Once when we were at the zoo in front of the giraffe area, I was telling my sons that we could actually EAT giraffe; it is a kosher animal. Suddenly I saw some people overhearing us turn away in disgust! LOL, as though we would climb into the zoo and do away with a giraffe!!
Giraffe steak Wildlife conservation
A few years ago conservationists would have been horrified at the idea of finding a giraffe steak served at a restaurant. But today some seriously consider that eating wildlife is the best way to save it. Wildlife ranching is increasing in Africa because it is proving a better way of maintaining animal stocks than keeping them in game parks.
Dr David Hopcraft is spearheading Kenya’s wildlife ranching movement on the Arthi River ranch, 40 kilometres outside Nairobi. His exotic menagerie includes giraffe, Thomson’s gazelle, ostrich and zebra. His stock has increased by 40 per cent since 1981 - from 1,400 to 2,000 - despite culling 15 animals a week to sell to local tourist restaurants like ‘The Carnivore’.
There was no market for African venison before Hoperaft’s project began. But today eight of Nairobi’s best hotels and restaurants are buying the meat - and the list is expanding. This year the ranch plans to market its products throughout the European Community. Hoperaft is also helping to set up a similar venture in Mexico with indigenous animals like elk, mule and deer.
Exploiting animals for profit is the most feasible route to wildlife conservation, argues ranch manager, Phil Tilby. ‘There are too many farmers who complain that their crops are being destroyed by game and that they’re losing their land to national parks. If you convince those farmers that their game can become a source of income, they’ll start looking after it.’ At present national parks look like a luxury to farmers hungry for fertile land and food.
Wildlife ranching is also more efficient than cattle ranching, argues Hopcraft. One acre of land can yield 14.6 pounds of gazelle compared to only one pound of beef. And game can withstand drought better than cattle and other livestock. Game meat is also leaner than most traditional meats - and therefore a better source of protein.
Those who advocate the ranching method of conservation see Zimbabwe as a model. Populations of wild animals have increased by several hundred per cent since Zimbabwe allowed private ownership 15 years ago. While Kenya struggles with a poaching problem that has reduced its rhino population from 20,000 to 500 in the last 20 years, Zimbabwe’s commercial firms can afford to hire anti-poaching units to protect their game. Poachers in Zimbabwe have difficulty in marketing illegal skins because ranchers can legally sell products of much higher quality.
With a lower fat content than beef or pork and a price that equates with chicken, ranchers boast that wildlife will soon be a hit in every modern household.
Diana Brady / Gemini