A bull elephant attacked a vehicle full of tourists on a game drive in Kafue National Park in Zambia. A 79 year old woman from Minnesota was killed and five others injured, one of whom was hospitalized.
The animals in those parks are generally habituated to the vehicles driving around, and the guides are very good at reading an animal’s temperament. All wildlife is ultimately unpredictable, of course, and I’m guessing they’ll never know what set the bull off. Perhaps it’s rutting season.
We went on many game drives on our safari adventures and most animals ignored us completely. We were mock-charged by a young elephant once, and hippos are always unhappy with anything other than another hippo, but we never felt in danger.
When assholes quit paying for ivory and elephant feet and trying to get their peckers hard by carving up critters, then perhaps these game preserves won’t be necessary and the money that gets paid by tourists won’t be needed to pay for the wardens and other protections. Until that happens - in other words, never - this is a necessary evil.
Yep there’s a chain of criminal behavior. The local poachers getting paid. The buyers of ivory and other parts of the animal. The furriers and decorative arts makers. The companies who want these things. The individual who wants a cheetah coat or a zebra rug. And even the countries who allow these imports into their country.
So maybe Safari rides are kinda, squint your eyes ok.
I understand even the reserves are poached regularly. (I can’t find reliable stats). That’s what I’ve heard on National Geographic channel.
We, as humans have a reckoning coming about the way we treat wild creatures.
EVERYWHERE is dangerous, if you are poor, careless, or just plain unlucky. Shit happens. We all set our own risk/reward standards, and some people are more cautious than others. But writing off an entire continent smacks of - well, less than positive traits I’m not going to even put a name to, as I wouldn’t want to run afoul of rules forbidding attacking other posters.
FWIW, my son was born in South Africa and lived in Mozambique, Indonesia, and Egypt until age 18, when he went to live in the US for the first time as a college student. If we’d said, “nope, can’t do that … Africa is DANGEROUS (and Southeast Asia must be too!),” it is hard to imagine how his life, and that of his parents, would have been as rewarding. Plus I hope that his dad and I managed to do a little bit of good in the world by working on things like poverty reduction and infrastructure development.
Read a book recently about animals humans consider pests. Had a chapter about one of the national parks we are going to visit. Discussed the differing points of views WRT elephants of northern hemisphere tourists and folk living next door who get their entire crops eaten and their homes trampled by the beasts. No, the locals weren’t supporting killing them, but their attitudes towards management and control were somewhat different reflecting their immediate proximity.
My latest question is, seemingly whenever I’ve told someone I’m going to Kenya, they respond, “Are you going on a safari?” To which I find myself responding, “What is a safari?” I mean, we intend to see some animals, but I’m not going to shoot any. Nor will we have troops of native bearers. I expect to sleep in a bed and have access to a flush toilet every night. Is that a safari?
Elephant overpopulation is a big issue for the environment. They destroy woodlands. I am not in favour of hunting per se, but it is necessary to cull the herds; they do not have enough space. If that is done by rich trophy hunters who bring in lots of money, or it is done by near-minimum wage Parks employees makes little difference.
As majestic as it is to see a herd of maybe 100 elephants, in their trail is massive destruction. Unfortunately- and to my distaste - culling is the only viable option.
To be fair, there’s Africa and then there is Africa as experienced by the diplomatic corps or by the people living in cities. As you know, once outside of a city, things become fairly primitive in a hurry, and trekking through jungle can still be quite dangerous. It’s not the big critters that are worrisome; it’s the microbes that do you in. But yes, I agree with your mini-screed for the most part.
Try changing your answer to “A photo safari”. A lot of people think a safari means shooting animals, and there are those who do that (think Trump’s brats), but far and away, photo safaris are predominate.
Elephants are extremely destructive to plant life. You may see trees that have been extensively damaged by tusks and abrasion and even completely uprooted.
My problem is that I personally think of safari as involving long lines of bearers and setting up camp in different places. At the worst we’ll be “glamping” and driving out for day trips.
Too many dime novels in your past. That was true in the days of Stanley, Speke and Burton, but nowadays you fly in to a place that has strongback tents, a chef on board, in-tent toilets/showers, and you ride around in a multi-wheeled Land Rover. We even stopped for tea at mid-morning. There are less opulent safaris that involve trail camps, of course, but nobody does the Bwana thing any more. Honestly, I think they call them safaris because it imparts a sense of adventure for the tourist, and does evoke the sort of thing you mentioned. But, as Carol mentioned, it’s also an appropriate word for what you’re doing.
Really? To my mind, and in my experience, “safari” has come to mean “a trip to Africa, with the specific intent to see characteristic megafauna.” Insofar as I hear the word, I hear it used for that, rather than “hunting trip to Africa.”
Yeah - I think that is the currently accepted usage. But I find myself thinking, “No, we just figured we’d hang out in downtown Nairobi for a week or so. Why would we go to Kenya to experience nature?”
Which is also my definition, but on occasion, when talk has turned to travels and I’ve mentioned the various safaris we’ve been on, some people have been quick to ask if we were hunting animals. My answer is usually something along the lines of “Yes, but only to find and photograph them.”
When I was in Tanzania a bull elephant saw us coming and “hid” behind a tree. Picture a beach ball “hiding” behind an umbrella pole. Anyway as we approached he came charging towards the vehicle and our driver sped away.
