Babanango Game Reserve is booming, and that's official. With game numbers on the increase and birdlife coming back, our ethos of pioneering with purpose is most assuredly paying off, benefitting both the environment and the communities around it who are now seeing a positive return on their commitment.
 
It's three years since African Habitat Conservancy began this incredible project, partnering with local communities to return a 22,000ha swathe of former farmland to a pristine wilderness packed with biodiversity and wildlife. In this short period of time we've achieved quite incredible things, even in the face of the unforeseen challenges the COVID-19 global pandemic has provided.
 
Tourism is slowly on the rebound, and Babanango Game Reserve with its wonderful Babanango Valley Lodge, Zulu Rock Lodge and Matatane Camp is fast becoming a firm favourite with South African travellers. As the world begins to open up again, we hope to share our breathtakingly beautiful corner of (malaria free) KwaZulu Natal with tourists from across the globe.  

The task of restoring the land under our care to a wonderful African wilderness that's home to the Big Five may have sounded like a tall order three years ago when African Habitat Conservancy came into being and Babanango Game Reserve started out as a game reserve in the making.
 
Today, we're making huge strides forward with every month that passes, and as we move into winter - the time of year when our game reintroduction programme gathers momentum - it's good to see how Babanango Game Reserve is truly flourishing.
 
"The last 12 months have been exceptionally good," says Reserve Manager Musa Mbatha, who was born and raised here on Babanango's doorstep. "We've introduced a lot of game - eight blesbok, seven steenbok,  white rhino, four hippo, 18 waterbuck, 29 zebra, 121 blue wildebeest, 18 red hartebeest, 104 impala, 10 ostrich, 15 buffalo and 18 eland in total," he says.
"We've also had a good year for a wide variety of new-borns on the reserve including rhino and buffalo, the most recent of which was in the last couple of weeks," adds Musa.
 
The game reintroduction programme gathers pace in the cooler winter months which are better for wildlife capture and release, as Musa explains. "Keeping the animals cool during transportation is critically important, so the winter months are our busiest with the aim to have all capturing and releasing of animals completed by October," he says.
 
Bird numbers are also on the increase as alien plants species are being removed and the land is recovering from damaging farming practices and the use of insecticides that badly affected birdlife in the area.
 
"We are rewilding areas that were used for different farming purposes," says Musa. "Where crops were grown, poisons and insecticides were used to control pests, and which sadly had a negative impact on local birdlife. But now we are seeing an increase in both the numbers and the variety of species in the area, which is a positive sign."
 
"We've also had sightings of a leopard," says Musa. "We have images recorded on one of our camera traps and our local anti-poaching officers have also spotted it during patrols, which is very exciting."
 
"This means we now have three of the Big Five on Babanango, which is good news from a tourism point of view," he emphasises. "Our hippo are also a firm favourite and move from dam to dam, depending on water levels," he adds.
 
"All of our wildlife is in fantastic condition after the wonderful rainy season we've had. Now, as the bush thins out and becomes dry during the winter months, there is less for the animals to eat, so we have to keep an eye on their condition and may have to give them additional nutrients in the form of supplemental food if the winter proves to be a harsh one," says Musa.

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