Hunting is a huge part of the Texas Hill Country. As you drive along Hwy 41, about 20 minutes from camp, you will start to see many high fenced ranches. Many of these ranches have some of the same exotic species of animals I recently saw in South Africa, along with animals from other countries as well. A few examples of this are the black buck antelope and axis from India, fallow deer from Europe, oryx, wildebeest, kudu and eland from South Africa.
These animals have been brought here for hunting purposes, but what some people do not know is that some of these animals, for example the black buck antelope, were all but extinct in their native habitat. But when several Texas ranchers purchased some of these animals, brought them to the US and turned them loose on their ranches in the 1930′s, these animals are now prospering. Over the years, through breeding programs, these animals not only survived, but grew in such numbers that in the early 1970’s these same ranchers were able to start a restocking program to ship them back to their homeland.
So thanks to the conservation efforts of some of the local ranchers and sportsmen, the blackbuck, and many other animals, are growing in numbers both here and in their home lands. Other examples of the successes of conservationist, ranchers and sportsmen are the addax, axis deer, sika deer, Pierre David Deer; the list goes on and is quite impressive.
Related post: Hunting store in Perth.
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