ARC-EN-CIEL (ʽl'arc-enciel COLOURFUL ARC-EN-CIEL. management & production

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Meghan Sutton
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Fernando V. Rueda Buffalo breeding bull (Syncerus caffer), Taurus.

Photos by Meldt van der Spuy and ARC-EN-CIEL ARC-EN-CIEL (ʽl'arc-enciel means the rainbow in French) is

Western Cape. Fernando and his wife, Suzanne, created a pioneering enterprise in the Western Cape.

The area has been properly planned and divided into various intensive breeding camps, complemented by

1 Fernando V. Rueda Buffalo breeding bull (Syncerus caffer), Taurus. COLOURFUL ARC-EN-CIEL An interview with Fernando V. Rueda by Erika Alberts. Photos by Meldt van der Spuy and ARC-EN-CIEL ARC-EN-CIEL (ʽl'arc-enciel means the rainbow in French) is a wildlife ranch situated between the foot of the Limietberg and the Groenberg in the Wellington area, Western Cape. Fernando and his wife, Suzanne, created a pioneering enterprise in the Western Cape. The farm consists of 1 200ha of fenced camps for the breeding of rare game species. The area has been properly planned and divided into various intensive breeding camps, complemented by extensive breeding areas for specific species. They own a variety of rare game species, including disease-free African buffalo, bontebok, golden wildebeest/gnu, golden oryx, roan 150 WR 2016 ISSUE 1

Sable herd. ARC-EN-CIEL management at work. Sable breeding bull (Hippotragus niger), Caccius.

Wildlife Ranching magazine was invited by Fernando for an exclusive visit to ARC-EN-CIEL.

Today, the beautiful landscape has been transformed by you and Suzanne to a pioneering wildlife ranch in the Western Cape.

Fernando: After Shirley s death, Suzanne and I decided to slowly start with a little bit of game for the farm, purely for enjoyment and personal viewing purposes.

2 Sable herd. ARC-EN-CIEL management at work. Sable breeding bull (Hippotragus niger), Caccius. antelope, sable antelope, quagga, kudu, copper-, black- and white springbuck as well as other more common species such as giraffe, red hartebeest, vaal rhebuck, waterbuck, eland, and black wildebeest. Wildlife Ranching magazine was invited by Fernando for an exclusive visit to ARC-EN-CIEL. WR ARC-EN-CIEL was originally transformed from a wine farm to one of South Africa s largest horse studs by Shirley Pfeiffer (Suzanne s mother). Today, the beautiful landscape has been transformed by you and Suzanne to a pioneering wildlife ranch in the Western Cape. What inspired the evolution of this unique property from a wine farm to a game farm? Fernando: After Shirley s death, Suzanne and I decided to slowly start with a little bit of game for the farm, purely for enjoyment and personal viewing purposes. Slowly, this created a passion and love for wildlife that very soon outweighed the racehorse breeding enjoyment. Soon afterwards, I started to look at the rare game prices and although very sceptical many times, I asked myself Am I reading this right? I saw a buffalo cow selling for R20m, a sable bull selling for R3.4m and so on. I thought I should start looking a little deeper into this. I soon realised that we would be pioneers in the breeding of rare game in close proximity to Cape Town. Shortly after this, I was introduced to Norman Adami, Beyers Gerber, Julius Gers and Piet du Toit all of them leaders in the field in their own right. After many discussions, we decided to earmark a certain amount to purchase some rare game. Within six months of making this decision, Suzanne and I had spent four times more than originally budgeted for and had become really passionate about the industry, its role players and the beauty of the animals. WR Trophy breeding animals have been acquired from some of South Africa s leading game ranchers. Your buffalo breeding bull, Taurus, was bought from Quaggasfontein. Your roan heifers were bought at Stud Game Breeders auction. Your magnificent roan breeding bull, Caligula, was WR 2016 ISSUE 1 151

Roan breeding bull (Hippotragus equinus), Caligula. Endangered bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus pygarus). First roan born in the Wellington area. acquired from Beyers Gerber.

Fernando: Firstly, ethics in this industry is the most important factor for us when purchasing any game; we have had some fantastic experiences, particularly with Beyers Gerber and Nadien and Johan

Unfortunately, we have also had the opposite experience, where nothing of what was promised ever materialised.

All the acquisitions have been done based on animals that appeal to us in terms of their confirmation, parentage and pedigree; we have also asked for the opinion of more experienced breeders,

3 Roan breeding bull (Hippotragus equinus), Caligula. Endangered bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus pygarus). First roan born in the Wellington area. acquired from Beyers Gerber. Your sable herd at a Trophy Breeders auction. You ve purchased colour variants from Thaba Tholo and rare species from Nyumbu. How do you select your acquisitions? Fernando: Firstly, ethics in this industry is the most important factor for us when purchasing any game; we have had some fantastic experiences, particularly with Beyers Gerber and Nadien and Johan Bosch from Dinaka. Before I had finished explaining my problem over the phone, the issues were resolved without any hassle or questions asked. It is a real pleasure dealing with such people. Unfortunately, we have also had the opposite experience, where nothing of what was promised ever materialised. All I can say is that it is imperative to ensure that one knows who one is dealing with before even looking at what they have for sale. All the acquisitions have been done based on animals that appeal to us in terms of their confirmation, parentage and pedigree; we have also asked for the opinion of more experienced breeders, listened carefully to what they have to say, and obviously stuck to a budget. There are truly beautiful animals on offer at any of the premier auctions but unfortunately they are very often out of our budget. We also use the advice given to us by Jacques Malan, who said to me, Fernando, try to buy the very best genetics you can afford you will thank me in the long term. WR Your mantra of keep numbers, keep quality is aligned with biodiversity best practice. Cape Nature has strict rules regarding the translocation of game. Explain the processes to establish a variety of species in the Western Cape? Fernando: Due to the fact that we don t have anyone around us with the same diversity of species with which we can exchange ideas or actual historic data, we felt that variety would work to our advantage at this stage; and we have now seen that the Western Cape is indeed a perfect location for all game species, as long as they are looked after accordingly. Low numbers of 152 WR 2016 ISSUE 1

Golden wildebeest at play wildebeests, also called gnus or wildebai, are a genus of antelopes, Connochaetes.

better quality is the way we see the market going, particularly as farms as close to Cape Town (under 100km away) tend to be smaller than farms up north.

After putting together a very detailed game management plan and spending a large amount of time with various experts and officials, we have been able to obtain the necessary permits for most species

Tell us more about your approach to secure optimal nutrition? In terms of natural habitat and current extreme weather conditions, it s essential to provide animals with supplements.

4 Golden wildebeest at play wildebeests, also called gnus or wildebai, are a genus of antelopes, Connochaetes. ARC-EN-CIEL strives to achieve a rotational grazing system in all their high-grazing pressure camps. Golden oryx (Oryx gazella). better quality is the way we see the market going, particularly as farms as close to Cape Town (under 100km away) tend to be smaller than farms up north. This has been, and continues to be, quite a challenge as there seems to be a completely different set of rules for the different provinces. After putting together a very detailed game management plan and spending a large amount of time with various experts and officials, we have been able to obtain the necessary permits for most species and will carry on trying until we get permits for all the wildlife species in the country. WR You ve successfully introduced rotational grazing systems. Tell us more about your approach to secure optimal nutrition? In terms of natural habitat and current extreme weather conditions, it s essential to provide animals with supplements. Tell us more about your experiments and successes e.g. aloe pulp mixed with water to combat ticks? Fernando: We strive to achieve a rotational grazing system in all our high-grazing pressure camps. This conforms with the ecologically sustained utilisation approach of marginal land, which is necessary in our area as the veld (a mixture of fynbos and old croplands) cannot sustain large numbers of animals for a long period of time. Although space is always an issue in any farming enterprise, rotational grazing of wildlife species is possible. We have had great success with buffalo in particular, where a three-camp system is manipulated to rest a specific camp for six to eight months before the buffalo breeding herd is rotated back to utilise a specific camp. This is achieved through feed and water manipulation and requires a lot of patience and repetitive training of the herd to implement. Buffalo are relatively easy to move between camps as long as your camp design and gates are set up correctly. We have also had great success with oryx, sable and wildebeest. We are aiming to incorporate an irrigated pasture system in the near future, at the centre of our intensive breeding operation. WR 2016 ISSUE 1 153

Jacob Gertse working with a one-day-old heifer sable calf during the process of being ear-tagged, DNA sampled and microchipped.

Fernando: Only one word comes to mind here: relentlessly! It s a fulltime job for four separate woodcutting teams working full time at ARC-EN-CIEL.

Fernando: We strive to keep an integrated record of all animals on the farm, as it is imperative to have as much information as possible on each and every animal.

Breeding parentage information is crucial in order to be able to make informed decisions and this practice therefore translates directly to better sale prices.

history, horn and reproductive measurements, DNA records, paternity, covering, photos, age and general information.

5 Jacob Gertse working with a one-day-old heifer sable calf during the process of being ear-tagged, DNA sampled and microchipped. Schutz Marais WR A focus on destroying alien vegetation and continuous bush clearing are crucial to optimise your business. How should new entrants in the Western Cape approach these challenges? Fernando: Only one word comes to mind here: relentlessly! It s a fulltime job for four separate woodcutting teams working full time at ARC-EN-CIEL. WR Record-keeping is essential in managing game breeding. You ve opted for the BenguFarm Game Advanced Game Management Software. Tell us more about the value of record-keeping and this software? Fernando: We strive to keep an integrated record of all animals on the farm, as it is imperative to have as much information as possible on each and every animal. This is becoming apparent at the better quality auctions. Breeding parentage information is crucial in order to be able to make informed decisions and this practice therefore translates directly to better sale prices. The software facilitates the active record-keeping of all the animals on the farm individually, with regard to camp movement, darting info (microchips, ear tags, treatments), inoculations or medical history, horn and reproductive measurements, DNA records, paternity, covering, photos, age and general information. By constantly updating the information for each individual animal, we have a complete record of every animal on the farm at any specific date and, at the press of a button, we can call up all the relevant information when discussing a particular animal or group. Bengu has developed a mobile application version, which gives you direct access to all the relevant information in the field while you are entertaining buyers or having a herd evaluation meeting. We can also supply potential buyers with the complete record of the animal they are considering buying and this is a great value-added service, from both a management and a marketing perspective. WR Team dynamics are essential to secure success. Schutz Marais was secured as the leader of your team at ARC-EN-CIEL. Tell us more about the importance of a dynamic team? Fernando: Suzanne and I believe in teamwork and we were very fortunate to have found Schutz, a passionate professional with a master s degree in animal and meat science and honours in animal husbandry and animal management from the Stellenbosch University. 154 WR 2016 ISSUE 1

The Rueda family Fernando, Fernando Jnr., Suzanne and Tamara. He joined us in August 2013, just a few weeks before our very first buffalo heifers arrived on the farm.

His enthusiasm and willingness to learn are exemplary virtues that are imperative in this industry given that it is such a young industry and we are all learning new things all the time.

WR As pioneers in the wildlife ranching industry in the Western Cape, you and Suzanne are fostering joint ventures with selected partners such as Boschendal. Share your passion for sharing success?

Over the next few months, with various visits to ARC- EN-CIEL and a close inspection of our operation, Boschendal developed some enthusiasm for the wildlife breeding industry.

6 The Rueda family Fernando, Fernando Jnr., Suzanne and Tamara. He joined us in August 2013, just a few weeks before our very first buffalo heifers arrived on the farm. He has been an instrumental part of our breeding success at ARC-EN-CIEL. His enthusiasm and willingness to learn are exemplary virtues that are imperative in this industry given that it is such a young industry and we are all learning new things all the time. Our main team comprises eight fully dedicated members. WR As pioneers in the wildlife ranching industry in the Western Cape, you and Suzanne are fostering joint ventures with selected partners such as Boschendal. Share your passion for sharing success? Fernando: We were approached by Boschendal and asked if we were willing to look after three sable bulls they had acquired while their fences were being finished. We happily agreed. Over the next few months, with various visits to ARC- EN-CIEL and a close inspection of our operation, Boschendal developed some enthusiasm for the wildlife breeding industry. One thing led to the next and we now have various colour variant projects in partnership with Boschendal, with many new plans for the expansion of their game operations. WR About excellence and passion what are your and Suzanne s goals for the future? What will your role be in terms of growing the wildlife ranching industry in the Western Cape? Fernando: Our main goal is to develop ARC-EN-CIEL into a sustainable business in the game ranching industry, with the best possible genetics in the Western Cape and impeccable ethics. We want to share our knowledge and passion and promote game breeding in the Western Cape. Our role will be to remain focused in being able to advise and help fellow game farmers in the area in developing their operations and advise them so that their new ventures have the best possible chance of success. To conclude, Suzanne and I would like to invite anyone in the Western Cape to come and visit, or contact our manager, Schutz, or us, so that we can share our knowledge and passion for the game industry. We would like to reiterate that no operation is too big or too small to start in this wonderful and exciting industry. For more information, contact Fernando V. Rueda: fvrueda@iafrica.com or visit WR 2016 ISSUE 1 155

Tembani Wildlife. Cover

Tembani Wildlife. Cover Cover LOT # Lot 2 Lot 11 Lot 25 Lot 28 Lot 42 Lot 46 Lot 55 Lot 63 Lot 65 Lot 73 Lot 75 Lot 78 Lot 83 Lot 85 Lot 90 SPECIES KUDU BUFFALO WATERBUCK BUFFALO ZAMBIAN SABLE ZAMBIAN SABLE BUFFALO ZAMBIAN SABLE