Who are the South African hunters and why do they hunt?

The literature indicates that wildlife tourism has become a major draw card for many countries. This is also true for South Africa where wildlife tourism forms the cornerstone of the South African tourism industry. Wildlife tourism activities can be classified into two main groups: non-consumptive (viewing and photographing of wild animals) and consumptive (such as hunting and fishing). Although hunting is one of the major contributors to wildlife tourism in South Africa little is known about the hunters themselves. Therefore the aim of this article is to understand the reasons why South African hunters hunt and to identify specific clusters. In order to achieve the above, a web-based survey conducted on the SA Hunters’ website was used, which afforded respondents the opportunity to complete and return the questionnaire electronically. A total of 344 (n) completed questionnaires were received. The results revealed seven travel motives why South African hunters hunt, namely: for educational purposes, culture and heritage, family togetherness, nature experience, adventure, wildlife meat products and spiritual reasons. In addition three clusters or markets were identified.   Key words: Hunting, Biltong hunting, wildlife-based tourism, travel motives, market segmentation, cluster analysis