Farmland in South Africa is being converted to luxury game preserves, reversing a trend in which wild animals were hunted almost to extinction during the years of white domination.
When Europeans colonised Africa, they hunted everything in sight. By the 20th century, surviving animals had been exiled to nature parks, while the vast countryside was turned over to farmers who raised cattle and grew crops.
Any wild creature that found itself outside a reserve would be treated as vermin and killed.
But this has begun to change in South Africa, the latest member of the emerging-economies group of Brics countries, which also includes Brazil, Russia, India and China. Today, almost 20 per cent of the country's privately owned land is given over to game ranching, according to a study by North-West University published last year - a figure to which no other country in Africa comes even close.
"It is a 5 billion rand [Dh2.43bn] industry that is still growing," says Professor Melville Saayman, who conducted the study. He says investors make money not just from the guests who stay at a luxury game lodge, but also from spin-off activities.
"I think in the current situation it is most probably the best investment option in the tourism industry," he says. "You can generate money from various sources or options, namely breeding of species, hunting and ecotourism, to name a few."
As a result, where cattle once grazed listlessly on stubbled ground, now antelope and buffalo feed on lush grass, while nearby, lions stalk their prey. Game ranching is becoming the cash-crop of choice for farmers and investors in South Africa's agricultural sector. It is no surprise that game farming has gone from a gentleman's hobby to a multimillion-dollar business that has attracted international attention.
Dubai World, the investment arm of the Dubai Government, acquired the majority shareholding in three of South Africa's best-known game reserves in 2008, including the luxurious Shamwari lodge. Dubai World bought an 80 per cent stake in the three farms, which it hoped would be the first of a planned expansion into African tourism.
Although the value of the deal was not disclosed, local sources suggest Dubai World paid more than 600 million rand for its stake.
Shamwari, along with Sanbona Wildlife Reserve and Jock Safari Lodge, comes under the Mantis Collection.
Guests at these estates have included members of the British royal family, and Hollywood stars such as Brad Pitt and John Travolta. Shamwari now consists of 25,000 hectares, and is in Eastern Cape province that lies to the south of the country, a malaria-free zone.
Dubai World has also acquired Nkomazi, a smaller estate, near Kruger National Park in the north-east, that consists of 37,000 hectares. Because this was a new estate, Dubai World had to manage its own wildlife repopulation, spending upwards of US$3 million (Dh11m) to restock it with animals.
A typical game farm can be anything from a basic stretch of veldt with a few species of antelope, to luxury tented lodges on vast acreages populated by the Big Five: lions, leopards, buffalo, elephants and rhinoceroses. A fully developed estate with bush camp and luxury facilities can fetch as much as 100m rand on the open market.
The most successful, such as Shamwari, provide proximity to wildlife, preserving a sense of wildness but with the comforts of a five-star hotel.
In theory, setting up a game farm is as simple as buying an existing piece of agricultural land and returning it to its wild state. In reality, it is a difficult operation.
Licences for numerous operations - from hunting to the sale of food - are needed; so is a permit that states your fencing is up to the job and animals will not escape. It is not unheard of for a stray lion to eat cattle, or even a luckless human.
And if fencing in the right animals is tricky, so is keeping the wrong sort of people out.
Poaching is now a significant threat to game ranchers, particularly those who include rhinos on their property. A single horn can fetch as much as $300,000 in Asia, where in some places it is regarded as an aphrodisiac.
Poachers, using helicopters, night-vision scopes and assault rifles are plundering local stocks. An estimated 300 of the endangered animals have already been shot this year. Farmers, therefore, have to pay for 24-hour security to keep their animals alive.
As daunting as this may seem, small investors can tap into the growing ecotourism market by buying into established estates, says Mike Lawrie, a wildlife property specialist at Pam Golding, one of the country's largest agencies.
"Its the same principle as buying a condo in a cooperative," he explains. "Foreigners can buy, for instance, a hectare in an established estate for as little as 1m rand. They have full access to the entire estate, the wildlife and facilities, all of which is managed on the buyers' behalf."
The owner would have full title over his property, with few restrictions other than those decided by the cooperatives' management.
"The property market in South Africa is generally depressed, as it is elsewhere in the world, but the wildlife market has held up well," says Mr Lawrie.
