HISTORICAL CONTRIBUTIONS – Dr Johan Kriek

Dr Johan Kriek farms rare game species: sable, roan antelope and disease-free buffalo on Mattanu Private Game Reserve near Barkly West in the Northern Cape.

His major contributions to the game industry are:

◗ pioneering capture of rare game species such as tsessebe, sable, roan antelope and hartebeest in Africa during the late 1980s and early 1990s;

◗ pioneering breeding of rare game species in Southern Africa, and

◗ helping to develop a protocol for the breeding of disease-free buffalo. Mattanu was the first private

BREEDERS – Piet du Toi

The name Piet du Toit has become synonymous with extraordinary game-animal genetics and high-priced buffalo. And although he is an ‘all-rounder’ when it comes to breeding top-quality animals that fetch above average prices at his auctions, it is the multi-million rand buffalo that he breeds, sells or buys that would ensure his name in the history books of South Africa’s wildlife industry.

Background

The son of a teacher, Piet du Toit was born on 22 September 1970 in Rehoboth, Namibia and he first attended school in Windhoek. While he was in primary school, the family moved to Pretoria and he matriculated at Ho.rskool Voortrekkerhoogte…

BREEDERS – Dries Visser

Dries Visser is based on the farm Citadel near Thabazimbi in Limpopo about 10 km from the Botswana border. He has been a hunter most of his life and runs safaris as Dries Visser Safaris. He started breeding rare game species, especially sable, labelled Pure-Bred Game, to provide excellent trophies for his international hunting clients. His main contributions to the game industry include the following firsts:

◗ being one of the first South Africans to hunt in concession areas in Africa;

◗ erecting game fences and starting to farm with game;

◗ introducing of new sable to a herd;

◗ providing statistics for sable on which the outcomes of breeding can be based …