PHASA Conservation & Empowerment Fund African Heritage Gala Dinner

15 March 2013

Guest Speaker: ROBIN HURT - HUNTER AND CONSERVATIONIST

BACKGROUND – The eldest son of the late Lt Col Roger Hurt DSO, Kenya Game Warden, Robin was born in London in 1945. His first footsteps were in Somalia, at the age of 18 months, where his father was the Military Administrator of the country. He grew up on the Hurt family ranch on the shores of Lake Naivasha in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley. By the age of nine Robin was already learning about the African bush and hunting with his father’s game scouts.

Robin was educated at Kenya’s premier school, The Duke of York, before serving his apprenticeship with Ker & Downey Safaris. At the age of 18 Robin was a fully licensed professional hunter. He hunted with Tanganyika Wildlife Corporation in 1963 and with Uganda Wildlife Corporation in 1964 and 1965. On returning to Kenya, Robin was a full-time professional hunter with Ker & Downey up to 1973 when Robin Hurt Safaris was set up in Kenya and the Sudan.

In 1984 Robin started Robin Hurt Safaris (Tanzania) Ltd. More recently, Robin Hurt Safari Company Pty Ltd was formed in Namibia. In Great Britain Robin Hurt Ltd specialises in driven bird shooting. The Safari World of Robin Hurt Ltd is responsible for coordinating bookings for these companies.

Robin is a licensed professional hunter in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Central African Republic, Zaire, Botswana, Zambia and Namibia. His clients from these safaris have hunted many record world-class big game trophies. He has suffered three different hunting bans in his career – Tanzania, 1973 (sensibly reopened in 1983); Kenya, 1977; and Zaire, 1984. All of these were a negative impact, but this did not stop him from continuing hunting in other countries, where allowed.

PRESENT DAY – Robin and his wife Pauline now live at the foothills of Gamsberg Mountain in Namibia. Here Robin continues to pursue his passion for hunting kudu, desert leopard and other game with old and new clientele. He is an avid wildlife art collector and keen photographer. Robin has five children, Derek, Tania, Sasha, Hilary and Roger. Derek and Roger have followed in their father’s footsteps and are licensed PHs in Tanzania, under the Robin Hurt banner. Robin has two stepchildren, Dan and Jessica Mousley. Dan is a licensed PH in Namibia. Robin has eight grandchildren. He is the head of the Hurt family of Derbyshire, England. (Ref: The Hurts of Derbyshire, by Derek Wain, published by Landmark Publishing Ltd).

CONSERVATION – In 1990 Robin, together with Mr Joseph F Cullman 3rd, set up The Cullman and Hurt Community Wildlife Project in Tanzania to promote wildlife and habitat conservation through sustainable use of a renewable wildlife resource. This project, which has turned poachers into anti-poachers, enjoys international recognition and is considered to be one of Tanzania’s greatest conservation successes. Three successful art auctions have been held in New York City to benefi t the project. This project is now known as The Robin Hurt Wildlife Foundation.

BOOKS AND ARTICLES – Hunting the Big Five by Robin Hurt, published by Safari Press, California, USA. Wildlife Conservation by Sustainable Use – section on safari hunting by Robin Hurt and Pauline Ravn, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000, Edited by Herbert T Prins and others.
Contributions and mentions in the following publications: White Hunters by Brian Herne, Uganda Safaris by Brian Herne, Wisdom of the Woods by Robert Gruszecki, At the Hand of Man by Raymond Bonner, Safari, A Chronicle of Adventure by Bartle Bull, The East African Professional Hunters Association by Tony Dyer, Hunting in the Sudan by Tony Sánchez-Ariño, Hunting in Kenya by Tony Sánchez-Ariño, Songs of the Summits by Jesus Yuren, The Hurts of Derbyshire by Derek Wain, African Hunter II, for which Robin wrote the foreword and two chapters, Kudu – The Top African Antelope – the chapter on East African kudu. Various articles in the following magazines: The Field, Time Magazine, Newsweek Magazine, Outdoor Life, Safari Club Magazine, Dallas Safari Club Magazine and Man Magnum magazine published in South Africa.

FILMS – In the Blood by George Butler. The Gardeners of Eden by BBC (Scorer Associates). BBC production, Vanishing Breed.

ASSOCIATIONS AND CLUBS – Founding member of the African Professional Hunters Association (APHA). Member of the Tanzania Professional Hunters Association and Namibia Professional Hunters Association. International Professional Hunters Association, Safari Club International and Dallas Safari Club. Shikar Club (UK), British Deer Society, Countryside Alliance, Explorers Club (New York), Muthaiga Country Club, Kenya. Member of the now defunct East African Professional Hunters Association.

TROPHIES AND AWARDS – East African Professional Hunters Association – Trophy Measurements Scheme, won in 1975, 2nd in 1974 and 1976. Shaw and Hunter Trophy in 1973 for a 54” buffalo hunted in Lolgorien, Kenya. Ian MacDonald Trophy in 1973, 1975 and 1976 for the best buffalo hunted in Kenya in each of these years. Zambia Professional Hunters Association – Hunter of the Year award, 1981, for a black-maned lion. APHA Big Six Award, APHA John Sharp Award for Dangerous Game, APHA Conservation Award.

PHILOSOPHY – That for wildlife to survive in a changing Africa, it must be a competitive form of land use benefiting human communities.