Zambia: A Top Game Hunting Destination

[DYNAMIC-BLOGTABLEOFCONTENT]

Why choose Zambia as a game hunting destination?

Zambia is a top game hunting destination in Africa, it really is just that simple. It was one of the last countries to be discovered by hunters as an African big game and plains game hunting destination, with large varieties of animals on offer for safari hunting in Zambia.

Dangerous game hunting in Zambia includes elephants, Cape buffalos, lions, Nile crocodiles, and hippos. For many years, Zambia has also been renowned as leopard hunting country.

African plains game hunting offers a wide variety of antelope to target when on a game hunting safari in Zambia. Kafue lechwe and black lechwe are both endemic to Zambia, while this prime hunting destination offers the finest sable and Cookson’s wildebeest.
The most popular areas for hunting in Zambia include the Luangwa Valley, Kafue Flats, Zambezi Valley, and Bangweulu Swamps. The Zambian Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) has made it a key focus area over the last years to improve game management which is the cornerstone of a country’s leisure visitor and hunting market.
Zambia is sparsely populated with a head count of twenty million making it perfect for the management and habitation of game.

Zambia Quicks Facts

• The currency is known as the Zambian Kwacha, but as most African safari hunters know, foreign currency is a better commodity.
• The capital city of Zambia is Lusaka, found nine miles from Kenneth Kaunda International Airport.
• It is possible to fly or drive from the international airport to any of the reserves.
• The official language spoken is English.
• Zambia is slightly larger than Texas in the USA.

Zambian Geography

• Zambia takes its name from the mighty Zambezi River. It’s a landlocked country surrounded by Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Congo DRC, Namibia, and Angola. All surrounding countries are also prime African hunting destinations.
• This country consists of a high plateau with isolated mountain peaks. Most of Zambia is relatively flat, broken by small hills, and covers a surface area of more than 1,200 2000 square miles. It lies in the watershed between the Congo DR and Zambezi River systems. The land levels fall southward towards the Congo DR, while the plateau is broken by the huge valleys of the upper Zambezi River.
• Lake Bangweulu is famous for its swamps that cover an area of 3,800 miles, drained by the Luapula River. On the southern border stretches Lake Kariba, the world’s second-largest man-made lake and the biggest in Africa. The stretch of Lake Kariba is greater than 450 miles.
• The largest river in Zambia is the Kafue which is a major tributary to the Zambezi and lies entirely within Zambia, stretching a whopping 980 miles in length.
  Interesting Facts about the mighty Zambezi River:
• The Zambezi River flows through six countries and is the fourth-largest river in Africa.
  It flows over several major waterfalls, with its source in Zambia.
• Two massive hydroelectric power plants are powered by the Zambezi River, which has very few bridges.
• The Zambezi River is protected by the Nyami Nyami. Sporting the head of a fish and the body of a snake, the Nyami
• Nyami is the God and guardian of the Zambezi River Valley, as believed by the local Tsonga people.
• The Zambezi River contains grade 5 and 6 rapids and is home to some of the world’s best and most fearsome rapids.

Perfect Game Hunting Conditions

Zambia has a sub-tropical climate characterized by a hot and dry season (August to November), a rainy season (November to April), and a cool and dry season (May to August). The dry season is perfect for big game hunting in Africa.
It averages rainfall 1300mm in the north which drops to 600mm in the south. The Inter-Tropical Conversion Zone (ITCZ) oscillates between the northern and southern tropics controlling the wet season. In summer, temperatures average 86 degrees Fahrenheit, while winter temperatures can drop to an average of 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

History of Hunting in Zambia

Amendments to Zambia’s Hunting Laws

• Since Zambia gained independence from Britain in 1964 when Northern Rhodesia became Zambia, Zambia has endured many changes to hunting legislation.
• Elephant hunting was banned in 1982, and in 1989 the Zambian elephants were up listed in CITES Appendix I. All hunting on public land was banned by President Frederick Chiluba in 2002, as he believed that the country had experienced widespread abuse of the concession license, leading to indiscriminate decimation of wildlife.
• Following the elections in 2002, game hunting concessions were put out on tender. Elephant hunting in Zambia remained suspended, and the hunting concessions were only allocated in 2003.
• In 2004 Zambia received authorization from CITES for the ivory of 20 elephants to be exported to CITES signatory country members.
• From 2005 until 2013, the Zambian Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) issued an annual quota of 20 CITES-approved export elephant bulls for big game hunting foreign clients in the game management areas.
• In 2013, Zambia again banned game hunting, including elephants on public land. The ban was issued for proper game counts to take place. Due to depleted numbers of leopards and lions, leopard and lion hunting were permanently banned.
• In 2014, the game hunting ban was lifted, including elephant hunting in Zambia. The ban in terms of lion hunting and leopard hunting remained.
• The ban on hunting lions and leopards was lifted in 2015. Leopard hunting resumed immediately, but hunting lions only resumed in the 2016/2017 season.
• The status quo at present remains. Hunting in Zambia is fully open for all plains game and big game hunting, subject to change as usual in Africa.

Game Management Areas in Zambia

Zambia boasts 20 national parks and 36 Game Management Areas (GMA), covering 56 million acres. The ZAWA manages these GMA’s that vary in size from 2000 to 60000 acres, with these being concessions in the hunting industry. These GMA’s border the national game parks. Community-owned lands are between 4800 and 9600 square miles. These community areas are used for regulated safari hunting in Zambia and incorporate a variety of habitats. National parks have high densities of African plain game antelope and big game. Excessive numbers of these animals traverse to the hunting concessions, providing sufficient volume for sustainable hunting to be commercially viable.
Concession holders invest in community and humanitarian projects, from supplying energy, boreholes, schools, medical assistance, and education. Hunters are billed and contribute to these community projects, anti-poaching initiatives, and upliftment projects via conservation/community levies. Annual concession fees are based on huntable game numbers, geographical location, and species in high demand by game hunters.

Hunting Licenses in Zambia

High service levels and success rates, combined with modest hunting quotas, have resulted in the game hunting industry being a remarkable success. When hunting in Zambia, the safari license the hunter can apply for is broken into three main categories:

• The classic safari includes a minimum duration of 14 days. Leopard, Lion, and Buffalo hunts, with premier species and other plains game;
• The mini-game hunting safari allows a hunter to harvest only five animals. This package excludes dangerous game such as the lion and leopard;
• Packages for safari hunting in Zambia can be tailor-made to include antelope such as Kafue Lechwe and the Sitatunga.

Hunting Areas in Zambia

Bangweulu Swamps

• These swamps are a wetland area adjacent to Lake Bangweulu in northeastern Zambia and measure over 1500,000 acres. The Bangweulu swamps are a favorite area for African plains game hunting, including the sitatunga and black lechwe.
• The black lechwe are spread across the grasslands and numbers are more than 50000. They are shaggy, black, and tan with a white underbelly, and the males have long lyre-shaped horns very similar to their relatives, the waterbuck.
• Black lechwe are also strong swimmers and their waterproof coats and elongated hooves have adapted to support the muddy conditions. The oribi and reedbuck are also featured species.
• Locals construct purpose-built high seats from natural materials on the edge of the swamp to hunt sitatunga and hunters generally make use of tented camps in the area as main hunting accommodations.
• This area is best accessed by charter plane from Lusaka and the travel time is approximately 90 minutes.
• Bangweulu is not a classic wildlife destination but is home to many additional species of plains game such as Cape buffalo, puku, sable, tsessebe, wildebeest, and Burchell’s zebra. Bangweulu Swamps is also a sought-after destination for bird watchers.

Luangwa Valley

• The Luangwa Valley is an extension of the Great East African Rift Valley.
• The terrain in the Luangwa Valley varies from lush forest to thickly wooded savannah, there are plenty of tributaries and water is plentiful all year round. Prime game hunting season is from July through to November.
• This area is a top destination for elephant hunting and due to the vast amounts of water includes other dangerous game such are Hippo, Lion, Leopard, Crocodile, and Buffalo. The area is also well known for extensive plains game hunting and includes sought-after species such as the Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest, Puku, and the grysbok. Roans are readily available and regularly measure up to 30 inches. Sable is also available in the Luangwa Valley.
• The Luangwa Valley is also known as the “honeypot” of Africa. It is the densest wildlife area in Africa and boasts the Thornicroft’s Giraffe and Cookson’s Wildebeest.

The Kafue Basin

• The main game hunting attraction in the Kafue basin is the search for the Kafue Lechwe (Kobus leche kafuensis) which is endemic to the area.
• The Kafue basin borders the Southern part of Zambia and the Kafue National Park. The basin is a game-rich area with water in abundance. The terrain includes grasslands, woodland, and seasonal floodplains, totalling over 30,000 acres attracting an enormous variety of birds.
• The Kafue basin is sometimes logistically touch to reach with very little development in the area.
• The Kafue Lechwe is a subspecies of the Southern Lechwe and is listed on the IUCN Red List as vulnerable. The males have beautiful long horns, are thin, rugged, and lyre-shaped, and can reach up to 3 feet in length. Active during daylight hours, herds can reach thousands in number.

The Zambezi Region (Valley)

• This area is largely an undiscovered wilderness area.
• The biggest attraction here for international hunters is that it has been described as real with unfenced safari camps.
• The Zambezi region is an unspoiled stretch of nature and is 140 000 acres in size, has a remarkable concentration of wildlife.
• Dangerous game hunting includes hippos, crocodiles, Buffalo, elephants, and extensive varieties of plains game. Species like reedbuck, roan, sable, and lechwe are readily available.

Dangerous Game Hunting Zambia

Besides rhinos (both white and black), elephants, hippos, lions, Nile crocodiles, leopards, and Africa’s notorious “Black Death” or Windowmaker, the Cape buffalo are all available in Zambia. These members of the Dangerous 7 and Big 5 are all best hunted during the dry season.

Plains Game Hunting Zambia

Excluding species of antelope as mentioned, the hunter has many other choices which include, nyala, black wildebeest, blesbok, impala, kudu, zebra, and the very shy and elusive bushbuck.

Hunting the Spotted Hyena in Zambia

Spotted hyenas, also known as the laughing hyena, make fantastic hunting trophies, and hunting spotted hyenas may be conducted in season, between April and November. Baiting is used as the traditional method of hunting these as they really are not too fussy if the meat is rancid or not. Once the bait has been hit, a temporary blind will be built. Campfire stories are rife with tales of brown and spotted hyenas attacking sleeping people and dragging small adults and children off into the distance. Hyenas form packs and will gladly take on a lion who has lost condition and nearing the end of his days.
When on a hunting adventure, hunters and camp staff regularly hear the hyena’s hysterical laughter sending chills down one’s spine.

Interesting Hyena Facts:

• Hyenas can weigh up to 130 pounds;
• Hyenas are not wild dogs and are quite intelligent;
• They live in clans and mate with other clan members;
• Hyenas are not reliant on scavenging alone, but are also good hunters;
• There are three species of hyena:
  • Spotted
  • brown
  • striped
• Hyenas are listed as the least concern by IUCN due to their large numbers and range.

Tourism in Zambia

When planning your game hunting safari to a destination so spectacular as Zambia, family members are usually first on the list “begging” to join. Luckily, this diverse African destination doesn’t disappoint and there are many activities for them to enjoy while you are busy safari hunting in Zambia! Attractions are plentiful from national parks to the famous Victoria Falls. Family activities include walking with lions, riding elephants, and for those who are more refined, enjoying high tea. Zambezi River cruises are very popular for viewing game such as crocodiles and hippos.

Zambia as a Hunting Destination

When booking your game hunting safari, Zambia should be one of the countries at the top of any hunter’s list. The African outfitters are of high standards and the fauna and flora are truly amazing. Discount hunts are often available near the end of the season, but the hunter would need to be available to travel at relatively short notice.