Thank
you for the many phone
calls, emails and
comments concerning the
last newsletter
(newsletter no.
89). They
are much appreciated and
apologies that I cannot
answer each and every one,
however, I will try to
answer some of your
questions.
As a
businessman, you will
ask the question: "What
is the return on my
investment?" The answer
is, it is not a good one
compared to other
investments. Money can
be made out of tigers by
photographing them,
filming them and hunting
male tigers. I will
immediately dismiss the
hunting, although
lucrative, it is illegal
and unethical.
The
photographic potential
is huge and growing
rapidly for the simple
fact that the tiger
countries in Asia have not
conserved the tiger.
Even in India, the
traditional stronghold
of the tiger, tourists
are having bad
experiences. Large
amounts of money are
being laid out on
safaris that produce no
good sightings and few
good pictures. The last
remaining habituated
tigers are surrounded by
many vehicles, all jostling
for position. This
further destroys the
experience.
The alternative to Asia
is to invest in an
ex-situ conservation
project in South Africa.
However, to get to view
the tiger, one must
first buy suitable land.
This is expensive. Once
you have the land, you
must then fence it with
a 3.3 metre electrical
fence. This cost is
around R130,000 per
kilometer (a lion only
needs a 2.4 metre
electrical fence).
Having fenced the land,
you need to stock with
suitable prey. (A
blesbuck will cost you
R1,500 per head, a blue
wildebeest R2,500 per
head).
After
stocking and fencing,
you need to build a
lodge to accommodate
your guests. Therefore,
at a million rands per
bed, an 8 bed lodge will
set you back R8 million.
The
most efficient way to
get your guests in, is
to fly them, so you need
a tarmac runway suitable
for jets. This will set
you back several million
rands.
To
run your lodge and tiger
safaris, you will need
trained staff and you
will need to pay them
well to compete with
other operations.
(Tourism remains the
best way to create jobs
in Africa).
Staff
need proper
accommodation and this
too
is expensive. The old
staff accommodation on
sheep farms is
unacceptable.
Only
now can you start to get a
return on your money and
you will have to run
high occupancies to be
profitable.
The
fact that you have wild
tigers, gives you a
competitive edge but it
doesn't guarantee you
success. You are
competing against many
fine established private
lodges and National
Parks in South Africa,
Botswana, Kenya and
Tanzania.
The
key is to build the
tiger experience into a
package to the south
which includes shark
diving, whale watching
and the garden route. To
the north, packages with
Kruger National Park,
private lodges and
Mozambique will be very
successful.
The
areas around Tiger
Canyons have been
subjected to sheep
farming for over a
hundred years. Man-made
desertification has
damaged the 'Garden of
Eden'. (Fortunately,
sheep farming is a
failing land use
system). The good news
is that the land can be
restored if you are
prepared to partnership
with nature.
One
of the most rewarding
things that I have done
in my life, is to release
large tracts of land by
removing sheep fences.
In addition, by closing
the windmills, the water
table lifts and
fountains begin to flow. Mini migrations return
as the animals can now move.
Birds, fish, frogs and
insects all respond as
step by step the 'Garden
of Eden' returns to its
former glory.
All
of this is dependant on
the tiger and the people
who will come to see and
photograph it. If large
enough tracts of land
can be assembled, lion,
leopard, tiger and
cheetah can all co-exist
in one park. This would
be unique in the world.
As
the worlds human
population moves towards
10 billion, more and
more people are looking
to move away from the
mega-cities to the small
towns and rural areas.
People are searching for
a healthier, simpler and
more spiritual
existence. People are
searching for projects
which bring meaning to
their own lives and
to those of endangered
species.
To
take a tiger (there are
1,000 wild tigers left
and we are losing one
wild tiger every day),
nurture it,
release it onto the
land, protect it, and
see it produce cubs, is
certainly the most
spiritual thing that I
have ever done in my
life.
If
you are looking for a
good financial return on
your money, you are
looking in the wrong
place. If you are
looking to speculate by
raising land prices,
this is not for you.
If
you have dollars or
euros which are
strengthening against
the rand, you start with
an enormous advantage.
If you are prepared to buy
into the 'Greater Cause'
which includes:
1)
Helping save the tiger.
2)
Creating jobs in
depressed communities.
3)
Up-skilling and
uplifting people to work
in the tourist industry.
If
you are prepared to
include the financial,
environmental and
spiritual investment and
are like-minded, then
feel free to contact me.
In
the last newsletter
(newsletter no.
89), I
listed at random,
several wealthy
individuals and the
investments they have
made. This was not
criticism. They are fine
and worthwhile
investments. I was
merely pointing out that
no one individual has
picked up the 'Tiger
Cause' and there may be
an opportunity there.
