Africa is home to the largest remaining migrations on earth, the last prides of lion, the gorillas and chimpanzees, and most of the remaining elephant and rhinoceros. All kept safe on the most valuable wildlife properties on the planet.

“Putting bums in beds” is funding millions of square miles of protected areas throughout Africa. Ecotourism adds value to wilderness by creating jobs and teaching people to be proud of their wildlife. We need to do everything possible to make all major safari destinations in Africa accessible and marketable. Travelers must feel safe when they come to Africa.   

Saving the great parks and wildernesses of Africa is becoming part of African national pride. Botswana must be proud that they have the largest remaining elephant population on earth. As South Africans we must be proud to have the largest rhino population in the world. Rwanda must be proud of the mountain gorilla. Tanzania proud of the largest lion population anywhere.

National Geographic Expeditions "On Safari in Southern Africa By Private Air" in 2012/13. These tourists coming to photograph Africa's wildlife are probably the continent's biggest conservationists. (Carol Guy)

An elephant's scene. "An image from the ODP photosafari that I recently led, on board the Nguni Voyager, Chobe River, Botswana. A small herd of elephants were feeding on on the banks of the river at sunset. The light had got too dark to shoot anything other than silhouettes, so with the use of a flash i managed this picture. The look-alike stars are actually insects lit up by the flash." (Brendon Cremer / outdoorphoto.co.za)

National Geographic Expedition stops to look at a clan of hyenas moving down a dry river near Mashatu Camp (Northern Tuli, Botswana). (Steve Boyes)

The dogs of war, photographed by guide Stephen Cunliffe (stevecunliffe.com) at Liuwa Plains National Park, Zambia. "When a superior predator arrived, the dogs refused to go quietly and put up a staunch defence against the thieving hyena" (Stephen Cunliffe)

Elephants enjoying a drink in the Mashatu area (N Tuli, Botswana) as a game drive vehicle moves past in the background. The 1,000 elephants in the area are completely habituated to vehicles and do not run away when approached. They needed to lear that the rumbling of a LandRover did not always mean trouble. (Hunting Legends / www.huntinglegends.com)

African elephants moving across a dry and dusty floodplain in the Mombo area. Breeding herds are very protective of their new borns, preferring to stay on smaller islands where there are less lions and hyenas. (Steve Boyes)

Lasting memories being created... These National Geographic Expedition guests are surrounded by the Endangered African wild dog or painted hunting dog that usually lives in fear of humans. (Steve Boyes)

African wild dogs are among the most beautiful canids on earth. On this expedition the guests saw these amazing dogs twice in the Okavango Delta, watching them playing together next to the vehicle. A privilege only made possible through habituation. (Steve Boyes)

Bloodied wild dog. Photographed by Edward Peach guide of Ivory Tree Game Lodge, South Africa. "One of the Pilanesberg's wild dogs waiting for a response from the rest of the pack after calling them to share the impala that two of them caught." (Edward Peach)

National Geographic Expedition expert and guests photographing a herd of buffalo in Mala Mala along the Sand River (Sabi Sands, South Africa). (Steve Boyes)

Herd of buffalo move past the LandRover and behave as they would if lions were following them. Photographed here making more buffalo at Mala Mala. (Steve Boyes)

A large pride of lions needs to kill a buffalo or a zebra everyday to sustain itself. The Okavango Delta is the scene of an endless struggle between life and death. (Steve Boyes)

Ray of light. Photographed by guide Marius Coetzee of Oryx Photographic Tours at Leopard Hills, South Africa. (Marius Coetzee)

Almost 700 rhino slaughtered in South Africa and Zimbabwe in a year. An estimated 25,000 elephant killed the year before all over Africa. The bushmeat and illegal wildlife trade has boomed in recent years on the continent.

Over 20% of the global population of African grey parrots are being harvested from the wild every year. Millions of green pigeons are being smoked as bushmeat in the Congo. Over 1,200 dead tree pangolins from Africa were confiscated by Indonesian authorities who discovered the 260 cartons of frozen pangolins weighing 5 tonnes.

Is it justifiable in this day-and-age to hunt one of the last big tusker elephants for $100,000? Is it ethical to shoot crocodiles that are over 100 years old and elephants that are nearing 70?

The Botswana Environmental Ministry explains that: ”The shooting of wild game for sport and trophies is no longer compatible with our commitment to preserve local fauna.”

The Zambian Minister of Tourism and Arts, Sylvia Masebo, also closed all leopard, lion and elephant hunting across the country, basing her decision on corruption and malpractice between hunting operators and government departments. 

We have opportunity in the KAZA-TFCA (Angola/Zambia/Botswana/Namibia) to create the largest protected area on earth in support of almost 50% of the world’s elephants. 

Title: "Monster Elephant"... This old bull elephant was most likely not a monster, but rather one of the last-remaining "big tuskers" in Africa. In the 1850s there were many reports of mammoth-size elephant in the Kalahari and mammoth-size tusks were exported. Today these massive bulls are no longer seen. The wildlife of Africa needs a few decades to recover from the last few hundred years of carnage. (Hunting Legends / www.huntinglegends.com)

Cape buffalo with hunter. Buffalo are the most dangerous member of the "Big 5" and are a sought after trophy in Botswana, where they are largely restricted to protected areas due to the cattle industry. (Global Hunting Resources / https://www.facebook.com/GlobalHuntingResources)

Hippopotamus are the protectors of the remotest reaches of the inland deltas of Africa and have been hunted almost to extinction for their ivory throughout most of their distributional range. Dead hippo photographed here in Mozambique. Wildlife populations need to be given time to recover before further hunting is allowed in Mozambique. (Hunting Legends / www.huntinglegends.com)

Crocodile shot dead on a sandbank... This 15+ foot nile crocodile was probably over 100 years old and planning on living for another few decades. If we farm crocodiles, why do we need to shoot them in the wild? (Hunting Legends / www.huntinglegends.com)

"Danger in the forest"... A poacher hunting in a restricted area was caught on the camera trap. There will come a time when there are simply no birds or animals in these grand forests. What is the alternative to bushmeat? (John Hart / Maurice Emetshu / www.bonoboincongo.com)