Dangerous Game Hunting Safaris in South Africa

Dangerous Game Hunts in South Africa

Dangerous game hunts in South Africa feature all seven dangerous game animals.  South Africa has the most developed hunting industry in all of Africa and is the primary destination for the majority of US hunters traveling to Africa each year.  Much of the dangerous game and other hunting is done within high fence enclosures.  This is because of the private ownership concept of game.  If a high fence surrounds the perimeter, then the landowner owns the game and except for certain regulated species, the landowner can manage the game as they see fit.  This has given rise to a large game ranching industry and has contributed to the astonishing growth in South Africa’s wild game populations.  Many ranches have converted over from sheep and cattle ranches to game ranching.

South Africa has an incredible variety of terrains for dangerous game hunting.  From tracking lions in the sands of the Kalahari Desert, to glassing the vast grasslands of the Karoo, to peeking over rolling sea-side dunes of the Eastern Cape, dangerous game hunts in South Africa offer the most varied  habitat to take a dangerous game hunting safari on the continent.

A large portion of the lion hunting is done in the Kalahari Desert, where the soft sands facilitate the tracking of lions on foot.  South Africa offers the most affordable lion hunting on the continent.  Much of the elephant hunting is done in areas fronting the Botswana border and on concessions that abut or are near Kruger National Park.  Limited availability of permits keeps South African elephant hunting priced rather high when compared to neighboring Zimbabwe.

The CITES convention currently only allocates 150 exportable leopard permits to South Africa.  This keeps prices rather high, although South Africa features a good population of large leopards.  South Africa features the continent’s largest population of rhinos and is a primary destination for those looking to complete their big 5 dangerous game animals.  And a discussion of dangerous game hunts in South Africa would not be complete without talking about Cape buffalo.  Cape buffalo are hunted in many locations country wide.  To the east of Kruger National Park, a vertical boundary exists called the red line.  To the east of this line, the buffalo herd carries bovine diseases, such as hoof and mouth.  To the west, South Africa maintains a disease free herd.  Maintaining this disease free herd causes buffalo prices to be higher than in many African countries.  South Africa has developed a sizeable buffalo breeding operation, aimed at producing trophy horn sizes.  Dangerous game hunts in South Africa offer something for all dangerous game hunters, no matter what the targeted species may be.  South Africa continues to be one of the best destinations to take  dangerous game hunts in all of Africa.