Africa offers wildlife encounters unlike anywhere else on earth and nothing compares to the privilege of spending time with animals in their natural habitat. Sadly, many of these creatures are threatened because of the very characteristics that make them impressive. The majestic African elephant for its tusks and of course the mighty African rhino for its horn.
Today, there are as few as 17 000 rhinos left in South Africa. With the rate at which they are being killed, there will be 1000 poached or killed by the end of the year – almost 6% of the total rhino population, and a huge increase on poaching last year. The grim truth is that, at this rate, rhinos are headed for total extinction.
The work done in central Africa with the Mountain Gorillas has shown that dedicated and proactive wildlife management can reverse the potentially detrimental impact of poaching; and that international attention and wildlife-tourism are essential influencers in making animals more valuable alive than dead. Exploring the beauty of Africa is not only individually rewarding but is essential to preserving endangered species.
We are happy to note that wildlife-related tourism to Southern Africa remains strong with national and private game lodges reporting good occupancies. Once again, I’d like to remind those planning to visit Southern Africa to make your bookings well in advance.
Wishing you and your families well.
With warm Cape Town regards,
Marco and the Timeless Africa Safaris team