Is game farming not agriculture?
- Written by Jasper Raats
At an Environmental Affairs office in Limpopo, a frustrated farmer is trying in vain to obtain a permit to hunt a rogue leopard on his mixed cattle and game farm. “What do you mean you cannot allow me to hunt my leopard on my land?” he argues with the poor conservation official who patiently explains that the leopard in question may live on the farmer’s land, but technically belongs to the state.
The irate farmer stomps out of the office, only to return a few minutes later with an invoice for six impala lambs, a duiker and two cattle calves. “If your leopard is going to live on my land, you are going to pay its food bill,” the farmer fumes, as he slides the invoice across the desk to the conservation official.
Over the past year, game auctions have appeared on the radar of the general media as a result of the record high prices achieved for specific animals. The jewel in the crown of this collection is of course the buffalo bull, Senatla, which fetched an incredible R18 million at auction in September of this year – the highest price ever paid for a single animal in South-Africa. This begs the question: are these prices outliers or the beginning of a new era in wildlife ranching?
’n belangrike rol in voedselsekerheid in nie alleen Suid-Afrika nie, maar ook in die res van Afrika.
Rhino horn has been traded between Africa and Asia for nearly 2 000 years. It was not until the mid 1970s that conservationists, concerned about the decline in rhino populations, attempted to restrict this trade by listing all rhino species on Appendix 1 of CITES, the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. ‘Ban and enforce’ Since then, this ‘ban and enforce’ approach has been progressively stepped up, the only concessions being in 1994 (an Appendix 2 down-listing for South Africa’s white rhino population to allow for trophy hunting and live sales) and 2004 (a similar down-listing for Swaziland and limited black rhino trophy hunting quotas for South Africa and Namibia).
The recent onslaught of South Africa’s rhinos has stirred up much concern and controversy.