This is very interesting reading


“Reclaiming Lost Land for Wildlifeâ€
(A case study) by Stewart Dorrington

This is a presentation done at a Tourism Expo, the first half deals with our family farm history and the second half addresses the ethics and justification of hunting. Many of our members will find they have similar experiences.


Private land will always be tending towards that activity that provides the best economic return on that land. Our farm history shows exactly that.

Our family farm was undeveloped and already devoid of wildlife in 1918 when my grandfather acquired it. He started crop farming, ploughing was easy as it was savannah veld back then. There was no bush encroachment.
Switched to feeding crops to cattle and running commercial cattle for export beef
Later my mother started stud farming and became nationally recognised as a leading stud breeder and cattle judge.
Consequences were that the property was divided by fences into 35 camps.

At this stage game had little or no value and many farmers in the district entertained guests and clients by offering free hunting. Weekends saw the postmaster, bank manager, cooperasie bestuur and even the stationmaster partaking in the hunt. Very few animals were actually shot because there were very few!!! It was a social event that scored the farmer big friends and did not cost him anything out of pocket.

All this time, many of our neighbouring properties were still growing crops. Wheat in winter and mielies in summer. Some grew vegetables too. In winter it is almost impossible for a wild animal, running on dry veld, to resist the green crop of wheat or oats. The few animals that roamed the bush were once again shot in these fields, quite legally as the farmers would simply get a permit, a “skade permit†to shoot animals that entered his fields. This is quite understandable too if you have ever seen the amount of damage that some animals can do to crops. Farmers simply could not afford the losses.

During the years my mother ran her stud cattle on the farm, we had a small population of kudu and warthogs. Bushbuck were very scarce as were impala. We never hunted them. We tried to protect them and leave them undisturbed. Some of our neighbours cursed us as harbouring these pests that did so much damage to their crops.

I must tell you that one of my passions in life is wildlife and in those early years, even when I was at school I used to love visiting the KNP while my friends rather chose to go to Plett or Umlhanga for their school holidays.
I joined my mother on the cattle farm in 1984. It remained a dream of mine to convert our 5000ha to a game farm but we just could not afford it! The capital outlay in fencing in the area with a game fence was enormous and the cost of building a camp was another inhibiting factor. As the value of wildlife was so small (a white rhino cost R800) there was little to gain financially from the investment. At this stage, Nature Conservation was still giving away excess game from their reserves for a nominal charge, mostly just to cover the cost of catching and translocation.



It was around this time that some of our farming friends admitted that they were making a little bit of extra cash on the side from hunting with local hunters. The concept of paying for hunting was just starting to catch on in SA. It was also becoming a corporate entertainment activity. This was encouraging, if we could do some hunting we could earn enough to cover the fencing costs. There was a big drought on again in the bushveld and we had translocated our cattle mostly to Natal and back home we were sitting with an almost empty property and a labour force with no work. We made a life changing decision. We decided to sell one of the stud herds and to use the capital to fence the property. This was a monumental decision as this particular stud herd was the one that had built my mothers reputation as a stud breeder. She was recognised as one of the top stud breeders in the country and was the first qualified woman judge of cattle on the Rand and Pretoria shows. We fenced as cheaply as we could, using reject materials but meeting the minimum standards required by nature Conservation. At last the game that remained on our property was ours and we could look after it. It is amazing how quickly the kudu increased now that they weren’t being shot out in the wheat and oat fields.

After 2 years I booked the first couple of hunters. They didn’t seem to impact on the growing populations of kudu and impala and so the next year we booked more. The income derived from the hunt we used to build a camp, basic but with all the necessary facilities needed, nothing luxury. The cattle were still earning the income to cover the running costs of the farm and so the hunting income was an added bonus. The second year of hunting doubled the income from the previous year. Now we were able to look at bringing back species that used to occur in the district. The drought had broken and the cattle prices spiked leaving most of the income earned from hunting to be reinvested in new species. Eland were the next to arrive and then gemsbuck and hartebeest from Namibia (a practice that soon may be prohibited). We even managed to buy zebra and tsessebe from Nature Conservation. There was so little demand for game at that early stage that the department kept a waiting list of people wanting game and when they had to remove excess game they called on the waiting list and sold much of the game for little more than the capture and transport costs.

But things were slowly beginning to change in the bushveld. Over the next few years it became increasingly difficult to make a profit from cattle as costs rocketed through the roof. Inflation was in the 20%, cattle prices were stagnant or declining and the rand was starting to slide against other currencies. The game populations on the farm were beginning to compete with the cattle. We found the internal cattle fences a hazard for game, they were constantly breaking them and stud farming was becoming impossible as breeding cows were constantly being mixed up with the wrong bulls. We decided to stop stud breeding and just breed commercially, where we could put 4 bulls in with a 120 cows instead of one bull for every herd of 30 or so. There was now also increased competition for grazing, we were becoming overstocked. We either had to reduce the cattle numbers substantially or start culling game. Economics becomes very important. With a labour force to maintain, vehicles, pumps, water lines, firebreaks, insurances and a host of other expenses that nobody ever considers, we had to make sure we could meet all of these. The property had been in the family since 1918 and I didn’t want to be the one to blow it all because of my passion for wildlife.



To solve the problem, we had a sale of cattle which generated a good income. These moneys were invested into rare species. We bought 5 disease free buffalo from the Willem Pretorius game reserve. At the time that amounted to about 40 cows each!! Many of our friends and neighbours thought that we had “lost the plot†How long would it take to get a return from 5 buffalo, 2 bulls and 3 cows?
We then also took things one step further with the cattle. We leased a farm nearby and took all the remaining cattle there, leaving our own property exclusively for game. The income from the cattle during these transition years was vital for our survival. It also allowed the game numbers to build up to a level where we could start hunting more of them on a sustainable bases.

Within 2 years from starting hunting, we found our booking sheets pretty full and the income from hunting growing substantially. We also then turned to look at the trophy hunting market. With the sliding rand, the idea of earning dollars became increasingly attractive. I did my professional hunters and outfitters exams in 1988 but never conducted any hunts until 1990 when I had my first US client and his daughter visit for 4 days.

It was not just my neighbours who now wished that they also had a game farm. Many farmers were noticing the changes too. Those that could afford it also began fencing and purchasing game. We were able to capitalise on this too. Game prices were rising rapidly as the demand grew and we now found ourselves in the fortunate position to sell game into this market. Already, after a mere 4 years of fencing, we needed to remove about 60 kudu per annum of which we only hunted half. When we switched to trophy hunting, we were able to sell still more as the sustainable trophy take off was a mere 5% and the increases in populations were normally between 20% and 30%.
One of the biggest advantages we found with game farming was that our income did not drop substantially in drought years as the demand for hunting remained constant despite the weather. Cattle on the other hand saw prices of livestock drop and feeding costs rocket during drought years. The market was always oversupplied in dry years.

All the time we were investing profits back into game. We brought in more rare species. Sable antelope from Zimbabwe and another group from Hoedspruit. They too started breeding very well. We added another 3 buffalo to our herd of 9!! And lastly we brought in 5 white rhino.

We were now firmly established in the hunting market, both locally and with a growing demand internationally. The economics of cattle farming continued to decline, especially in the bushveld, and in 1998 we decided to sell the remaining cattle on the leased land and become totally dependant on our game farming. Thus the transition was complete. A fully developed cattle stud farm is now a game reserve and it was funded largely by hunting. The maintenance of the reserve is still funded entirely by hunting and it is not cheap. We thought costs would drop dramatically with game, especially feed costs, vet costs, tractor and property maintenance etc…..but it doesn’t it merely shifts. Now we have marketing costs (brochures, overseas booth costs), maintenance of the camp and vehicles, now landrovers and still tractors too, additional staff in PHs, caterers, camp staff. Costs did not come down. However, the hunting still largely funding the running of the reserve. Shortfalls in budget are made up from live game sales.



Private ownership of game and the ability to trade it has been the key to the SA success. Give game an economic value, the higher the value the more secure that species. Remove value and you remove the conservation incentive on private land. The rest of Africa’s wildlife is in decline as it is not privatised and therefore holds no value to the local populations.


Now we come to the ethics of hunting. A common question I am asked is why hunt? The animals are so beautiful and the farm is so peaceful don’t you prefer looking at a live animal than killing it? Why not tourism?? Tourists pay to repeatedly to photograph an animal rather than shoot it once. I’ll get to that in a minute.

I have no problem with hunting, provided it is done ethically and with compassion towards the animal. A good hunter will always try minimising suffering and always aims for a quick kill.

When looking at ethics of hunting, one must put it in perspective. What are the alternatives to hunting?
In our case it was and is cattle ranching. This culminates with animals being fed in a feedlot, trucked to an abattoir, pushed down a shoot and shot in the head with a retractable bolt while standing in a crush. I think this is more stressful for an animal than hunting an animal in its natural environment, often killing it without it even being aware of your presence.

Perhaps that is why you don’t eat meat, because you don’t believe in killing animals or don’t like killing animals!!
If you remember the beginning of this talk I mentioned my neighbours. Here they produced crops. Any animal that entered their crops was shot on sight. In the evenings they would park on the edge of the lands and any warthog or kudu that came into the land was shot as damage causing. At night they would shoot duiker and bushbuck to protect their crop, porcupines too. The intention was to rid the area of these “pests.†On top of that, the ground was ploughed and fertilized, crops were sprayed with herbicides and pesticides. These all have the effect of directly or indirectly killing animals, insects and birds. The cost in blood to produce these crops is high, not to mention the ecological damage done by the herbicides and pesticides when they leach into the soils and river systems and kill our estuaries.
But strangely, many people have no problem buying these crops as they don’t believe they are killing wildlife as they don’t see how they are produced. They believe they are not killing animals. Directly they aren’t but indirectly they are supporting a mean killing machine. And don’t think anyone in this room is exempt from this. Just think about where the food comes from that you eat and what the cost to wildlife is or has been. It is no coincidence that the areas that produce the most food are also areas that had they highest carrying capacity for game. Game that has over the years been wiped out and replaced by crop farming or stock farming.

Where are the large herds of blesbuck, springbuck and black wildebeest that roamed the highveld?? They have made way for mielies!! The trekbokke of the Karoo have made way for sheep, nyalas of Natal are now sugar cane plantations and the fynbos of the Cape is now winelands that hardly even support a bird! So I ask you then, who

holds the moral highground, the hunters that are supporting and funding wildlife by paying to hunt it….or the rest, who condemn hunting, but close their eyes and support the environment killing machine? Then we get onto factory farming…how humane is that? But we nearly all eat chickens, bacon and beef without blinking. Hunting is the cleanest and least cruel of all the alternatives.

It seems that what is not seen is OK! The media have focused on some of the worst aspects of hunting which I will get to shortly. But how can we criticise hunting alone or single it out, when we are all contributing to the destruction of biodiversity and our natural resources?

I am often asked, as mentioned, why not tourism? It simply comes down to economics. There are significant costs in keeping a reserve. Employing people is a moral obligation in the rural areas where there are so few employment opportunities. So one has labour costs, feed costs, vet costs from time to time, machinery maintenance, water maintenance, firebreaking costs and a host of other costs which few realise exist for us in the bush.
Tourists want to se the big five. In order to have the big five you need a huge piece of land. Very few farmers have that land available. They also need a lodge, preferably a luxury lodge and vehicles. That requires an additional investment of many millions. Most farmers don’t have that either. They also want to be on a tourist route, like near the KNP or other areas of attraction. The reality is that most farmers are stuck far from all those things. If you look at who is investing in these lodges you will find it is corporate groups or business men and that making a living from it is not their aim. In fact, it is often subsidised from his core business which has nothing to do with farming.
The biggest disservice we can do for wildlife is to make it a welfare. If game cannot compete financially for land use, it will disappear gradually and by subsidising it on the land, as many corporates and businessmen do, its future is not secure. The more people who need the income that game can provide, the healthier the future of those animals will be.

The farmer living on his farm simply does not have that amount of money to invest, and besides, if it is your home, do you want to build a lodge that employs a bunch of landrover jockeys, caterers, waiters and everyone else employed in running a lodge. In addition to them, you have a bunch of ignorant and demanding tourists commanding you around, and the risk is that it will not make a profit and that after you have done all that you may end up losing it all. I have seen it a couple of times.

For the majority of farmers, the option is domestic stock farming or game farming where they can either utilise the game by hunting or live game sales, usually to another hunting farm. The cheaper tourist, mostly the local market that wants an inexpensive, self catering, weekend getaway does not come near to covering running costs and can only be viewed as a small sideline in most cases. And areas like the sprinbuck flats, the remote Karoo, the highveld etc are not sought after destinations. So don’t look at tourism as the alternative for most game farmers.

As mentioned I am passionate about wildlife and wild areas, more so than I am about hunting. But I have no moral issues with hunting done in the correct manner. It is the best means to return wildlife to the land.




What I do have a problem with is hunting done in the incorrect manner. Unfortunately, the boom in the game industry has often resulted in economics superceding the principles of fair chase and good conservation practices. This has resulted in the captive breeding of lions and canned hunting, the import of exotic species, movement of game to areas where they should not occur, genetic manipulation of species, crossbreeding of species and a couple of other issues. This has also come about because of the lack of a sound policy by the authorities on game farming and hunting. For the past few years there has been little dialogue between the industry and the government. It was regarded as a white, male elitist industry and channels of communication and cooperation were dismantled.
I am happy to say that these communication channels are all being reopened. Not necessarily in the same form as before, but there is now a framework being laid down for game farming and hunting. The Minister of DEAT appointed a panel to make recommendations on the future of all hunting in SA. This panel comprised a wide range of interests and included animal welfare, scientific communities, rural communities, the provinces, labour and myself.
The recommendations of this panel will have far reaching effects on the game industry and the manner in which animals are hunted. It is hoped that these recommendations will go a long way to help clean out the bad practices in the industry and to develop more socially acceptable means of hunting and to establish SA as a world leader in its field in both hunting and conservation.

As we see game areas declining in the rest of Africa it has grown tremendously in SA with many benefits to tourism. Hunting has been the main driver, so don’t knock hunting, support it for the sake of our wildlife.

Excellent Article. I will send it to all my bunny hugging relatives!

OUTSTANDING

Wish I could have stated the facts half as well.
I will also save to show nay sayers of hunting
Keep up the good work. I am sure the land will be your famlies for many generations!

Superb

can i emigate ta your area and just live out on the veldt???

we who hunt put more money into conservation, i have studied it for a year . those photoyourist does not put out so much money as they belive. with the trophyfees and other payment the area get more to protect the area and the animal populatons.

A most compelling, thoughtful, and factually based article that really puts to rest any emotional arguments against game farming and ethical hunting in South Africa. Everyone who hunts Africa should read it.

Stewart is a thoughtful and dedicated guy. I have had the privilage to visit him at his property 2X. Best of luck to him and PHASA to get it right. The time is right to weed out those who drag the whole industry in RSA down. We can only hope that the powers that be in RSA recognize the effort and do the right thing for the long term.

Very good.

Excellent article and well written. One of the points oft overlooked on the ongoing debate about South Africa and it's fenced hunting lands is the huge success in restoring wildlife and in particular, endangered wildlife to huntable populations. The Bontebok, White Rhino and Black Wildebeest are just some of the species that were pulled from the brink of annihilation.

South Africans recognized this in time and through their conservation efforts, sweat and hard-earned rand, brought many species of wildlife back and reclaimed land laid waste by farming and ranching practices of old! I tip my hat to them and will say that I will continue to travel and enjoy the excellent hospitality and hunting opportunities South Africans provide! Not all hunting in the RSA is put and take on postage stamp sized farms as oft represented on the internet! One needs to actually travel there and experience a hunt with a reputable outfitter to realize what a gem the RSA is.

I visited Stu's farm in the early 1990s when he was in the process of restoring an old barn. I was impressed with him and his family, and their desire to stock only the game animals known to have historically inhabited his area.

BillQ

quote:

Originally posted by bwanamrm:
Not all hunting in the RSA is put and take on postage stamp sized farms as oft represented on the internet! One needs to actually travel there and experience a hunt with a reputable outfitter to realize what a gem the RSA is.

Amen!

quote:

Originally posted by bwanamrm:
Excellent article and well written. One of the points oft overlooked on the ongoing debate about South Africa and it's fenced hunting lands is the huge success in restoring wildlife and in particular, endangered wildlife to huntable populations. The Bontebok, White Rhino and Black Wildebeest are just some of the species that were pulled from the brink of annihilation.

South Africans recognized this in time and through their conservation efforts, sweat and hard-earned rand, brought many species of wildlife back and reclaimed land laid waste by farming and ranching practices of old! I tip my hat to them and will say that I will continue to travel and enjoy the excellent hospitality and hunting opportunities South Africans provide! Not all hunting in the RSA is put and take on postage stamp sized farms as oft represented on the internet! One needs to actually travel there and experience a hunt with a reputable outfitter to realize what a gem the RSA is.

Thanks bwanamrm for confirming what we are saying for so long