Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 2 2018 i PRIVATE GAME | WILDLIFE RANCHING

First, it is my honour and pleasure to introduce and congratulate Mr Tebogo Mogashoa, who was unanimously elected to the position of President of WRSA at the recent WRSA conference in Polokwane. Congratulations, Tebogo – I know you will have the support of your new full Board of Directors and of our membership. Similarly, I and the three other past Presidents of WRSA commit our support to you and your vision for our association and industry. After the Board appointed Tebogo to the position of Vice-President on my accession to the post of President for the second time, a bit more than a year ago, I got to know him better, both personally and more importantly as someone who is a born leader with a broad, tolerant and inspirational personality,…

“My love for wildlife began as a child when my parents took me on holiday to Kruger National Park – that’s where I developed my passion,” says Woody Cape Wildlife’s founder member and CEO, Warrick Barnard, who has 20 years’ experience in the industry. “In 2012, I was contacted by an international businessman who expressed interest in the wildlife sector in South Africa and asked for some investment guidance. I explored various avenues within the industry and in 2013 I began to invest in wildlife, starting with breeding operations.” Woody Cape, which was founded in 2014, is renowned for its quality wildlife breeding, particularly buffalo. “Our core focus is buffalo – both East African and Addo bloodlines – but we also breed sable, impala, nyala and various other species,” says…

Martin Schoeman en sy vrou, Lindy, is al vir meer as 20 jaar in die safaribedryf werksaam. Sangoma Safaris is geleë tussen Thabazimbi en Ellisras naby Steenbokpan op die Matlabasrivier. Op die 6 000 hektaar grond word intensief met wild en ekstensief vir jagdoeleindes geboer. Martin en Sangoma Safaris is sinoniem met topgehalte wild. “Ons hooffokus is die voltydse intensiewe teel van skaarswildspesies en ons doen voortdurend navorsing. Gehalte is vir ons baie belangrik.” Die resultaat is dat verskeie toptelers al diere by hulle gekoop het om die genetika van hul bestaande teeltroppe te verbeter. “Ek dink die waglys vir ons buffels is ’n bewys van die gehalte van ons genetika. Een van ons Uganda- (Oos-Afrika) teelbulle is die kleinseun van ’n bekende 50”-buffelbul. Ons buffelkoeie in die teeltrop wissel…

Musa Mbatha’s career in the wildlife industry began in 1995 when he worked as a game guide in the rural area of Vryheid, in which he grew up. “I started developing an interest in conservation, so I did a FGASA Level 1 Field Guide course at Hluhluwe in 2000,” he recalls. “In 2004 I focused on professional hunting and hunted in various reserves in KwaZulu-Natal.” He started work at &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve in 2007 and was promoted to the position of Assistant Reserve Manager in 2010. The lush, 170km² reserve, which is situated between the Mkuze Game Reserve and the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, is unique, both from an ecological perspective (it contains seven distinct ecosystems) but also because it has a symbiotic relationship with surrounding communities.…

In Issue 1, 2015 of Wildlife Ranching magazine, the importance of the Game Theft Act of 1991 was dealt with. The gist of that article was that the Act had deeming provisions making it unnecessary for a landowner with a fencing certificate for his enclosed game farm or pen, and whose game had escaped, to prove ownership otherwise than having had control over the animals. Readers should not be confused between the Fencing Act 31 of 1963 and the Game Theft Act 1991. The purpose of the Game Theft Act is “to regulate the ownership of game in certain instances; to combat the theft and wrongful and unlawful hunting, catching and taking into possession of game; and to provide for matters connected therewith.” “This case is very important for game…

EXPORT MARKETS The European Union (EU) is by far the most lucrative market for South African wild game meat. However, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in KZN in 2011 caused all exports of meat from cloven-hoofed animals from South Africa to be suspended by the powers that be within the EU. Since the suspension, which has now been in place for seven years, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), as well as the agricultural departments of some of the northern provinces, have failed to implement sufficient FMD management controls to satisfy the EU to the extent that they are willing to lift the suspension. Early in 2017, the EU sent an audit team to audit the residue monitoring control system in South Africa. The audit report, which…

Wildlife Ranching sat down with WRSA’s new president, Tebogo Mogashoa, to chat about the organisation’s plans, the future of the game-ranching industry, and why the crime of poaching should be elevated to the level of a national security threat. WR First things first – how did your passion for game ranching come about? Tebogo Mogashoa: It was really my love of nature and the outdoors that propelled me to develop an interest in the wildlife industry. But it is the ability to invest in the biodiversity economy – which is a renewable resource – which I find most interesting as a game rancher. The economics of the full value chain of the biodiversity economy was a major attraction when I considered getting involved in the industry. I enjoy it because…

Eerstens, dit is vir my ’n eer en voorreg om Tebogo Mogashoa bekend te stel en geluk te wens. Hy is tydens die onlangse WRSAkonferensie in Polokwane eenparig as die WRSA-president verkies. Veels geluk, Tebogo – ek weet jy het die volle ondersteuning van jou nuwe presidentsraad en al ons lede. Ek en die drie ander vorige WRSA-presidente sê ook ons heelhartige steun aan jou en jou visie vir ons vereniging en bedryf toe. Nadat ek so ’n bietjie meer as ’n jaar gelede weer die pos as president ingeneem het, het die Raad Tebogo as adjunk-president aangestel. Ek het hom sedertdien beter leer ken – op persoonlike vlak, maar nog belangriker as iemand wat ’n gebore leier is met ’n verdraagsame en inspirerende persoonlikheid, asook ’n positiewe siening en…

Johan Bouwer is die uitvoerende bestuurder van Johann Rupert se boerdery naby Graaff-Reinet in die Oos-Kaap Karoo. “Ek is al so 15 jaar hier op Graaff-Reinet betrokke en was die afgelope 25 jaar in die wynbedryf. Ek kom uit ’n wyngroep waar bewaring nog altyd vir ons belangrik was. Die konsep van terroir in wingerd is baie belangrik en ek dink my liefde vir die natuur en liefde vir die grond kom uit my agtergrond. My ouers en voorouers kom uit die Karoo uit en die hunkering was nog altyd daar om terug te kom,” vertel Johan. Volgens Johan is die woord ’wild’ in wildbedryf of wildlewe vir hulle sinoniem met bewaring, volhoubaarheid, biodiversiteit en herlewingsboerdery. Hulle volg ’n holistiese herlewingsboerderymodel op die plaas. Die model staan op drie gelyke…

Dusty Joubert became interested in wildlife at a young age as his parents were involved in conservation. “After school, I studied agriculture and wildlife management, after which time I became involved in running a wildlife ranch in Zimbabwe for 15 years,” recalls Dusty. “When I came back to South Africa I took up an opportunity to oversee Selati Game Reserve.” As the general manager of the 30 000-hectare reserve, which was founded in 1993, Dusty plays a vital conservation role. “Selati is situated in the Lowveld near Phalaborwa, bordering Kruger National Park,” he says. “It’s an ecotone between sourveld and sweetveld and gets approximately 500ml of rain a year. The reserve is diverse – it boasts 26 mammal species and we also have large herbivores like elephant, as well as…

David Steytler is die mede-eienaar van STS Meletse, ’n 21 000-hektaar wildreservaat naby Askam in die Kalahari, 180km noord van Upington op die pad na die Kgalagadioorgrenspark. “Ek het in die vroeë negentigerjare begin boer op die plaas Maraisdraai, tussen Groblershoop en Marydale in die Noord-Kaap, wat ek vandag nog het. Oorspronklik was dit ’n skaapplaas wat ek later in ’n beesplaas omgeskakel het,” vertel David. “Ek was nog altyd passievol oor buffels en dit was my droom om eendag buffels te kon aflaai en na die diere te kom kyk. Ek het die eerste buffels hier rondom 2010, 2011 gekoop en in 2013 het ek die plaas STS hier in die Kalahari gekoop. My doel was om die twee of drie teeltroppe op Maraisdraai te hê en dan die…

By Sangoma Safaris op die walle van die Matlabasrivier naby Steenbokpan in die Limpopo-provinsie word met topgehalte spesies geteël, onder meer buffels met Uganda-(Oos-Afrika) gene, bastergemsbokke met ’n 33⅛"-bul, Zambiese swartwitpense met ’n 50"-bul, asook goue gemsbokke, goue wildebeeste, swart rooibokke, njalas en krokodille. Met uitsonderlike bloedlyne soos hierdie is voornemende kopers verseker van top-genetika. Op die 6 000 hektaar grond, met plantegroei wat wissel van groot kameeldoring- en maroela-bome tot rivieroewerbos, is die fokus op die ekstensiewe jag van suidelike eland, suidelike groter koedoe, Limpopo-bosbok, blouwildebees, waterbok, Burchell se sebra, gemsbok, kameelperd, rooibok, rooi hartebees, gewone en geel blesbokke. Tans is daar 'n totaal van 35 boogjagskuilings, insluitend grond- en boomskuilings. Martin Schoeman van Sangoma Safaris is aangewys as die ‘2017 WRSA Wildlife Rancher of the Year southern Africa’-wenner…

Wildlife Ranching South Africa (WRSA) has once again celebrated excellence in the game ranching industry with its Wildlife Rancher of the Year Southern Africa awards. The 2017 awards saw eight nominees who were acknowledged for their ability to elevate best practice within the industry. Norman Adami, a member of the WRSA Board and whose portfolio includes the Game Rancher awards, said the quality of this year’s nominees was outstanding. “I have been involved in the awards for eight years now and every year we look at, on average, around ten nominees,” he said. “It is truly staggering to see the quality of the ranching operations across the length and breadth of the country. Ranching is really the ‘golden goose’ of the deep rural economy and looking at the nominees, both…

Hannes is in Namibië gebore en het op die plaas Bergzicht net buite Dordabis grootgeword. Toe sy pa die plaas gekoop het, was dit net so onder die 5 000 hektaar. In 1985 het Hannes hom permanent op die plaas kom vestig saam met sy pa en dit geleidelik in ’n wildplaas begin omskep. Vandag strek die plaas oor 16 000 hektaar pragtige Namibiese landskap. Aanvanklik het Hannes net gefokus op die gewone vlaktewild wat ’n mens in Namibië kry, wat koedoes, gemsbokke, hartebeeste, blouwildebeeste, swartwildebeeste en sebras is. Maar soos die besigheid gegroei het, het hy besef daar is ’n behoefte onder jagters om ook ander spesies te skiet en vandag het hulle 30 spesies op die plaas. Hulle het ook sewe kleurvariante en volgens Hannes is daar beslis…

Katjana Ott started working in tourism and was general manager of Lalibela Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape for ten years, focusing on the photographic side of the business. “I then had an opportunity to go to Uganda to open a lodge on Bulago Island, which was quite honestly the most incredible experience,” she says. Upon her return to South Africa, she was offered a position from the owner of Glen Harry Game Reserve, which she accepted with alacrity. “I was asked to run and develop the Glen Harry project, which was really exciting,” she says. As general manager of Glen Harry (which was established in 2010, although the farm itself dates back to 1819), Katjana oversees both the breeding and hunting sides of the business. “The whole concept of…

In my previous article ‘Population control: balancing animal numbers with the available food’, I discussed important aspects of what information is needed to sustainably stock a farm or game farm. This article, and those that follow, will focus on the farm itself: what is currently available, and what management strategies can be followed to improve plant and animal health and longevity. To improve productivity on a given game farm, reserve or conservation area, it is necessary to categorise your longterm goal and set plans in motion to reach it. One of the most important questions related to wildlife management on a game farm or reserve is how many animals the particular area can support over time, particularly stocking larger herbivores. To explain this, it is important that the concepts of…

Thanks to its convenient and accessible location, literally on Stellenbosch’s doorstep, Blaauwklippen Vineyards has become a popular destination for visitors from near and far. Despite being one of the oldest wine farms in South Africa – it dates back to 1682 – Blaauwklippen is the perfect example of an historic wine estate that has kept up with modern trends and demands. Since I first visited Blaauwklippen as a student in the early 1980s, it has been synonymous with the versatile, black-skinned cultivar Zinfandel, which enjoys immense popularity in the USA. It can be found abundantly in California and is known as Primitivo there. However, Zinfandel can be traced back to Croatia. Walter Finlayson planted Blaauwklippen’s first Zinfandel vines in the late 1970s and this cultivar has subsequently become the estate’s…