No buffalo for Erindi
In a move applauded by agriculturalists, minister John Mutorwa has denied Erindi Private Game Reserve permission to keep buffalo due to disease fears and trade agreement limitations.
The agriculture ministry has denied the request of Erindi Private Game Reserve to introduce buffalo and become the first-ever big five reserve in Namibia.
Currently, there is an overpopulation of buffalo at the Waterberg National Park and grazing is under pressure due to low rainfall and a persistent drought.
For this reason the government has put to tender the sale of buffalo to reduce the population and grazing pressure.
There are currently about 1 000 buffalo at Waterberg while there is only capacity for 400 and therefore the environment ministry advertised to sell the remaining animals.
Another reason for the sale of the buffalo is because the animals regularly escape out of the park and cause trouble in the area of Otjiwarongo and nearby farms.
According to the Namibian Agricultural Union, the agriculture minister John Mutorwa said Erindi's request was denied because the entire commercial area in Namibia was proclaimed as a protected area in 2013 and aims to prevent that foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is brought into and spread in this area.
The Waterberg Plateau Park, however, is excluded from this proclamation.
Buffalo are the carriers of, inter alia, FMD, although the animals of Waterberg are classified as so-called disease-free buffalos.
A further argument of Mutorwa to not allow the buffalo at Erindi is that all trade agreements for the export of meat are based on the fact that there are no buffalo currently in the commercial farming areas south of the red line.
The environment ministry recently advertised the sale of live buffalos from Waterberg and invited interested parties to submit tenders by the close of yesterday.
The advertisement said the ministry has a population of disease-free, high-value buffaloes with good genetics on Waterberg Plateau Park.
The ministry said the financial offer should indicate the price per individual buffalo, all capture, boma care, feeding, transport and disease-testing related costs.
Buyers were told that they would qualify in terms of the Animal Health Regulations and tenderers must also have official proof that their respective veterinary authorities will permit them to translocate buffalo to their farms.
Meanwhile, Erindi asked the public to comment on its Facebook page on whether it should introduce buffalo onto the reserve.
People responded overwhelmingly with more than 1 400 comments since 15 August when the question was first posted.
While the majority of people said buffalo should be introduced at the reserve there are those that did not agree.
For instance Ronald Kubas, a board member of Meatco posted: “It will put a N$2 billion beef export industry at risk (foot-and-mouth risk). Financial interest of a few private shareholders versus that of hundreds of farmers.”
However, according to Erindi, it will take every precaution to make sure that the buffalo are monitored regularly, remain disease-free and do not leave the reserve boundaries.
“Once at Erindi, there won't be any contact with other buffalo that may be carrying diseases.”
It said that the game reserve has some of the best perimeter fencing in Namibia. Fences are electrified and monitored daily, it said.
“Our aim is to improve the biodiversity of the reserve by reintroducing a species that once inhabited the area. In terms of Namibia's eco-tourism, we want to compete with other countries offering big five safaris. We also want to retain our natural heritage and national assets, otherwise, we lose them to other countries.”
ELLANIE SMIT
Currently, there is an overpopulation of buffalo at the Waterberg National Park and grazing is under pressure due to low rainfall and a persistent drought.
For this reason the government has put to tender the sale of buffalo to reduce the population and grazing pressure.
There are currently about 1 000 buffalo at Waterberg while there is only capacity for 400 and therefore the environment ministry advertised to sell the remaining animals.
Another reason for the sale of the buffalo is because the animals regularly escape out of the park and cause trouble in the area of Otjiwarongo and nearby farms.
According to the Namibian Agricultural Union, the agriculture minister John Mutorwa said Erindi's request was denied because the entire commercial area in Namibia was proclaimed as a protected area in 2013 and aims to prevent that foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is brought into and spread in this area.
The Waterberg Plateau Park, however, is excluded from this proclamation.
Buffalo are the carriers of, inter alia, FMD, although the animals of Waterberg are classified as so-called disease-free buffalos.
A further argument of Mutorwa to not allow the buffalo at Erindi is that all trade agreements for the export of meat are based on the fact that there are no buffalo currently in the commercial farming areas south of the red line.
The environment ministry recently advertised the sale of live buffalos from Waterberg and invited interested parties to submit tenders by the close of yesterday.
The advertisement said the ministry has a population of disease-free, high-value buffaloes with good genetics on Waterberg Plateau Park.
The ministry said the financial offer should indicate the price per individual buffalo, all capture, boma care, feeding, transport and disease-testing related costs.
Buyers were told that they would qualify in terms of the Animal Health Regulations and tenderers must also have official proof that their respective veterinary authorities will permit them to translocate buffalo to their farms.
Meanwhile, Erindi asked the public to comment on its Facebook page on whether it should introduce buffalo onto the reserve.
People responded overwhelmingly with more than 1 400 comments since 15 August when the question was first posted.
While the majority of people said buffalo should be introduced at the reserve there are those that did not agree.
For instance Ronald Kubas, a board member of Meatco posted: “It will put a N$2 billion beef export industry at risk (foot-and-mouth risk). Financial interest of a few private shareholders versus that of hundreds of farmers.”
However, according to Erindi, it will take every precaution to make sure that the buffalo are monitored regularly, remain disease-free and do not leave the reserve boundaries.
“Once at Erindi, there won't be any contact with other buffalo that may be carrying diseases.”
It said that the game reserve has some of the best perimeter fencing in Namibia. Fences are electrified and monitored daily, it said.
“Our aim is to improve the biodiversity of the reserve by reintroducing a species that once inhabited the area. In terms of Namibia's eco-tourism, we want to compete with other countries offering big five safaris. We also want to retain our natural heritage and national assets, otherwise, we lose them to other countries.”
ELLANIE SMIT
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article