Posted on by Luca Cerutti

Wildlife

Our wildlife reserve was established in late 2015, firstly with the vision of protecting and regenerating the magnificent flora of the area and secondly, the reintroduction and establishment of viable wildlife populations which had been exterminated from the area historically and face continued threat to their long term survival in other areas of the country.

Initially the reserve started as a small-scale conservation project undertaken in line with Mutanda Farms’ vision to make a meaningful contribution to conservation of both flora and fauna. In the years following its establishment, we have continued to expand and the reserve now covers 4500 hectares of magnificent and diverse Miombo woodlands, floodplains, scattered open woodland and swamp, interspersed by two perennial streams.

Complementing the diverse habitats present on the reserve, much has been done to re-establish viable populations of a wide range of wildlife species, with notable species present on the reserve being Cape Buffalo, Roan Antelope, Sable Antelope, Sitatunga, Tsessebe and Kafue Lechwe to name but a few. We have placed specific emphasis on boosting the numbers and genetic diversity of the Buffalo on the reserve and this has lead to significant investment in our Buffalo herds. To ensure we maximise the genetic spread and potential of the Buffalo we produce, we have sourced a wide range of animals from a number of areas, including the Kafue National Park and South Africa. We also place focus on the other species on the reserve and are committed to ensuring we conserve and breed with the best possible genetics, thus benefiting not only ourselves but other wildlife conservation areas around Zambia, by making available limited amounts of genetics bred on Mutanda Farms.

We currently breed intensively with Sable Antelope and Buffalo and are striving to consistently improve the quality of the animals we produce from both a genetic and phenotypic standpoint. By blending a diverse range of genetics, we are confident we will produce animals of phenomenal quality out of both of these breeding programmes. These animals are available to the market in limited quantity and we are confident of the positive impact Mutanda Farms bred animals would have on any herd.

We are proud members of the Wildlife Producers Association of Zambia (https://www.wpazambia.com) and are constantly evolving and looking to improve on our conservation effort, as we look forward to further securing the future of Zambia’s magnificent flora and fauna!

Our Buffalo population on the property is thriving and we are proud of the advances we have made in the relatively short time we have been conserving and breeding these magnficent animals.
We protect a very healthy population of Kafue Lechwe on the property, a species that is facing threats to its survival in its wilderness home on the Kafue Flats.
Kudu are another species that are thriving as a result of the protection provided on our property.
We are one of only a limited number of private wildlife areas to host a viable, breeding population of Roan Antelope.
Our general “plains game” populations are phenomenal on Mutanda Farms.
Thanks to the protection we provide to the habitats on the property, our conservation area is home to an astoundingly diverse array of birdlife, including the threaded African Skimmer.
North Western Zambia is renowned for its Sable Antelope quality and quantity, and on Mutanda Farms we are protecting a genetically diverse population of these magnficent antelope.
Our Buffalo originate out of a wide range of bloodlines, with the most prominent being the Southern Kafue bloodline. We have added a range of new genetics to include Sekula Island, Northern Kafue, East African, Addo and Kruger bloodlines to our herd, through the import of animals from South Africa along with animals being sourced from a capture undertaken by ourselves in the Busanga Plains of the Kafue National Park.
Wildife populations are thriving!
A young Buffalo bull with immense potential, originating from a wild capture undertaken in the Northern Kafue National Park.
These young Buffalo heifers are the future of our breeding programmes on Mutanda Farms and we are excited by the growth potential of our project.
The first Sable Antelope calf born in our intensive project, a young bull sired by our 47.5″ breeding bull and a wild caught Northern Kafue cow.
One of our young Buffalo bulls in the bull camp. Along with 14 other bulls, he was imported from South Africa in early 2018.
Crawshay’s Zebra.
Diverse and flourishing populations characterise our conservation area.
A couple of female Sitatunga on the edge of a swamp that abuts the main dam on the property. As one of the few custodians of this rare and unique, aquatic antelope, we are committed to ensuring the long term growth and sustainability of their population and habitat on our property.
One of the magnificent Sable bulls in our conservation area.