The AR Africa Big Game Hunting board is starting resemble a rundown of nothing but negative stories involving poaching, corruption and arrests. Reminds me of the days I anchored the news in Los Angeles; one bad story after another. Alan Bunn said in one of his earlier postings involving Dawie, that this was likely just the beginning. He was right.

As a media guy, I'm guarantee you it's just a matter of time before the mainstream picks up on the Rhino poaching saga. It's a catastrophe. It's a sickening story that doesn't seem to want to end, and one that will deliver big ratings as the news networks march toward the crucial February ratings period. The finger will get pointed at the hunter.

I wish that one of the major hunting organizations SCI, DSC, PHASA somebody, would release a statement or speak out in condemnation of these brutal acts of animal terrorism. Someone of influence in our industry has to speak up. And loudly! Why do these groups bury their heads in the sand? The non-hunting public needs to know or be reminded that all hunters are not poachers. That if anything, we want to see the nuts chopped off these bad guys, just like they chopped off the rhino horns. Their scrotums could be sent off to the same destination where the horns go. Those there can grind them up into a powder too! Sniff it, snort it, inject it or lick it for whatever pleasures they so please.

Many of those arrested of course include people thought to be law abiding members of the safari community. They're crooks. Gert Saaiman, the Van de Venter brothers and Dawie, to name just a few. They used to have my support, but I now stand against them, livid at their conduct and disrespect to the industry that funded their livelihood. They've left an ugly mark on the safari world. 2010 is going down as a dark year for the safari hunting community. One incessant story after another, of PH's mauled by leopards, cruel greed driven poachers, rogue outfitters scamming clients and corrupt Africa. I'm not usually a negative guy, but this time I just have to state it like I see it. Thank goodness for the big tuskers being hauled in from Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania. Zim continues to pack em' in despite...The big Mt. Nyala's taken have been pleasant as well, I've seen some big bush bucks--other nice PG too, and lots of father and son safari pictures...but those positive stories have been outnumbered by the constant toll of negative headlines.

Bring on 2011. Hopefully change...for the good.

Hi Marc,

Of course you are correct, as sad as it is to say.

Unfortunately, this dishonesty and criminal activity has been involved in the safari business in one form or another for years. My first run-in was in 1997 with a safari booked by a first time safari hunter in 1996. I advised him in the strongest terms that I believed he was gonna have trouble, but he is a very stubborn, well educated (Doctorate) individual with whom I had hunted and known for many years.

Without boring everyone with all the details, the subject he booked with was previously a well known reputable operator who had contributed chapters to books on safari. He was NOT on the SCI convention floor, but would meet potential clients in a local hotel. That was an alarm bell to me. He promised the client he could take a Leopard if one was spotted on the hunt. Alarm again. And there was more. Things went wrong from the moment the client stepped off the plane in JNB and there was no one there to meet him. Alarm. Things got worse. Fortunately some kind white (RSA) and black (Zim) Africans rescued him in different circumstances such as when he was standing alone in the dark outside Victoria Falls airport without his guns which did not arrive on his flight. The outfitter absconded to Europe with money from many clients for undelivered services and from South Africans with whom he had business relations. He was never, to my knowledge, prosecuted and led a nice life in his european getaway.

Fortunately the hunter fell in love with Africa. Unfortunately, his next African safari was also not "right" (this with a major outfitter/PH who is still operating). I then insisted he accompany me for his third safari, where I insured he had the opportunity to hunt and experience Africa as we all imagine it to be. We did have problems with our next safari, after we arrived in RSA a day early for a Mozambique safari. Again, alarm bells went off while talking with this outfitter in his RSA office. I cancelled the hunt while in RSA one day before we were to depart for Moz, and with the help of SCI Africa (very helpful) and PHASA (not so helpful) to get a partial refund while holding a meet and confer while still in RSA. I then got us a Buff safari in Zambia by contacting friends in the safari business who were willing to make immediate arrangements for us. We only lost 3 safari days and a small percentage of our original Mozambique safari fees.

These incidents occurred prior to my becoming an agent and they are why, when I joined AR, I choose not to use my full name, so that I could disclose such dishonest and fraudulent actions on the part of some inside the safari industry.

While most outfitters are honest, those who become dishonest are more than commonly thought. And many, such as the Groenwalds of Out of Africa, manage to function on the edge for many years. The industry does not have a good record of publishing its' flaws nor policing their own - bad for business, don't you know? It is also the primary reason I retired from being a safari consultant a few years ago.

Nobody should ever book a safari without performing some degree of due diligence. There are many options available.

I always cringe when I see a network like Discovery or Animal Planet run something on rhino (or any species of game animal for that matter). The word hunter is used over and over as synonymous for poacher by these channels. As I'm sure Moja can attest, the media can very easily get people to think that poachers and hunters are the same thing by playing with words. It's the same reason elephant hunting often gets the reaction "isn't that illegal?!"

On a positive note it is widely acknowledged that Zambia has hunted its finest this year and by all accounts it is only going to get better. For example most operators here are boasting 100% on big hairy Lion and the quality of plains game has been second to none. The communities that are dependent on incomes from hunting are profiting handsomely and consumptive tourism is a major contributor to our economy.

From what I read here Zimbabwe is not too shabby either.

I read somewhere that hunting in the states is a multi billion dollar industry. You ain't gonna mess with that statistic however green you maybe.

I think we maybe a little paranoid. What next - a worldwide ban on commercial and sport fishing? The non consumption of domestic animals?

Legalize marijuana and these people will simply disappear in a cloud of their own smoke.

Mozambique has enjoyed a fantastic few seasons also (particularly on big Ivory in the north) .
However, poaching is a problem that must be sorted out and hopefully not too late .
Until then, one can always enjoy them selves on the coast after Safari.

The joys of "post" Safari in Mozambique.

As Alan and I both pointed out, what we've seen so far is just the tip of the iceburg and there's a lot more to come yet...... and the bad news will go on and on and on.

Wait till the next COP meeting when the antis will use the increasing poaching story to limit or cancel quotas completely...... to say nothing of USF&WS who I have no doubt are already planning to make life considerably more difficult for US based hunters.

bwana Moja wrote about OOA on 30.1.2010

I do not have any business dealings with Out of Africa. Never have hunted with the outfit. They have nice brochures and it looks like they shoot alot of nice animals. I like Dawie alot, speak to him every year in Reno. He's never done anything bad to me. All kinds of guys come to my booth.

His money is just as green as anybody else's. Should I refuse his purchase, because of what people say about him? That wouldn't be fair.

OK and as I read that today, I still say that WAS an accurate reflection, OF HOW I FELT ABOUT that man back on the day I wrote that.

What is your point? I know something or two about "I Gotcha" journalism, and this hardly meets the standard.

Marc,

I first met Dawie, Janneman and his wife 10+ years ago, when they first donated to my local chapter auction. They were all quite personable, friendly and approachable. Those are all traits consistent with most con-men/women. Since they weren't wearing sharkskin suits with no hip pockets, nobody had any reason to believe they were anything but legitimate.

I continued to meet with them at the SCI conventions for a few years and they continued to be pleasant and they were clearly successful given the number of folks in and around their booth. I did not become suspicious of their operation until around 2004-5.

I suppose if we were all capable of precognition then none of us would be subject to a con. However, the facts indicate we are all susceptible at the right time and circumstance.

No worries.

Yeah Mike, I guess that's the way I look at it too. There's bad apples in every bushel. Sometimes you just end up dealing with them. But I never went on safari or anything like that with Dawie. He would come to the Reno booth, buy a bunch of DVD's and he bought a couple life size shooting targets.

That's pretty minimal if you ask me. Dawie did much bigger deals, with a lot more people, hoodwinking a lot of them along the way. He never got me for a dime.

Maybe I'm just a dumb businessman, but if a guy comes up to my booth, regardless of what he looks like, regardless of what color he is, even if he has an orange jumpsuit on with leg shackles a number emblazoned on it---and then let's say he hands me a $100 bill and wants to buy something, then I'm gonna damn well sell it to him.
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Fairgame, BTW congrats on a good season over there. Zambia as well as Zim did have a blockbuster year.