A chat with the man who handled elephants, lions, and cheetahs during the filming of the 1962 classic movie starring John Wayne.

By Thomas McIntyre

Of the cast and crew, both human and animal, who assembled half a century ago in east Africa to make the iconic safari movie Hatari!, only a few are still around.  Star John Wayne, director Howard Hawks, and screenwriter Leigh Brackett all died more than 30 years ago, and actors Red Buttons, Bruce Cabot, Gérard Bain, and Michèle Girardon have joined them.  Most of the professional hunters who worked as technical advisors, guides, doubles, security, wildlife wranglers, and capturers, have also passed on.

Try out a variety of dangerous game rifles and learn how to stop a charge at this unique shooting clinic.

by Diana Rupp

All I could see of the large Cape buffalo was its face, horns, and chest as it started toward me from the edge of the trees, coming at a steady clip. I readied the double rifle and settled the open sights between its nostrils, just as the professional hunter had instructed.

A new initiative to restore lion populations across the African continent.

John Banovich, artist, conservationist, and founder of the Banovich Wildlife Foundation (BWF), has launched a new initiative to restore lion populations and ensure a future with lions in Africa. In February, BWF brought together some of Africa’s leading professional hunters and hunting/photographic companies, along with lion biologists and leading non-governmental organizations, to discuss how the hunting community can lead the way in African lion conservation.

Lion numbers have dropped to an estimated 30,000 in the wild, inhabiting only 17 percent of their former range. Much of the loss was historically due to exploding human and livestock numbers; spearing and poisoning has continued to decimate them wherever local people raise livestock. The news gets worse: Recent studies have shown that populations have also declined in many hunting areas, with too many young lions shot as trophies.
 

Here’s how to minimize your risk of contracting this disease while on safari.

by Anthony Acerrano
    
Because malaria is rare in the United States, we don't hear a lot about it, save for periodic media sound bites that are largely negative and often unsettling.  The news is usually bad news. For instance: More than 350 million people contract malaria each year, and about one million die from it. Meanwhile, drug-resistant strains of malarial parasites are said to be on the increase, making the disease harder to prevent and more difficult to cure. Every year, according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), approximately 1,500 American travelers are diagnosed with malaria after their return to the States. And, the CDC claims, "Travelers to sub-Saharan Africa have the greatest risk of both getting malaria and dying from their infection."

A PH makes a split-second decision that will mean life or death for him and his client.

By Brad Fitzpatrick

The game trail was a narrow corridor of hard-packed soil beneath a canopy of thorn. It was hard to imagine that three big bull elephants had recently come down this path, but professional hunter Karl Stumpfe stood over their fresh spoor pressed deep into the dirt of the game trail. He strained to see through the interwoven green branches of combretum, but the wall of vegetation was so thick that the elephant bulls less than a dozen yards ahead of the men appeared only as sandy-gray patches moving slowly through the dense cover.