The Royal Drakensbergers Of Lesotho

Lesotho’s royal grazing land is remote and harsh, at an elevation of 2 275m and with temperatures sometimes dropping to -12°C. Despite these unforgiving conditions, the 580 Drakensberger cattle that run on this land thrive. Annelie Coleman spoke to Lesotho’s King Letsie III about this remarkable herd.

- Annelie Coleman

Lesotho’s reigning monarch, King Letsie III, succeeded his father, King Moshoeshoe II, in 1996. The latter had introduced Drakensbergers into his royal herd in the early 1970s, but the majority of the current Drakensberger herd is primarily made up of the progeny of a bull and 10 heifers donated to King Moshoeshoe by the South African Drakensberger Breeders’ Society later that decade. The 580-strong herd is kept on the royal grazing grasslands at Semonkong (‘Place of Smoke’) located in the Maseru district of the country.

The grazing land is called Mphatsoenyane, after the stream that flows through it. It is harsh, mountainous terrain and cattle herders monitor the herd on foot or on horseback. In winter, temperatures can plummet, but the herd remains hardy and strong, according to King Letsie.

“Snow occurs regularly in June, July and August, with very little or no effect on the animals,” he says.

A WELL-ADAPTED BREED

The Drakensberger’s history in Africa is long, and its genetics have been perfected over hundreds of years. The breed excels under the widest Southern African conditions – from alpine Lesotho to arid Namibia. Indeed, Carel Nel, South African Drakensberger breeder and advisor to King Letsie, highlights the breed’s survival during the Great Trek, a time during which no vaccines, antibiotics and tick remedies were available.

The breed does well on Semonkong’s relatively unpalatable sourveld, with its high fibre content and reduced nutritional content. The animals do not receive supplementary feed but do receive a summer lick and winter protein lick.

“The breed’s exceptional walking abilities and indiscriminate grazing habits are of the essence, because the animals must be able to maintain themselves on the veld through the winter,” says Nel.