Like pioneers, over the years, the Shamwari also runs breeding programmes Hannsens have donned boots and leather for the endangered Cape mountain zebra hats and rolled up their sleeves to remove and for African buffalo. Farmers were NATURE swathes of thorn bushes with their bare shooting the mountain zebras to stop hands. While antelopes, elephants and them grazing land used by their cattle, other animals clear out the brush in until there were only two dozen left. the wilderness, cattle ranches are being Thanks to dedicated conservationists, over surrounded by dense, tall undergrowth. a thousand mountain zebras now live in Predators such as cheetahs need open reserves such as Shamwari, in an enclosed landscapes to hunt so the Hannsens are area of thousands of hectares, protected restoring this landscape, already having from predators. Imported cattle plagues cleared several hundred hectares using eradicated most of the buffalo in South tractors. Africa and the buffalo in Shamwari are particularly valuable because they are EPISODE 3: free from illnesses such as foot and mouth THE PRIDE OF THE EASTERN CAPE disease. Only healthy buffalo are sold and The private Shamwari Game Reserve is placed in other reserves. 70 kilometres from Port Elizabeth in Eastern Cape province, standing on prop- The Shamwari team also cares for or- erty once occupied by run-down farms and phaned and wounded wildlife. Young depleted grasslands. Businessman Adrian cheetahs, antelopes, elephants and rhinos Gardiner purchased the site, restoring the are treated and, if possible, released into 25,000 hectares to its original wilderness the wild. state and the landscape now looks like it did 200 years ago — stretches of savannah, The restoration of the Shamwari reserve green hills, rivers and towering cliffs. In is not complete. Non-native plant species the 1990s, there was virtually no wildlife have to be removed regularly, and left but now Shamwari is home to several new animals are introduced, such as lion prides, rhinoceroses, elephants and servals — small elegant wildcats once large herds of antelopes. extinct in southern Africa. They were taken from a reserve near Kruger Park; the Biologists, veterinarians, ecologists and rangers in Shamwari have since released rangers manage the reserve, counting several dozen of them back into the wild. the animals and developing a sophisti- Reintroducing servals improves the ecolog- cated system to protect the rhinos from ical balance in this recreated wilderness. poachers. BACK TO PARADISE WILDLIFE HAVENS NATURE IN AFRICA 3 × 53 min. Written and directed by Harald Pokieser 4K, 5.1 and Stereo Executive producers: Sabine Holzer, Andrea Gastgeb www.terramater.com Terra Mater Factual Studios GmbH, Wambachergasse 2, 1130 Vienna / Austria, phone +43-1-87003-0, fax +43-1-87003-27609, [email protected] NATURE Africa — a wonder of nature, famous for its many wild animals, including rhinoceros, elephants and lions — yet also known for their drastic decrease in numbers. ut it’s not all bad news. In co-operation Unlike many other nature reserves, Lewa works with national parks, bold entrepreneurs closely with local residents, running training are establishing private nature reserves programmes to highlight the need to protect and with the help from biologists, natural habitats and wildlife. The Massai bring Becologists and other experts, they are trying to their cattle into the sanctuary to graze, with save the African wilderness and the animals that each family agreeing with the sanctuary’s live there. management how many cattle may graze and These are stories of success — and of hope. where. EPISODE 1: SAVING THE GIANTS EPISODE 2: MISSION BIG CAT The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, in the vast wil- Namibia, the desert paradise on Africa’s south- derness at the foot of Mount Kenya, is a legend west coast, protects its wildlife in legendary of ecology and conservation — not just in Kenya national parks such as Etosha. But as the wilder- but throughout Africa. Famous for fabulous ness continues to shrink with the expansion of lodges and exciting safaris, its true mission is to cattle ranches, dedicated individuals are helping protect rhinoceros. to preserve Namibia’s natural treasures. Poaching has reduced Kenya’s black rhinoceros Tammy, Donna and Wayne Hannsen are siblings from 20,000 to 650 in just a few decades. Since who have, over the last two decades, trans- 2007, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, founded by formed their 50,000-hectare cattle ranch into Lewa, has taken in a hundred rhinoceros from a nature reserve and established the Africat other national parks and fitted them with Foundation, dedicated to protecting cheetahs transmitters. Another 70 rhinos live in Lewa’s and lions. Their Okonjima Farm is now a wild- territory and now Lewa and Ol Pejeta care life paradise. Giraffes strut around between for nearly half of Kenya’s rhinoceros. A team metre-high termite hills and zebras can be watches the animals around the clock, checking seen grazing, while a family of squealing wild on their health, observing births and monitoring boars passes by and ostriches race against oryx the calves’ development. antelopes. Experts at Lewa also monitor large elephant Part of the site is used for tourism which financ- herds that wander into the sanctuary, and es the rest of the reserve, where 29 cheetahs, Grévy’s zebras — a rare species which, unlike four leopards, four lions and a pack of wild dogs plains zebras, does not live in herds. Biologists live in an area measuring 22,000 hectares. More in the sanctuary want to know why lions prefer than a dozen cheetahs will be freed into the these zebras as prey, so they fitted a dominant wilderness over the next few years, as will three male lion, ‘Mufasa’, with a collar transmitter, young wild dogs, hopefully to be accepted by a and monitor how a pride of 22 lions hunt. They pack of wild dogs that have settled around the also monitor a group of hyenas. farm. Large elephant herds trample through the Tammy Hansen, an expert on big cats, works off sanctuary to Mount Kenya and back, along the farm in the western part of Etosha National a corridor cleared for them at great expense Park. She studies the lions that attack cattle and effort, with financial assistance provided and goats on surrounding farms — which is why by organisations from Kenya and abroad. The lions are often shot or poisoned on the outskirts old migration routes had been blocked off by of Etosha. Tammy works with park experts, settlements and farms. developing ways to resolve the conflict between farmers and the big cats..