Zim Hunters Guides Forum

30/08/2026

How is this incident described to your guest ?

Give your answer in simple language using common terms .

30/08/2026

Hyena & Elephant PAC in Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South

Ongoing PAC for Hyena and possible elephant on a Private Property throughout 2026 and 2027

Contact +263788601279
Contact +263774 720547 for arrangements and cost contribution.

PS this is a joint initiative to support Learner who need to log as well as PHs & PGs who need to practice.

13/07/2026

Meet 29-year-old Mhosva Siambembe, Acting Zimparks Senior Ranger stationed at National Park in northern Zimbabwe. For more than five years, he has chosen a life of service, courage, and sacrifice—standing guard over one of Zimbabwe’s treasured wild landscapes and the animals that call it home.

From long patrols and wildlife monitoring to responding to conservation threats and guiding younger rangers, Siambembe carries a responsibility that demands strength, patience, and heart.

“I always had a dream to contribute to the conservation agenda, and my greatest reward is knowing that through our sacrifices and dedication, future generations will have the opportunity to experience Zimbabwe’s diverse wildlife just as we do today,” says Siambembe.

As we celebrate World Ranger Month, we honour Siambembe and every ranger who wakes up each day ready to protect Zimbabwe’s wildlife heritage.

17/06/2026

Some really exciting news for the wildlife and safari industry. The new IFGA app has just launched, and it’s set to change the game for lodges, recruiters and all field guides.
The IFGA app is a real-time digital platform giving lodges a centralised management system, employers an industry-specific recruitment tool, and field guides the chance to advance their careers.

The app is completely free and open to everyone in the industry, so if you’re keen to check it out, download a demo here:[https://app.ifga.pro](https://app.ifga.pro)

The IFGA team is also available to help lodges and recruiters onboard, free of charge.
Read more about the app here:[https://www.ifga.pro/ifga-app](https://www.ifga.pro/ifga-app)

09/06/2026

Male lion recognition of their own offspring depends primarily on olfactory rather than visual identification, with individual chemical signatures in the scent of cubs allowing males to distinguish their biological offspring from unrelated cubs. Research on lion infanticide patterns revealed that incoming males who kill existing cubs in a pride they have just taken over are specifically targeting cubs they cannot chemically recognize as their own, rather than killing randomly. In experimental situations where the scent of cubs was masked or altered, males that would normally protect their own offspring showed increased aggression toward them, while males exposed to the scent of their cubs showed protective behavior even when visual identification was impaired. This scent-based recognition system creates a vulnerability exploited by some lionesses who have been observed rubbing their cubs against territory marking sites of specific males during the male's absence, potentially contaminating the cubs with the male's own scent compounds and reducing the risk of infanticide if that male later encounters the cubs. Whether this behavioral strategy is deliberate manipulation or coincidental contact is debated but the outcome, cubs that smell more like the dominant male surviving longer, has been documented. The bond between a male lion and his cubs is written in chemistry rather than recognition of faces.

27/05/2026

The hippopotamus, despite its bulky and somewhat comical appearance, reigns as one of nature’s most formidable engineering marvels. Capable of snapping its jaws open to a jaw-dropping 150-degree angle, this semi-aquatic giant wields a terrifying bite force of 1,800 pounds per square inch—three times more powerful than that of an adult lion. Interestingly, while they possess the weaponry of a apex predator, hippos are actually herbivores, using their massive, self-sharpening canine teeth primarily for defense and territorial battles rather than hunting.

Beyond their raw physical power, these creatures survive in harsh African environments thanks to some truly bizarre biological adaptations. Because they spend up to 16 hours a day submerged to stay cool, hippos cannot sweat like humans; instead, their skin secretes a thick, red fluid often called "blood sweat." This unique liquid acts as a natural, built-in sunscreen and powerful antibiotic, protecting their sensitive skin from scorching UV rays and preventing infections in murky waters. Remarkably, they are also clumsy land-dwellers that cannot actually swim or float; they navigate rivers by walking along the bottom, occasionally launching themselves through the water in a graceful, slow-motion bounce.

20/05/2026

Every year, more than 1.5 million wildebeest, along with hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelles, take part in the Great Migration across East Africa, a massive journey of nearly 1,000 kilometers driven by seasonal rains and fresh grass. It is considered the largest land animal migration on Earth.

20/05/2026

It is a jaw-dropping spectacle of nature to witness a multi-ton elephant transforming into an incredibly graceful swimmer, effortlessly navigating deep waters with the elegance of a marine creature. Driven by an ancient migratory instinct to find food and freshwater islands, these majestic giants rely on a surprising evolutionary secret: their massive bodies possess an extraordinary natural buoyancy. Thanks to spacious, air-filled cavities in their chests and intestines, elephants naturally float like corks on the ocean surface, allowing them to cruise at a steady pace of two miles per hour for up to six hours straight without ever needing to touch the bottom or risk sinking.

What truly makes their aquatic journeys legendary is how they solve the problem of breathing while completely submerged. When the water runs too deep, an elephant will boldly plunge its entire body beneath the surface, raising its trunk high into the air like a living, fleshy snorkel to draw in fresh oxygen. This unique biological design has enabled them to conquer astonishing deep-sea marathons, with historical records documenting elephants swimming across open ocean stretches of nearly thirty miles. Even when exhaustion hits during these grueling nautical treks, they don't drown; they simply stall, relax their massive limbs, and float peacefully at the surface to rest before resuming their mind-boggling voyage.

23/04/2026

If African Bush Camps has inspired your love for safari, conservation, and meaningful travel, we’d be grateful for your support.

Cast your vote and help us celebrate authentic Africa: https://www.worldtravelawards.com/vote-r3

We’re truly honored to be nominated Africa’s Leading Luxury Safari Company by the World Travel Awards

If African Bush Camps has inspired your love for safari, conservation, and meaningful travel, we’d be grateful for your support.

Cast your vote and help us celebrate authentic Africa: https://www.worldtravelawards.com/vote-r3

22/04/2026

Crocodiles are polyphyodonts, capable of replacing each tooth multiple times throughout their lifetime, with individual teeth being replaced up to 50 times across a lifespan that can exceed 70 years. At any given time a crocodile has approximately 80 teeth in the functional upper and lower jaws, with a replacement tooth developing inside the jaw bone beneath each functional tooth ready to erupt when the functional tooth is lost or worn down. The replacement system maintains a new tooth at each position in a perpetual cycle that ensures no gap exists in the dentition for more than a brief period after a tooth is shed. Researchers studying the tooth replacement mechanism have found that crocodilian teeth develop in a wave pattern with adjacent teeth at different stages of the replacement cycle, ensuring the jaw maintains full functional dentition continuously. The tooth stem cells responsible for generating replacement teeth have been studied by dental researchers looking for ways to stimulate similar regeneration in humans, who are diphyodonts capable of only a single tooth replacement, losing primary baby teeth that are replaced once by permanent adult teeth with no further replacement capacity. Understanding the molecular signals that maintain crocodilian tooth stem cells in an active replacement cycle could potentially lead to treatments that reactivate similar but dormant stem cell populations in human jaw tissue. The record for most tooth replacement in a crocodilian is estimated at over 3,000 individual teeth across a lifetime.