Podcast Ron Thomson - Blood Origins

[Frederik]

Ron Thomson is a former 25-year Zimbabwe Parks Board veteran who was involved in wildlife management’s heyday in the 60’s through the 80’s. Ron was involved in elephant management - including so-called ‘precision removal’ of elephants, i.e., a population control mechanism called culling. Culling is an extremely controversial topic and has been eradicated from all elephant management today. It was removed from management because it was seen by as cruel and unethical. Culling was a tool to maintain elephants at a certain level (i.e., Kruger Park at 7,500 elephants). He and Robbie catch up about Ron’s storied career, what it was like ‘back in the day’, his thoughts on elephants today, and old school stories of Zim. This is the first in a series of podcasts around elephants in Africa. It’s such a strongly emotive topic, but there is no greater conversation needed than the successful management of elephants.

If you have the time listen to the podcast its 1 hour 13 minutes long do listen to it while driving or flying it is a very colourful picture of what life was like way back in Rhodesia now Zimbabwe some great stories from a person who has done a lot in his life and experienced things we will never be able to do.
It is lengthy, but has some very good information on how they started culling elephants and if you haven't read any of his articles or books you will want too after this.

I also learned from it on something I have never realized with the destruction of all the big canopy trees in the Kruger National Park due to the elephants the total extinctions of our large bird of prey is on it's way as they do not have any trees left to breed on. Outside of the park the nests are destroyed by humans as the big birds prey on goats and sheep. For me that was quite a sad pill to swallow to loose the big birds found in the Kruger Park which were always fond memories when we visited when I was young.

Other interesting point he brought up was the creation of National parks and what they are meant to do.
They are not there to please tourist but to keep the total biodiversity of what that piece of land/nature is and then to manage it in such a way not too loose any of that biodiversity. Which means that at the current state of affairs the governments in most countries in Africa are failing and will rather please tourist at the cost of loosing biodiversity and in the case of Baobab trees that is 5000 years that is lost.

 

[richteb]

Recommended his autobiography series of books if they are it's still available.

 

[Sika98k]

You can get all the Ron Thomson books on Kindle. They make fascinating reading. There’s a lot to be learnt in them.