Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 6 2016 i PRIVATE GAME | WILDLIFE RANCHING

Ten years seems to be extremely short in historical terms, but WRSA can be proud of what our association has achieved since its inception in 2006. With more than 2 500 members, 30 commodity chambers, nine advisory committees and a national office in Pretoria, we are well-represented throughout South Africa to service the needs of all involved in the wildlife industry. However, this is not something that happens overnight and I want to acknowledge every president, board member, president’s council member, WRSA member and staff member who have committed themselves over the past ten years to get us to where we are today. All WRSA’s committee members, albeit on national, provincial or chamber level, serve on a voluntary basis and they should be applauded for all their efforts, commitment and…

“Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location.” The South African Weather Service (SAWS) is the authority for weather and climate forecasting in South Africa. As a member of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), it complies with international meteorological standards. As the aviation meteorological authority, SAWS is designated by the state to provide weather services to the aviation industry and to fulfill the international obligations of the government under the Convention of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The aviation weather forecast services provided by SAWS extend from the land to the vast oceans around southern Africa up to Antarctica. The SAWS has a very strong relationship with the Aviation Association of South Africa. It participates in regular…

DR GRAHAM TAMPLIN CHILD AND THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW PARADIGM OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION Southern Africa’s pioneering approach to wildlife conservation differs radically from the colonial or North American models that govern wildlife for much of the planet. This approach rests on three principles: well-managed protected areas, a massive increase in private wildlife enterprises, and successfully applied community conservation. A critical juncture was reached in the early 20th century, with concern over the loss of wildlife such as American bison and southern Africa’s elephant caused by massive levels of hunting, often for the market. US President Theodore Roosevelt and many European colonial powers (through the London Conventions of 1900 and 1933) set in place prohibitive laws, intended to preserve and protect species for that time. These ideas still reverberate through…

“In a resource-limited world, it is important to use all the tools we have available, even if at times they are not the most obvious choices.” A chain is only as strong as its weakest link and in the case of South African conservation it is common cause that this weak link is often a financial one (Botha 2001, Krug 2001, Scriven and Eloff 2003). In a resource-limited world, it is important to use all the tools we have available, even if at times they are not the most obvious choices. The not-so-obvious choice in this case is where the wildlife ranching industry has both directly and indirectly allowed obstacles to conservation success to be overcome. These results can be seen in the success of the black wildebeest (Connochaetes gnou)…

“Involving local people with reductionist management and involving local people with holistic management are entirely different processes.” Allan Savory is an ecologist, environmentalist and global consultant, the pioneer of holistic management, a system that helps ranchers and farmers to better manage resources by planning for and integrating all social, economic and environmental factors. He is president and co-founder of The Savory Institute, which focuses on holistic management through special projects around the world. Here, he shares his views on rhino poaching and Africa-driven solutions to conservation problems. WR: How do you believe the current rhino poaching crisis can be mitigated? And in terms of putting rhinos back on land you have restored, do you still believe that the conditions and time are not right? What would need to happen before…

Adventure is second nature to Kate Turkington, so it was no surprise that she took the sudden torrential downpour on our game-drive in her stride, whipping out a two-rupee plastic poncho she had bought in India and, suitably covered, continuing to photograph a herd of buffalo. We had invited the renowned broadcaster, author and travel writer to Dinokeng to experience Gauteng’s best-kept wildlife secret – and Kate, lead writer on Fodor’s Complete Safari Companion, was thrilled to find a home-grown safari experience right on her doorstep. The first 20 minutes of the drive were idyllic – we got up close to a black-backed jackal and saw zebra, tsessebe, oryx and wildebeest in abundance, along with dozens of bird species (Dinokeng boasts over 400!). Moonsoon-like conditions cut the drive short (Mongena…

We live in the ‘Information Age’ where we can get access to all the information we want. Some months ago, I viewed a TED video of Allan Savory delivering a powerful talk on the radical concept of Holistic Management he originated. TED is a nonpartisan non-profit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues. Visit www.ted.com for more information. Holistic Management is a process of decision-making and planning that gives people the insights and management tools needed to understand nature, resulting in better, more informed decisions that balance key social, environmental and financial considerations. Whilst Allan Savory has been…

“I am committed to serving the organisation with due care and diligence and commit to acting in the best interests of WRSA’s members at all times.” WRSA congratulates Tebogo Mogashoa on his appointment as acting vice-president with immediate effect. He will perform Dr Peter Oberem’s duties, while Dr Oberem in turn acts as WRSA president during Wiaan van der Linde’s absence resulting from a vehicle accident. “It is unfortunate that Wiaan’s accident has led to the necessity of appointing an acting vice-president,” said Dr Oberem. “That said, the board had to make an appointment in order to ensure that our strategic goals, as defined in our planning meeting early in December, will be met in the year ahead. I am personally very pleased that Tebogo has been appointed to the…

Die wildbedryf het ’n lang aanloop gehad om te kom waar hy vandag is. Miskien het Floris die Bekruiper se oergrootoupa reeds 70 of 100 duisend jaar gelede vir sy seun gesê: “Ons het regtig die grootste buffel hier by ons. Jy moet net vir ons ’n koolstofveselboog met ’n vlymskerp pyl met drie hoeke ontwikkel sodat ons met gemak die ou grote kan plattrek. Ek weet nie hoe gaan ons die vleis veilig hou nie, want die trop leeus sal ons sommer saam met die vleis opvreet. Intussen moet ons maar tevrede wees met die blesbokke en lechwes wat ons maklik kan bekruip en jag om te eet.” Hy het nie gehunker na eiendomsreg nie, want alles om hom was syne. Nader aan die meer bekende tyd het veral…

Daar is seker min dinge wat vir ’n wildboer kan hoendervleis gee soos die spog en pronk van ’n njalabul. Dit is egter nie net spog en pronk nie, maar ’n spesiale lyftaal wat ’n betekenis van sy eie het. ’n Mens se onmiddellike gedagte is dat hy vlerksleep, maar dis meer as dit. Hy pof sy hare, beweeg stadig tot in ’n sekere posisie en staan dan doodstil. En dié stilstaan is bedoel vir ander bulle – die bul wat die langste so kan staan met nek- en rughare wat regop staan, is die baas van die plaas in die njalagemeenskap. Omdat dit so baie van die dier se energie verg, bewys dit ook sy krag en bevestig natuurlik sy status. Kyk ’n mens mooi na ’n njalabul en…

“One of the big challenges Alan faced was how to breed the buffalo in an ecologically sustainable manner on extremely tough grazing conditions.” APPLYING RANGELAND GRAZING SCIENCE TO GAME/BUFFALO FARMING. Following on the previous two articles published in Wildlife Ranching, ‘Full Circle of Thirds’, where the 1-2-3s of feeding were discussed, and ‘Golden Rules’, where we visited Barry York’s family farm outside Alma in the Waterberg, we headed further northwest into the Limpopo Province for this article. We visited Alan van Coller of Alden Buffalo, who farms with buffalo between Vaalwater and Melkrivier. The farm is situated on rugged terrain and the vegetation is sour bushveld. With a tertiary background in ecology and a passion for buffalo, Alan chose buffalo as the species best suited to breed in these tough…

Humans have used weapons in warfare, hunting, law enforcement and criminal activity for thousands of years. Weapons also serve many other purposes in society, including sport, collections for display, and historical displays and demonstrations. As technology has developed throughout history, weapons have changed with it. Major innovations in the history of weapons have included the adoption of different materials – from stone and wood to different metals, and modern synthetic materials such as plastics – and the development of different weapon styles either to fit various terrains or to support or counteract different battlefield tactics and defensive equipment. “Archaeologists believe stone tips were one of the earliest forms of weapons, with the earliest surviving examples of stone tips with animal blood dating to around 64 000 years ago.” As humans…

For the first time this year, the Eastern Cape branch of WRSA, which has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years, hosted its own formal conference and gala awards ceremony. The event was held on 29 October at the Fish River Sun Resort and was attended by members from across the Eastern Cape as well as guests of honour from around the country. Guest speakers included Dale Cunningham (WRSA director), Brent McNamara (Agri-EC), Peter Knipe (Wildlife Producers Association), Deon Furstenburg (wildlife scientist), Richard York (Golden Breeders) and Adri Kitshoff-Botha (WRSA CEO). Motivational speaker Quinton Coetzee of ‘Veldfocus’ fame wrapped up the proceedings. “The province boasts industry leaders like Arthur Rudman, who won the Southern African Wildlife Rancher of the Year for 2015 at Sun City in March.” WRSA Eastern Cape chairman…

WRSA congratulates Barry York on being elected vice-president of the Professional Hunter’s Association of South Africa (PHASA) (two vice-presidents were elected – the other is Craig Maartens). Barry, a previous director of WRSA, started out as a hunter when he moved to South Africa from Zimbabwe and has a good understanding of the hunting industry. In fact, his involvement with PHASA goes back 25 years – he has been a member for that period of time and has also served on the PHASA EXCO with four past presidents. The current president of PHASA is Stan Burger. “It is a huge honour for me to be elected,” York told Wildlife Ranching. “I have made my living full-time through sustainable natural resource utilisation and I am fully involved in diverse aspects of…

Tien jaar is dalk kort in historiese terme, maar WRSA kan trots wees op wat ons vereniging sedert sy ontstaan in 2006 bereik het. Met meer as 2 500 lede, 30 bedryfskamers, nege advieskomitees en ’n nasionale kantoor in Pretoria, is ons regoor Suid-Afrika goed verteenwoordig om in die behoeftes van almal wat betrokke is in die wildbedryf te voorsien. Dit is egter nie iets wat oornag gebeur nie en ek wil graag erkenning gee aan elke president, raadslid, presidentsraadslid, WRSA-lid en personeellid wat hulself die afgelope tien jaar daartoe verbind het om ons te kry waar ons vandag is. Al WRSA se komiteelede, hetsy op nasionale, provinsiale of bedryfskamervlak, dien op ’n vrywillige grondslag en hulle moet geprys word vir al hul moeite en toewyding. As die nasionale verteenwoordigende…

“During the Colonial period, additional settlement led to the exploitation of the natural resources. In 1656 Jan van Riebeeck gave instructions to regulate hunting in the Cape.” The land that is known as South Africa has a history of conservation. Traditionally, people have always lived in harmony with nature and the philosophies of sustainability and conservation were inherent in their society. As hunters and gatherers, the indigenous people of this country depended on natural resources for their survival. Prior to European colonisation access to natural resources were controlled in the following ways: • Resource use was influenced by religious beliefs and affected by local traditional healers. • There were superstitions against killing certain species, like hyena, hammerkop and chameleon. • People were prohibited from hunting or eating their totem animals…

1801 It was William Somerville1 who, on 23 December 1801, first described the tsessebe to the modern world. This antelope was of course well known to the local BaTswana, the English name being derived from their name for the animal. Somerville was part of an expedition exploring the possibility of acquiring cattle for the Cape from the BaTswana. The expedition first saw the antelope approximately 20km south-south-east of present-day Kuruman. Somerville described the countryside as more beautiful and picturesque than anything he had seen on the journey up to that point, namely several miles of camel thorn forest, nowhere thick enough to impede the progress of the wagons, on dry sandy soil overgrown with long grass. Archetypal tsessebe habitat to this day! As a matter of interest, on that same…

The disease Heartwater is an infectious tick-borne disease caused by the rickettsial Ehrlichia ruminantium. The disease is transmitted by ticks of the genus Amblyomma with the main species in South Africa being A. hebraeum. The vector distribution in South Africa is shown in Figure 1. The disease affects cattle, sheep, goats as well as wild ruminants, particularly the springbuck, while others are known as carriers of heartwater (Table 1). The disease has been reported from almost all African countries and is probably the most economically important livestock tick-borne disease in South Africa. It is estimated to cost the country approximately R400m annually (see map of distribution). Angora goats are the species most severely affected by the disease, which limits the production of mohair in the country (Du Plessis et al,…

“All photographers need a system to manage and keep track of all the photos they’ve downloaded onto their preferred storage system.” “There are various ways of creating a photo catalogue or filing system.” Sooner or later all photographers need a system to manage and keep track of all the photos they’ve downloaded onto their preferred storage system. The last thing you want to do is to have to go through thousands of images to find a specific one. There are various ways of creating a photo catalogue or filing system, each with its own specific benefits and possible shortfalls. I prefer a system that is simple, effective and relatively easy to use. Like your camera equipment and post-processing software, you need to decide which system you think will be…

Whether you’re a serious wine lover or still getting acquainted with the vast array of wine styles and cultivars, you’re bound to find something that pleases the palate at Van Loveren Family Vineyards. Situated near Robertson on both sides of the Breede River, Van Loveren boasts eight wine ranges. Not only do they entice the entire spectrum of wine lovers, Van Loveren also aims to take you on an exploration by developing your taste buds. Moreover, they recently diversified their product range by introducing a craft beer range – branded as Boet Beer – and an imported blended whiskey range to extend its famous Four Cousins brand. “The farm was named after one of her ancestors, Christina van Loveren.” Dating back to 1937, this third-generation family enterprise was established by…