Is an elephant a movable item

Since beginning of 2011 I work as a freelancer for Century21 wildlife properties Hoedspruit. My colleague - Rob Severin - had an interesting story to tell:

Recently I sold a house, and at the time of showing the potential buyers the property there were two elephants, 30 yards in front of the porch, at a water hole. Since selling property can be an emotive process, I appealed to the buyers’ emotional side by jokingly saying, “And it comes with these two elephants”.

The buyers were ex New York traders, ‘trading’ in the city life for a more relaxing and stress free existence, away from the rat race, noise, pollution, traffic, crime , stocks, derivatives,……….  you get the picture.

No doubt they have weighed up the risks, calculated the up side potential, the time value of money and decided that this was the safest investment that they could make. They are right of course. Real estate in our market has weathered the global financial storms, and even increased in value. Coastal properties can be found all over the world. What we have is not coastal, and only a small blip on the earth, but a very popular one at that.

The deal went through without a glitch, money moved across continents, with lots of zeros and ones. When occupation took place my chuffed buyers face turned to concern. They demanded to know where their elephants were. I was somewhat shocked, stuttering for words … “Well, um … they move around you know.”  Was the only answer I could come up with. 

Now the ex New Yorkers were quite correct, they had bought the property, and elephants are included in the deal. In fact there is the “Big 5” which also includes Lions, Rhino, Leopard and Buffalo and this was all included in the deal.

However the “Big 5” including the elephants are free to come and go. They are moveable items included in the sale. However, they are not listed as movable items in the purchase agreement. There was also no mention of Giraffe, Zebra, Wildebeest, Kudu, Impala, Hippo, Cheetah, Hyena and Warthog which were also included. These movable items are in fact not so movable at all. Try relocating an elephant and you will know what I am saying.

Now if I’ve lost you, let me explain. The ex- New Yorkers had purchased a 54 acre plot in a game reserve which is open to the Kruger National Park in South Africa. There are no fences between the Kruger Park and their property. Animals come as go as they please. There are several land owners owning the private reserve, and the animals belong to every one, but actually, no one. Nobody derives direct financial benefit from them, but they are there to be enjoyed by all. The city slickers had traded in their iPads for sketch pads, Long Island Ice Tea’s for G & T’s, Central Park for Kruger Park and Star Bucks for Water Buck.

So if you to buy a piece of Africa and live among wild animals, we will include the elephants, but don’t expect them to be in the listed as movable items.

Century 21 Wildlife Properties specialize in selling houses, land and commercial game lodges in game reserves, wildlife estate and conservation areas, in and around the Hoedspruit and Kruger National Park area in South Africa.

For more information, photos and You Tube Videos on living in a game reserve go to http://www.century21wildlife.co.za/

Regards from the bush,

Corné van Dongen.

Amukela Game Lodge.

http://www.amukela.com/

Cheetah, big cat under threat

One of the most distinguished big cats of Africa is the cheetah, Acinonyx jubatu. This predator is well known for its speed; it can reach speeds of up to 112 /120 kilometres per hour.

History.

It is also the most endangered cat in Africa. In the early 1900s it was believed that there were about 100,000 wild cheetahs. More recent estimates in1990 put the total population down to 12,000 cheetahs left in the wild, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Up to 2,500 of those live in Namibia with other, somewhat smaller, groups in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe and even smaller numbers in the surrounding areas. Historically cheetahs have been known to thrive in almost any arid environment with the exception of thickly forested areas and wide expanses of sand. Local studies have indicated that in at least some areas of Africa the population is stable, meaning that the numbers are not going down and the occupied range is not getting smaller. However on a global scale, the total cheetah population is decreasing.

Faster then a Ferrari.

The cheetah is a large-sized feline (family Felidea). The cheetah is the only extant member

update wounded cheetah

The wounded cheetah that was seen next to the R40 three weeks ago is spotted back in Balule, Olifants West again and seems to be healing well.
According to the game warden she looked healthy enough and seems to manage to get food.
We are happy that she is recovering on her own.


Regards from the bush
Corné

No lion hunt in the Balule Nature Reserve!

A while ago it has come to my ears that a hunting permit was allowed for a lion in the Balule.
It was about Mazinio, a big and old male lion who formed a companion with Bigboy, the other big male lion.

Bigboy seen on an Amukela lodge game-drive in Balule.

For more then 9 years these 2 lions are the dominant males
over a pride of more then 20 lions.
Their territory runs from the York-Tshukude fence to the Olifants river, the fence at the R40 and further eastwards.
This year 3 new young male lions came into their territory and challenged both Mazinio and Bigboy. Altough they were able to fight them off, maybe next time the outcome will be different...
The main function of a leading male lion is to reproduce and protect the pride. Normally the hunting is done by the most experienced females, although when a big animal like a giraffe or buffalo is taken down, he might be involved.
In the wild normally (but this can vary) male lions lead a pride for 5-7 years. In this case one could say that the Balule lions have had their function.

Mazinio seen on the Marula-drive in the Balule.

From an objective point of view you could say that now is the time to allow for a commercial hunt on one lion. The revenue would be around R500,000 and that is money which could be well used for futher conservation in the Balule.
However, from a financial point of view it is not necessary to earn this extra income and therefore it has been decided not to hunt a lion in Balule. I think that it is good thing, after all why do we have a nature reserve? To preserve nature, and interefere as less as is possible.
That is what nature conservation is about.
Last night I heard the lions roar, and wandered if Mazinio was also one of them....

Best regards from the bush,
Corné van Dongen.

Property market in the Balule Nature Reserve.

As property consultant for Century21 Wildlife Properties I would like to bring under your attention the properties which are currently for sale in the Balule Nature Reserve.


The Balule is made up of autonome reserves who all have their own entrance gate, game-warden, security staff, constitution and unique features. As a buyer one can choose to become a member of the nature reserve which is recommendable. Every reserve has a levy system. Olifants North is a share-block company, all the others are privately owned land.

In the following Balule reserves we have properties for sale:

Olifants West Nature Reserve.

 Parsons Nature Reserve.

Grietjie Nature Reserve.

Olifants North.

Olifants West Nature Reserve.

Olifants West is the largest reserve in Balule,
comprising of 8800 hectares of pristine bushveld. The entrance gate (Olifants West Gate - Balule ) is located on the R40 about 16 km. north of Hoedspruit.
Mixed woodland bushveld. Leadwood, bushwillow, marula, knobthorn, tamboti, weaping boer bean tree, buffalo thorn, fig tree, cork wood. Dry riverbeds, rocky outcrops, good mountain views. The Olifants river flows through this reserve. Large dams. 250 birding species. Big-5. Plains game, cheetah and wild dog.