Game ranching and nature reserves have hurt the smallstock industry, at least in the biodiverse Eastern Cape. Moneyed developers – both local and international – have helped push the price of land out of reach of ordinary sheep and goat farmers who would have liked to expand.The ranches and parks also contribute to the explosion in populations of predators such as black-backed jackal and caracal, which makes it very difficult to farm profitably with smallstock.
Of course, these old arguments aren’t strong enough to stop economically driven free enterprise. Private game reserves and tourism are viable alternative types of land use and probably can, under current conditions, create more jobs in the rural areas than traditional farming.
Besides, most landowners and rural towns welcome the prospect of rising property values and progress. But it’s not so simple for those who choose to stay behind to do what they enjoy most – producing the country’s meat, wool and mohair in peaceful surroundings.In fact, the conflict between predators and humans is taking on a new meaning in commercial livestock districts, where developers are buying up farmland not only to establish private game reserves, but also to keep dangerous animals, including cheetahs, wild dogs and members of the Big Five.
Suddenly, dedicated livestock farmers have to worry not only about jackal breeding unhindered on these properties, but also about the possibility of spotted hyenas, leopards or lions impeding the freedom of movement of themselves, their workers and their families. In some cases, even the safety of pedestrians and cyclists using public roads through the reserves is at stake.
Equally unnerving is that, after more than 100 years of knowing their neighbours almost better than family, farmers in these areas have to learn how to deal with a new breed of landowner – a newcomer who doesn’t understand or seem to care much for a district’s traditional way of doing things, often an absentee landowner who has come to make money and is quite happy to sell again and move on, regardless of the chaos left behind.
At least one district in the Karoo is now overrun by warthogs – which destroy fences and crops – after these were introduced, and reportedly approved by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), onto a game ranch only a few years ago.Stock farmers argue that not even the best game fences, managed by the best staff available, are guaranteed to contain wild animals.
They simply can’t afford the additional worry of escaped animals on their land, particularly not dangerous ones. They aren’t interested in assurances by developers that such animals are boma-trained before release and that there’s back-up power should the electricity supply fail; that fences are checked daily; that dangerous animals are microchipped and easy to track and recapture; that insurance will cover losses; or that keeping the full complement of predators helps maintain the food pyramid and thus control predation of smallstock.nstead, livestock farmers who wish to continue to farm, and who want their children to take over their enterprises, want assurances from the DEAT that business plans for new ranches and reserves are thoroughly studied, and once in operation are regularly monitored by trained personnel.
They want fencing to strictly adhere to specifications for the animals kept, the terrain, and soil type; and they want checks for lapses in safety precautions.Because managing game without damaging the veld isn’t easy (unlike livestock, they usually can’t be moved around in a rotational grazing system), farmers also insist stocking rates and animal populations be ecologically acceptable for a district.
Too often rookies buy ranches too small for their purpose, overestimating the number of game the land can carry while underestimating the number of prey needed to sustain predators. These mistakes invite disaster as it’s not economically feasible to convert a game ranch back into a stock farm once the internal fencing has been removed and water points have been changed.Unfortunately there is suspicion that DEAT has neither the manpower nor the will to check certificates of adequate enclosure or properly process business plans submitted by developers.
These are supposed to include a list of neighbours as well as letters of no objection from all affected parties.Perhaps the solution lies in plain old-fashioned responsible relations with your neighbours. |fw
