THE GAME RANGERS’ ASSOCIATION OF AFRICA (GRAA) Across Africa, conservation areas are increasingly becoming theatres of conflict. Rangers are operating in landscapes marked by instability, armed violence, political fragility, and criminal infiltration—conditions that push them far beyond the traditional boundaries of conservation work. While some rangers may carry firearms
VOLUME 68
By Zig Mackintosh The baobab (Adansonia digitata) is tough and can live between 1,500 and 2,000 years. The species has evolved over thousands of years alongside elephants, climate extremes, and fire. When they start to die at scale, something’s up. Baobab decline matters. It is not about
VOLUME 68
By Dr Daniel Stiles On 31st October, 2025, South Africa’s High Court in the Northern Cape ruled in favour of Hendrick Diedericks, owner of a registered rhino Captive Breeding Operation (CBO) in the Northern Cape known as Rockwood Conservation. Starting with 45 southern white rhinos purchased from Kruger National
VOLUME 68
There’s a starry-eyed perception of anti-poaching work that makes for exciting action TV. Armed rangers, night-vision pursuits, poachers in handcuffs. But. The reality is, it’s mostly about hours and hours of walking, watching, waiting. Sitting in the dark, listening to the bush, squashing mosquitoes, hoping tonight’s the
VOLUME 68
The guys from the Phalaborwa Natural Heritage Foundation are on a mission to mitigate the scourge of snaring that has affected wildlife areas bordering the Kruger National Park. No refuge is too big or too small. From 40,000-hectare big-five reserves to small 21-hectare properties, they are willing to spend
Patrol’s Annual Review Dear Subscribers, On this, our third anniversary, we want to thank you for walking with us through another year of real-world reporting, frontline updates, and documentary storytelling that reveals the realities of anti-poaching and conservation across Africa. Across 23 editions, we have brought you stories that
VOLUME 67
By Zig Mackintosh Biogeography, the study of species distribution patterns across space and time, is seldom discussed in African conservation. Yet it provides perhaps the most compelling context for understanding why safari hunting concessions matter to conservation, and why, if safari hunting is eliminated, the risks to biodiversity would be
Anti-Poaching in Action
Key Takeaways: * CITES was set up to regulate the trade in wildlife products, not prohibit it. * There are 184 country members (Parties) who can vote on issues. Observers (NGOs) cannot vote, but they do influence policies. * The public at large has come to support a non-use wildlife paradigm, mainly as
Boda bodas are motorbike taxis ubiquitous across East Africa, particularly dominant in Uganda. The term originated from drivers who shouted "border, border" at potential customers along the Uganda-Kenya border during political instability in the 1970s. Originally, bicycle-based smuggling operations at border crossings transitioned to motorcycles in the 1990s
With Dick Fourie The Chete Safari Area is a vast, rugged, undeveloped wilderness on the Zimbabwean shoreline of Lake Kariba. Covering 108,100 hectares between the Senkwe and Muenda rivers, it forms part of the lower Zambezi–Kariba ecosystem. It occupies a critical ecological position within a broader mosaic of
By Hank's Voice IFAW, PETA, NhRP, HWA, CBTH, HSUS, HSI, BFF, AWI, AWA… an alphabet soup of acronyms of animal rights and anti-humanity organizations that are relentlessly involved in actions that are anti-conservation. They persistently force-feed their conniving concoctions to an unknowing drama-hungry public, whom they hope to
Managing 4,500 square kilometers of wilderness, the Lugenda Wildlife Reserve faces unique challenges, including limited tourism revenue, unstable regional conditions, and the presence of over 5,000 community members living within its boundaries. The Lugenda Foundation was established in June 2023 as a fully compliant Mozambican entity serving as
By Zig Mackintosh When we think of wildlife conservation, we often envision vast national parks, multimillion-dollar budgets, and international organizations with large teams of researchers. However, some of the most powerful conservation stories are written by small-time operators working with limited resources, big hearts, and an unshakeable belief in their
In European capitals, policymakers debate the ethics of hunting in Africa while animal rights activists condemn any form of wildlife utilization. Yet walk into any upscale restaurant in Paris, Berlin, or Vienna, and you'll find venison, wild boar, and game birds prominently featured on the menu. Visit a
By Prof Brian Child Key Takeaways: * Wildlife has been miscast as a public good. * The governance regimes for wild resources no longer match their economic characteristics. * Treating wild species as public goods results in an inequitable allocation of costs and benefits. * Benefits are global, but costs are local. * Rhino owners
By Dr Daniel Stiles Captive big cat collections from around the world, among the poaching threats now facing big cats, are being hoovered up by one mega-zoo in India that calls itself Vantara – ‘Star of the Forest’ in Hindi. Looking only at five big cat species that are held both
In the northwestern waters of Lake Victoria, 84 islands tell a story of paradise vanishing. These are the Ssese Islands in Uganda, Africa, where 66,000 people reside at the intersection of economic development and environmental distress. The largest island, Bugala, stretches over 40 kilometers. For generations, the Baganda people
The Phalaborwa Natural Heritage Foundation (PNHF) is a non-profit organization based in Phalaborwa, South Africa, situated on the border of the Kruger National Park. Phalaborwa is uniquely positioned as the only town with a gate into Kruger National Park within its town limits. PNHF focuses on assisting nature reserves with
By Zig Mackintosh In a sea of environmental organizations, green movements and snake-oil salesmen, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) stands out as the most credible and principled. However. The IUCN World Conservation Congress was held in Abu Dhabi in October 2025. Nearly 10,000 participants from 189