2009

Art for Africa 2009 was a groundbreaking charity auction, held at Sotheby’s London, organized by Zuka’s founder Jessica Getty and South African artist Beezy Bailey.

This event, with an unfamiliar formula at the time whereby leading contemporary artists generously donated works to be auctioned with all proceeds going to two notable charities: Wild Impact (at the time, named Africa Foundation) which supports sustainable development in rural African communities, including those surrounding Zuka Private Game Reserve, and Ikamva Labantu, which aids vulnerable children in South Africa.

This auction, beautifully curated by Beezy Bailey as a result of the deeply sincere responses of prominent British and South African artists who donated their works, including Antony Gormley, Marlene Dumas, Marc Quinn, Terry O’Neil, Yinka Shonibare and Tracey Emin was lead by Oliver Barker, Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe.

A performance by traditional Zulu warriors brought surprise and delight to the Bond Street auction room and set the tone for the evening, reflecting the event’s cultural significance. Proceeds were directed to health, education, and community support projects in South Africa, exemplifying the spirit of ubuntu, or collective compassion.

2008

Zuka Private Game Reserve shared its southern and western boundaries with a property called Sutton, an area of 2,099 hectares. The Sutton property was finally incorporated into Zuka Private Game Reserve in 2008, extending our footprint to excess of 5,500 hectares. Consequently this meant the Munywana Conservency could count over 20,000 hectares of land as officially under conservation and photographic tourism.

The Sutton property comprises Zululand Lowveld Savanna with Riverine Vegetation and Melanic Smectite Clay soils. This soil type hosts an abundance of productive grasses and vegetation types which in turn significantly adds to the overall carrying capacity of the reserve. This addition of the Sutton property enabled us to reintroduce four more black rhino in to the conservancy.

2007

From the start in 1990 our core values, Care of the Land, Care of the Wildlife and Care of the People resonated in everything that was undertaken within the Munywana Conservancy. 2007 was no exception and saw the restitution of over 9,000 hectares of land within the conservancy returned to the rightful owners. An historic agreement between private enterprise, communities and government saw Title of the land returned to Makhasa and Mnqobokazi and this wilderness secured under conservation for perpetuity. This celebrated deal was a win-win and of great benefit to both the conservancy as well as the reinstated owners of the land. Subsequently, this has become the successful, working model in conservation and community partnerships.

2004

Another triumph in 2004 was the introduction of Black Rhino in to the newly formed Munywana​ Conservancy. The Black Rhino Range Expansion Project (BRREP) was created in 2003 to protect this endangered species which had neared extinction in the 1990s.

The Black Rhino Range Expansion Project is a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Board. It is supported by the Ford Wildlife Foundation. The Munywana Conservancy was selected as the first private conservancy in the country to receive Black Rhino in this historic initiative as a result of successful conservation practices and community relationships and hence 15 Black Rhino were introduced in 2004.

Since their introduction the population has grown enabling animals to be moved to other conservation areas, further expanding land available for Black Rhino conservation.

2004

In April 2004 the fences separating Zuka Private Game Reserve and Phinda Private Game Reserve started to come down, adding an additional 3,300 hectares of land to the Munywana​ Conservancy.  Zuka Private Game Reserve is constantly motivated by a desire to expand green frontiers and see new uninterrupted horizons with swathes of uninhibited wilderness for wildlife to thrive.

This allows glorious free movement of game and creates new territories to carry a greater number of animals within the conservancy. After years of intention and hard work, this breakthrough was achieved.

This kind of agreement involves ongoing consultation and healthy negotiations to ensure the integrity of a balanced and optimal outcome for all parties involved. The removal of the fences between Zuka Private Game Reserve and Phinda Private Game Reserve was a turning point in the short history of the Munywana Conservancy and expanded the conservancy to 18,000 hectares of land at this point in time.

2002

The leopard is a species that was never reintroduced into the Munywana​ Conservancy. It was widespread across Zululand and like the spotted Hyena, managed to survive the onslaught of habitat loss, decimation of food source and indiscriminate hunting, both legal and illicit for trophies and their skins.

Leopard were shot for nuisance value; with destruction permits – some questionably valid – or simply killed without any legal authorisation or recourse. This inevitably so, as conflict grew when cattle came in to the area and coexistence between humans and wildlife was challenged.

Elusive and nocturnal, only rare and fleeting glimpses of leopard were viewed during the early days of Phinda. These animals are truly wild.

In October 1995 Carl Walker (early Phinda Ranger and Habitat Manager for Zuka Private Game Reserve) with the legendary tracker Jerry Skhosana, started tracking spoor, spending long days and nights monitoring leopard and attempting to habituate some for game viewing. Over this period and subsequent years, Carl recognised 8 different leopard that used Phinda as their territory.

The first close encounters with a leopard in 1992, Carl recounts, were tracks of a female with cubs located close to the Munywana River. After weeks of patient monitoring, devastatingly this female was found dead as a result of two old, separate, illegal snare injuries leaving her two 7 month old cubs to survive. Carl and Jerry continued to monitor the cubs over a further 2 year period before they disappeared. Carl observed that no leopard had its entire range solely within the protection of Phinda but would permeate the perimeter fence into the neighbouring cattle or hunting farms and communal areas where these animals faced multiple risks.

All this early monitoring and observations led to so many questions and hence contact with Dr Luke Hunter of the NGO Panthera to design a long term project called the Munywana Leopard Project which would launch in 2002.

This first ever major study spanning 10 years, was to investigate conservation issues surrounding leopards in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Using radio collaring, telemetry and camera trapping, a team of field biologists set out to research a number of concerns:

1. That protected areas provided a source population for unsustainable hunting in adjacent areas.
2. That hunting properties were negatively impacting protected populations.
3. That illegal killing was widespread on private land.
4. That levels of leopard persecution outside protected areas were so high that even protected populations were unable to increase and could be diminishing.

The objectives of the study also determined:

• Population status, density and demographics.
• Ranging patterns and habitat.
• Mortality rate and factors contributing to mortality rates, of leopard occupying different land types, comparing protected areas with non protected areas.
• Reproduction parameters of populations, survival rates, genetic characteristics, relatedness of individuals.
• Feeding ecology and to establish impact of leopard killing domestic livestock.

The results of the Munywana Leopard Project data gathered by the team of field biologists led by Dr Luke Hunter make fascinating reading and there are many scientific papers published. Read more here.

Most significantly, these results supported the Munywana Leopard Project’s 2006 recommendations to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife on destruction permits and trophy hunting permits which have been implemented and followed as best practice procedures.

These conservation interventions catalysed by outcomes of the scientific Munywana Leopard Project have dramatically increased the number of leopard living, and viewed daily within the conservancy and reflect a healthier population thriving outside of protected areas today.