Kampamba is Director-Research, Planning & Information for Zambia Wildlife Authority. He said follow-up court action was expected shortly. In fact, that may well have already occurred by the time you read this. If so, the result of that action will be posted on our web site. Our predication is, the court action will result in hunting being reopened. That was clearly Kampam-ba's view, too, as he was at great pains to give the hunting community his telephone number and e-mail address. He urged hunters interested in hunting Zambia this year to get in touch with him after the expected court date of April 9. In the meantime, he asked us to clarify that hunting on private land (e.g., ranch hunting) is open.
So, what was behind the on-again/off-again action on safari areas? No one knows for sure, but word reaching us is, the area allocation that was made last month was not based on the elaborate tender process ZAWA has been working on for months. On the contrary, it appears to have been a purely political allocation that was not in the best interests of the safari industry or the wildlife on which it is based. We understand the EU and the US both weighed in against the allocation, as did some local chiefs in Zambia. Hence, the court action may have been good news disguised as bad news. For certain, we will be following the upcoming court action closely, as we still do expect hunting to go forward this year. Some great, last-minute bargains may be available.........(continued)
