Game ranch management, sixth edition

J du P Bothma & JG du Toit

The growth of the wildlife industry in South Africa can be measured by the growth in the number of wildlife ranches. In 1965, there were only four wildlife-fenced properties in the former north-western Transvaal. By 2005, 40 years later, there were more than 10 000 properties with the wildlife exemption permits in the nine provinces combined. As the wildlife industry continues to expand, so too does the need for scientific knowledge upon which it must be based.

Game Ranch Management, 6^th edition, is a brand-new edition of the ‘bible’ for the management of wildlife ranches – a comprehensive guide to planning, establishing and equipping a game ranch in Southern Africa. Game Range Management is a unique reference for existing and aspirant wildlife ranch owners and managers and has sold over 35 000 copies since it was first published in 1989. Everything you need to know is covered -from fencing to the role of wildlife ranching in rural development.

The sixth edition of Game ranch management is written by 39 experts in various fields and edited by two experienced wildlife ecologists, managers and veterinarians. lt is as complete a guide as possible for wildlife ranchers in South Africa. All the chapters have been revised and updated, with extensive new information on information systems and data management; economics of the wildlife industry in South Africa; bacterial, viral and protozoal diseases of wildlife; buying and selling wild animals; hunting; keeping and managing large terrestrial carnivores; trophy hunting; meat production; veld management and habitat rehabilitation.

The editors have received numerous prizes, including one from the South African Academy of Science and Art.

GAME & HUNT FEBRUARY 2016

BOOK REVIEW: GAME RANCH MANAGEMENT 6^TH EDITION

Gerhard R. Damm

This sixth edition of Game Ranch Management is a hot-off-the-press handbook for the management of wildlife ranches in Southern Africa. The 1,012 pages have been edited by J du P Bothma, professor emeritus and former director of the Centre for Wildlife Management of the University of Pretoria and by wildlife veterinarian Dr JG du Toit. The updated individual chapters plus completely new chapters were written by 39 experts in various fields and contain extensive new information. Although this textbook has been conceptualized for the southern African wildlife rancher and undergraduate and postgraduate students of wildlife management, it contains valuable information at an affordable price for the visiting hunter who cares – as she or he should – to learn more about southern African wildlife, its management and sustainable use. Of particular relevance to the hunter are the following chapters (and the extensive bibliography appended to each chapter):

1. Antelope and other smaller herbivores which deal with the habitat requirements, general characteristics and Iife histories of 36 species;
2. A review of lion on game ranches – of importance in the current debate on canned lion shooting;
3. J du P Bothma and H J Sartorius von Bach review the hunting industry; together with other authors they delve deeper into the hunting subject in various sub-chapters which include international guidelines of IUCN and ClC, trophy hunting, resident hunting, hunting methods, including ‘canned shooting (erroneously referred to by the authors as ‘canned hunting’), trophy measurement and handling, etc.;
4. The habitat chapter deals with the varied southern African biomes and – important in relation with the current drought in the region – discusses climate change;
5. ln the chapter on the ‘Role of African Rural People and their Environment’, the editors and authors analyze the Afro-Centric Approach versus the European and North American Principles of Conservation

AFRICAN INDABA E-NEWSLETTER, VOLUME 14, NUMBER 1, 2016

BOOK REVIEW: Game Ranch Management – 6th Edition by J. du P. Bothma & J.G. du Toit (Eds), Van Schaik Publishers, Pretoria. 2016. Price ZAR899 (hardcover), 1 01 2 pp. ISBN 978-0-627 -03346-9.

The sixth edition of the Game Ranching ‘Bible’ is here. Once again edited by Professor Emeritus J. du P. Bothma (Koos to many of us) and Dr J.G. du Toit, the now 1012 page tome is starting to rival its religious cousin. Nevertheless, this textbook continues to be required reading for wildlife ranchers, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and even the interested layperson.

From humble beginnings as a handbook for wildIife ranchers (written in Afrikaans) in 1986, this South African institution has continued to grow, both in terms of content and readership, over time. Dr du Toit’s preface to the new edition highlights this point by indicating that over 36 000 individual book sales have been made since the first impression, with an almost equal split between the Afrikaans and English versions. The veritable boom in the wildlife industry in South Africa over the last four decades is undoubtedly responsible for the increased interest, but one must not forget the importance of the work for university students’ studies.

In its latest incarnation, 36 experts (excluding the editors) from various fields have been involved in the revision of the individual chapters and each of these chapters come with a detailed bibliography for the literature nerds amongst us. The editors haven’t tinkered very much with the overall layout of the book – why would you if you have hit upon a winning formula? Game Ranch Management continues to be divided into its seven broad parts, starting with general guiding principles for wildlife managers and ending with the role of rural development in wildlife ranching. Crammed onto the intervening pages is all the information any would be (or long-standing) wildlife manager/student needs, including hot topics like rhino poaching and the current debate over canned lion hunting.

Although it might be coming close to competing with a certain King James version in terms of weight, you won’t find any parables in the 6th edition of Game Ranch Management. The book should be on every wildlife manager’s shelf, and at R899, you don’t even need to sell a ‘smartie bokkie’ to afford it.

Dan Parker
School of Biology and Environmental Sciences
University of Mpumalanga
Nelspruit

June 2016 

African Journal of Wildlife Research 46(2): 144 (October 2016)