Robbie Kroger is the founder of Blood Origins. Born and raised in South Africa and now calling the United States home, Robbie has dedicated his life to shedding light on the real “why” behind hunting. Far from the stereotypes and controversies that often cloud the topic, Robbie’s mission is to show that hunting isn’t just about taking an animal’s life—it’s about giving back, building community, and connecting deeply with nature. Drawing on his background as a scientist and conservationist, Robbie weaves personal stories and powerful insights that challenge the status quo. Hear firsthand how Blood Origins began—an initiative fueled by reverence for heritage and a desire to tell the untold stories of hunters, families, and communities worldwide. Robbie’s perspective will reframe your thoughts on hunting and its place in modern conservation, from protecting wildlife habitats to understanding the roots that run through generations. This conversation transcends politics and touches on the heart of what it means to be human: our responsibility to each other, to the land, and to the legacy we leave behind. This is hunting as you’ve never heard it before—raw, real, and undeniably powerful. Strap in and get ready to have your assumptions challenged in the best way possible. https://bloodorigins.org/
Chapter 1: What is the main focus of Blood Origins?
They're magnificent. I mean, I think any animal, to include humans, plays a role in the ecosystem. You think elephants are in trouble? No. I think in certain areas, elephants are in trouble. Correct. And it depends on what you mean. I mean, there are people who hunt elephants for just the tusks. Correct. And there are people who hunt elephants for the meats.
There are people who think that you can just go to Africa and just go and shoot an elephant as if it's a non-governed or regulated activity. Yeah, exactly. I've had enough conversations with people in mediums like this that I know that they are not in danger.
but it is a better narrative to say that they are and to highlight in a hunter, you know, the grip and grin photo, what they call in the US, that one is to me. It's tough to swallow. I know why they do it and I understand the argument against it. Yep. And I have a foot actually in each bucket. To me, I'm just like, not my thing. And also for me, not my thing to hunt an elephant.
Me too.
Even if I was given the opportunity, I'd be like, no.
My grandfather hunted a bunch of elephants in the 50s and 60s in Mozambique.
And I know people who have hunted elephants. And it's not, you're not going out there. What's the Disney elephant? Dumbo. Dumbo. You're not going out there looking for a random Dumbo. They're going out there working with the locals, finding the one that is probably the oldest. Or the one that's causing the problems in the village.
Causing the problems or is likely not going to make it through the next season. You're not just wandering around like, oh, hey, there's a mother with a young one and just go ahead and blast the mother. And from my understanding of people who choose to do that, which, again, is not a choice I would make. It is very it's a structured approach that probably would do more to save the elephants.
than maybe that argument of just telling everybody that they're at risk without the population actually being at risk.
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Chapter 2: How does Robbie Kroger view hunting's role in conservation?
But the ecotourism lodges that are inside, that are paying some bucks, are like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We don't want you hunting in here. And so they've put the pressure, the antis have put the pressure to say, no sustainable use of wildlife is going to happen in Madikwe. Then it will close. Well, here's the result. It's not going to close, but here's the result.
100%.
Yeah. So in their desire to keep the hunting out of that, And again, this isn't like a pro-hunting stance. And the desire to keep the hunting out, they're going to choke off the resources that they're using to sell for ecotourism, which is going to terminate in them not having any ecotourism. And his...
The be all and end all, the reason why they said no hunting in Madikwe is they believed that hunting tourism and photographic tourism were not compatible. Wherein they are actually very compatible. It works in many, many, many reserves all across South Africa and the African region in which you've got areas and you can coordinate it. Everyone's got radios.
Yeah.
That... A hunting company is going to come in and they're going to have a very limited quota. They're going to do things and nobody's going to know. And they're going to generate significant revenue. There's a reserve called Timbavati in South Africa. They are a very high-end ecotourism place. They do a phenomenal job. But even on their website, if you go to the website, they've done the analysis.
It's like 600 tourists, the amount of money 600 tourists brings to 60 hunters, right? Yeah, that checks out. It's just the amount of money that's coming in from hunting. They need it because Timbavati has rhinos. They need to protect those rhinos. Protection of rhinos in Africa right now is ludicrous.
And the only way that people can protect rhinos is having massive revenue coming into the properties. You don't get massive revenue except very few places through photographic tourism. You get it from photographic tourism and hunting tourism working together.
There's parallels to the US, too, for a US-based listener. And you mentioned a lot of the species. So where we are, we're in northwestern Montana, grizzlies, and a hot topic in kind of this triangle of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, wolves. Wolves, yep. And just do a little research on what happened when they introduced the old wolvesies. Back in there, holy shit.
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Chapter 3: What personal stories shape Robbie's perspective on hunting?
Chapter 4: How do hunting and wildlife management intersect?
Yeah, like a Toyota Hilux.
Yes. I think that was a black bear, though, but that's kind of the same thing, because blacks and browns and- Again, not my cup of tea. And I also understand, though, why people, they look at that, especially with the, oh, God. This isn't it, but I'm sure it's exactly the same thing. It's pretty much the same. My question is, how did the bear get in the car?
Yeah. Oh, yeah. They're trying to do the same thing from a long way away.
Oh, here comes the bear. Oh, my. That is a brown.
Big old black bear, little brown. Is that a black? Yeah, it's a brown. It's a black bear. It's got just the same face.
100%.
Like, I'm going to go ahead and back away. Excuse me, sir. I'm sorry that you haven't seen me, but I'm going to go ahead and sneak my happy ass out of here.
I don't know why, but African animals like lions and leopards, buffalo, elephants, they don't scare me as much as a grizzly scares me.
Have you heard about the mountain biker story?
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