Readers' Comments

Corrie Badenhorst. “Mahohboh”. 13 April 2010. RSA
I am already enjoying it (Mahohboh) as much as all your other stories and articles that have appeared in African Outfitter (magazine) the last few years. You are truly a master of the art.
“I cannot wait for the (big game hunting) memoir series. I can already foresee that this is going to cost me a fortune, but I quite frankly don't care. Please put me in line!!”

Andre van Rooyen. (Four books). 14 April 2010. RSA
I am really looking forward to indulge myself with your material. Your particular writing style captivated me to the extent that I have started to capture my own moments on paper. I am ordering “God Created Man the Hunter”, “Mahohboh”, “Managing Our Wildlife Heritage” and “Game Warden's Report”.

Wim Lambrechts. (general). 12 April 2010. RSA.
It is nice to see so much of your work appearing in African OUTFITTER and African Hunter magazines.

Glenn & Christa Baker. (Two books). 11 April 2010. USA. We have enjoyed your writings in the African OUTFITTER magazine very much and would like to purchase two copies of “Mahohoboh” and two copies of “God Created Man the Hunter” - and would like our name put on the list for the remaining five books (that you are writing) of your Big Game Hunting memoirs.

Dennis Kamstra. (Managing Our Wildlife Heritage) - 2009. (MacDonald Pro-Hunting International)
Last week I sat down to read your book anticipating a quick read. After the first 30 minutes I decided I should highlight specific passages that I could use in the future. Well, I just completed the book and there are more “yellow lines” than “white lines”. Not to blow smoke up your leg, but there was some pretty good stuff between the covers.

Pierre van der Walt - South Africa. (A Game Warden's Report) 2009
I still believe that “A Game Warden's Report” is the most significant book on southern African conservation ever published and it frustrates me that the political fools cannot come to grips with its message.

Jason Roussos - Ethiopia. (A Game Warden's Report) - 2006.
The two books you sent to Ethiopia arrived. I have already sent one to the Ethiopian Wildlife Department and they were thrilled to get it. I am sure it will have a very positive impact on future wildlife conservation efforts in Ethiopia. Thank you for a wonderful publication and best of luck with all your future endeavours.

Alejandro Verzini - Argentina (Mahohboh) - 2008
During all my life I have always dreamed to hunt an elephant up to last year when I got a 40 pound per side bull in Dande South, Zimbabwe. I want to tell you this story to let you know that your book “Mahohboh” was very useful and didactic and let me know where to put my bullet and what to expect from the hunt.

Walter Mangold - South Africa (General) - 2008. (Letter to the editor, Game and Hunt Magazine)
Ron Thomson's article “The Wildlife Industry” Where to from here? - must be fed to everybody in the (South Africa) Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. Ron Thomson is consistently one of the most knowledgeable and respected nature conservation authorities in southern Africa, and what he says surely is expert opinion which must be respected and accepted.

John Rance - South Africa (Managing Our Wildlife Heritage) - 2008.
I received your booklets yesterday and have already speed-read mine - its great and I'll need more to dish out to journalists and politicians who wouldn't ordinarily read it.

Samantha Meyer - South Africa (The Wildlife Game) - 2007
As a current nature conservation student I have read your book (The Wildlife Game (1992)) and found what you say thoroughly awesome. I wish we could get that kind of message through to the public-at-large once and for all.

Simon Williamson - South Africa (Managing Our Wildlife Heritage) - 2007.
I received the books yesterday. Thank you. WOW. Clear, concise and very practical arguments. I applaud you.

Safari Newsreel Blog (General) - 25/04/2120
It is excellent to have the opportunity to read good quality post with useful details on topics that plenty are interested in. The reason (for the excellence) is that the data indicated are (is) all firsthand (and based on) on actual experiences. (This) assists even more (sic). Continue doing what you do because we all love reading your work.

Dear Ron,
Last night I finished reading your first book of the series that you are working on. I wanted to send you a quick note and tell you how much I enjoyed and appreciated reading this book. It was excellent! Your writing style is very much like that of Jim Corbett who in my opinion was the best of the best in writing circles. Congratulations on what you have accomplished. I'm looking forward to receiving and then reading the remaining 5 books.
Take care and stay well.
Dave Campbell
P.S. The book was well worth the wait!

Ron, If your new book only even approaches the excellence of Mohobo, we're in for a treat. I've never read a book before where I actually felt the terror when those bulls quietly turned around and you became the hunted. Thank you so much for giving us wannabees a taste of what it must have been like. Haven't even read this one yet and already looking forward to the rest. It's one of those experiences where you sumiltaneously want to read the whole book in one sitting, one page per day.
Greetings
Chris Schnell

Lance Bradfield. Australia. Oct 2010.
I managed to get a couple of weeks leave recently and I used the occasion to catch up on my reading. I read Mahohboh first and am now half-way through God Created Man the Hunter and I just wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying reading your works. Not only are they very well written but.......

Mike Jines. USA. October 2010.
Finished the book (God Created man the Hunter) earlier this week. Enjoyed it very much. I could not help but feel - gee, I wish I had been there - in the stories about your early days as a game ranger in Hwange National Park. [Also wish I knew where that Holland & Holland .375 might still be floating around]. Please put me in line for the next book in the series. I would love to have them all numbered the same 0204. That would be special.

Karel Gevers. South Africa. November 2010.
I have not read the books I ordered from you. I think I rather absorbed them. Today I attended the graduation ceremony for the Da Vinci Institute of Technology (Johannesburg) and thought that your work in A Game Warden's Report is at least worth a Masters level (degree) if not a PhD. With this idea in mind I approached the CEO of the Institute - Prof. Anderson - and put the idea to him. He is positive about my views and would like to meet with you whenever you next visit Gauteng (Johannesburg) area.
The easiest would have been for me to reference your work for my own future studies. However, I regard your work as far too important to use as mere reference. I think first hand academic recognition is deserved.
When I read your proposed plan for elephant control in Botswana I was rather astounded at the numbers you quoted, so I set out to do some research of my own. I attach my findings (same as yours).... I think some independent views, in which I gave all benefit to the elephants, will be good to support your (elephant) management views.
I have done this without any ulterior motive - purely because I do admire your work.

Sim De Wet. South Africa. March 2011.
I have just finished reading the two books I ordered from you (Mahohboh & God Created Man the Hunter) and would just like to say how much I enjoyed both of them. Both were page turners. It makes me wish I was born 20 years earlier.

Sonia Herbst. South Africa. November 2010.
I would like to thank you for the great books that you wrote. Clint has finished the last book and now I've started reading it. I have read it out loud for him now. Haha. You are really a great inspiration to Clint and he speaks of you daily to people. Thank you so much for that. I would like to find out when your next book in the (Big Game Hunting Memoir) series will be published?

Hendrik Louw. South Africa. February 2011.
Senior Manager: Regional and Local Economic Development.
Northern Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism.
I have bought Managing our Wildlife Heritage. My next book is definitely A Game Warden's Report.
I share your sentiment and concern, Sir. I stand on the economic side of government and have a passion for nature, nature conservation and hunting and I must state that I think we are ill-advised and that we are too dependent and thus submissive to the international political/general society (which is) influenced by “animal rights/conservation” (sic) activists who do not grasp the ecological chain and realities to be faced to be sustainable. (sic).
I was earlier this week at a session to coordinate the roll-out of the 7th International Game Ranchers Symposium.... I immediately proposed you as a presenter/speaker. I just felt that some pure academic researcher coming to waffle on theory and limited research has got us where we are now. We need men with wisdom and real life experience to guide and advise (us). (sic).

Duncan Napier. South Africa. February 2010.
Note in the Cape Hunt Newsletter.
Congratulations on the excellent article by Ron Thomson in Cape Hunt (magazine) (Sept. 2009). Please, you need more articles like this to keep us informed of emotional mismanagement (of our elephants). I had no idea of this gross mismanagement of the Kruger National park's biodiversity. Subsequently, facts like these need to be made known deeper into our communities by us (i.e. conservationists who really care).
Keep up the good work and congratulations to Ron.

Wesley Pryor. USA. April 2011.
After buying the all books available on your website, I have since scoured the used book dealers on the net and acquired all the other books you have written. And I have not been disappointed.
Your wildlife management books are wonderfully informative - and the Adventures of Shadrek was both triumphant and sad, at the same time.
I very much look forward to Stand Your Ground - and I encourage you to keep at it! Your books are appreciated and I can't imagine you're making more than a pittance for the effort you go to for these books.

Freddie Steyn. South Africa. March 2011.
The three previous books I have ordered from you were all excellent. So much so that I ordered an additional copy of Managing our Wildlife Hertitage and sent it to a friend in Hong Kong who also found it a real eye-opener. I farm in the Alldays area of Limpopo Province (South Africa) and found your Managing our Wildlife Hertitage so inspiring that I immediately had an ecologist visit me to do a proper report on, and to advise me, how to best protect the soli as starters. I wish I had read your book about 8 years ago. I would have approached the whole thing a bit different.

J.C. Roos, Jnr. South Africa. May 2001.
(Telephonic discussion.)
I enjoyed reading the first book in your Big Game Hunting Memoir series (God Created Man the Hunter) so much that, when I thought my second book in the series (Stand Your Ground) had been lost in the post, I just had to contact you by telephone. I don't want to miss it. In fact, I nearly left my wife over the first book. I couldn't put it down and she kept interrupting me.

Andre Botes. South Africa. March 2011.
I appreciate your reply (to my email) and although you might have heard it more than a thousand times, I think your book Mahohboh is simply a treasure.

John Faul. Zimbabwe. March 2011.
Zimbabwean Professional Hunter and Outfitter
I want to give you a standing ovation for your letter in huntnetwork with reference to the hunting in Zimbabwean National parks. I actually want to give you a bloody hug!!! But that would just be weird! I got goose bumps when I read that article.
I was enraged when I saw what Sally Brown (Secretary to the Zimbabwean Professional Hunters Association) wrote. For days I was pondering what I could write to her, but you just hit the nail right on the head. Your choice of words was fantastic and you said it much better that I could ever have imagined. I am proud to have someone like you on our side. I will definitely make sure to get your booklet - Managing our Wildlife Heritage!

Gerhard Coreejes. South Africa. February 2011.
I just thought I would let you know that I did receive your books, neat and securely packed, last weekend.
I am about finished reading Managing our Wildlife Heritage and find it delightfully interesting and extremely illuminating!
Reading about your “Principles and Practices of Wildlife Management”, with special reference to Population Reduction Management, was another eye-opener for me.

Walter Martin. South Africa. May 2010.
Received your book (my second) - God Created Man the Hunter - today. Thank you. (The first book was Mahohboh). Boy, am I enjoying your books. Only wish I could have been your gun carrier apprentice and to have experienced the “AFRICA of OLD”.

Marinus van Sandwyk. South Africa. June 2010.
I have just finished reading God Created Man the Hunter and enjoyed every moment of it. You have an incredible gift for storytelling and your memory is amazing. But special hunting moments do have the ability to leave indelible imprints in your memory. Thanks for sharing such special memories with us.

Johann Ungerer. South Africa. Jun 2010.
An executive of SA Hunters and Game Conservation Association.
Well, I have just finished the first book - God Created Man the Hunter - and what an ant-climax it was when I put it down. It was just after 07h00 yesterday, I was still sitting in bed with a cup of coffee when I read the last few pages.
Afterwards I told Anne-Marie (my wife) that I had mixed emotions - firstly a bit of jealousy (which is quite understandable; secondly a lot of respect for a man like you to have taken the effort and time to write it all down; and, thirdly, gratitude that I was fortunate enough to have visited Hwange (National Park) and that we have been able to travel up and down “Hunters Road”. I have seen those elephants; I have seen those buffaloes; I have seen the herds of sable (antelope) and I have heard (but never saw) those lions. Reading the book I felt like I was there again.
Look after yourself, Ron, and keep on writing.

Hans Jochem Wild. Germany. June 2010.
I have received God Created Man the Hunter. Very well made high quality book - but the content is the most important aspect of any book. In fact, your book is so excellent I would even buy it if it were published in bark. Your book is well told, brilliant, very educative and entertaining at the same time. I am reading it in homeopathic doses - a few pages each evening in order to stretch the pleasure of reading your book over a very long time...
It seems you are one of those happy people that not only have led an adventurous life but also can write well and delivers an entertaining and fascinating story about it.
Ron, now, the important question: when and how can I buy the next 5 books of your Big Game Hunting Memoir series? Could I possibly pay upfront for the next 5 or somehow obtain an option on them? Please let me know. Under no circumstances would I want to miss a single book.
(NOTATION FOR THE READER: These books are being written as individual books and they are sold as and when each book is published. They CANNOT all be purchased (unwritten) at this time!)

Fanie Jansen. South Africa. June 2010.
If I can, may I ask you a last favour.
If possible can you please sign both books with a message like... “To my friend Fanie, happy hunting” .... of something like that?
I would like to pretend that I knew a legend like you!

Leigh De Beaufort. South Africa. July 2010.
Thanks for your reply.... is this REALLY Ron Thomson?
If it is; I'm SOOOOO impressed by your books and articles that I read all the time!!!!!!!

Dawie Strauss. South Africa. August 2010.
I enjoy reading your books. Mahohboh is the best book on elephant hunting. I had the privilege of shooting a tuskless cow (elephant) in the Zambesi Valley and did a small article, on what was for me a magnificent hunt, for Man Magnum magazine. Before the hunt I studied the part on shot placement in Mahohboh very carefully.

Claude Rossouw. South Africa. September 2010.
Thanks, I got my books. To say that I enjoy sharing your memories is an understatement.
Not only are the stories great but you have written them in such a way that I can feel, smell and hear all that happens. When hunting I am quite particular in my shot placement, to such an extent that my hunting companions have a lot to say around the camp fires at night, but reading Mahohboh has already tutored me for my encounters with elephant in the future.
Please do not diddle-daddle with the publishing of your other books on your hunting experiences. I will be waiting with great anticipation and a little impatience.

Ross Allan. South Africa. December 2010.
I have received the books and read Managing our Wildlife Heritage. What an excellent book.
Thanks again for an excellent read. I will encourage all my hunting friends to get a copy.

Book Review: African Hunting Gazette. South Africa. c.1992
A Game Warden's Report is the most important publication on conservation of our generation. The world-renowned Ron Thomson outdid himself with this one, predicting there will be no ‘wild’ wildlife left in Africa inside 50 years if we continue to practice colonial-style conservation.
He offers new, convincing and pragmatic solutions to Africa's wildlife problems, and explains how and why this will save Africa's wildlife.
He discusses the importance of incorporating the rural African communities on park boundaries (from which the poachers come) into partnerships between government and business, and why major benefits from the legal and sustainable harvest of those wild animal populations within the national park, should accrue to the communities in return for their stopping poaching.
A Game Warden's Report should be compulsory reading for all concerned with the fate of African wildlife in this country (South Africa).

Peter Vos. South Africa. December 2009 "Managing our Wildlife Heritage" BY Ron Thomson.
This profound, timely and hard-hitting little book “found” me recently. I unashamedly punt it - especially at its ridiculously low “pre-Xmas” cost of R 50 - which includes South African delivery.
Peter Vos then added Dr. John Ledger's review in support.

John Ledger. South Africa. 2009.
For 17 years Director of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, South Africa.
Now a senior executive in the Wildlife and Environmental society of South Africa (WESSA).
On the book Managing our Wildlife Heritage, Dr Ledger has this to say: ..... I found myself engrossed in a work of great substance and importance. Don't let the small size of this book fool you. It is one of the best and most lucid guides to conservation and wildlife management in Africa that I have ever read.
It carries a profound message for all Africans. Our critically important societal conservation priorities are: number one - the soil; number two - the plants; and number three - the animals. Don't get distracted by emotional debates about the animals - without the soil they are doomed anyway!
Chapter 8 is entitled A SECOND ORDER MANAGEMENT OPTION THAT CAN SAVE AFRICA'S NATIONAL PARKS AND AFRICA'S WILDLIFE FOR POSTERITY, and here the author presents, in just six pages, a blueprint for a management dispensation that is breathtaking in its simplicity and logic. The successful implementation of such a plan depends upon the sustainable utilisation of wildlife, and trophy hunting. The animal rights movement accordingly represents the greatest threat to this model and Thomson explains why he regards this movement as the biggest danger to Africa's wildlife.
The book is packed with concise and practical information about natural resource management. It should be prescribed reading for all biology teachers, naturalists and interested citizens, and I recommend it without reservation to all our WESSA members and hope it will find its way into the environmental education programmes of the Society. Thomson writes without fear or favour. His mind is well organised. His innovative solutions to difficult wildlife problems are compelling. And nobody articulates them quite like he does.

Rory O'Moore. South Africa. January 2007
Manager, Confederation of the Hunters Associations of South Africa (CHASA)
It is a great honour for me to inform you that CHASA, at a Board meeting held in September 2006, decided to give recognition to you by awarding you with a prestigious Golden Award for your dedication and contribution made to the hunting industry in South Africa over the years.

Michael Eustace. South Africa. May 2006 Your book arrived - Managing our Wildlife Heritage - and I read it with great interest. Your philosophy is clearly thought through and expressed and I am sorry that I did not read it 3 years ago... It would have saved me a lot of time and anguish and confusion.
Again, congratulations on the book. It offers some sensible answers to an industry in great disarray. Well done!

LD van Essen. Pretoria University South Africa. June 2006
I would like you to come and address some of our wildlife management students. If possible, I would like at least two days of your time for the following reason/s. The group of students will make up our BSc honours students of the university's Wildlife Management Centre as well as Masters degree level students. The first session of the day would be talking to the combined group of students. The second session I would like you to concentrate on the Masters students. The reason I would like a concentrated day with the M-students is that they are doing an M.Phil programme which is, of course, theoretical and they mostly come from non-science backgrounds. They will be doing a three week practical session, at that time, after about 15 months of theoretical assignments. I think their minds need to be opened up with regards to the practical implications of wildlife management and that you are the ideal person to do that.
(NOTATION FOR THE READER: This first visit preceded annual lectures of this nature to ALL the post graduate wildlife management students at the Wildlife Management Centre, Pretoria University, over the next four years. It only stopped because I moved residence to Bushman's River Mouth, 1200 kms. Away from Pretoria, in February 2010).

Tony Sutton. South Africa. May 2006
Exco. East Cape Game Management Association
I have always admired the way you write about, and knowledge of, your passion ---- Conservation.
I have become rather worried about the influence of the “green” brigade. I fear the worst & will be extremely happy if I am wrong. I feel the best way to counter these people is for people like yourself to write articles on conservation explaining to the masses out there in the streets in the simplest of terms. These people know very little about sustainable utilization of our resources for the benefit of all concerned. They are only fed the sensational bumpf put out by the greenies.... which they swallow happily, as gospel. We need to educate the public at large. Please put pen to paper for us to educate every Dick, Tom and Harry.

Warren McKay. Australia. July 2007
Please put my name on the list for the Big Game Hunting Memoir books. I have Ron's last two books and want to read more from a man with so much knowledge and experience.

John Lowry. South Africa. July 2010.
Thanks for the info. I'll look forward to the Ron Thomson hunting book series. I am already quoting some of his words in MY new book. He's good!