Questionable Buffalo and Hippo culling in Kruger

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Dzombo
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Re: Questionable Buffalo and Hippo culling in Kruger

Post by Dzombo »

I suppose it depends on the motivating factor?

If the purpose of the cull is to feed the locals. That is beyond wrong.

If the animals were going to be culled anyway, and the meat distributed, well I guess that's no different to what has been done in the past ie turned into biltong and sold in the shops.


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Re: Questionable Buffalo and Hippo culling in Kruger

Post by RogerFraser »

I heard from the factory I work at in Mkhuhlu about two weeks ago there was a chopper circling for some time they assumed was the police before it finally landed behind the factory and the rangers got out all armed etc .Turned out 3 bufs got out the park and when they could not be chased back in so they shot them .Needless to say as it is the factory is in the township so the local were soon rushing past with buckets of Buffalo ....Like you say don't hear allot of what goes on unless someone witnesses it .. O**


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Re: Questionable Buffalo and Hippo culling in Kruger

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The thing is, Dzombs...culling was initially done because of the drought as the animals would die anyway, but then they decided it was a marvelous idea and carried on after that anyway. O**


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Re: Questionable Buffalo and Hippo culling in Kruger

Post by Dzombo »

Richprins wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 10:08 am The thing is, Dzombs...culling was initially done because of the drought as the animals would die anyway, but then they decided it was a marvelous idea and carried on after that anyway. O**
Well then that is really wrong. :evil:


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Re: Questionable Buffalo and Hippo culling in Kruger

Post by Richprins »

They also realised that the starving buffalo gave little usable meat, which was a problem...


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Peter Betts
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Re: Questionable Buffalo and Hippo culling in Kruger

Post by Peter Betts »

Richprins wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 1:27 pm They also realised that the starving buffalo gave little usable meat, which was a problem...
..So we shoot more to make up for the loss found in thin buffalo


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Re: Questionable Buffalo and Hippo culling in Kruger

Post by Klipspringer »

Kruger National Park meat distribution pilot study, April 2019:

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/han ... sequence=2

2.3.8 The wildlife product section in Skukuza

The Wildlife Product Section (WPS) is an abattoir and processing plant located between the Skukuza
Airport and Sand River in the KNP. Legally, it is a low-throughput abattoir, registered to only slaughter
less than 30 units per day, although the provincial executive officer (PEO) may determine a lower
maximum throughput for the abattoir. Category A game does not apply to slaughter facilities registered
under the game meat scheme, except in special cases under a protocol approved by the PEO
(Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 2012). The abattoir was built in the early 1970’s
and expanded over time. Construction was concluded in 1981 with a canning factory as well as a
biltong factory. The abattoir was planned and constructed to cater for the harvesting operations in the
KNP that eventually came to an end in 1995. In 2010, the abattoir facility was upgraded to cater for
the proper management of ‘Damage Causing Animals’ as well as to serve a research purpose. In early
2016, the abattoir was re-registered and met the food and safety regulations requirements. The abattoir
performs ad-hoc operations on a regular basis and contributes to community beneficiation programmes
including the buffalo project. Furthermore, the abattoir is equipped to produce fresh meat products
(goulash, steaks, sausages, stewing meat) for local consumption. At this stage, the WPS slaughters on
average 30 buffalo a week (“Conservation Management Services – KNP”)
The meat of harvested buffalo and elephants is currently harvested for economic, ecological and social
reasons (including human-wildlife conflict) and some of it is donated to adjacent schools (SANParks,
2018). In addition, the sustainable resource programme forms part of awareness and outreach raising in
adjacent communities and helps to create a positive park-stakeholder relationship between the different
stake holders (tourist, politicians and local communities). Importantly SANParks is very aware of
managing trade-offs between stakeholder groups and stakeholder groups and the environment,
understanding that benefits to one group sometimes come at a cost to another group for example Big
Five game viewing from the safety of your car versus damage causing elephant in your crop field
(Swemmer, 2012).

2.5 Conclusions
In summary, there is vested interest and increasing pressure in facilitating greater engagement
between the KNP and the many impoverished and previously displaced communities located along
its borders. In this context, multiple committees/forums, etc. have been established towards
compensating communities for damage caused by large herbivores including buffalo, as well as
providing access to sustainable resources and development projects which empower
communities and promote biodiversity conservation. Since KNP has a healthy buffalo
population (>48000 animals), its sustainable use may serve to provide resulting animal products
for human consumption (high-end cuts, stewing meat, mince, etc) in impoverished communities,
which could allow the park opportunities for monitoring diseases and managing impacts. Selling
expensive prime cuts to luxury restaurants and lodges helps make conservation more sustainable also
helping to subsidise the cost of stew meat (source of protein) for adjacent communities.
Towards this goal the WPS was established to cater for damage causing animals and research
purposes. What is required for the WPS to function efficiently and to meet the envisaged supply
of subsidised meat to the local schools, is a Value Chain Analyses of the whole process. To
develop such a VCA, knowledge is required of all the steps/processes that will be part of the value
chain; one of the main focusses of this value chain will be the supplying of meat. However,
little is known about the meat quality attributes of buffalo meat nor its yields. Scientists should
have detailed knowledge of the physical properties, composition, storage life and quality of buffalo
meat, to advise management, consumer, and retailers concerning aspects relating to healthiness
and meat quality. This knowledge acquisition will also help formulate a value chain for the supply
of game (with a focus on buffalo) meat.
Within the KNP’s social outreach strategy, were buffalo meat will
be provided as a sustainable source of protein to impoverished local schools and is part of the
sustainable resource programmes. In this setting, the use of game meat may provide a
sustainable source of protein to optimize nutrition and improve health in these oftenimpoverished communities, more importantly it provides an opportunity for a positive
engagement with local schools about biodiversity conservation. The high value cuts will
typically be aged and sold as steaks to offset the cost of the lower value muscles which are
cooked and given to the schools in the schools’ outreach program.


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Re: Questionable Buffalo and Hippo culling in Kruger

Post by Richprins »

To develop such a VCA, knowledge is required of all the steps/processes that will be part of the value
chain; one of the main focusses of this value chain will be the supplying of meat. However,
little is known about the meat quality attributes of buffalo meat nor its yields. Scientists should
have detailed knowledge of the physical properties, composition, storage life and quality of buffalo
meat, to advise management, consumer, and retailers concerning aspects relating to healthiness
and meat quality. This knowledge acquisition will also help formulate a value chain for the supply
of game (with a focus on buffalo) meat.


What an outrageous BS story!!@! 0*\

Kruger has extensive experience and data regarding processing buffalo over the last 4 decades, and know exactly how to do it. Spinning a yarn about needing to "practise" is just more inability to be honest.

Also, a multi-million rand abattoir is certainly not necessary for processing the odd problem animal, for heaven's sakes! :O^

Just say you are selling prime buffalo meat for profit and be honest for a change.


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Re: Questionable Buffalo and Hippo culling in Kruger

Post by Richprins »

Also, they have no idea how many buffalo there are in Kruger, as they are too afraid to do a proper aerial large-mammal census, which will show a few hundred rhino and 50 000 elephant... O**


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Re: Questionable Buffalo and Hippo culling in Kruger

Post by Klipspringer »

It's already a operational game meat industry in KNP and lots of concern to hide it from tourists' eyes.

7.3 Management of buffalo meat
The harvesting and processing of African savanna buffalo meat in the KNP involves five
stages, namely 1) field operation, 2) slaughter, 3) deboning, 4) production of products and
finally
5) marketing
7.3.1 Field operation
Currently field operations usually takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays when a
helicopter is available for harvesting. The team manager and section ranger decide where
the harvesting is to take place the day prior to harvesting, based on the information they
receive from a fixed wing plane that locates the buffalo herd. The morning of the harvesting,
all the vehicles (two high lift trucks for the transportation of the buffalo and the land cruisers for
the transportation of scientist and field staff) drive to the chosen location and wait for the
arrival of the helicopter. When the helicopter arrives, it lands and the pilot as well as the
veterinarian discuss the final detail with the team leader on the ground, where after the
helicopter seeks the buffalo herd as located by the fixed wing plane. After the herd is located,
the helicopter attempts to move the herd to an open space close to a nearby road out of sight
from all tourists. The pilot then informs the ground team when they can start moving closer,
with the section ranger and state veterinarian in front, followed by the abattoir vehicle with
butchers.
The veterinarian in the helicopter darts the buffalo with succinylcholine. Succinylcholine
residues in meat are apparently considered acceptable by public health authorities, moreover
cooking and digestion destroy Succinylcholine residues (Hoffman, 2001). The number of
buffalo darted within an operation varies depending on the terrain and herd size, but usually
ranges between four and eight. After the buffalo are darted, the helicopter pilot attempts to
keep the darted animals bunched-up to facilitate the slaughter/loading process whilst waiting
for the buffalo to go down (± 5 min from the first dart). When all darted buffalo are down, the
helicopter so informs the ground crew and the section ranger, and the state veterinarian walk
into the field and shoot all the darted buffalo in the head with a free bullet using a heavy
calibre rifle to ensure that all the buffalo are dead. After ensuring that the number of buffalo
that was darted and the number of buffalo shot in the head are the same, the state ranger
signals for the abattoir team to exsanguinate the buffalo. Attention should be placed on not
contaminating the neck slit area when transporting the carcass to the game abattoir (National
Department of Agriculture, 2007). Thereafter, the bleeding proceeds, which could potentially
be sped up by letting the buffalo bleed on a slope or whilst suspended by the high lift whilst
blood samples are taken for the blood bank.
Trucks with a high lift then move in and hang the buffalo to further the bleeding process, which
helps improve the quality and palatability of the meat. Game (category A-buffalo) must be bled
within ten min of being shot and can be bled in laying position (National Department of
Agriculture, 2007). In the KNP, there are currently two trucks partaking in this process: one
truck can lift a maximum of four buffalo, whereas the other truck can only lift a maximum of
two buffalo at one time. Although the helicopter attempts to keep the darted buffalo in a closed
herd, the dead buffalo are normally spread out and need to be dragged closer to the trucks by
using a land cruiser that is equipped with a conveyer belt whereupon the buffalo carcasses
are placed; this helps to speed up the time between exsanguination and the hanging process
and results in faster bleeding. After bleeding, evisceration, which refers to the removal of the
internal organs from the carcass takes place (National Department of Agriculture, 2007).
Evisceration take place in the field to ensure that there is no bloating of the carcass, as it can
take up to two hours or more for the carcasses to be transported from the field to the abattoir.
Bloating will increase the risk of contamination (micro absorbance) within the abattoir during
the dressing procedures. It should be remembered that wild ungulates normally have a full
stomach as they have not stood in lairage and had time to decrease the stomach contents as
is the scenario with livestock. The necessary facilities for knife sterilisation and hand cleaning
are available in the field (National Department of Agriculture, 2007). The primary meat
inspection is conducted by an independent State veterinarian and includes inspecting the
head, pluck, feet, abdominal and reproductive organs of a partially dressed game carcass
with the pluck (red offal) and carcass then being sent to a registered game abattoir. Most of
the white offal is left in the field for predators or vultures (Department of Agriculture, 2010).
However, some of the rough offal will be cleaned and taken for own consumption by the staff
such as the plies (third stomach) and set of tripe (weasand, first, second and fourth stomach
and rectum).
The eviscerated buffalo carcasses are loaded onto a truck with the high lifts and covered up
with a tarpaulin, ensuring that tourists will not see the carcasses but also protects against
contamination of opened abdomen. The buffalo are transported to the game abattoir within
two hours of being bled. The first truck drives back to the abattoir with the first phase of
harvested buffalo, and some of the abattoir crew start the slaughter process. The next group is
culled after the truck with the previous phase has departed for the abattoir and everyone is
back in their vehicles, where after the helicopter starts locating the buffalo herd again and
moves them to an open space were the harvesting continues until the required number (±15) of
buffalo is reached. The whole slaughter procedure is repeated as described. After the required
number of buffalo are slaughtered, the second truck drives back to the abattoir with the
remaining abattoir crew and carcasses.


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