HUNTING AND CONSERVATION IN AFRICA DURING A PANDEMIC: A CONVERSATION WITH NAMIBIAN OUTFITTER JAMY TRAUT

PANORAMA OVERLOOK

ITHINK ‘IRONIC’ CAPTURES THE fact that Jamy Traut trained as a Marine Biologist, even though he grew up—and loves best—the arid Kalahari region of his Namibian homeland. His explanation? “As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a Professional Hunter. In fact, my first ‘elephant hunt’ occurred around the age of 8, and involved stalking up to a bull with my .22 and pretending to shoot it. But, until the mid-80’s, there was really no organized hunting industry in Namibia. So, I went to

Norway and obtained a Master’s degree in Marine

Biology.” However, Jamy’s stint in wetter environments was not meant to last. In fact, his transition into his beloved field of PH’ing was encouraged by colleagues at the university from which he obtained his Master’s degree. They asked him to organize a hunting trip for them in Namibia. Putting together the logistics, and then hosting the hunters, put Jamy onto the path that would make him one of the most respected Professional

Hunters and Outfitters in Namibia. With 20 days per month (April-October), over the past 25 years, spent in the field it’s no wonder that he is also one of the most experienced PHs of his generation. And, as his younger self’s passion for ‘elephant hunting’ predicted, he is now one of the most experienced dangerous game-

PH’s in Africa.

Intriguingly, Jamy Traut admitted that a good bit of his motivation for being a PH came from reading the writings of people like Robert Ruark and Harry Selby.

As an avid devourer of hunting literature, I understand the seductive nature of such books and articles. But,

Jamy is the first PH/Outfitter I have encountered who mentioned literature as a catalyst for choosing their career. When he first read the classic Africana, he realized that he would never be a part of the long-gone, mobile Safaris described in such works as Horn of the

Hunter. However, it and other classics propelled him forward into the different, but still rewarding, life of a modern-day Professional Hunter. As an aside, I asked

Jamy whether he encourages young people to consider pursuing the path leading to a Professional Hunter. His answer: “Five years ago, I would have freely encouraged anyone interested to go after the PH training and qualifications. Now, I warn them of the changing political climate and the difficulties they will face.” Sad, but wise words.

Though Jamy was affected greatly through his reading of books, in-person mentoring in how to be a hunter came from a bushman by the name of ‘Old Hans’.

Among the invaluable lessons Hans taught Jamy was that the majority of hunters move much too quickly through the bush. Hans would stop frequently—pointing to birds, plants, tracks and even to pick berries to eat and to give to his young charge. Jamy’s frustration would grow-and-grow until he would let loose on Hans for moving too slowly. Hans’ dry response was “If you don’t have the time to stop and pick berries to eat, you’re going too fast! You’ll be walking right past bird alarm calls that might warn the animal you’re after and maybe even the browsed leaves and tracks from that animal.”

I know that Jamy learned Hans’ lessons well. When he and I went out hunting on his lovely home ranch, Panorama, I observed an incredibly gifted PH. Yes, he could quickly spot and judge animals and then plan a stalk to get us within range. But, most impressively, he accomplished this over-and-over with the minimum of cover—we were hunting in the Kalahari region after all, an ecosystem not known for its lush vegetation. I think this ability to stalk in close to animals has been developed and maintained by Jamy’s preference to personally hunt with open-sighted rifles. He points to ‘nostalgia’ as a driving force behind his choice of non-scoped rifles. Yet, his preference is also very consistent with that young boy who stalked up close to an elephant bull and [fortunately] chose not to plink it in the fanny with his tiny rifle! I would love to dwell longer on the beauty of the Panorama ranch, and the ‘reverse trophy hunting’ for meat animals that Jamy and I accomplished over my two days there. However, a prime object of my spending time with Jamy was to ask him about the effects of COVID-19 on the African hunting industry and the animals and ecosystems it helps conserve.

For Jamy Traut and his colleagues, the first effect from the spread of COVID-19 occurred in March of 2020. It resulted in rushing a hunter from their Kaokoland concession to the Windhoek airport before he was trapped by the Namibian lockdown. Jamy emphasized that throughout 2020, the Namibian government clearly communicated the how, when and why of their actions to try and moderate the effects of COVID-19. However, the repeated lockdowns brought the predictable economic devastation on the Outfitting industry, tourism in general and the Country as a whole. To use Jamy Traut Hunting Safaris as a microcosm of what happened, the Company’s revenue was reduced by more than 50%. The reason the loss wasn’t much greater was due to two factors 1) local (i.e., Namibian) hunters and 2) the government’s decision to open their borders again to tourists on October 1st. The border opening would seem to have been a particularly enlightened response. It reflected the Namibian government’s recognition of the centrality of tourism for the continuing health of the country’s economy, which in turn supports those in economic and physical need. Jamy wanted to make it clear that, though valuing the Namibians who hunted in their various concessions in 2020, local hunters will never provide the income required to run an operation like theirs. The total costs of concession/conservancy fees, renovations and maintenance of camps, food, travel etc. are astronomical. These types of expenses can only be covered by hunters

Jamy, tracker Petrus and Jock the Staffordshire side-kick preparing to glass from the top of a Panorama dune

Jamy Traut Guided the Author to 6 ‘meat’ animals

coming from outside the country. To explain this better, Jamy gave the following statistics. This year, for the first time, they sold ‘non-trophy, meat-animal’ hunts to Namibians. These hunts brought in 15% of the value of a trophy hunt. Because of this difference in hunt value, prior to 2020, local hunters provided approximately 1% of the gross income of their company. This year, the business’ [much reduced] gross income will derive from 80% international and 20% local hunters. This gives a good indication of the overwhelming impact of bringing international hunters in to Namibia. In spite of having a greatly-reduced window (October 1st-November 30th) to bring in hunters such as myself, we still provided the vast majority of income needed to keep the Namibian Safari companies afloat in 2020. My next question to Jamy concerned the future. With the 2021 SCI convention cancelled, I wanted to explore how this would change their marketing. He clarified that 2021 was going to be a busy year—given no repetition of COVID-19 lockdowns—because Safaris canceled this year were in the main rebooked for next year. However, with few (if any) conventions available to actually meet potential clients in person, on-line marketing of Safaris for 2022 and beyond will be crucial. With this in mind the owners and staff of Jamy Traut Hunting Safaris are working through how to meet ‘face-to-face’, online. Synchronous Zoom, PowerPoint presentations and short videos displaying their many concessions and camps, were all mentioned as avenues they want to use to encourage clients to book Safaris. I joked that ‘real-time’ meetings with North Americans might mean that they will all be working from 12 am—6 am. Jamy grinned and said “We’ve had to do worse things.” Their group, being as well-known and -respected as it is, has an advantage over smaller or younger outfits—that of repeat clients. However, the smallest or newest outfitters should also be able to utilize the same methods and tools employed by Jamy and his colleagues; in fact, moving forward, these approaches will be potentially of even more importance for the smaller businesses.

I next wanted to know if there had been any positives to come out of the mess that has been 2020. Jamy smiled again and said “Absolutely!” He listed having the time for: 1) accomplishing long-planned renovations at their camps; 2) personal involvement with anti-poaching efforts; and 3) family. Finally, I asked Jamy if he had any additional thoughts or comments. Smiles come readily to Jamy’s face, but with this answer he became serious. “I, and every other outfitter in Namibia, want hunters who came across after the October 1st opening to know how grateful we are for their efforts. They provided much needed income to keep us going. We know they took a risk in traveling. Not just with regard to maybe encountering COVID-19, but more that they have been the guinea pigs who used new airlines to reach us, dealt with new gun registration regulations in countries flown through, and who dropped everything at home to come across with only a few weeks’ notice. Again, please express in your article how truly grateful we are for what they have done for our businesses, our families and our country.” ★