In line with my previous remarks about the fantastic proliferation of wildlife on our 80 000 acre private property another record has been broken : a 15" warthog!
Just like all other wildlife species, warthogs have benefited tremendously from our principles of incentivised conservation in recent years.
The incentive that has allowed this proliferation is ironically the funds generated from sport hunting and trophy hunting in particular.
This 12+ year old monster warthog is proof of this: we do not allow indiscriminate shooting and killing of animals, but rather meticulously select only certain old animals to be harvested by the paying hunter.
Economic value has allowed the wildlife to sustain itself on our land and clearly thrive as we invest in neighbouring land/habitat whenever the opportunity arises by means of funds generated from the wildlife itself.If the wildlife didn't have value we would simply be forced to sustain our resident employed staff and their large burgeoning families by increasing domesticated livestock flocks, which as we all know can easily lead to desertification, environmental degradation and other habitat destruction.
Congratulations to Luke Blewett from Idaho for being the lucky hunter who was at the right place at the right time to make the perfect shot on this fantastic trophy earlier this month.
