GAME SANCTUARIES.

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19665, 27 August 1935, Page 11

GAME SANCTUARIES.

AMONGST THE WILD BEABTB. THRILLING MOTOR TRIPS. This is a true story. If you do not believe it, ask Mr .T. D. Simpson, who has returned to Christchurch, after spending some months in South Africa, and he will furnish the necessary corrobation, says the Sun-Star. They have sanctuaries for lions in South Africa. A tourist may Investigate for himself from tho safety of a motor car in a stretch of country of about eight thousand square miles near the boundary of Portuguese East Africa. Perhaps he will be snarled at on the roadside if he disturbs the frolicking of a gay party of the beasts, •and certainly he will be looking for trouble if he descends from the car and takes a brief stroll on his own. But otherwise he is privileged to view at closo quarters and In their native haunts the variety of wild animals which most people prefer to gaze at from tho offside' of a three-inch iron bar. A tourist, however, as Mr Simpson found, may have all the Interest and all the enjoyment of a journey In tho wilds by taking a trip from Johannesburg some four hundred miles north and spending a week in the Kruger Reserve, which Is sot aside as a big came sanctuary. Mr Simpson was fortunate in being the guest of a game warden in the reserve —who, incidentally, was a New Zealander —for several days, and in that time saw most of the features which the reserve had to offer.

Must Not Leave Car. There are, lie said, all sorts of wiltl animals in Ibis vast area, left entirely to themselves to roam and live and kill as their desires call. The tourist travels by car along good dirt roads, and spends I ho nights in rest, camps which arc to be found every forty or flflv miles along the route. There are one or two restrictions placed on Jjim. He it not allowed to get out of

the car or drive the car off the road; and at night he is unable to leave the safety of the rest camps, which are protected by palisades. Mr Simpson said it was difficult to believe how unafraid the animals were of the visitors and of their cars. Bo that as it may, it is understood that the tourist himself has no reason to feel anxious for his own security, for not since the sanctuary has been m use in the last ten years or so has there been a single accident and this is considered remarkable in view of the foolhardiness of many tourists. The record is one of which the reserve authorities are justly proud. From the animals’ point.of view, they seem to regard a car as a species of animal itself, and gaze at it in mingled curiositv, not without a certain trace of disdain. It is not infrequently that a “pride” of lions may be seen, as many as six to fourteen togethci, prowling near the roadside. The beasts And their own food, killing by nights. A week in this region Is a wonderful experience, and Mr Simpson gards his stay there as one of the highlights of his trip.