Namibia 29th on wildlife index
Namibia beat Botswana as a preferred wildlife destination.
Namibia, along with other well-known African wildlife destinations, ranks surprisingly low on the newly-released Global Wildlife Travel Index, which lists the best countries in the world for wildlife travel.
The United States tops the list, while Namibia is ranked 29th out of 142 countries.
United Kingdom-based tour operator True Luxury Travel analysed various factors to determine the best countries for wildlife travel, including wildlife biodiversity, conservation efforts and the prevalence of national parks and protected natural areas.
South Africa ranks slightly better than Namibia at 25th, while Kenya and Zambia placed 19th and 18th, respectively.
Botswana is ranked at 62nd.
While these rankings are still good, one would have expected African countries that are well-known for their wildlife attractions to fare much better on such an index.
However, the index also takes into account natural history museums and national parks, with these two factors playing a big part in the US ranking as the best in the world.
The only African country to make it into the top ten was Tanzania, which was ranked fifth.
Every country is scored between one and seven for each category.
Namibia received an overall score of 28. However, it scored poorly in the categories for natural history museums (two) and wildlife biodiversity (one).
For its megafauna conservation, national park pioneers and national protected areas, it scored seven in all categories.
For national park prevalence it obtained a score of four.
According to the index, the US came tops thanks to its grand total of 60 national parks and 757 natural history museums, as well as its excellent conservation efforts and vast diversity of wildlife species.
It also scored highly because of its impressive megafauna conservation efforts, for which it has been ranked one of the best in the world. It obtained an overall score of 37.
The index says wildlife travel is an increasingly popular choice for tourists, with wildlife holidays now even overtaking traditional beach holidays, to be the fourth most popular holiday choice.
Of course, any ranking of travel destinations is going to be a matter of opinion, especially when it comes to wildlife travel. Some of the elements considered in the index, like national park pioneers and natural history museums, may not be something that travellers want to consider if they want to take photographs of wildlife.
And national parks may not appeal to adventure travellers if they want more of a guarantee they will spot wildlife, which traditional safaris are usually able to offer.
ELLANIE SMIT
The United States tops the list, while Namibia is ranked 29th out of 142 countries.
United Kingdom-based tour operator True Luxury Travel analysed various factors to determine the best countries for wildlife travel, including wildlife biodiversity, conservation efforts and the prevalence of national parks and protected natural areas.
South Africa ranks slightly better than Namibia at 25th, while Kenya and Zambia placed 19th and 18th, respectively.
Botswana is ranked at 62nd.
While these rankings are still good, one would have expected African countries that are well-known for their wildlife attractions to fare much better on such an index.
However, the index also takes into account natural history museums and national parks, with these two factors playing a big part in the US ranking as the best in the world.
The only African country to make it into the top ten was Tanzania, which was ranked fifth.
Every country is scored between one and seven for each category.
Namibia received an overall score of 28. However, it scored poorly in the categories for natural history museums (two) and wildlife biodiversity (one).
For its megafauna conservation, national park pioneers and national protected areas, it scored seven in all categories.
For national park prevalence it obtained a score of four.
According to the index, the US came tops thanks to its grand total of 60 national parks and 757 natural history museums, as well as its excellent conservation efforts and vast diversity of wildlife species.
It also scored highly because of its impressive megafauna conservation efforts, for which it has been ranked one of the best in the world. It obtained an overall score of 37.
The index says wildlife travel is an increasingly popular choice for tourists, with wildlife holidays now even overtaking traditional beach holidays, to be the fourth most popular holiday choice.
Of course, any ranking of travel destinations is going to be a matter of opinion, especially when it comes to wildlife travel. Some of the elements considered in the index, like national park pioneers and natural history museums, may not be something that travellers want to consider if they want to take photographs of wildlife.
And national parks may not appeal to adventure travellers if they want more of a guarantee they will spot wildlife, which traditional safaris are usually able to offer.
ELLANIE SMIT
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