NC

Game ranches in the U.S. feature dozens of exotic species, from zebras and yaks to scimitar-
Ranch, in Barksdale, Texas, in 2016. The boy later shot an aoudad, or Barbary sheep, which
he skinned, cleaned, and prepared for meat processing.
and wildebeest, with prices set by a management
committee of five members of the conservancy.
Profits are shared communally: Last year each
adult over 18 in Nyae Nyae was issued about $70.
“We have enough,” the chief, Bobo Tsamkxao,
told me as he sat in his yard in front of a disintegrating
house, his wives sitting in a row among
children and litter. The arrangement also requires
that the professional hunter employ and train local
people and contribute toward development
projects such as schools and health clinics.
Nyae Nyae became Namibia’s first conser vancy,
locally owned and run, in 1998. Every five years
the conservancy is put up for tender, with professional
hunters offering bids to the San for the
right to establish an on-site operation. Last year
the winning bid was more than $400,000, a rich
number in large part because the elephants have
become so big and valuable. The professionals sell
hunting packages to clients to recoup the tender
offer, cover expenses, and make a profit. Many operate
on more than one conservancy; some string
together enough to build their own little fiefdoms.
When I was there, in September 2016, Marnewecke
had just learned that he’d been outbid and
would lose his Nyae Nyae operation by season’s
end. “I’ll miss the San,” he said, but he had another
conservancy to the north that would keep
him busy. What worried him most was the Jengalike
fragility of Nyae Nyae, and that irresponsible
people might come with their own selfish
designs—crisscrossing the conservancy with
new roads and upsetting the equilibrium.
While Namibia has turned wildlife management
over to the local population, governments
in places such as Tanzania have taken an
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