1. PREFACE
Over the past decade the wildlife industry has shown an outstanding rate of growth by more than 27%
growth per annum from recorded auctioned sales. This adds to an enormous growth of 240% since
2005 and this exclude private treaty sales which form the majority (+/- 80%) of sales. The total sales
of wildlife for breeding purposes thus exceed at least R10bn.
Once added the value of R8bn in respect of other wildlife activities such as eco-tourism, hunting, and
game viewing and the selling of meat, the contribution of wildlife might well exceed R20bn.
These figures are confirmed by a study done by Dr. Flippie Cloete, from the North West University’s
Department for Environmental Science and Management.
In real terms the production value of Wildlife Ranching represents at least 12% of agriculture’s total
value in South Africa.
This sustainable growth has outperformed the JSE / ALSI.
2. INTRODUCTION
As layout in this document, Bellua Enormis Game Breeders which is deemed as pioneers in the
game industry since 1999, has decided to act pro-actively in the marketing and promotion of
sustainable growth in the game industry and has therefore implementing an investment platform
to give any individual or corporate entity the opportunity to become part of this exiting, fast
growing and profitable exotic game industry, regardless of your knowledge or experience in game
farming.
You will therefore not be burdened with the huge capital layouts and risks as required to acquire
land and also expensive developments and legislative regulations to breed with exotic game. We
have it all covered and we will look after your investment and manage it for you by utilising our
existing infrastructure and experience as gained over the past 16 years to provide you with the
best game industry practices and to ensure you a peace of mind investment.
3. OUR BACKGROUND
Founder of Bellua Enormis Game Breeders and Investments, Pieter Gouws, and also as the
founder of a large International Corporate company has decided to step out as the CEO in 2001
to live out his passion and vision in wildlife to become a well-known and reputable full time game
breeder. This was done on sound business principles from his experience in the corporate domain
to successfully contribute towards the wildlife and conservation industry. He has successfully
increased his initial investment value well beyond any other market trends since he has started
his various breeding programs. He has been a model for a lot of start-up breeders and is willing
to contribute, influence and support the industry where and when possible.
Bellua Enormis Game Breeders and its team are committed and excited about the future of exotic
game breeding, they have proven themselves as the “Leading Team”. Today Bellua Enormis has
a wide variety of animals and diversifying with different exotic game breeding herds and continue
to breed with only the best genetics and also strive to continuously improve the quality and
genetic pool of our animals in order to restore our beautiful animals to their previous and rightful
status.
Bellua Enormis already has a large pool of high profile investors who has put their trust in our
investment opportunities. We are committed to nature conservation, passion, sustainability,
quality genetics, ethics and growth.
4. Wildlife investment summarised model (Detailed agreement available upon request)
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Bellua Enormis has been breeding with exotic game species since 2000. We have selectively
build up superior genetics in our breeding herds over the past decade.
Bellua Enormis has now created the opportunity for investors to share profits within these
breeding herds by purchasing some of these top bred animals from Bellua Enormis.
Investor will then from hereon become the 100% owner of the purchased animals, should the
entire breeding herd been purchased.
The Investor/owner will then enter into a 5 year rental agreement with Bellua Enormis to
provide the Investor (now actually the owner) with top quality camps, habitat and related
infrastructure as required for the breeding herds at any of our superb developed facilities
located in the Waterberg area (+/-2 hour drive from Pretoria) or in the Springbokvlakte area
(+/- 1.5 hour drive from Pretoria).
Animals will be looked after and superbly bred by our top breeding management teams for a
minimum period of 5 calendar years, which can also be extended.
50% split between Investor and Bellua Enormis from all produced calves or lambs within the
breeding herds during the investment period as remuneration to accommodate and look after
your animals.
After 5 years the Investor will have the option to either sell or relocate his initial breeding herd
or extend the breeding duration for another 5 years.
All operational management, supplementary feeding, tick and parasite control, veterinarian
treatment, etc. will be done by Bellua Enormis, thus no further costs or capital outlay required
by the Investor which will ensure you a peace of mind investment opportunity.
Options are also available whereby the breeding group will be held in a separate company,
from where the Investor can buy shares in 20% blocks, according to his preference, and thus
be a pro-rata shareholder on ownership based on the number of shares held. Growth
distribution will also be shared on the same pro-rata basis. These companies will be governed
in accordance to the Company Act.
All owners/shareholders will have the opportunity to visit our operations at any time to
ascertain that their investment is looked well after, and we also encourage them to visit us.
Accommodation will be provided to the owners/shareholders at no cost at any of our lodges
during their visits.
Bellua Enormis is so confident in our success that we will replace any animal by progeny (at
no additional cost to the investor), should there be any mortalities within the first year of the
initial purchased animals. Hereby Bellua Enormis is assisting the investor to keep his risks as
low as possible.
If the owner (investor) wishes to earn interim dividends on his investment, the first sale of
progeny can be done after the third calving year. (However for better growth on your initial
investment, we advise that all progeny be kept for a longer duration as this will give you the
benefit of additional calves from all the previous progeny on an exponential scale.)
5. ECONOMIC REALITIES IN THE WILDLIFE INDUSTRY
(An extract from a study done by Ramonde Odendaal - B.Com Honours - as an Agricultural
Economist: Senwes)
As we all know, the driving force behind any business is to make a profit and earn acceptable
return on investment. The positive growth trend in game prices is responsible for more individuals
and enterprises to consider investing in exotic and rare game.
The income from selling life game on auctions has increased from R52 million to R1 414 million
over the past thirteen years. The wildlife industry also contributed +/- R10 billion to the South
Africa GDP and is considered as the 5th largest agriculture enterprise. The change in Buffalo prices
since 2001 up to 2014 was nearly 2050% and this calculation exclude any income from the hunting
industry. Buffalo and Sables remain the higher income generators and most likely the dream of
any game farmer.
According to statistics provided by PHASA (Professional Hunter’s Association of South Africa), the
number of Buffalo and Sables hunted by foreigners in South Africa showed an increase of at least
100% since 2009 and the international hunting income hereby contributed +/- R700 million to the
South African economy in 2014 whilst the demand is still growing and higher than the availability.
The question might now be asked if it is feasible to farm with game, and the answer is clear that
with the right species, management and marketing, game farming is an enterprise with high value
expectations for the future. Great opportunities still needs to be explored in many countries
around the globe, as in the past the majority of the traditional marketing campaigns for the foreign
eco-tourism and trophy hunters were mainly focused on the USA and Europe markets.
Sable & Buffalo vs. JSE ALSI
(Johan Rabie – 2012)
(Johan Rabi – 2012)
6. OUR GENETICS
Selection is the most powerful tool in any breeder’s hand. With selection it is possible to change
any trait or characteristic as long as it has genetic variation and is heritable. The breeder can thus
create variation and better breeds by using good selection methods. This means that genomic
information is combined with breeding values to obtain a more accurate genetic evaluation and
to prevent inbreeding at all cost in order to maintain genetic diversity and to ensure future genetic
progress as well as viable, fit and fertile offspring that is adapted to a changing environment.
Bellua Enormis therefore strive to only obtain the best possible genetics from reputable sellers
with a good track record and quality animals. A top quality bull with good horn size and well
developed body size and posture adds great value to the offspring and is playing a major role in
improving the quality and value of the animals and adds to shifting the median of horn sizes as
shown below.
(Graph as proved by Richard York)
7. MANAGEMENT AND BREEDING PRACTISES
As wildlife in South Africa are now mostly confined to fenced parks, game reserves and game
ranches, the challenge to sustain them requires good management and breeding practices in
order to reduce the negative impact of inbreeding, overutilization of food and water resources
causing long term damages to the natural habitat and spreading of diseases.
Bellua Enormis’s staff therefore prides themselves to use best practice management processes
and continuously endeavour to better themselves in order to cover the entire spectrum of
requirements required to operate a successful game ranch.
7.1 FENCES AND BIOSECURITY.
When legal ownership rights of game animals was recognized in the early 1990s, all wild
animals acquired a value and became assets that as a result are managed more closely. This
young industry learned us during intensification of the ranching methods that we know little
about the diseases that can afflict our game animals and we are still learning day by day. As
part of our efforts to improve our biosecurity strategy against brucellosis and tuberculosis to
only mention a few that can destroy our entire Buffalo herd for instance, Bellua Enormis has
therefore decided to implement a dual game fence system from where a 200m buffer zone
exist between our outside fences and the neighbouring farm’s perimeters in order to prevent
any direct contact to other animals which their disease status is unknown.
We also implemented internal buffer zones, where we have camping systems for our scarce
and exotic game breeding projects, in order to prevent direct contact between the various
species to further enhance the health of our animals and for better biosecurity.
7.2 FEEDING AND NUTRITION
In natural systems, game species have the capacity to survive harsh and variable
environmental conditions by migrating from one area to another, thereby finding forage of a
high nutritional quality to meet their requirements for growth and reproduction. In modern
times the natural migration have to a large extend been fenced off and preventing them to
move to areas where the forage would be better. By fencing animals into confined areas, now
putting the responsibility of supplying animals with adequate and good quality food on the
shoulders of the game farmer. It is therefore important that the game farmer understand
what is needed for optimal production and reproduction to supply to the animals.
Bellua Enormis has therefore spent a lot of time and effort to provide animals with the best
quality and quantity of food and we also work closely with experts in wildlife nutrition and
with various reputable manufacturers and suppliers specialising in optimizing game food
nutritional ingredients and supplementary feeds for the different seasons and requirements
by the animals during their reproduction cycles.
7.3 MANAGEMENT OF PREDATORS
This is where Bellua Enormis has invented an innovative predator proof camp system to
minimize the risk of predators entering our camps and where we have an excellent track
record of managing predation. Our new state of the art camp system has a double fence
technology right around our camps. Proper electric fencing was erected to minimize the risk
of any predators entering our camps. Our fence exceeds the standard requirements set out
by the Dept. of Nature conservation by far. All our camp fencing consist of a minimum of 30
wires (Dept. only requires 21 wires), with 114mm post every 50 meters and our droppers
spacing less than 125cm apart. All our fencing reaches 2.4m in height. We as conservationists
are well aware that it is necessary to have predator activity within your farm, this contributes
towards the natural habitat game experience whilst being in the wild. We therefore manage
predation as well as possible. Our low mortality rate due to predation are some of the lowest
in the country due to proper management and experience. Daily perimeter inspections and
monitoring are part of our daily management duties.
7.4 DNA TESTING, IDENTIFICATION AND RECORD KEEPING
Most definitely one of the most important duties of a reputable and responsible breeder.
DNA testing, identification and record keeping are the tools to ensure that all herds can be
measured. We at Bellua Enormis ensures that all animals are darted by our veterinarian
where all of the below procedures are followed: DNA samples, this is done via blood and
hair samples and sent to a laboratory for testing and record keeping. We also make a copy
available to all our clients. Identification, to ensure that all our animals are properly
identifiable we install microchips and tag all animals with ear tags. We have different colours
and codes on our ear tags which can give us all the needed information about all animals.
Ear tags are then recorded together with the correct microchip number and DNA samples.
These are done to ensure that Bellua Enormis and the investor know their animals and can
measure and manage their asset. All animal records are safely stored by Bellua Enormis and
a copy will be handed over to the investor.All of the above is crucial when building up the
history and origin of each individual animal.
WHAT BELLUA ENORMIS OFFERS:
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Superior Quality animals.
State of the art predator proof breeding camps.
Fresh water distribution and nutritional feeding daily.
All needed breeding infrastructure and facilities.
Top Day to Day management and evaluation by knowledgeable and experienced
staff.
Accurate DNA testing, Identification and record keeping per animal.
High reproductive rate.
Monthly/Quarterly/Yearly detailed report on animal’s status and performance.
Access to possible buyers and sellers.
Access to one of the best wildlife marketing agents and photographers.
Access to reputable auctioneers. (Bellua Enormis will assist/manage where needed.)
Strategic assistance.
Variety of packages available.
Well known and highly experienced Veterinary services. Bellua Enornmis will cover
50% of all Veterinary costs which might occur to the core breeding group. (weaning
and other specific owner requirements excluded)
To reduce risk, Bellua Enormis are so confident that they will replace an animal by
progeny (at no additional cost to the investor), should there be any mortalities
within the first year of the initial purchased animals.
Bellua Enormis agrees to have first option to purchase animals from investor / buyer
whenever animals are ready to be sold as we believe in what we breed.
BENEFITS FOR THE INVESTOR:
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Access to purchase to quality animals.
Investor will remain 100% ownership of purchased animals.
Tailor made packages to fit the investor/buyer requirements.
Investment increases based on animal price growth and reproduction of herd per
year.
Monthly/Quarterly/Yearly detailed report on animal’s status and performance.
Access to possible buyers and sellers.
Access to one of the best wildlife marketing agents and photographers.
Access to reputable auctioneers. (Bellua Enormis will assist/manage where needed.)
Strategic assistance.
Buyer can view Investment on farm during the 5 year period at no additional cost.
(Reservations to be made well in advance)
No operational management and expenses, land, staff or expertise required .Bellua
Enormis management team will manage it for you.
Free insurance ( whereby progeny replacing mortalities) for one year on initial
breeding herd.