Game: Seeing The Bigger picture

Game rancher Dr Peter Oberem, founder of Afrivet, director of Wildlife Ranching SA and newly appointed director of the National Animal Health Forum, discussed the exporting of game meat and various health aspects of game ranching with Roelof Bezuidenhout.

- Roelof Bezuidenhout

WILL SOUTH AFRICA EVER BECOME A BIG EXPORTER OF GAME MEAT, GIVEN THE DISEASE PROBLEMS AND THE ECONOMICS OF MAINTAINING SUPPLY OF PREFERRED CUTS?

We must. There are said to be 21 million head of game in South Africa, with an estimated two-thirds of these on private ranches. By comparison, there are only seven million cattle and 15 million sheep and goats in our commercial herds, and yet we import about R6 billion worth of meat annually. Now that there has been a downward adjustment and what seems to be a levelling off in the price of game animals for the breeding sector at auction, many ranchers are returning to trophy and even biltong hunting, as well as ecotourism, to bolster their income. Logically, game meat for both export and domestic consumption are further major outlets for our product.

I have invested, with two other game ranchers, in a meat-processing facility and deli in Pretoria, where the main focus is the beneficiation of game meat in the form of high-end products such as carpaccio, chorizo, salami, pies, biltong and hamburger patties. There is huge potential in this type of business.

WHAT ARE THE OBSTACLES?

In general, game animals are less susceptible to local livestock diseases than domestic stock are. Imported diseases such as tuberculosis and contagious abortion are major concerns and are therefore strictly controlled, particularly in buffalo. But, surprisingly, these diseases have been left to go unchecked in our domestic livestock herds. Unfortunately, the veterinary services of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries have let us down: contagious abortion and tuberculosis controls, testing and vaccination have slipped dramatically, and the true picture is unmonitored and unknown.