Category Archives: Zambia

African Duiker Hunting – The Grey Duiker

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Grey duiker hunting is a great choice for the avid antelope hunter looking for a tough hunt, and many others choose to hunt them after bagging their primary quarry or take them as targets of opportunity while pursuing other game. This small, slender creature is a worthwhile trophy and makes for an attractive and affordable full-body mount.

The Quarry

Hunting Duiker

Grey Duiker Hunting

The grey duiker is also known as the common duiker, and for good reason: they can be found virtually anywhere in Africa below the Sahara desert. They prefer scrub, brush, and savanna woodlands for their territory.

Grey duiker can range from grey to reddish in coloration. They are marked with a long black stripe running from nose to forehead, and have white or lightly-colored under parts. They have a large black preorbital gland that is plain to see. During flight they move with a distinctive jumping pattern that looks as if they are diving, hence the name—“duiker” is Dutch for “diver.”

Part of the reason for their wide range and survivability is their extremely varied diet; while they are normally herbivorous browsers, they won’t hesitate to scavenge, and they do well as full-fledged predators of small birds and mammals. They get most of the water they need from food and can go for long periods of time without drinking.

They are extremely small animals, usually standing about 20 inches tall and weighing around 40 pounds. Females are slightly larger than males.

Only males carry horns, something that sets the subspecies apart from most other duikers. Look for horns that grow beyond the ends of the ears; these will be over four inches long and mean you’ve found a trophy-quality animal.

The Hunt

Grey duiker hunting is very difficult when they are hunted intentionally rather than as targets of opportunity: they are very small, extremely wary, blend in with their surroundings, and are almost always found in dense cover. When they are encountered, it’s usually at close range with only a partial view through the brush.

If the duiker notices you during your approach, you may have a brief window of opportunity to appraise the trophy and take aim, as they do tend to freeze before running. However, you may well need to take your shot on a moving target.

Any rifle from a .223 upwards should do the trick for bringing him down, but anything bigger than a .375 is generally considered overkill. Shotguns are also a good choice for these close encounters.

Call Global Sporting Safaris today at 888-850-4868, Extension 701 and let us know what type of duiker hunting experience you are looking for. We’ll send you information on opportunities that match your goals. Our experienced outfitters are second to none and we’re happy to share personal experiences with you.

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Jackal Hunting – Chasing Africa’s Coyote

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Jackal hunting is a favorite challenge for many sportsmen. These clever and elusive survivors are wary and tough to find, but their mystique and strikingly-patterned coats drive many to pursue them through the savannas, forests, marshes and mountains they call home. If you’re itching to chase Africa’s cunning coyote, read on!

The Quarry

Hunting Jackel

Jackel Hunting

There are three varieties of jackal found in Africa, the closely related black-backed and side-striped jackals and their more distant cousin the golden jackal. Nearly every country on the continent is home to at least one of these three, with the black-backed occurring in mainly in the south and the central east around Somalia, the golden in the north (also ranging far into Asia and Eastern Europe), and the side-striped in between. GSS represents outfitters who offer the opportunity to go on a black-backed and/or side-striped jackal hunt in South Africa, Namibia and Zambia.

Side-striped and black-backed jackals have distinctive, attractively-patterned coats. The former’s ranges from grey to buff to tawny, and while its patterning can vary widely, it usually has a darkly-colored back and a white stripe flashing across its flank. They have white-tipped tails. The latter is much more certain to live up to its name: the back is almost universally black and interspersed with silver-white. The majority of the coat is tan to reddish, the under parts are white, and the tip of the tail is black.

Black-backed jackals are the smallest in the world: standing only about a foot and a half tall and three feet long at their biggest, they can be dwarfed by a large vulture. Despite this, they are extremely aggressive and won’t hesitate to attack larger prey. The side-striped jackal is slightly larger, growing up to 20 inches tall at the shoulder, and has a more even temper.

There are few discussions of exact measurements for jackal trophies; most hunters look for larger individuals but the difficulty of a jackal hunt means that any mature male is worthwhile.

The Hunt

Jackal hunting is far from easy. These guys possess few exploitable traits: they aren’t dependent on water, they’re adaptable and opportunistic, and persecution by farmers and ranchers has made them wary of mankind.

Where legal, many sportsmen prefer a nighttime jackal hunt using predator calls and spotlights. This is an exciting option and one of the most likely to succeed. Otherwise, hunters generally only take them as targets of opportunity. If you won’t settle for anything less than bagging a jackal in broad daylight, though, GSS will gladly connect you with an outfitter who can take you on a spot-and-stalk hunt through some of the best jackal hunting areas in Africa.

Call Global Sporting Safaris today at 888-850-4868, Extension 701 and let us know what type of jackal hunting experience you are looking for. We’ll send you information on opportunities that match your goals. Our experienced outfitters are second to none and we’re happy to share personal experiences with you.

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Elephant Hunting in Zambia

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In 1982 the Zambian Government (Zambian Wildlife Authority or ZAWA) closed elephant hunting due to concerns over population declines across southern Africa resulting from extensive ivory poaching. Continued poaching and the resultant decline in elephant populations across southern Africa resulted in the African elephant being classified as a CITES Appendix 1 species in 1989. As a result, elephant hunting remained closed in Zambia until 2005 when the Zambian Government was successful in obtaining an approved CITES quota of 20 elephant bulls from the Chiawa, Lupande and Rufunsa Game Management Areas (GMAs). At that time, the elephant herd in Zambia was estimated to be somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 animals. Unfortunately, elephant taken in Zambia between 2005 and 2010 were not importable into the United States under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the regulations adopted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or the Service) governing the importation of threatened and endangered species into the country.

During the 2011 SCI Convention in Reno, an announcement was made that Zambia, the Safari Club International Foundation and the USFWS had reached an agreement to allow the importation of up to 20 bull elephant into the US from Zambia in 2011 (and beyond on a year-by-year basis). However, considering that elephants in Zambia are still listed as a threatened or endangered species under Appendix I of CITES, the Service must first make an Enhancement finding before allowing the importation of any legally taken elephant trophies. This finding must show that the hunting of elephant in Zambia will “enhance” the survival of the species in Zambia and an action is required before the Service can make such a finding. At the time of the SCI Convention, the Service had not received any formal applications for the importation of legally taken elephant parts and/or ivory in 2011 from Zambia – so while an agreement in principle has been reached, the final approval for importation is still contingent upon a positive Enhancement finding by the USFWS.

We are now advised that a number of permit applications have been submitted to the Service seeking approval for the importation of elephant taken this year and we are also advised that the USFWS Division of Scientific Authority has prepared a positive Enhancement finding and forwarded said finding on to the Division of Management Authority for review and approval. Now, based on the agreement reached between the USFWS, the government of Zambia and SCI, it is inconceivable that the Service would agree to allow the importation of legally taken trophies from Zambia if they didn’t intend to approve the Enhancement finding necessary to allow said importation. But, strictly speaking, importation can not occur until that finding has been approved by the Service. Once the positive Enhancement finding has been approved, the Service should begin issuing the individual import permits for sport-hunted elephant on a case-by-case basis.

As indicated above, ZAWA initially approved three GMAs in the country in which elephant hunting was allowed, but the word is that ZAWA intends to open up the rest of the GMAs this year, with the result that areas will now be open that have not seen any sport hunting of elephants since 1982. Let me say that again, hunting will be allowed in areas that have not seen elephant sport hunting in 29 years!

Some Zambian professional hunters have expressed concern that the United States may not allow the importation of elephant taken in these areas, but again we are advised that the Enhancement finding issued by the Service will be a country-wide determination and will apply to any areas where elephant hunting is legally authorized by the Zambian Government. So, the next step in the process will be for ZAWA to open these areas and set a quota.

Pending these developments with regards to the issuance of the positive Enhancement finding by the USFWS and the opening of the remaining GMAs by ZAWA, 2011 and 2012 could see some impressive jumbo hit the ground in Zambia. Hunters in 2011 will be able to sort through herds that have not seen any sport hunting pressure for 29 years with the result that this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity at a 60 lb. elephant or better.

In this regard, one of our outfitters was allocated three of the twenty permits available for 2011 and now has only one permit left for an October hunt, but he will have three permits again for 2012. So if you want to be one of the first U.S. hunters to hunt elephant in Zambia in either 2011 or 2012 give Bob Anderson a call at 307-473-1268 or send an email to bob@gssafaris.com for pricing and details. We will even assist you with your CITES Import Permit application!

NOTE: The information provided above concerning the initial closure of elephant hunting in Zambia, the subsequent uplisting of the species to CITES Appendix 1, the mechanisms involved in that listing, and the recent development leading towards the opening of Zambia to the sport-hunting of elephant once again are based on a general overview of existing information as well as discussions with professionals who are familiar with the current situation. The processes involved in listing species under CITES, and the decision processes utilized by the USFWS concerning the importation of these species into the United States, is a very complex undertaking. As a consequence, the information presented above is designed to give the reader a general overview of the current situation as it apples to the possible opening of elephant hunting in Zambia and is not in any way intended or construed to be a concise scientific discussion or overview of how CITES and the USFWS permitting processes function. Nor is this discussion a guarantee that the USFWS will issue a positive Enhancement finding which will open the door for the sport-hunting of elephant in Zambia.