Within a generation, the wilderness of Zululand, with its spectacular array of mammals, birds and plants, came near to extinction. This is the saga of that decline and of the heroic and successful attempt, through establishing game reserves and enforcing environmental protection policies, to save one of Africa's surviving environmental gems. Enough elephant tusks to fill a thousand ox wagons - that's how much ivory alone was shipped out of Durban bay between the 1820s and the 1880s. It amounted to at least a million kilograms, or a thousand tons, of ivory and represented the slaughter of 20 000 elephant. Piles of elephant tusks were then a common sight at the dockside in Port Natal. But that was not all - rhino horn; buck horn; buffalo, hippo and wildebeest hide; lion, leopard and wildcat skin; as well as live wild animals, all were exported, much coming from the last surviving great African kingdom in southern Africa, Zululand. The three pillars of the Zululand and Maputaland wilderness were the wild game, the avifauna, particularly game birds, and the indigenous forests. This title charts both the onslaught on them and the efforts made to preserve them from the destruction that seemed imminent and inevitable. But the title also tells the story of the local African population and their attitudes; it looks at the white and African hunters who pursued the game; and it traces the foundation in the 1890s of the first Zululand game reserves and their struggle for survival against all the odds. Had not the pioneers of Zululand conservation embarked on this early conservation movement, the Zululand wilderness with its tremendous diversity of fauna and flora would have disappeared completely - and with it one of Africa's brightest jewels.

Chartering the dire cultural and environmental impact of poachers and the export of Africa's incredibly diverse wildlife, this compelling account describes how Zululand's rich natural heritage was rendered nearly extinct due to generations of greed and abuse. Documenting the steady decline of wild game--from the slaughter of 20,000 elephants so that 1,000 tons of ivory could be shipped from Durban Bay between 1820 and the 1880's to the indiscriminate global export of rhino and buck horns; hides from lions, leopards, and other wildcats; and live wild animals--this staggering documentation bears witness to the careless depletion of the last surviving great African kingdom. Meticulously researched with emphasis on celebrating the heroic and eventually successful attempts to enforce environmental-protection policies through establishing strictly regulated game reserves, this incredible saga is a resounding affirmation of how commitment to preservation throughout history can end and then repair the damage done by decades of thoughtless desecration.

Book Information
ISBN 9781770095960
Author Donald P. McCraken
Page Count 176
Imprint Jacana Media
Publisher Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd
Weight(grams) 500g
Dimensions(mm) 270mm * 220mm * 15mm