How To Ensure Safe Translocation Of Game

South Africa’s game industry has boomed over the past decade, and vehicles transporting game are often seen on the roads. Ryan Clark outlines the regulations to be adhered to when catching and translocating game. 

- Gerhard Uys

Ryan Clark, owner of African Plains Game, and his wife, Jenny Rossouw, owner of Wildlife Trading, specialise in game transportation, translocation and sales.

Ryan says that during game translocation, animal welfare comes first. “If conditions aren’t right, I won’t move animals. But not all translocators work this way; [they] focus more on the financial benefits than on animal welfare.”

CHOOSE THE RIGHT TIME OF YEAR

Capturing and translocating game is safer at certain times of the year.

“Cooler months are better for transportation, but the dead of winter is not ideal, because ventilated trucks mean that the wind chill factor becomes a serious issue,” explains Ryan. “Nyala, especially, which originate from warmer areas such as KwaZulu-Natal, are not adapted to the cold and can [contract] pneumonia or even lose ears from the cold. We don’t move nyala from the end of May to the end of August. In cold weather, game needs to be protected from the elements.”

Vehicles or crates used for transportation should be dark, well-ventilated and not pose potential harm to the animals. But specific crate sizes and requirements for different species vary widely, as transportation of certain wildlife species, such as the suni antelope or elephant, obviously require different approaches.

In summer, it is preferable to load the animals in the late afternoon and transport them in the early hours of the evening during the coolest part of the day. “We don’t make use of push plates to push animals out of transport vehicles. If the animals refuse to get off, all doors are opened and the animals are allowed to disembark in their own time,” Ryan says.