The Timbavati Private Nature Reserve states the following on their website: “The Timbavati has always stayed true to the principle that human footprint in the form of infrastructure development and visitor numbers is in conflict with sustainable management of wilderness areas. To support the low-density principles that Timbavati promotes, natural resources can and must be used sustainably. Sustainable utilisation includes all our activities that use nature as a resource, including photographic safari tourism and hunting, our annual impala culling that is done to ease grazing pressure on the ecosystem, water resource use, and the harvesting of wood and sand from the natural landscape.

Both photographic tourism and hunting are compatible funding practices and we call on all our Greater Kruger partners to work together to govern these activities with integrity and careful oversight.” 

I am not 100% sure where they stand today, but I was pleased to read that the management of Timbavati was clearly looking at the bigger picture of sustainable utilisation of our natural resources and was not just being relentlessly bias towards one specific form of tourist attraction.

Being part of the Hunting/Outfitting industry, I am unashamedly pro hunting, if it is done in a respectful, sustainable, and lawful manner. Hunting is a natural human practice. Surrounding an animal with ten vehicles filled with people taking photographs of said animal, seems a lot less natural to me than hunting. I am not proclaiming that photographic safaris are wrong, but when I see scenes of numerous vehicles filled with tourists rushing to an animal sighting from all directions, all of them armed with cameras or video recorders, it reminds me of Hollywood actors being hounded by the paparazzi. There is nothing natural, sustainable, or enjoyable for the subjects at hand in that situation. We often see footage of animals charging safari vehicles and even tossing them over when they get agitated. Vehicles try and get as close as possible to the animals to provide the best opportunity of videos and photographs for their clients, while regularly seriously engrossing on that animal’s space.  When out hunting with clients, we are typically two to four people walking silently through the bush. We observe many animals with the naked eye and through binoculars, and only attempt to get closer to an animal when it is the one that is identified to be harvested. Great care is taken to not disturb or aggravate animals, and to enjoy the beauty of nature by leaving as small a footprint as possible.

Mother Nature is there to be take pleasure in, but we are also the custodians who should be carefully considering what we do for enjoyment from all angles, so that we may keep only what is good and balanced.