The Johannesburg Zoo has set up 694 ha of arable land amid a World Heritage Site in the Free State to breed and conserve rare species of animals and pilot extensive crop farming systems.

Named the Rietkuil Wildlife Conservation Farm, which was acquired in 2006 and is headed by Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo nature conservationist Bishop Ngobeli, the farm started as a storage facility for the Johannesburg Zoo.

However, it has since developed into a conservation hub, boasting a plethora of facilities, including a Wattled Crane clinic and enclosure and a cold room to store meat.

About 120 km south-west of Johannesburg, Rietkuil is in the Vredefort Dome, an archetypal part of a larger meteorite impact structure, dating back two-million years. It has been declared a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation World Heritage Site.

Ngobeli is piloting a crop farming scheme on the farm, which will eventually provide fresh produce for animals at the zoo in Parkview. He has already started ploughing a large portion of the land to produce straw bale as fodder for animals.

Currently, although on a subsistence scale, the farm produces kale, cabbage, lettuce, sweet potatoes, pepper and carrots, which are used to supplement the Johannesburg Zoo animals’ diets.

In the long term, the farm will invest in tunnel farming for larger-scale production.

“I want the farm to be sustainable and to produce access food for the zoo, so we can slash in half, if not altogether, the budget we spend on purchasing food for animals,” Ngobeli says.

About R7-million has been set aside for conservation in Johannesburg and a little less than R3-million for the overall management of Rietkuil, the City of Johannesburg says.

The goal is to focus 40% of the farm on crop-farming and 60% on the conservation of flora and fauna. 

Currently, Rietkuil has partnerships with the North-West University and the University of Johannesburg on nature conservation research.

Moreover, the farm hosts a workshop where equipment for the farm is fabricated; the farm manager’s house; seven living quarters for staff and their families, as well as a thatched Lapa for meetings and functions.

The farm has two sections of animals, including high-value species like bovines and those on conservation programmes. Other animals on the farm are Red-Hartebeest, rare White Lions, Buffalo, Nguni cattle, Bapedi and Nguni Sheep, Kudu, Nyala, Waterbuck, as well as Sable antelopes and parrots.

The farm also breeds bunnies, quail birds and mice as feed for the zoo and serves as a sanctuary for animals that need space for rehabilitation.