R.S. Surujbally
R.S. SURUJBALLY is Research Veterinarian, National Council for Scientific Research, Chilanga, Zambia. This article is adapted from a paper he gave at the Fourth Regional Wildlife Conference for Eastern and Central Africa held in Zambia in July 1976.
To rely only on hunting means the extinction of choice species
Ours is a hungry planet. The "green revolution," if not finished, is stagnating to the point of non-functionability. Famine and malnutrition are the two faces of the global food disaster, and neither can be solved without tackling the other aspects of the planetary crises: population, development, trade armaments and resources. It is with one facet of this utilization of natural resources, game ranching, that this article is concerned.
Domestic livestock production on which very high hopes have hitherto been set continuously fails to meet existing demands, to say nothing of its inability to cope with the ever-increasing pressures of human population growth. We are forced therefore to search for other sources of food to cover our nutritional and dietary requirements - any food - any sources - whether they be rodents, bats, anteaters, primates, birds, reptiles, even the larvae of the palm beetle or the African giant snail or wild ungulates. Finding and utilizing these protein purveyors alone are not enough for without rational exploitation we may consume them to their extinction. Systematic and scientific cultivation of a chosen species is therefore a necessity, in some cases a prerequisite, to the perpetuation of that species and ultimately to the perpetuation of our own. This systematic and scientific cultivation and the bringing of an animal into subjection and dependence on man for the definitive betterment of man are the intention of game farming.
Game animals have always been recognized as a source of food in Zambia; they have played an important role in the diets of the inhabitants of many villages. The meat of the black lechwe of Lake Bangweulu, for example, was utilized when a supply route ran through the area during the First World War and again as food for the construction gangs building the Copperbelt/Rhodesia Railway. But along with continuous and indiscriminate slaughter comes the decrease of chances of a successful hunt. Numbers of the black lechwe, for example, have shrunk from more than an estimated half million, as recently as fifty years ago, to an estimate of less than 30 000 today.
In addition to this the laws of the land tend to inhibit game hunting for meat. In any case, increasingly fewer people cover their nutritional requirements with game meat. This is especially so in Zambia: a large percentage of the population lives in urban areas.
These facts emphasize the importance of developing systems whereby compatible animals could be farmed profitably. The idea is not new. Proposals to try and domesticate indigenous wild ruminants were made as early as 1848 when Methuen discussed the prospects for both the buffalo and the eland. However, despite these early sentiments the only wild species present in southern Africa which has been domesticated in the strict sense of the world has been the ostrich and the only domesticated African mammal is the camel. This brings home the great length of time the process spans. For the purposes of game farming, total domestication of a species is not warranted, nor is it wholly desirable, since there exists the possibility of increased capitulation to environmental pressures that could accompany domestication. It is exactly the non-susceptibility upon which we wish to capitalize.
The following arguments tend to point out the advantages of using these species for game ranching.
Firstly, wild ungulates have optimally adapted themselves to their natural environment and therefore a more effective exploitation of existing vegetation, as well as the superior ability to cope with surrounding temperature, is possible. Some authors contend that the eland, for example, are better equipped to utilize arid and semi-arid ranges. There is also evidence that some ungulates graze or browse on plants and shrubs either not eaten (or not preferred) by domestic stock or eaten at different stages in the plants' growth cycle. Moreover, numerous physiological mechanisms exhibited by wild ungulates guarantee their survival in those marginal regions where intensive production of or even habitation by domestic livestock is impossible. For example, the reduction of faecal and renal water loss of some species coupled with an increased ingestion of liquid obtained from plants and shrubs is practically sufficient to make them independent of surface drinking water for longer periods of time, thus enabling them to traverse large tracts of land in search of food. Moreover, certain wild species exhibit behavioural peculiarities that enhance their survivability in hot arid regions.
Secondly, the efficiency of food utilization compares favourably with domestic livestock especially when related to the types of food ingested. It has been found that the protein intake of cattle at the end of the dry season was inadequate for maintenance whereas the eland grazing on the same veld still appeared to be thriving. Carcasses of wild ungulates contain a much higher percentage of lean meat than domestic ungulates while at the same time achieving the same dressing percentages as fat domestic stock. The dressing percentage on the whole has generally been confirmed as being higher (50-63 percent) than in Angoni or Barotse cattle (40-58 percent). The growth rate of certain species of antelope also compares promisingly with indigenous domestic livestock. Studies in the U.S.S.R. and Rhodesia on eland show that at three years of age the female reaches an average weight of 350 kg and the male just under 500 kg. This compares with 300 kg and 400 kg for a female and male Angoni animal of the same age respectively.
Even though milk production of antelope is of peripheral importance it may be noted that trials in the U.S.S.R. on the eland resulted in an average milk yield of 450.2 kg of milk per annum between the second and seventh lactations. Milk fat percentages from studies on the African eland ranged from 9.1 to 11.0 percent.
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Game farming should be complementary to - not competitive with - domestic livestock production |
The third main concept for proposing the advantages in game farming lies in the decreased susceptibility and the superb adaptation of wild ungulates to disease. The buffalo, for example, is known to be extremely resistant to many of the cattle diseases, including trypanosomiasis, and antelopes can use tsetse bush without apparent ill effects. However, we must not lull ourselves into an attitude of complacency toward disease risks. On the other hand, it would be equally incorrect not to recognize the supreme advantages of antelope in the special local circumstances of Zambian range land. Even though there is enough literature to point out that wild ruminants have succumbed to foot-and-mouth disease, anthrax, rinderpest, and a host of other maladies, or were shown to have agglutination titres for antibodies to various pathogens, it is a fact that wild ungulates suffer far less from many of the specifically local diseases which make life hazardous for cattle under those conditions. The point, I feel, is not whether antelopes in general are disease-free but simply that cattle in certain areas suffer excessively. The diseases include not only such familiar ones as trypanosomiasis but also the equally important diseases of production induced by heat stress and water deprivation that manifest themselves in the form of reduced fertility and slower growth rate.
Fourthly, within the context of mankind's aesthetic values we owe it to posterity to preserve any threatened genera. Zoological gardens with their artificial surroundings, despite their initial successes in some isolated cases, are pathetically inadequate to guarantee reproductivity and ultimate survival. In truth, the appalling conditions found in many zoos may even hasten the demise of our fellow travellers on this our Spaceship Earth. Viewed in this light the conviction that profitability of such an enterprise must be our prime motive becomes dubious.
In all these considerations two factors must be constantly borne in mind: the need for research on prospective game animals; and the need for information relative to successful game farming. However, we are treading here on dangerously thin ice. The process of research in the field of wildlife is agonizingly slow and governments of developing nations are often unwilling to wait for long periods in order to have answers to pressing problems, especially when it necessitates perpetual, substantial monetary inputs. Moreover, experience shows us that when financial crises face developing nations the first cut-back is directed toward the allocation of funds for research work. Yet, for a novel plan such as game farming in Zambia, much information is needed, data that will decide not only the feasibility of such a scheme but also the long-term profitability. It is true that we may utilize results already compiled in this field by friendly and even antagonistic nations close to our borders. But all results will not be applicable to Zambia whose topography, climatology and sociology differ from those of our neighbours. We would first have to pinpoint these differences before developing a strategy of game farming research. Many questions will have to be answered, among them:
· Will the characteristic social organization of the proposed species be negatively influenced to the point of being harmful to the well-being of that species ?· What species can live best where?
· At what age should we slaughter?
· Are fattening and supplementary feeding economically viable?
· Can semen be collected, expanded and stored with the objective of inseminating females at a later date?
· Should we castrate male animals for the purpose of docility and possible improved weight gains?
· Can game animals be introduced on to cattle ranches with a view to increasing stocking rates?
· Can we influence times of calving and weaning?
· Disease control in domestic animals has been achieved and maintained in Zambia by quarantine, rotational grazing, dipping, oral dosing and immunization. Can the problems of handling and management of wild animals in relation to disease control be overcome by the same methods ?
ELAND AND DOMESTIC CATTLE RAISED TOGETHER IN ZAMBIA - why not ?
These are but a few of the many questions that will confront the research staff - and answers must be found. Research into problems must be increased and expanded so that we know the answers before the source of potential meat producers is extinguished forever by increasing human populations.
The need for having veterinarians and animal husbandmen on the research team must be emphasized. Without wishing to detract from the enormous contribution, real and potential, of field zoologists, it is a fact that, unlike the graduate in animal production, they do not possess the required background in agriculture practice which, in essence, is what much of game farming is all about.
Game farming is a reality; it is a reality now. It is a means of producing more of a much needed commodity - meat.
It must be regarded as complementary (not competitive) to domestic livestock production. It must, therefore, receive progressive attention and must attract more detailed consideration in the formulation of future land-use plans.
