African Hunter Published Books Guide to Nyati | Hunting the African Buffalo | Page 25

become one of the prime buffalo hunting destinations in southern
Africa. Emerging from a civil war in 1980, tourism became a new
earner of much needed foreign currency. Sport hunting established
itself as a high value earner alongside general tourism, and many
farmers joined the infant sport hunting industry offering plains
game to supplement big game hunting on government concessions.
Mozambique was still wracked by civil war, Zambia’s economy
and infrastructure unable to support hunting on a large scale, and
Namibia and South Africa not really possessing the numbers of
buffalo to be of any significance. East Africa was then known as
THE hunting destination - its stable political environment and
sound wildlife policies making it prime - though for many it was
just too expensive to contemplate. Botswana was well established
and stable, but could not keep pace with the ever growing demand
for more buffalo hunting. Zimbabwe’s hunting industry flourished
for almost two decades, and with it, the buffalo.
According to a Rhodesia Ministry of Lands report of the National
Parks Advisory Board and the Director of National Parks and Wildlife
Management published in 1970, the total buffalo available on quota
in government controlled areas was 317, of which 299 were actually
hunted, while on private ranching land a quota of 454 was set, and
only 103 actually hunted. It is likely that most, if not all of this
hunting was conducted by citizens of the country, as sport hunting
(by foreigners) as we know it today did not really exist.
In a report taken from a paper presented by Dr. Chris Foggin
and Russell Taylor, in Zimbabwe - estimated in 1995 to have some
48 000 buffalo (only 3% on private land) - sport hunting quotas
of buffalo averaged about 900 buffalo per year. These quotas had
been similar over the previous ten years and in 1995 contributed
up to 13% of the annual national trophy fees accrued from sport
hunting. In terms of overall contribution, this is significant and still
very much the case today. One would be forgiven for thinking that
in light of this, buffalo and the sport hunting of them is secure. The
truth is, they are not. Even today, misguided land and management
policies continue to threaten buffalo. Resettlement, cattle ranching
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