By 2030, tourism to Africa is projected to generate more than
$260 billion annually; photographic safaris are driving much of
that economic growth—a vital source of jobs for locals. Given
that kind of economic clout, many travelers were startled when
Botswana—long an ecotourism and conservation leader—
reversed course this year to allow sport hunting of elephants
again. With so much at stake, safari companies are now funding
some of Africa’s most innovative anti-poaching efforts to protect
wildlife. Take the Anatolian shepherd dog project at Bushmans
Kloof, a National Geographic Unique Lodge of the World, in
South Africa’s Cederberg Mountains. “The Cape leopard is one of
the world’s most threatened big cats, because livestock farmers
kill them trying to defend their flocks. We learned that Anatolian
A southern white rhino is relocated from South
Africa, a high poaching area, to Botswana,
by Rhinos Without Borders, an organization
co-founded by National Geographic explorers
Dereck and Beverly Joubert.shepherd dogs instinctually protect sheep and goats from pred-
ators,” says Brett Tollman, CEO of The Travel Corporation, of
which Bushmans Kloof is a part. “So we donated these beautiful
canines to local villagers to protect their livestock. And where
we have introduced the Anatolian dogs, the result has been a
dramatic decrease in poaching of Cape leopards.”
In neighboring Botswana, one of the most ambitious animal
welfare projects is under way to save a species dangling at the
edge of extinction. “Our goal is to relocate no fewer than 100
African rhinos into safe havens, where we maintain a robust
anti-poaching presence. To date, 87 rhinos have been success-
fully relocated,” say National Geographic explorers Dereck and
Beverly Joubert, who co-own Duba Plains Camp.TREND 3
ANTI-POACHING
INNOVATIONS