The problem of being wild and a wanderer

Who owns South Africa's wild animals? It's a question of life and death for many creatures that wander out of the Kruger National Park across unfenced boundaries with some adjoining private reserves.

©Keith Levit via 123RF

Trophy hunters are shooting animals that walk across an unfenced boundary between Kruger Park and some private reserves. As they step over the invisible line, their status apparently changes from res publicae (owned by us all) to res nullius (owned by nobody) and trophy hunters are shooting them. This has been going on for many years - ever since 1993 when the fences came down between Kruger and private reserves such as Timbavati, Balule, Klaserie, and Umbabat.

For obvious reasons, it isn't something animal-loving tourists are told about. When a hunt is on in what are collectively the Associated Private Game Reserves (APNR), the game-drive vehicles get a warning and stay away. Quotas include elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion, leopard, waterbuck, zebra, kudu, hippo and warthog.

Since it was first sanctioned by an agreement between Kruger and APNR, the trophy hunting by largely foreign hunters of animals that can move freely from Kruger has raised the ire of conservationists and some politicians.

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Read the full story on the Daily Maverick website.