SafariKZN • Africa Geographic Articles
Home » Africa Geographic Articles
TERMS OF USE
Safarikzn is granted the rights to publish the attached article in any format (digital or print), free of charge, provided the credit lines are used.
Africa Geographic magazine reaches out to a global community of people who share a passion for Africa's incomparable wilderness, wildlife and cultures.
Think before you walk
There’s a decided feel-good factor to cuddling a lion cub or riding an elephant; it’s something that, given half a chance, many of us would do without thinking twice. But would we be contributing to research and conservation, as wildlife-encounter operations claim? Probably not, says Ian Michler.
Text by Ian Michler
First published by Africa Geographic www.africageographic.com
Too clever by half
Technology is at once a hugely constructive and a hugely destructive force, and for the most part we have been content to ignore the latter while enjoying the benefits of the former. But, suggests Ian Michler, it’s high time that we begin to think seriously – and innovatively – about tempering its damaging effects.
Text by Ian Michler
First published by Africa Geographic www.africageographic.com
The Conservation Quandary
African conservation is an industry involving thousands of students, researchers, NGOs, funders, private sector operators and parastatals, all with a single purpose: the protection of the continent’s wildlife and wild places. It is small when compared with commercial enterprises, but its stakeholders are dedicated and passionate and they’ve been at it for well over 100 years. Why then are wildlife numbers across the continent declining? Do we simply need more money, people and resources, or are we going about the business of conservation the wrong way? Ian Michler decides that it’s time to confront the elephant in the room.
Text by Ian Michler
First published by Africa Geographic www.africageographic.com
Why no ethics?
It’s well known that one of South Africa’s treasures is its wildlife, and like any treasure it attracts a certain kind of person who must extract maximum profit from it. But, asks Ian Michler, what makes this country in particular a haven for those who manipulate wild animals for their own ends?
Text by Ian Michler
First published by Africa Geographic www.africageographic.com
The Science of Stripes
Do you know why zebras are striped? Considering that it’s a conundrum that dates
back to when they were first described to science, you might think that we would
have figured it out by now. But, despite a plethora of explanations (Charles Darwin
and Alfred Russel Wallace clashed over the subject as long ago as 1891), no-one
knows the answer for sure.
Zoos, do we still need them?
As a child, science editor Tim Jackson remembers going to the zoo with his parents. A whirl of animals and bright colours, it was an adventure for a young boy growing up in the Far East, and he barely noticed the dingy surroundings and small, heavily barred cages that were de rigueur at the time. Today, he and his five-year-old daughter are regular visitors to South Africa’s zoos. Things have changed to be sure – the bars have gone, everything is clean and none of the predators is pacing up and down.
Saadani by Tim Jackson
You’ve probably never heard of Tanzania’s Saadani National Park. But if you’re in the mood for carnivores and herbivores, birds and sea-life and beaches and bush, seasoned with some riverine environment and a soupçon of culture, then it’s the sort of place that should be high on your agenda.
State Assets by Tim Jackson
Alone among the African countries that have substantial black rhino populations, Namibia loses few of these critically endangered animals to poachers – and, in fact, rhino numbers are increasing. Tim Jackson investigates why.
Pack Attack by Tim Jackson
Persecuted by humans, decimated by disease and confined by the fragmentation of its habitat, the African wild dog faces many challenges, including competition from spotted hyaenas. Tim Jackson looks at the relationship between the two predators and reports on exciting news of wild dogs in Mozambique.
