Personally, I have had no problem finding lions in South Luangwa. However, gameviewing for lions and leopards for me has typically been better in the Chichele area than elsewhere.

Also, as can be attested by the photos of Jules Shenton, one of the owners of Kaingo, there are no shortage of lions in the part of the park where Kaingo is located (further north than Tena Tena and Nsefu).

Thanks for all the new contributions.

Pred put it better than me, but I didn't want to be long-winded...just to link the Lorraine report with the hunting URL and leave people to read those themselves and comment if they wanted to. I don't mean you're long-winded Pred ...your specialist knowledge makes the difference.

As rocco knows, Kaingo is my likely target...and it had already occurred to me that's a place where I might be guaranteed not to hear trophy-hunters' gunshots, and that's what I would want: a guarantee. Hearing such noise and not seeing mature lions would spoil it for me.

It was only about 18 months ago that hunting was stopped at Motswiri, in the Selinda Reserve. Hunting activity was never evident on Selinda's photo safaris because Mots was far enough removed...except that Selinda's elephant breeding herds were more touchy than most and our walking guides kept well clear of them. Lions have been off-limits for some years, much to the chagrin of the hunting fraternity. I came across hunting activity once in Botswana. Our guide was driving us from the then brand new Savute bush camp to Chobe and accidentally cut across part of a hunting concession. We came upon a small convoy of vehicles and a couple of microlights on the ground...I assume the aircraft were used to spot the trophies and guide the hunters to them.

John

John: I am certainly long-winded when I get to posting and take no offense. I like to see these kind of deeper topics and it often brings out the experts on an area like luangwablondes for this location which helps us all become more educated.

Luangwa: thanks for the note on travel between Kafue and N. Luangwa. As I said earlier I would love to see S.L. its just moved down my list some. If I needed to pass through on an itinerary I would not hesitate to stay over. I have no principle here that harbors any ill feeling for the park or lodges or would require me to avoid the area -- wildlife management is full of complex issues and conflicts. I hope people will remain aware of these and voice concerns to help guide future management.

John
As far as the microlites on the ground and the vehicles, don't assume they are used for hunting. I have seen that a few times. The vehicles in all cases were support vehicles. Once at Epupa Falls I came across 2 on their flight from Switzerland to CapeTown, they gave me a flight over the falls for fuel.A company is now based there for that. A couple times it was for game counts. With its growing popularity its possible that its used for tourism.

Robbie,

They were a hunting party...they stopped us to tell us to get out of their territory. But I don't know for sure of course what the microlites were used for.

John

John,

About Motswiri....is that why the elephants in the Kwando/Selinda area very very edgy? Our guide at Lebala, told us that the ele's were migrating thru far and away wilderness areas with no prior human contact and hence very edgy.

Pred,

That URL link provided by John, mentions much the same activity in Kafue etc etc., i think it's just a much much bigger area to cover. I'm hoping Wilderness safaris can curb the hunting concessions just like they have helped out in other countries. But, yes that article is sickening....in terms of baiting the big cats. These cowards!!!

Hari

Luangwablondes,

Which camps do you frequent in the area?

Hari

Hari,

It may be both. I just remember our trails guide, who was very cautious about elephants, telling us they were edgy because of hunting. He had to kill a cow which charged and injured a client, but she had a calf at heel and may have been surprised by the walkers. That incident may not have been related to hunting at all.

The herds we encountered along the newly-flooded spillway last year seemed more relaxed (except for one lovely lady who repeatedly charged towards us. I think she had toothache . Yvonne and I got some wonderful shots of her charges). Perhaps they were more accepting of us because Motswiri was no longer a hunting camp AND they were being exposed more to peaceful humans.

John

John,

Yes. Very true.

Hari

John,

It's also possible that our guide mentioned the far and away wilderness areas to not talk about Motswiri. But, yes, he did mention the ele attacking the walker!!!

Hari

Hari: yes there is hunting around Kafue too and virtually all other parks. The difference at this point seems that Kafue's lions have not been overharvested (yet anyway) and as you point out it is a huge park which can support many more animals safe from hunting and even if the edges are baited (yes, I still despise this) the park can maintain better populations. But beyond lions my big draw to Kafue is it has the best places in Zambia to see cheetah and wild dog as well as having the highest diversity of antelope in all of Africa.

Bill,

I agree