Extensive Wildlife Production on Private Land in South Africa

South Africa is the scene of one of the greatest reversals of fortune ever seen in wildlife conservation. Wildlife was devastated when millions of animals were killed by the early settlers in the 19th century, and was then almost eliminated by crop and livestock agriculture in the 20th century when it was perceived to conflict with livestock, competing for water and grazing resources and supposedly posing health risks (Cumming, 1990; Flack, 2002a, 2002b). By 1950, wildlife had been severely decimated outside of South Africa’s national parks.