COVID-19: Game industry still losing jobs and revenue

The Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdown continues to have a negative impact on the private wildlife industry in SA.

This is according to Prof Peet van der Merwe of the North West University’s Tourism Research in Economics, Environs and Society Unit (TREES), as reported by Farmer’s Weekly.

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He said research conducted by the unit indicated that these negative effects could linger for the next two to three years.

According to the research results recently published in the Global Ecology and Conservation journal, the industry lost R4.61-billion between March and May 2020 owing to cancellations.

A total of 1 754 wildlife and hunting establishments are registered with Wildlife Ranching South Africa (WRSA).

On average, game farms registered with the WRSA recorded financial losses of R1.87-million per farm, while establishments in Limpopo and KZN lost more than R3-million on average.

‘Wildlife tourism in SA is a key tourist attraction for both local and international tourists.

‘The devastating impact of Covid-19 does not bode well for the industry and may cause landowners to exit the wildlife industry in favour of alternatives such as cattle production or crop cultivation,’ Van der Merwe said.

He emphasised that game farms and private game reserves were important contributors to the economic well-being of rural communities as these farms employed 16 employees on average.

The research showed that between March and May last year the wages of 33% of employees in the wildlife industry were reduced, 21% had to take unpaid leave, and 19% were laid off.

In total, more than 18 000 jobs were affected in some way or other.