Poachers/Hunters Amatola Hiking Trail South Africa
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The Amatola Hiking Trail in the Eastern Cape of South Africa is a wonderful 100 km 6 day Hiking Trail. You hike through thick Indigenous Forest, Conifer Plantations and Mountain Grasslands. In the forests you expect to see or at least to see signs of wildlife. However, surprisingly there is very little evidence that there is wildlife still living in these beautiful forests.
The main reason for not seeing any wildlife appears to be the number of local hunters/poachers roaming these forests with packs of hunting dogs. On a recent hike here, we encountered three different groups of these hunters/poachers.
Photoed here is my wife on the third day of the trail being passed by a hunting/poaching party.
To be quite honest, it was a rather scary occasion.
That is so sad to hear. Seems that they are not very discreet about it...
Unfortunately they are labeled as "traditional hunters" and the law seems to turn a blind eye. But so sad that once where you could find antelope in numbers there seems to be very little left.