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RareGameExcursionInformationBrochure Breedingofraregameandrarecolouredgame The breeding of rare game such as sable and rare coloured game species such as golden wildebeest and black impala has becomebigbusiness.Theselectivebreedingofsuchgameishoweveroftenfrownedupon,asitisseeminglyonlydonetomake money,withlittleornoconservationvalue.However,asthisindustryisindeedverylucrative,incomegeneratedinthiswaycan be ploughed back into numerous conservation projects and is a very welcome addition to the maintenance budget of game farmsandnaturereserves,whostruggletomakealivingfromtourismalone.Whatisimportanttokeepinmindhowever,are the ethical matters regarding breeding of game in general. As rare coloured animals occur as a result of mutant genes that spontaneouslyappearandwhich arethenselectivelybred,careshouldbetakenthatthesemutantgenesdonot escapeinto wildpopulations,assuchhumanmanipulatedstockcouldhaveaverynegativeeffectonwildpopulations(rememberthatsuch mutantgeneswouldinmostcasesnotsurviveundernaturalcircumstances).Theseanimalsshouldthusberegardedassemidomesticated animals and not part of the wild population. The breeding of rare species such as roan and sable in captivityis altogetheranothersituationhowever,andthebreedingoftheserarespeciescouldactuallyassistintheoverallconservationof theseanimals. Aquicklessoningenetics Genescaneitherbedominantorrecessive,meaningthatadominantgene’sphenotypiccharacteristics(whattheanimallooks like)wouldsuppressthecharacteristicsofarecessivegene.Asanexample,inhumansbrowneyecolourisdominantoverblue eyecolour.Thismeansthatthechildrenofacouplewouldalwayshavebrowneyesifoneoftheparentshasbrowneyesandthe otherblueeyes.Thesechildrenwouldhowever,allbecarriersoftherecessiveblueeyecolourgene.Shouldthesechildrenin turnhavechildrenwithapersonwhoalsohasbrowneyes,butalsocarriestherecessiveblueeyecolourgene,a25%chance existsthatablue-eyedbabywouldbeborn(seediagramsbelow). B–Dominantgeneforbrowneyecolour b–Recessivegeneforblueeyecolour F1Generation: Phenotype:Browneyesxblueeyes Genotype:BBxbb b b B Genotype:Bb Genotype:Bb Phenotype:Browneyes, Phenotype:Browneyes, carrierofbluegene carrierofbluegene 100%chance 100%chance B Genotype:Bb Genotype:Bb Phenotype:Browneyes, Phenotype:Browneyes, carrierofbluegene carrierofbluegene 100%chance 100%chance F2Generation: Phenotype:Browneyes,carrierofrecessivebluegenexBrowneyes,carrierofrecessivebluegene Genotype:BbxBb B b B Genotype:BB Genotype:Bb Phenotype:Browneyes Phenotype:Browneyes, carrierofbluegene 25%chance 50%chance b Genotype:Bb Genotype:bb Phenotype:Browneyes, Phenotype:Blueeyes carrierofbluegene 25%chance 50%chance DiseasefreeBuffalo(Synceruscaffer): Thesocalled“cleanbuffalo”referstodiseasefreebuffalo.InSouthernAfricadiseasessuchasFoot-and-Mouthdisease(FMD) cause great economic losses and subsequently FMD are also managed internationally by the World Organization for Animal Health(OIE).VerystrictmonitoringprotocolsarefollowedinaFMDzone,whichensuresthatdiseasesarenottransferredfrom oneareatoanother.Typically,threezonesaresetnamely,theinfectedzone,thebufferzoneandthenfinallythemonitoring,or inspectionzone–thesearealsoreferredtoasthered,blueandyellowzones. BuffaloinSouthernAfrica'sworld-famousKrugerNationalParkarecarriersofFMD.Theanimalsdonotdiefromthediseasebut canspreaditwhentheycomeindirectcontactwithotherbuffalo,cattle,orotheranimals.CurrentlegislationinSouthAfrica specificallyrequiresanimalstobefreeofthefollowingdiseasesbeforethegrouporindividualanimalismovedfromitscurrent location: 1. 2. 3. 4. Foot-and-MouthDisease Tuberculosis Brucellosis CorridorDisease BovineTuberculosis(BTB),anairbornebacterialdisease,wasdiscoveredin1990intheKrugerNationalPark.Infectedbuffalo may carry the disease for long periods, becoming emaciated and eventually succumbing to predation. Tuberculosis has had a devastating effect on wild buffalo herds, crossing the species barrier and widely contaminating predators, scavengers and herbivores,suchaslion,leopard,cheetah,baboon,kudu,eland,bongo,oryx,sableantelopeandwaterbuck.TheSouthAfrican NationalParksBoard(SANParks)felttheonlypracticalsolutiontotheepidemic,wastobreeddisease-freebuffalooutsideofthe KrugerNationalPark.Disease-freebuffalo(animalsthatwereprovedtobesoaftercarefulscreentesting)werethussourced fromtheKrugerNationalParkandbredinselectedareas.Thisprojecthasresultedintheestablishmentofdisease-freeherdsin allnineprovincesofSouthAfrica,awayfromtheTB-ravagedareasoftheKrugerNationalPark.Thesebreedingprojectscame intoexistenceduetothelargedemandforcleanbuffalo. Sable(Hippotragusniger) ThismagnificentantelopebelongstotheHippotragusgenus,orhorse-likeantelope,namedsobecauseoftheheavymanedown thebackofthenecktothewitherslikethatofahorse.Thebullsareblackincolourwithwhiteunderparts,whilethecowsare chestnut-coloured.Averageherdsizeis14animalsbutasmanyas40animalshavebeenseentogether.Aherdusuallyconsists ofanumberofcowsandtheircalvesandonelargebull.Thebullisdominantintheherd(overthecows),butdominantcows tendtoleadtheherd.Youngbullsareevictedfromtheherdbythedominantbullatanageofabout2½to3years.Oldbulls tendtobecomesolitary.Sableantelopearenotterritorialastheydonotdefendterritories,butaherdbullwillwardoffintruder bullsoutoftheiractivityzoneareas.Theycanbeextremelydangerouswhenwoundedorwhentheyfeelthreatenedandthere havebeeninstanceswherebullshaveactuallykilledlions!Cowsaresexuallymatureataround3yearsofage.Asinglecalfis born,usuallybetweenFebruaryandMarch,afteragestationperiodofabout240days.Calvesareknownas“hiders”asthey hideawayindenseundergrowthduringthedayandareonlysuckledintheearlymorningforabout2weeksafterbirth. GoldenWildebeest(Connochaetestaurinus) (PhotobyQuaggasfonteinPrivateGameReserve) ThisisacolourvariationoftheBlueWildebeest. ThehistoryoftheGoldenWildebeest(asseenontheGoldenBreeders’website) GoldenWildebeestnaturallyoccurredalongtheLimpopoRiverbasin,adjacenttotheTuli-BlockofBotswana.Earlyfarmersin the1920s,calledthem“VosWildebeest”. ThefirstGoldenWildebeestbullwascapturedbyAlecRoughintheearly1990sonthegamefarmSwinburne,intheLimpopo Valley. This is the area from which the majority of Golden Wildebeest originate. They formed an integral part of the large migratoryherdsthatoncemovedfreelybetweenSouthAfricaandBotswana. Very few people are aware of the phenomenal amount of work that was done to get Golden Wildebeest to where they are today.GoldenWildebeestwerefirstreferredtoas“RedorYellowWildebeest”bypioneerbreeders.Thedecisiontochangethe nameofthesecolourvariantswasasadirectresultoffalseaccusationsofcross-breedingbetweenblackandbluewildebeest. Wildebeest hybrids (Black and Blue Wildebeest Crossbreeds) were also referred to as red wildebeest by nature conservation officials. Due to extensive DNA sampling and research done by Dr. Antoinette Kotze, we could clearly show that no black wildebeestgenesoccurredamongstanyofourwildebeestherds. BydisprovingthisaccusationBarryYork(foundingmemberofGoldenBreeders)decidedtodistancehimselffromanyfurther confusionandfoundedthename“GoldenWildebeest”.Thisnamewassoonadoptedbyallinthewildlifeindustry. BlackImpala(Aepycerosmelampus) ThisisacolourvariationoftheImpala. (PhotobyHAMISHNIVENPHOTOGRAPHY) The late veterinarian, Dr. Dirk Neethling, is widely acknowledged as having pioneered the breeding of black impala. He came acrosstheskinofoneasayoungboyandbecamefascinatedwiththisveryrarecolourvariation.Hedecidedtomakeithislife’s mission to capture a black impala and to start his own breeding project. When an opportunity arose to capture a ram in the Gravelottearea,Neethlingwasdevastatedtoheartheanimalhadbeenshotbyahunterpriortohisarrival.Histrialscontinued throughthelate1980suntilhestrucksuccessin1991.HeandhissonArnoldsoldthefirstblackimpalasonauctionin2002for anaverageofR120,000each!InMay2011arecordpriceof$2,384waspaidfora27½inch(hornlength)blackimpala!Onthe weekend of 6 September 2014, South African deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa hit the headlines for selling three white-flanked impala (anotherrarecolourvariety)attheStudGameBreedersauctionheldatMbiziLodgeinLimpopoprovince,forR28million.Ofthe three,thehighestvalueimpalawasR9.7million! KingRedHartebeest(Alcelaphusbuselaphuscaama) Thisisararecolourvariationoftheredhartebeest. TheRedHartebeestisalarge,reddish-fawnantelopewithslopingbackandlongnarrowface.Bothsexeshaveheavilyringed horns. Of the 12 subspecies described in Africa, the Red Hartebeest is the only one which occurs in South Africa. Due to its re-introduction and introduction onto game farms and nature reserves outside its natural distribution, it has a much wider distributiontodaythaninthepast.Preferredhabitatisthedry,aridregionsofNamibia,theKalahari,southernBotswana,and north-westernSouthAfrica.Thename“Hartebeest”wasoriginallythoughttorefertotheheartshapedcurveofthehornsbut theacceptedtheorynowisthatitcomesfromtheDutchword“hert”,whichmeansdeerinDutchand“beest”meaningbeast, orcow/cattle.ThetermhartebeestwasusedbytheearlyBoerswhothoughttheanimalslookedlikeadeer.Hartebeestisthe Afrikaansforhertebeest.
