in another thread mentioned the Zimbawean Zambezi Hunt auctions are happening this week.

Does anyone know of any info on the web or links about them?

Thanks.

To buy a hunt on the Zambezi Valley Auctions contact

Ian Ferreira of Ferreira's auctioneers (or his wife Jo):- They will be auctioning the individual hunts on behalf of parks as they do every year.

They can organise to "bid" on a foreign visitors behalf, so you don't have to be their in person.

They can be contacted on:-

263-4-750-383/4
263-4-751-836/7

fax 263-4-790-006

email ferreira@icon.co.zw

Happy hunting guys :- its wet and the huntings going to be good this year!!!

Ganyana

Thanks for the information. I have a friend who did some of these in the past and he was interested in doing a joint one this year or ...... He has friends there providing the camp support, trackers etc.

Maybe too late for this year if the auction is already this week but will see.


I found a site on the web that listed the auctions for 2003. The only hunts other than plains game was for leopard and buffalo. I understood sometimes lion and elephant was also included. Are these included in any of the auctions for 2004?


Thanks again for your post.

Hi NitroX

Auctions a week on tomorrow.

If you or any of your mates do buy a camp I can think of a good few displaced farmers who were once active Citizen hunters, and who still have all the kit - tents, water pump, generator, good staff, landy or cruiser, etc who would be prepared to outfit at too an outrageous cost.

Can think of a couple of good PH's who could outfit as well if you wanted one along - and No, I'm not one of them. This year looks like a train smash already and if we do cull I wll be up to my eyeballs in dissections for scientific purposes.

This could be a good project for next year.

BTT

A little background info I found on the web:

Auction 1


The Zambezi Valley area of northern Zimbabwe contains some of the largest concentrations of game in the country and is one of Africa's most pristine "Big Game" habitats. This area, which stretches from Kariba Gorge to nearly the bottom of Mupata Gorge, some 200 kms downstream, contains Mana Pools Game Reserve and two Safari areas: the Nykasanga and Sapi Safari Areas. The Nykasanga and Sapi Safari Areas are extremely remote. There are no fences in these areas and only dirt tracks or dry river beds demarcate the various boundaries. The only way to access these hunting areas is via an auction system held by the Zimbabwe Department of Wildlife Management. The auction system works as follows:

The Zimbabwe Department of Wildlife Management auctions off a number 10 to 14 safaris in both the Nykasanga and Sapi Safari Areas. Each safari comes with a basic "bag" of animals such as: buffalo, hippopotamus, lion, hyena, impalas, duiker, grysbok, baboons, etc. Depending on the safari area, the time of year, and animals listed for a safari area, these hunts vary between $6000 and $8000 US dollars. You can hunt extra animals for trophy fees.
____________________________________________________


A real killing (2002)

Want to make your most special clients a guaranteed killing? Then why not put them into the Zambezi Valley Hunt Exchange, where baboon options are currently at an unbeatable $9 per baboon. Or, for a laugh, you could deal in Hyena futures as well.

The Zambezi exchange is--seriously--the centre for participating in the big-game hunting season in Africa. Each year, some 105 government contracts to hunt about 4,000 big game in the Zambezi Valley are put up for auction.

The contracts, for beasts like lion and leopard in the Zambezi Valley wilderness do a roaring trade each year. Hunters, predominantly wealthy American business executives, stampede for options on bull elephants and can occasionally get nastily gored by always-volatile buffalo contracts, we hear. This year, a 14-day option to kill a hippo went for $3,700 and traders say US hunters propelled warthog futures up to $690 from last year's high of $327.

This year 240 investors spent a total of $3 million for the right to hunt trophy game from antelopes to zebras. Kenya banned hunting in 1977 and South Africa mostly arranges stocked antelope hunts, leaving Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe the only countries where sport hunters can go after big game like lion and leopard.


Regards,

Terry

It was only little while ago that some of you were falling all over yourself condiming certain Safari Companies for getting in bed with the devil, but its OK to deal directly with the Zim Terroist Government now??

Ganyana, I recall you were very verbal in those discussions, so am I missing something here, if so then please enlighten me, as it appears to be in direct conflict with earlier posts...

I am not trying to be obstinent here, I would just like an explanation...

Ray,

I will take a chance at this. It is my understanding that these auctions have been around for a very long time. I can remember having conversations with BwanaBob from Australia about doing one.

Ann,
Yes, they have been around for a long time, but those lands belong to Magabe any way you cut it! so your point being? things have changed over there you know.

Ray



I am on your wavelength .... BUT remember Ray you have only been in the game for 30+ years so you know squat about Africa No matter how often and how vehemently those in the know how warn people to be careful, there is one born everyday whom will ignore sensible advice and go for broke, we all have the hrdluck story to tell after the event when in a lot of instances if people sometimes listened to others in the know how they might just save a bit of heartache ... I guess you like I wish them all the very best and dont worry about I told you so.



All the best to those with more knowledge and intuition than Ray, go for it



Peter

Ray



I know what you are saying but not many months, probably more like weeks or even days ago you were saying exactly the opposite. In fact then you were insulting people and calling them 'pansies' or whatever for even asking about problems in Zimbabwe. All from vast years of experience then too!





Some points:



These auctions have gone on for years. All from the Mugabe government.



When an outfitter bids on a concession from government owned lands. Those fees go to the same government.

Is there any difference?



Also name me more than a couple countries in Africa where the black governments aren't corrupt, undemocratic, murderers of their own people? Yet hunters hunt there and agents even book hunts there.



As these are auction lands surely they are squeaky clean as they have never been stolen from anyone (in the last twenty years at least).







My main concerns with a deal like this is:



1) How much game is left in the areas if it has been heavily poached and no one has been guarding it;



2) Troubles with dealing with warvets, road blocks and the like, which are common. (Probably carrying a few impala carcases out and settle it with nyama as always!)



3) Making sure the price is right. It's not a deal if the auction price + fees to other people end up costing the same as a guided hunt.



Lack of luxuries of a camp isn't a big deal for me.



Hunting nasty game on your lonesome is a concern but other Aussies have done it before. If you get squashed or bitten it may be a concern for the Zim industry but it probably won't be for you anymore! In fact a mate of mine followed up a wounded lion in thick bush by himself, no trackers either by the way on a guided hunt, while his useless PH sat in the car too scared to help in the follow up.



4) How to convince the wife to let me go after being accosted by warvets last time. Hey honey, I'm off to the Northern Territory for a few weeks.



5) How to do it all in a few days for 2004? So probably just "scouting" for 2005.

Hi Atkinson

Yes, in a way your money comming into Zimbabwe may supporting Mugabe, as the hard currncy may be used to ultimately purchace fuel or send Grace shopping in Malaysa, but it is unlikely. All the money from the auctions goes to the Parks and Wildlife Conservation Fund. 25% of that money has to be changed into Zimbabwe dollars, and the remainder parks can hold to purchace equipment spares etc.

My complaint about some of the other areas is that parks were not being paid for the game of the animals except at nominal rates. eg last year the one concession holder was paying parks US$four hundred for an elephant, ad $47 for a buff. They were also paying US$120 to US$750 a year for the concession. All proffit from such an arangement effectively going to ZANU-PF.

Parks is now entirely self funding with no financial support from government. If you want conservation you have to pay your staff!! With the way things were going last year a Game scout ( the front line against poaching or illegal hunting) earned an average of US9 per month. Yup nine whole dollars a month. A warden, in charge of a whole park was on the fantastic salary of between 40 and 56 dollars a month.

Parks has to earn more so that it can actually pay its remaining competant staff to stay. Many of the concession holders with properly auctioned off government concessions paid parks huge money for the concession and high trophy fees. And yes, the operator makes a proffit. That is his right for the risks and effort he puts in.

I supose the bottom line is that, in the case of a concession, if parks are recieving their fair share to pay for the conservation of the resource base then one can have no complaints about the operation, even if it was owned by a top political figure - who you then book with is up to you. In the case of the auctions, parks is effectively the concession holder and all money goes to parks without a 90+% siphon off.

I hope this explains

Ganyana



No reflection on your intergrity so please take my comment in context ...



I may be a bit dum myself but how the hell do we really know the situation in Zim's when the press are muzzled and locals are tooo damn scrared to speak out themselves for reasons that are obvious to all whom know the situation ... If some of the courts rule as they like and ignore things that dont fit the government viepoint and the police have ultimate powers, how do we know what we are being told is 100% gospel !!! Of cource I sympathise a hell of a lot with the people and the Outfitters as they have to also to some degree become should we say user friendly to the regime and some of it's principles or if not then they know there can be consequences



Peter

I don't know anything about hunt auctions, but if we boycott Zimbabwe as Ray seems to suggest, all we will do is bankrupt the professional hunters and completely destroy both the hunting industry and the game in Zimbabwe.

I will happily hunt Zimbabwe, even if Bob gets a small cut of the action.

Seems like this comes up every year. I see no problems at all, especially if you do not speak Shona or Matabele!!

I would guess that at least some of the hunts are bought by the locals, and then re-sold. Maybe could get a list of successful bidders????

Will

Yes there would be Shona and/or Sindebele speakers present.

Balla Balla

It is very difficult to know the truth in Zimbabwe, even if you live here and work on the fringes on the industry, especially from any form of press report - the government press cannot get the details right even when it would benefit the government and the independant press is very anti hunting :- see the comments on this forum on HHK taking over matetsi unit five as it was reported in Pravda (sorry Herald). Utter bull. Parks own the concession on trial to learn about how to run hunting properly, HHK/Famba have a one year agreement to help market the hunting!!!!!

Also , the established operators are fiercly defending their turf. Those that were disposessed are cry foul loudly ( and quite rightly as far as I am concerned) and every up and comming PH with dreams of making it, is trying to find his own area, often even when that means that he has to stab somebody in the back.

In brief:- contact the association:- bown@zct.co.zw

(if that email adress is now out of date (it may be changing shortly) then contact Don Heath at African Hunter - email fishunt@mweb.co.zw who is on the committee and who will be able to give you the official email adress of both ZATSO- the operators ass, and ZPHGA - the PH ass)

and ask if the operator is a member, and if the PH is a member. If they are then you can be sure that a) they are not out and out crooks, and their busness is above board as far as the majority of decent operators are concerned, and that come hell or high ewater you will get your trophies out.
b) the PH is above average.

The activities of some members upset me as an individual, but then I am not an operator, and I do not speek for the industry- and to be fair, the honest operators keep quite a close check on each other. I am perhaps a little too sensitive comming from a purely conservation background. Yes, I love to hunt, and there are few things better than a good hunt with a friend, but the ideal world in the mind of an ecologist, who pends what spare time he has between work shooting and a family to studdy bats is probably a little different from that of a real world buisnesman who may believe in wildlife but also needs to show a profit- at least sufficient to pay people like me!

In a way, those who upset me most are those who hide behind false colours. An example is a fairly well known South African operator was exposed on TV for running canned lion hunts. He is now fully booked providing canned hunts! But at least he is honest: " conservation in africa is doomed. I'm here for the money which comes from providing what the clients want". The sentiment is repulsive to me, but he is a better man than one who pretends to be actually interested in conservation and then runs illegal/unethical hunts:- and a dam site better man than one who preaches conservation and then books a canned lion hunt with him!!!

Ganyana

Thanks for the honest accurate overview, I concur with all you have to say. It must be hell of a traumatic to conduct a hunting industry in what we all know was and proberbly still is one of the top destinations for a big game hunting in Southern Africa. I know there have been a number of shady SA operators or individuals that have infiltrated into Zim's and also into Zambia of late, a number were actually jailed in Zambia for illegal practices I believe, so that also adds to the equation. As you rightly point out the only way is to go through the appropriate associations and of cource word of mouth to a certain degree helps as well, and then you are in the lap of the gods, which to a certain degree applies in most of the Southern Africa region.

I know some operators from Zim's have moved into Tanzania and Zambia, as especially in Zambia the governnment is more user friendly and now is benefitting from the expertice that the Zim boys can bring with them, not only in the wildlife field but in farming in general, there are vast open free land areas in Zambia crying out for skilled farmers to develop, and a lot are now taking the bull by the horns and have moved in.

WE can only hope that finally the old mans bows out before it becomes too late, and then the place begins to return to some form of relative normality ...

Wishing you well in difficult circumstances

Peter