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Day 1, Sable Ranch - Tourism in Africa is growing. A wonderful benefit of that growth is a renewed interest in protecting the wildlife that all of the tourists are coming to see in their natural habitat. On the 7,000 acres of Sable Ranch, they're encouraging responsible wildlife management in another unique way - greenhunting. Greenhunting is similar in many ways to big safari game hunts. The key difference is: instead of killing the animal, you tranquilize it instead. |
| People looking for a big game hunting experience can greenhunt animals that have been scheduled to be delivered to a reserve or zoo. Since tranquilizing and moving an animal causes stress, only those animals that need to be relocated are greenhunted. The greenhunter also pays for the privilege - and that generates additional funds towards continued preservation, breeding and research. A real win-win-win situation! Many of the animals that live at Sable Ranch are endangered. In the top picture, note the green mark from the tranquilizer. This roan was darted from a helicopter. |
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There were also many small wonders. This spider was coaxed off a huge web between trees. And as for the dung beetle, well, he's doing his thing. I suppose it was ironic that we never actually found the sable during our day at Sable Ranch! This baby rhino along with the others at Sable Ranch were the only we had the good fortune to see on our trip. Unfortunately, they are becoming increasingly endangered in the wild. This guy came right over, eager for attention. |
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 photo © Rick Prebeg, World Class Images |
