Christiaan Bakkes

Christiaan Mathys Bakkes (born 3 August 1965, in Vredenburg, South Africa) is a South African writer. He is the son of Cas and Margaret Bakkes and the brother of Marius, Matilde and Casparus. He is married to Marcia Ann Fargnoli, an environmental activist.

He received a National Diploma in Nature Conservation and led an anti-poaching unit as part of his military service. For a time he worked as a game ranger in the Kruger National Park, where during the early 1990s he was involved in elephant culling,[1] a practice to which he developed ethical objections. In 1994 he suffered serious injury inside the park in a crocodile attack. Hereafter he commenced a new career in the Damaraland desert, where he acted as guide and conservation official for Wilderness Safaris.[1][2][3] In 2014, he was nominated as number 7 of the top twenty safari guides in Africa by Conde Nast Traveller. He currently works on education and advocacy projects with his wife Marcia on issues related to wildlife crime, environmental damage and social justice.