Private Gamefarming

Winter time in Africa is baby-time in the wilderness. A week away in the thickets of the Acacia trees in the golden July fields, will inevitably lead you into nature's nursery.

A tiny baby praying Mantis as thin and small as a needle pin, awaited the guests at the porch of the old homestead. Sleeping eleven people, the home was renovated to accommodate some nature freaks - the human species.

A freezing breeze was taking short-cut through the spines of the passengers on the back of the van. From the long slender necks, the giraffs just glanced straight to the frozen group of spectators.

The baby giraffe had the curiosity of a cat, and was very tempted to approach the moving vehicle. The mother was nervously nudging him to move along, and they galloped away like willow branches in the wind.

Outside the house was a boma. This is a shelter made from twigs, protective against the creeping cold whisper-wind, stalking from the dark shadows. A tidy round brick circle provide a space for a Bonn-fire. Long hearty conversations, followed by sudden pensive, silent moments are shared in the circle of flames.

The lonely cry of the jackall echo over the still midnight air, and another patch of foxes will respond from a distant farm.

The only other sound will mostly be the rasping of the burning air, as it swirls towards the starlit sky above. These are moments when eternity and current date take hands and walz in the dust of the earth.

In the past couple of years we have experienced more awareness of the dwindling numbers of wildlife on earth. There are so many factors playing against nature,leaving it defenseless against the onslaught.

We became aware of the consequences, as knowledge increased. For some species this insights came too late, and they are forever extinct.

Government funded conservancies are no longer adequate enough to help repair damage done. Private farmers are obtaining game, and we see more and more of these sanctuaries with game running free on these farms.

In the southern part of Namibia, most of the wild cat families are extinct. There are, fortunately still some of these cats, eg. the Namib lion, existing in the Northern section of the country.

There are currently a group of concerned farmers busy preparing a sanctuary in the south, to re-locate these magnificence back to where it once belonged.

The consequences of human behaviour to nature is at times just heartbreaking. Visiting this game farm we encountered a rhino mom and her baby.

She had ever been so protective and it was extremely difficult to get proper photographs of them during our short stay on the farm.

Our field guide has told us the latest way the poachers will hunt this animals, is from helicopters. They will dart the rhino with a inject-able narcotic five times the strength needed for normal purposes. This dosage has a rapid effect, the rhino falls asleep, the pilot lowers his craft, whilst the poacher will remove the rhino horn with a chain saw. The animal is then left to bleed to death.

Major expense for the farmer to buy the animal, posed now with an increased risk of loosing it. This makes a rhino a bad investment, especially whilst there are no other funding available, except for the farmers own pocket.

On the Friday when we came home, we received the news. A mother was killed, and a hungry baby was trying to feed itself from the dead body, when she was found. I was heartbroken, even though we were told it was not the one we had seen.

A lone water buck was grazing a distance from the eland. Startled by the sudden appearance of the vehicle he darted into the bush, leaving barely a moment to catch him on film.

A group of buffalo clearly showed their dismay. Next day, as they were encountered again, the master of the herd charged the vehicle with a brave heart only possessed by these strong bulks of meat.

I do not believe a bigger flock of red-billed horn bill has ever been encountered anywhere. Around every corner and in every tree they were sitting. A fortunate moment gave a glimpse of a Crested Barbet, searching for left over food crumbs from the evening meal.

This movie will draw the viewer right into the heart of Africa. It tells the story of a white lion's life in the wild.

Kevin Richardson is a animal behaviourist and zoologist, working with this big cats, hyenas, puma and jaguars, like you will have a relationship with a pet dog. These animals are not conventionally trained, and the film was made possible only based on the relationships between Kevin and the beasts.

Excellent photography, like never seen before, are demonstrated in the movie. The narrator, a Shangaan, is telling the lion story to a group of children on a bush camp around a fire.

We are also made aware, in the end, that the lion population has dwindled from 300 000 to 23000 in less than fifteen years. Shocking figures like these, makes us realise we have to become responsible for our environment.

Currently in July 2010, this movie could be found in the shops in South Africa. For convenience of those who cannot obtain it, a link has been added to be able to order it on-line.

If the reader wants to fall in love with Africa forever, this film is an absolute must.

With a film taken from a not-so-good camera and a not-so-brilliant photographer, (me), a compilation has been put together. It has been posted to YouTube, although it is not well edited. A few minutes will show the experience in the field. The temptation to add the fire at night was too big. It was a life-saver in the thin cold air in the evening. Enjoy!

Photos of cats in Namibia: Courtesy Fotosearch.com

Other photos: Equealla and kidz.