Game reserve

A game reserve (also known as a wildlife preserve or a game park)[1] is a large area of land where wild animals live safely[2] or are hunted in a controlled way for sport.[3] If hunting is prohibited, a game reserve may be considered a nature reserve; however, the focus of a game reserve is specifically the animals (fauna), whereas a nature reserve is also, if not equally, concerned with all aspects of native biota of the area (plants, animals, fungi, etc.).

Savanna at Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
Lodge at Botlierskop game reserve in South Africa (2015)
Two lions at Botlierskop game reserve

Many game reserves are located in Africa.[4] Most are open to the public, and tourists commonly take sightseeing safaris. Historically, among the best-known hunting targets were the so-called Big Five game in Africa: rhinoceros, elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard, and lion, named so because of the difficulty and danger in hunting them.[5]

In a game reserve, ecosystems are protected and conservation is usually key. Indigenous wildlife in its natural habitat help in providing an environment where growth in numbers at a natural rate can occur.

Some game reserves contain several ecosystems, ranging from valley bushveld, savannah grassland and fynbos to riverine forest and acacia woodland; this provides a dramatic improvement on the types of wildlife that are present and the numerous species of birds that thrive on in these environments.

Wildlife Conservation

Wildlife conservation is a costly endeavor for most African countries. One of the more common forms of generating income to establish a sustainable economy to provide for wildlife conservation is known as wild life viewing tourism. However, this attraction still does not generate enough to establish wild life conservation. For regions that suffer political and economic instability; sustainable trophy hunting may be the only feasible source of income in order to generate the appropriate income. Once established, another aspect to consider is the management of the land being used for hunting. Naturally, wild life decreases with the increase of human presence which puts a strain on the quality of hunting. Generally, leases for hunting concessions are set up to last for multiple years all at once in order to encourage hunting operators to continue to manage the land for hunting, however, as the quality of hunting decreases, leases are shortened and this creates an overall negative impact to the economy.[6]

Many African countries benefit from community based conservation. This concept explores the relationship between wild life and people and the notion that conserving every animal is also not sustainable because certain animals threaten human lives and crops. One of the biggest arguments in support of community based conservation is that allowing people to gain economic benefits from wildlife, incentives for conservation are, in turn, provided. One such country that benefits from adopting this strategy is Zambia. The Zambian government established a wild life conservation fund to act as the responsible player for redistributing funds from the hunting industry into wild life conservation and community development.

Ethical Problems

Using game hunting as a conservation tool has negative perceptions that impose harsh restrictions across several different countries in Africa. Some of the activities that promote hunting bans include canned hunting, shooting young or uncommon animals, shooting from vehicles, use of bait, spotlights and hounds are all hunting practices that bring into question many ethical problems.[7]

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See also

References
  1. "Wildlife preserve". Collins English Dictionary: Complete and Unabridged (12th ed.). HarperCollins. 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  2. "preserve". merriam-webster.com. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  3. "game reserve". Macmillan Dictionary. Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  4. Pitman, Ross T; Fattebert, Julien; Williams, Samual T; Williams, Kathryn S; Hill, Russell A; Hunter, Luke T B; Slotow, Rob; Balme, Guy A (July 2016). "The Conservation Costs of Game Ranching" (PDF). Conservation Letters. 10: 403–413. doi:10.1111/conl.12276.
  5. Zijlma, Anouk. "Africa for Visitors: The Big Five". About.com. Retrieved 2006-12-29.
  6. Crosmary, W.-G.; et al. (April 2015). "The assessment of the role of trophy hunting in wildlife conservation". Animal Conservation. 18 (2): 2. doi:10.1111/acv.12205.
  7. Lindsey, Peter A.; et al. (June 2007). "Trophy hunting and conservation in Africa: Problems and one potential solution". Conservation Biology. 21 (3): 4. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00594.x. PMID 17531065.
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