Message-ID: <199507261929.VAA19435@utrecht.knoware.nl> Date: Wed, 26 Jul 1995 21:29:02 +0200 From: Maarten van der Heijden <mailto:mheijden@KNOWARE.NL> Subject: European cows in Africa? To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
A transcript of an article in one of our Dutch papers may be of interest to members of this list.The article is about David Hopcraft, living in Kenya. His farm is a game farm. He has abandoned cows. When he was young the countryside still was green, but the savanna became dry and dusty. Overgrazing was the generally accepted reason. Still he noted that the farms had less animals instead of more.
During his studies in London University, Beria College (Kentucky) and Cornell University he learned everything about husbandry, vegetation and irrigation, but hardly anything about wild animals. This omission was taken up in studies of his own. He found out that the water use of the local wild animals was far less then the water use of the cows. One reason is that they are able to adept their bodily temperature to the surrounding temperature, Therefore they don't need to sweat. Cow dung is sour and wet, destroying the plantlife beneath them. The cows are relatively choosy in their meals, eating plants that will not recover. The tread off cows also is destructive to the ground. The heavy hoofs condense the earth, walking to and fro the drinking sites, making the grounds loose its sponge function The gamefarm does look more fertile. The idea encounters quite some resistance from what David Hopcraft calls 'Bambi-lovers and tree huggers'. Still this type of farming where only the lesser quality animals are shot keeps a natural equilibrium, where also lions and jaguars are allowed. Aside the ideological advantages, Hopcraft is also making a good living. The amount of meat per acre is about the double of that in a cow farm, the hides bring in 30 times the revenue. Aside the direct income also the safari trips for tourists and the lectures in different locations. The governments of Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and Botswana are also looking into the possibilities of this form of husbandry and are planning or starting test farms. This might lead to lowering prices and a less natural way of holding the animals.