PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
PLEC.O. 885
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
20 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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the damage which surrounding farmers suffer from the game, which is all taken for granted as coming out of the reserve. Let me olearly state here that this is not the case. The Athi plains outside the reserve form the headquarters proper of Coke's hartebeest (the kongoni). Their numbers and those of the zebra are considerably augmented during dry seasons by herds coming out of, and passing through, the reserve, but a great number of the zebra and hartebeest on the Athi plains are resident there all the year round; and it is incorrect to suppose that at any time of the year all the game retires off the Athi plains into the Southern Reserve. I must point out also that quite a large percentage of the game which does damage around Doinyo Sabuk comes from the direction of the Tana River and not the Southern
Reserve.
Sir David Bruce has stated that it is "impossible to carry on farming opera- I do not know to what particular tions with the presence of this game reserve." disease he was referring when he made such a rash and sweeping statement, but I presume either to trypanosomiasis or piroplasmosis. The first of these diseases may be dismissed at once as the districts in question are not inhabited by any species of glossina or tsetse flies (the genus which is known to transmit trypanosomes from one animal to another), and very few other blood-sucking flies such as tabanus, hæmatopota, and stomoxys, which have so far only been suspected of transmitting a trypanosome. I have, myself, up to the present, only been able to catch examples of hæmatopota and stomoxys.
But
With regard to piroplasmosis (East Coast fever and red-water fever), the Athi plains and the game reserve literally swarm with the ticks which are the trans- mitting agents of the pathogenic piroplasms which cause these diseases. although piroplasms have been found in the blood of wild game, it has not yet been proved that these are pathogenic for domestic animals (except in the case of piroplasma equi, causing biliary fever in horses and donkeys, which has been proved by subinoculation to be carried in the blood of zebras); on the contrary, as far as East Coast fever is concerned, the game actually has the property of cleaning or And as previously pointed out disinfecting the infected ticks which bite them. this is likely to prevent a serious outbreak of these diseases in these districts so long as the lasts.
game
To sum up; the throwing open of the Southern Reserve to shooting would, in my opinion, not be an effective measure, and would not produce the desired result until many years hence, and it is not necessary, and I am convinced that any such drastic and premature policy of wholesale game extermination will be deeply regretted in the future by all concerned, for the game, once exterminated, can never be replaced.
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2.-FENCING NORTH-EAST BOUNDARY OF SOUTHERN RESERVE.
The suggestion for this solution of the problem is that a game-proof fence should from a point near the source of the Mbagathi River, along that river to the put up
And that the railway at Athi River Station, and thence down the line to Kiů. hartebeest and zebra outside should be killed off to within desirable numbers, either by the settlers themselves and their employees, and the skins handed in to Govern- ment at a fixed price, which will compensate farmers for the time and ammunition expended, or that the Government should kill off the game and devote the proceeds to the cost of the fence. The settlers are universally in favour of this scheme, and on the whole the majority would prefer that the Government should kill off the game and use the money made for defraying the expenses of the fence.
I will now enumerate the advantages of, and objections to, this plan :-
ADVANTAGES.
(i.) The game reserve is not sacrificed, but made more secure.
(ii) The indiscriminate movement of Masai cattle across the boundary of the reserve is checked, and cattle thefts, of which I have had many complaints, are made far more difficult, as the thieves cannot take the cattle away into the reserve without being detected.
(iii) After a short time the inroads of game from the reserve will be absolutely stopped, and the desired object attained.
OBJECTIONS.
This I deny. Such a (i.) That it is impossible to put up a game-proof fence. fence as that suggested by Mr. Percival in the previous correspondence on this
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subject in S.M.P. 34/10, may possibly be broken once or twice, although I do not even expect this, but on the whole will prove an absolute barrier to the movement of game across the line, and can easily be kept in repair.
(ii.) That such a fence would be very costly to erect. This I admit, but not so costly as to be prohibitive, while its permanent value will be more than compensatory. Also, I am of opinion that the necessary money for its erection can be found without As the first any serious demand being made upon the revenue of the Protectorate. source of the revenue for the fencing fund I suggest that the Government should take over the killing off of the zebra and hartebeest, and that the utmost value should be made out of the animals killed and the profit devoted to the fence. There are four products connected with the game which have a commercial value :—
(a) The bilthong or dried meat.
There is an unlimited market for this in South Africa. The best quality, or hartebeest bilthong, for sale to Boers at about 2s. per lb., and the second quality, or zebra bilthong, for feeding the natives in the fuines, at about Is. per lb. Probably a firm like T. W. Beckett, of Pretoria, would make a contract to take all we could supply.
(b) The skins. These, if properly dried, have a sufficient value to pay well when exported in large quantities. The hartebeest is, of course, the most valuable.
(c) The bones and oil extracted from them for manure and feeding stock on. (d) The horns and hoofs. This is a more doubtful item, but might bring in a small return. As a second source of revenue for the fencing fund I think it would not be unreasonable to suggest that half, or a third, of the revenue of the Game Department should be devoted to it for one or two years as necessary.
(iii.) The objection raised by the Society for the Preservation of the Remaining Fauna of the Empire to a fence on æsthetic grounds is hardly practical, and could not be given serious consideration when such an important matter is being discussed. As a further source of revenue for the fencing fund I would suggest that this society be invited to raise a subscription to assist in the erection of the fence.
3.-Fencing the BoundarIES OF THE INDIVIDUAL Farms.
This suggestion is that game-proof fences should be put up along the boundaries of all the farmers which are suffering from the game. And that the Government should supply the material, the cost of which the farmers should repay later in small sums extending over several years.
From the point of view of developing the land this plan would undoubtedly be of the most benefit to the farmers. For it is only by fencing and dipping that the ticks in these districts will be exterminated. Also, when stock farms and agri- cultural farms are neighbours, fencing becomes imperative sooner or later, regardless of game.
Also there would be the advantage that the game could be left untouched on the unoccupied areas, which would he welcomed by all the settlers.
However, I am afraid the objections are prohibitive. First, the expense would be considerably greater than fencing the reserve; and as the possibilities of the districts are still uncertain, it is doubtful whether the money would ever be refunded Secondly, the majority of farmers would not agree to it, as the type of fence would he more expensive than is necessary for stock. Sir Alfred Pease is particularly in favour of this scheme, and has written me a letter on the subject, which I attach, and Captain Slatter and a few of the most prosperous settlers would also agree, but. on the whole, only a small majority of settlers would favour this scheme, although it is in reality the most business-like proposition.
In conclusion I would urge that the doing away with the Southern Reserve should be resorted to only as an absolutely last resource.
As an additional plea for retention of the Southern Game Reserve I may say that I have the greatest hopes that the Germans may be induced to close as a game reserve a large tract of land corresponding to our reserve and bordering on it and including all the dry barren country around Lake Natron. It is needless to point out all the advantages of this scheme. The size of the reserve will be doubled and thus made Our troubles of poaching on of far greater value and of international interest. the border will, to a great extent, cease, for it would probably be agreed that the rangers of either nation should be able to follow poachers over the border and
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