I just got an email from the outfitter that I use in Botswana. They do not expect that there will be any hunting in the Okavango Delta after this year. This is not unexpected, the warning lights have been lit for a while, but it appears that what we feared has come to pass. I don't believe that this is a countrywide ban, rather the converting of one area to solely photo. When you couple this with the planned expansion of Maun airport I expect that the Botswana government wants to move to a high volume of photo or eco tourists from their prior low volume/low impact strategy. Sadly, high volume will undoubtedly have a high impact. This does not bode well for the Delta.
At least I still have my pictures.
I guess I'll be expanding my search for Buffalo in 2011.

TerryR

See SCI just didn't do their thing again, damn.

As I understand it all hunting in the Delta will close but there will be plenty in the bordering areas. It is not all a anti hunitng move but a financial one. The high end eco lodges just generate more money in the Delta than hunting does because they have a much longer season.

Mark

I heard rumblings that it was coming. Sorry to see it though.

Maybe it will revert later, unlike the whole of Kenya.

Decisions based on yesterdays economy I suspect. I bet in three years a number of these luxury photo lodges will be working with hunting outfitters as they struggle to make a go of it.

Maybe when the economy is righted in 8 or 10 years they revert back to a photo only deal.

Bad news.

Wonder what a guy like Jeff Rann is gonna do?

Probably be high demand on those hunts this year, even with the slow economy.

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
As I understand it all hunting in the Delta will close but there will be plenty in the bordering areas. It is not all a anti hunitng move but a financial one. The high end eco lodges just generate more money in the Delta than hunting does because they have a much longer season.

Mark

Interesting, how much shorter is the hunting season than what the eco lodges can do? And why is it so much shorter?

I'm not trying to bust your chops or be a smart ass. I'm just honestly trying to really understand why hunting there would be at that big a time disadvantage. If there are legitimate conservation reasons to shorten the hunting season, I certainly would understand that. If there aren't any such reasons then the economic disadvantage of hunting operations in that area may indeed be anti-hunting motivated. In other words the economic disadvantage was artificially created by needlessly controlling the length of the hunting season.

Completely closing an area to hunting will have future implications. Historically it seems when an area is closed to hunting and made primarily available to only eco-tourists they will fight tooth and nail to prevent hunting from ever happening there again. I believe that even if anti-hunting was not responsible for the decision to close this area to hunting, it will certainly become a barrier to get it opened back up.

Still, I'm not opposed to believing this might be a good thing for the bordering properties. Especially if that's a core area that can sustain breeding populations which surplus will move out from.

Your thoughts?

1 Hunting block I know of has 14 Elephant and 6 Buffalo (+ some other game)

14 Elephant x $60,000 = $840,000
6 Buffalo x $18,000 = 108,000
Other game + Tips etc = $50,000
Looks like $1,000,000 to me, not counting the upcharge for a big Elephant.

$1,000,000/250 possible tourist days = $4000/day
$4000/day/8 people = $500/day

Most of those photo camps charge $600-$1200/day, but I am not sure they stay 100% booked, so looks like photo ops are a competing interest.

However, in typical African fashion, they may have neglected to take into account DEMAND!

Are there enough photo tourist to fill all these hunting ex-hunting camps?

We will soon see.

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:
Bad news.

Wonder what a guy like Jeff Rann is gonna do?

From what I see on their television shows, guys like Calitz and Rann are looking at Mozambique. I'm sure they have a strategy.

I think they'll eventually have to hunt at least the elephants, but I have booked an elephant hunt with Johan Calitz for this season just in case.

It's a beautiful area to hunt and I'm glad I went when I did. MMP

quote:

Originally posted by Wendell Reich:
1 Hunting block I know of has 14 Elephant and 6 Buffalo (+ some other game)

14 Elephant x $60,000 = $840,000
6 Buffalo x $18,000 = 108,000
Other game + Tips etc = $50,000
...
Are there enough photo tourist to fill all these hunting ex-hunting camps?

We will soon see.

My 2001 trip to the Okavango was a budget affair, for buffalo and red lechwe, as an add on to a PG hunt in Tuli Block.

I got farmed out to one of those luxury greenie camps. Kaparota Camp, IIRC. They were desperate for any business they could snag. It was late July, maybe too cold for the frail greenie clientele?

We had the whole place to PH and me, except for those insufferable greenie guides pestering about the fire at night. Nobody else there but me and PH, and the camp staff.

It was a sinfully luxurious camp. I hated it.
I enjoyed the cruder accommodations of the Tuli Block much more.

The greenie guides were insufferable, whining babies. Made me angry. I had to spank one of those boys.
I am sure this has contributed to reports of abuses by hunters, and has ultimately resulted in the closing of the Okavango to hunting.


I would much rather go to the adjoining Kalahari or Chobe than risk knocking elbows with the greenies.
They make me sick! Especially Asslady Judd!
Namibia's Caprivi is calling too.

damn glad i got to hunt there when i did. i am betting that this is just one of the first steps by their new president to shutting down hunting everywhere except for game farms.

What was described to me was 80% occupancy most of the year. Hunting stops in Bots end of Sept. To expand on Wendell's example how much cheaper do you think per person it is to put on a safari for a group of eco toursts than one elephant hunter per person? How many 7 day photo tours can they do in a season as opposed ele hunts? You don't need a PH to tell a bunch of photo folks what the difference is between a tsessbe and a red lechwe. These eco deals are way cheaper to put on and the Okavango is just a fabulous destination for these safaris.

Now the surrounding areas often are the most visually boring places in Africa. Great for hunting but not group photo tours.

Mark

In addition to Mark's point, many of the photo camps are getting $1,000 + daily rate. Comperable to the DG rate but way above the plainsgame daily rate. Also, that 80% occupancy rate is for 16 beds while the hunting camps are only allowed 8, and how often have you had 8 clients in your hunting camp? The typical hunting trip is for one hunter and a non hunting spouse or two hunters.
The math is against us. The problem, aside from losing one of the most pristine hunting areas is that the new strategy should dramatically increase the number of people moving through the Delta. I don't see how that will not adversely impact the Delta's ecology.
There will still be hunting in Botswana. My outfitter says that they should still be able to get me a Buffalo, just not in the Delta. Speaking as one confirmed Botswana hunting fan, if I can't hunt the Delta I'm going to look at all my options before deciding where I'm going in 2011.

In are way, I respect there decision, it is a national park isn't it???

Can you hunt in any national park in State?

quote:

Originally posted by My24462:
In are way, I respect there decision, it is a national park isn't it???

Can you hunt in any national park in State?

From what I understand, The Nat Parks only have a portion of the Delta.