Open Journal of Ecology, 2014, 4, 571-581 Published Online June 2014 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/oje http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oje.2014.49047 Game Ranching: A Sustainable Land Use Option and Economic Incentive for Biodiversity Conservation in Zambia Chansa Chomba1*, Chimbola Obias2, Vincent Nyirenda3 1School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Disaster Management Training Centre, Mulungushi University, Kabwe, Zambia 2Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Mulungushi University, Kabwe, Zambia 3School of Natural Resources, Copperbelt University, Kitwe, Zambia Email: *
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[email protected] Received 23 April 2014; revised 23 May 2014; accepted 2 June 2014 Copyright © 2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Abstract The ten provinces of Zambia were surveyed to determine number and size of game ranches si- tuated in these areas up to the end of 2012/early 2013. Three classes of game ranches were de- veloped as; 1) ≥500 hectares as game ranch proper, 2) ≥50 - <500 hectares as game farm, and 3) <50 hectares as ornamental. A total of 200 game ranches keeping large mammals from the size of common duiker to eland were recorded with a growth rate of 6 per year for the period 1980-2012. The largest number was ornamental 98 (49%); large game ranches were 75 (38%) and the least was game farms 27 (14%). Thirty seven species of large mammals were recorded, of which, 15 were the most abundant with impala topping the list with 21,000 individuals (34%).