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Adventure Tourism
Preparing for a Multi-Day Backpacking Trip
Even an extra fork can weigh you down when packing for a multi-day backpacking trip! Everything you take is carried on your shoulders, so it’s important to pack lightly and efficiently to ease up the load and achieve the planned itinerary. Backpacking is all about going on an adventure with just a backpack and a couple of items you could use along the way. But, you need to learn how to pack properly. Backpackers have gone through trial and…
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Conservation
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Conservation
Great White Shark Behaviour
Great White Sharks engage in a number of behavioural and social activities, ranging from courtship to complex social behaviour. White sharks are generally very curious; they display intelligence and they even socialize if the situation demands it. Below are a few common behaviours witnessed by White Shark Projects – a shark diving and shark research operator in Hermanus, which launches its excursion boats from Gansbaai in South Africa: Gaping Obviously, sharks do not have arms, legs, hands or feet. What they do have is a mouth, with sharp teeth. A…
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Conservation
The Economics Of The Illegal Wildlife Trade
The illegal trade of animals or animal parts has become one of the most lucrative black market activities in the world. Driven by the promise of high-profit margins, poachers in Africa – namely militias, armed groups, and insurgent groups – have driven rhinos and elephants close to extinction, while murdering hundreds of park rangers in the process. NGOs and governments now face a race against time to reduce demand for, particularly in Asia, as well as to equip those on the frontline to fight a well-armed enemy. By David Smith.…
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Conservation
To Breed, to Dehorn or to Poison?
The debate on how best to conserve Africa’s dwindling rhino population rages on. Is flooding the market with legally harvested rhino horn an option or is injecting poison into the horns of wild rhino a better option? Asks Des Langkilde. 1,657 Rhinos have been killed for their horns in South Africa alone since 2010 and despite the arrest of 717 poachers over the same period (refer table below), the illegal trade seems to have no end in sight. Rhino horn is prized for its use as an aphrodisiac and hangover…
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Conservation
Anti-Poaching: To Rescue or to Shoot Injured Wildlife?
While on a game drive through a reserve in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, our tour group spotted two animals that had fallen victim to poaching snares. Both were still alive and lumbering through the bush in obvious pain and agony. What would the standard procedure be – to sedate the animal, remove the snare and treat its wounds or to shoot and put the animal out of its misery? By Des Langkilde. Understandably, such a decision would be based on the severity of the animal’s wounds but surely any effort that would increase…
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