Thanks for helping with this quick 60 second poll, your responses will help me with a project I’m working on. Please post answers to the following:

1)Are you an experienced safari traveler or hoping for your first safari?

2)If a camp/lodge/operator gave you a wildlife checklist would you check off the species you have seen?

3)If the data from your checklist would help future travelers would that encourage you to check a list?

4)If data from your checklist would help monitor and conserve wildlife would that encourage you to check a list?

5)If a lodge/camp/operator gives monthly reports on what they see does that add interest in their operation?

Thanks!!

1 Experienced Safari Traveler
2 no
3 no
4 yes
5 yes

Ok. Will play ......

1.) Regular visitor

2, 3, and 4) No, will not check any list ..... if it's for conservation purposes, will gladly donate any photos i take free of charge to a legal research team. If it's camp or lodge based research - their guiding team should know all of this information much much better than any of their guests, anyways.

5.) IMO - any game report is nothing but marketing material for an organization - be it Wilderness, Kwando or Masai Mara etc etc etc., nothing more, nothing less. It's pure entertainment and just gives me a broad guideline. I like to follow the lives of certain animals that i may have seen ..... in brief, more online reading material. Also, bear in mind - not all sightings for the week or month or gameviewing period gets registered in the reports. It all depends on the guides turning in the sightings to the head office for compilation purposes ......

Hope this helps!

I perfectly echo what Hari said:
1) experienced
2) No
3) No
4) Maybe, but I don't think guests will contribute to this accurately. If it's for science, then professionals are needed to monitor.
5) Not if it's used for propaganda. No guarantee the same animals will be there on my game drive anyway.

PB - here goes

1. Experienced

2. No - Always makes me feel like I am there to tick things off rather than relish whatever it is that I chance upon. Besides, certain species are a real luck of the draw. We saw pangolin at our only stay at Lebala, yet a member of staff who'd worked in the bush for 11 years hasnt seen one, so to me that checklist means little.

3. Possibly but it can be a tad misleading. Echo Hari's sentiment.

4. Yes, provided the information is being collected for a reputed research setup.

5. Yes. Case in point, the gameviewing reports on www.remoteafrica.com.

1 experienced
2 yes
3 yes
4 yes

I'm hoping that by informing the camp operator of my safari experience I will be more suitably matched with other game drive companions. Whatever that means

regards - tom

Pred,

1. Experienced
2. Would depend on the purpose. If invited to take part in an operator's regular wildlife survey (e.g. aerial count), yes. But not for something the guides routinely do on each drive.
3. No.
4. See 2.
5. Yes, but I'd regard it as a rough guide only...like any advertisement is only ever a claim.

okay then

1) experienced
2) no
3) could be done by "my" guide/tracker
4) definately yes
5) yes - especially when one has to estimate to go for certain speciec despite there is no "guarantee" for anything

1. Becoming experienced
2. No
3. No
4. Yessss
5. Yes

Hi Bill

1) I consider myself a experienced safari traveller.

2) no

3) no

4) maybe

5) absolutely

Kind regards

Kaye

1) Experienced
2) Not for commercial purposes - however, I do this anyway in the afternoon while my wife is having her nap.
3) Again, not to halp them inflate their rates
4) Yes, 100%
5) Yes, unless the prose is flowery

Hi Bill,

my answers are:

1. Hoping to get experienced (2 safaris so far)
2. I have done a checklist, just to have at home to relive my experiences... And unfortunately I found out that you do forget some things.. ;-)
3. Yes and No. Yes, if it would be compiled in a sensible manner to give others a better sense of what to expect. No, if it´s done just to get more people in to a certain area.
4. Yes, if it would really help. But I do think that professionals should do the job.
5. Yes, to some extent. It´s always nice to read about what has been seen. But I don´t expect to see all the animals that were reported last week.

regards,
Tom

Hi Bill,

1) Reasonably but not enough
2) No
3) Probably not
4) Yes but I believe it would need to be a detailed report.
5) Yes if it is true

Cheers

Ken

1. experienced - but from many years ago

2. yes, for the h**l of it - my own interests are wide and include flora, reptiles and insects.

3. sure, why not

4. yup

5. not really

1)Experienced

2)No

3)No

4)Yes, but think trackers and guides could do this anyway.

5)Yes

1. Semi-experienced (3 done, 2 more booked)

2. No

3. No

4. Probably not. I'm on vacation, and that info could be obtained just as easily -- and probably more accurately -- from the guide or tracker

5. no answer

1. 3 trips, all Botswana
2. No
3. Yes
4. Yes
5. Yes.

1) I think I am experienced (but not sure)
2) No
3) No
4) Yes
5) Yes, even though I know that it is marketing.

1.Anxiously looking forward to 1st safari in Oct.

2.Maybe, but I have no agenda to sight specific animals, anything I see would be exciting, a warthog or ubiquitous wildebeeste, whatever. (Do not want to witness a "kill" that seems to be high on some lists so my responses may not help you)

3.How would my checklist help other travelers? Sounds like a marketing tool, unless its for my own use as a reminder/souvenier of my trip.

4.If conservation of wildlife were truly the objective every one would be happy to participate. So, evidence would have to be provided.

5.Would probably influence some travelers to choose a particular operation.

1. No. Did Kenya, Tanzania in 2007.
2. Maybe, if I knew the purpose.
3. Yes.
4. Yes.
5. Yes.