The great white hunters, reputed as colourful romantic figures, were from privileged European backgrounds and embraced a life of adventure as a means of dealing with the ennui that made up their lives.

But while their business was killing wildlife, and although they flourished in a colonial environment that was politically and economically oppressive, the white hunters were by no means outlaws out to make a quick buck.

On the contrary, their activities were governed by a strict ethical code of sportsmanship, and many went on the record as being appalled by the excesses of their callow clients.

The early professional hunters were not a motley, disorganised lot.

They were, in fact, among the first to conserve and protect Africa’s wildlife against over-hunting and extinction.

Foreseeing threats to areas in which African wildlife thrived, the hunters pushed for stringent game laws aimed at protecting the animals and their habitats.

They formed the East African Professional Hunters Association.

Meeting at the Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi on April 12, 1934, the founders included Sydney Downey and Donald Ker, who later became partners in the famous Ker and Downey Safaris company.

They, together with others, later lobbied for the establishment of a game reserve covering the Maasai Mara triangle, a proposal Kenya’s chief game warden supported.

Downey and Ker also lobbied for a similar reserve across the border in the Serengeti of the then Tanganyika colony.

The members of the association also pushed for laws protecting the females of each species, banning night hunting and the use of dogs.

Also prohibited in the early days was the sale of game meat and the shooting of animals within proximity of watering holes or safari vehicles. They called for the creation of conservation areas for East African wildlife.

The conservation campaign was taken up, decades later, by a new generation of hunters whose activities were guided by the principle of understanding of and respect for nature as opposed to regarding it as something to be wantonly exploited.

Viewing their role as adventurers carrying out ethically defensible acts, the latter-day professional hunters played an important role in maintaining the ecosystem while indulging in economically viable hunting.

Among the modern hunters is Natasha Illum Berg, who was born in 1971 and came from a Swedish family that had generations of hunters, explorers and wildlife conservationists.

Involved in wildlife management at an early age, Natasha moved to Africa at the age of 18, and after obtaining her professional hunter (PH) licence in 1993 becoming the only licensed female big game hunter in East Africa.

She lives in Tanzania and she has written four books. She is reportedly still carrying out her hunting exploits in Tanzania, and is an advocate of “smart hunting” that is in sync with nature.

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