Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 1 2019 i PRIVATE GAME | WILDLIFE RANCHING

Two events of a historical nature are likely to define the political landscape, set the tone and be the defining features of the year 2019. On 27 April this year South Africa will be marking exactly 25 years since the first democratic elections in 1994. There was an air of euphoria and the atmosphere was pregnant  with expectation as the leaders of the world descended upon South Africa to witness the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as the first black president of South Africa on 10 May 1994. The second event is that this year the people of South Africa of voting age will cast their vote to elect a party of their choice to lead the country into the future. It is hardly necessary to urge all South Africans who…

2018 has been a tough year for the business world and people in general. The world economy is still vacillating from the crises between Presidents Trump and Kim Jung Il, Brexit woes for the UK and Chinese growth down from its traditional highs. The South African economy has had enough challenges with a weak currency, State capture, non-performing SOEs, slow growth, exacerbated by populist political rhetoric and the threat of expropriation of property without compensation. Add to this the severe drought experienced in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State, North West Province and other areas. In the south western bushveld of Limpopo (Waterberg District) this rainy season (at least the first part of it) is the fourth year of below average rainfall and the third season during which our…

Industry Politics Politics equal sport as the topic mostly discussed worldwide. However, what interest me is not politics that involve politicians, but rather politics within an industry. Such politics can make or break an industry. However, we are very fortunate to have the USA President, Donald Trump, as a pro-hunter and the South African President as a top game breeder! Let us take a closer look at the wildlife industry’s politics: It is dangerous when any sector becomes narrow-minded to only think of the aspects that favours that specific sector. For instance, when the South African hunters (often referred to as ‘biltong’ or recreational hunters) forget to see the bigger picture and the importance of the rest of the industry, like an international hunter striving to hunt the best trophy,…

This will be the first in a series of six articles looking at the six broader classes of herbivores in context of nutrition and why the different animals select the food they eat, where both ruminants and non-ruminants will be discussed. These classes are the large grazers, intermediate to large browsers, the medium-sized grazers, the medium-sized browser, the small grazer and the small browser. When designing food or understanding why animals eat the food they select, it is important to have a thorough understanding of what adaptations different herbivore animals have to collect, degrade and digest the food they select naturally. Furthermore, it is important to know the animal’s weight, sex, if the animal is pregnant, lactating, dry or a geriatric (living in a zoo).  In other words, a feed…

“It is critically important to reaffirm a more robust understanding of conservation that focuses on management and encompasses not only preservation but also restoration and sustainable utilisation.” Over the last decades, the concept of conservation in international sustainable development policy has changed. The centrality of conservation to the concept of sustainable development was established in the early 1980s but was lost in the early 1990s. Today there is a need to reconfirm what we mean by conservation and why it is critical to ensuring that development is sustainable. This article explores the role of wildlife in two key multilateral agreements and two key multilateral strategies that were developed and launched over the last half century: ❶ The 1975 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora…

“If you want good laws, burn those you have and make new ones.” – Voltaire Stakeholder participation in forums, workshops and indabas hosted by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) to iron out legislative and regulatory obstacles had mixed results, which led to frustration and turbulence among game ranchers and related industries. South Africa’s model for private ownership of wildlife – which is one of only a few in the world – stimulated an industry that contributes a substantial portion to the country’s GDP. According to recent figures the sector’s contribution to the GDP is in the region of R20 billion per annum. Private game farms occupy 20 million ha marginal agricultural land that accommodates approximately 20 million head of game and provide 140 000 people with jobs. R2 300…

Foot-and mouth-disease (FMD) is a highly contagious disease of all cloven-hooved animals. It is caused by a highly contagious, positive strand RNA virus of the Picornaviridae. The disease in cattle is characterised by a high morbidity (a large proportion of a herd will show symptoms including vesicles and erosions in the mucosa of the mouth and skin of the interdigital spaces and coronary bands) and generally a low mortality (only a small percentage of infected animals will be severely affected and die). Clinical signs FMD in cattle is characterised by the development of lesions in the mouth and on the feet. However, the earliest clinical signs are those of a nonspecific infectious illness and include fever, dullness, inappetence, a fall in milk yield and the cessation of rumination. Because the…

“Levaillant was the first writer to convey the excitement of the African wilderness not only as hunter but especially as explorer.” Author: Ian Glenn Publisher: Jacana Media ISBN: 978-1-4314-2733-8 Format: Hardback Retail price: R260 Ian Glenn is an academic, having studied and/ or worked at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the University of York, University of Pennsylvania where he did his PhD, and then at the University of Cape Town, where he is currently emeritus professor of media studies. His current interests are media representation of rhino poaching and the history of southern African wildlife documentary. Glenn believes there are four arguments for the importance of Levaillant to conservation in South Africa, viz. he was our first and greatest ornithologist whose bird books are still full of intriguing observations, he was…

When we considered the 2019 themes for Wildlife Ranching magazine, a focus on strategy was an obvious choice. One of the most effective tools for strategic planning is to use the PESTLE analysis as a guideline. PESTLE is an acronym for six macro influences affecting every and all businesses, regardless of the industry, products or services. It’s important to know about them and how they will impact the future of our sector and our businesses. The six influences, and the Wildlife Ranching themes for 2019, are: Political Economic Social Technological Legal Environmental In our first 2019 Wildlife Ranching issue, we contemplate current POLITICAL influences. In our lead article, ‘The Bigger Picture’, Michael ’t Sas-Rolfes introduces a shift in his focus to the more current and immediate ‘big picture’ issues facing…

At Crown Game Breeders, our love and passion for sables are infectious! We believe that when you do something you love, you will get the results. Our Matetsi sables are living proof of this belief. We are privileged to have had the legendary ‘Rapella’ as our flagship breeding bull. He has given us his best years and we are sad to say that he passed away on 7 February 2019. He has had some phenomenal progeny over the years. To our knowledge, there are 20 bulls of 52"+ at the moment and approximately 25% of them are ‘Rapella’ progeny. There are very few lines that has a 52"+ sire that keeps breeding 52"+ bulls down his lineage, thus showing a very strong heritability of horn length. Crown Game Breeders carefully…

Wildlife Ranching was one of more than 1 100 exhibitors at the SCI (Safari Club International) hunting convention in Reno, Nevada early January. From there, we travelled to Dallas, Texas to exhibit at the DSC (Dallas Safari Club) Mogambo hunting convention, with 1 006 exhibitors exhibiting in 1 850 booths and 35 500 people attending. One really needs a very special product to attract the attention of people walking the show floor and WRSA is very fortunate to have exactly that: South Africa! It was an honour for WRSA to showcase the diversity of beautiful South Africa, located on the most southern tip of the magnificent continent of Africa. We shared facts about the role of private wildlife ranchers in saving species from extinction and growing wildlife numbers – a…

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has strengthened marginally towards an El Niño phase over the last month. As before it is still predicted to last for the rest of summer and most of autumn. During the last month a more typical El Niño response is in effect, indicating that there may be some influence during the latter parts of the summer season, which typically means below-normal rainfall totals. Above-normal rainfall conditions are expected over the summer rainfall regions during early autumn (Feb-Mar-Apr), however it is not clear what conditions can be expected during mid-autumn (Mar-Apr-May) and late-autumn (Apr-May-Jun). As indicated above rainfall totals are expected to deteriorate during the change of seasons from summer to autumn in the summer rainfall regions due to the El Niño effect. Forecasts do however…

Livestock farmers were motivated to switch to game due to the impact that environmental factors, including drought, and declining land productivity caused by overgrazing, had on their profitability. However, game farming was not the end of all problems. In recent years, the severe deterioration in the game stud breeding industry at the time has increasingly put pressure on the income generated from game farming. Having been forced to gain a deeper understanding of their enterprises and reevaluate their tactical management plans, farmers are increasingly attracted to mixed farming, and many have started to reintroduce livestock on their game farms. Perhaps the highest profile farmer in the country to have followed this route is President Cyril Ramaphosa. His farm in Mpumalanga, Ntaba Nyoni, now boasts Boran, Bonsmara and Ankole cattle, in…