Respect ensures a healthy balance and the survival of both
Both these animals are masters of survival, especially in bushy vegetation and mountainous environments. Kudu and leopards compete with others of their kind as well as with humans for territorial routes and kudu also compete with leopards in the Bushveld.
Ironically, kudus are a type of antelope that probably survive and breed best in the Bushveld´s mountains and bush, and the same goes for leopards when compared with other predators. The lives of kudus and leopards are inextricably intertwined. They live, sleep, eat and breed in the same environment. Kudus roam most of the time among and beneath trees, while leopards move among trees, camouflaged by the shade. Leopards often sleep high in the trees – the same trees that the kudus walk beneath.
It is a mystery how kudus survive so well among leopards. Analyses of droppings show that impala, and not kudu, form a large part of the leopard´s menu, even though the impala do not graze in the bushy vegetation all the time. The skills of both these animals are awe-inspiring and business people are keen to discover their secrets. To have both of these animals at Shayamanzi, our "business teachers" if you will, is a major privilege. The unmanned internet cameras provide me with the opportunity to watch these animals day and night. Kudus live seemingly fearless lives among the leopards and more particularly among the dangerous snakes in the Bushveld, such as mambas, Mozambican spitting cobras and puff adders. Incidentally, snakes and other predators often cause the death of leopard cubs.
Kudus and leopards that live in the same area can survive successfully without leopards killing too many kudus. The secret is that other game serve as a “buffer “between the kudus and the leopards. Kudus have watched the behaviour and hunting habits of the leopard closely for decades.
Kudus know that a leopard cannot easily catch an antelope – he needs to come very close and strike quickly. He does not want to get injured, as he hunts alone. A serious injury means that he cannot hunt, which in turn can lead to starvation. A kick of a kudu’s sharp hoof can easily cause such a serious injury. A rocky environment, especially against the low rocky ridge, is not the ideal hunting ground for a leopard. Usually there is a variety of small game grazing lower down among the bushy vegetation, such as bushbuck, nyala, reedbuck, and even impala, as well as other animals, such as monkeys, baboons and birds, for example, pheasants and partridges. These animals and birds are all on the menu of the leopard and also form a buffer between leopards and kudus, which graze higher up on the rocky ridge and are therefore more ´protected´ against the leopard, which stalks its prey among the long grass and bushy vegetation.
The birds and baboons act as a lookout as they suddenly fly away or bark when there is a sign of a predator. The leopard trails, which indicate their territories, are often along river banks and seldom, or only for short stretches, in more difficult terrain. However, leopards will, even when they are not necessarily out hunting, recline high on a hill or lie down in a tall tree to ascertain the movements of the game, especially just before dark. Just after sunset they will attack the area where the animals are going to spend the night, usually not far from the area where they were grazing just before dark. Smaller animals find it more difficult to spot a leopard among the long grass along river banks than the larger kudus, which graze more beneath the trees than in the long grass. Although kudus do not form large groups, a small group of kudu cows has a better chance of spotting a leopard than a small bushbuck ewe, which moves alone in the long grass and among the shrubbery. Teamwork and making use of one another´s senses can make the difference between life and death and are therefore critical for survival.
It seems as if there is a perfect balance and that all the animals have a fair chance of survival. Therefore, predators must work out a careful strategy to hunt successfully week after week. More than 70% of leopard activities are among the bushy growth along river banks where there is a large variety of prey.
Over the centuries the leopard and the kudu have instinctively developed a deep respect for each other. Leopards respect the kudu´s ability to keep on dodging them, even though they live in the same bush. Kudus respect leopards for probably being the best hunters in bushy environments. Therefore, the kudus survive, breed and remain one of the game farmer´s most important sources of income from hunting/making biltong. Their price per kg meat/biltong is very low in relation to other game, because they (leaf eaters) are so well adapted to the Bushveld and breed there.
Game farmers who can make a good business out of supplying kudu meat/biltong to restaurants and shops or even succeed in exporting the meat at the dollar/rand exchange rate may have reason to smile in future. Not everyone can hunt scarce game as a special trophy or even think of shooting scarce game for meat or biltong. The demand for meat, sourced from natural veld-grazing animals, which have not had any hormone treatments, also rises by the day.
The core word is ´respect´. The moment that two parties respect one another the chance of survival and indeed success improves for both parties.
Leopards and kudu respect one another and both parties live successfully and have longer lifespans. Because the kudu´s senses are keenly developed to spot leopards and to dodge them, when they start running they of course also warn the other game. Usually they stand dead quiet to observe everything, and then start running when it is a “great risk”. The other game knows this.
Therefore, leopards should rather avoid kudus as they will probably be first to spot the leopard, run away and take all the other game with them. The leopard can of course respect the kudu´s ability and rather use the kudu as an ally to help him to hunt other game successfully. Other game that grazes in the vicinity of kudus might be too at ease and not focus properly on what is happening around them and might fall prey to a cunning leopard. Leopards know that kudus will probably see to it that they are surrounded by other game, birds and baboons, as these animals are smaller and the leopard, with this huge variety on the menu, will probably go for the smaller prey to avoid being injured. The successful leopard that respects kudus will therefore scour the long grass and bushes surrounding the kudus and rather go for the lone bushbuck or nyala ewe. Obviously the leopard will go for the weak link among the kudus, for example a young kudu that wanders off and does not form part of the community network of senses of the whole herd of cows anymore. The mother knows this and usually her young and even the previous year´s calf will be very close to her when in the bush. The other weak link is sometimes a given situation. Ironically, the weak link originates where humans interfere by feeding the animals. A number of kudus group together around a feeding place, all eating simultaneously, kicking up a lot of dust and making a noise. The young are pushed to the side and wander off from their mothers. Even the bull (leader), which usually stands to the side until the cows have made the feeding point “safe” behaves differently. He walks to the feeding point and even chases the cows away to reach the fodder first. This “weak link” situation creates a perfect opportunity for a cunning leopard to pick and choose which is the easiest prey to attack. To make matters worse, this happens late in the afternoon or evening, when the leopards have less difficulty remaining hidden and can see better.
Game farmers usually give fodder pellets late in the afternoon when the warthogs go to their dens and the baboons start looking for shelter for the night in high trees, especially as baboons cannot see well at night. The birds have already left for their nests, resulting in the kudus being vulnerable. The kudus are making a noise and are unable to see properly. They trample each other and do not focus on the environment, while their “buffer” of animals which usually warn them (birds, baboons, etc) have gone off to sleep.
During breeding time (+/- May), the entire situation is made worse by the bulls only having one thing on their mind, and that is to breed. One bull covers five or more cows and the feeding points, where all the cows are together in one group, give him the opportunity to walk around and smell which cow is on heat. May is also the start of the hunting season, and hunters start walking around with their long rifles during the day.
The experienced, opportunistic leopard is intensely aware of all these “weak” moments and will adapt his “hunting strategy” to this situation by straying kilometres away from the bush and far from the plains in order to settle near the feeding points and to prepare for a feast.
This “game of survival” between the kudus and the leopards is a major risk for both though. The kudu’s greed for fodder and leopard’s greed for the ‘easy catch’ cause them to lose respect for the territories of other kudus and leopards. Greed can mean death, death caused by one’s own species. Kudus and leopards, especially the males, have specific territories. Ignoring the territories of other kudus and leopards guarantees conflict with one’s own kind. Long before the kudus reach the feeding point, another bull, which knows the area and bush much better lies in wait. If he is the strongest bull of the territory, it can mean the death of a kudu who has trespassed on the bull’s territory. If a kudu is attacked by a kudu bull’s horns, this can result in a serious wound that can become septic, be infected with maggots and attract ticks. This could mean a slow and painful death from septicaemia. Greed costs many business people their businesses, sometimes even their lives.
A hint for game farmers is perhaps to locate the feeding points for kudus so that they are not too close to bushy vegetation.
Although leopards can successfully hunt around man-made feeding points, there are many risks that should be considered when hunting (doing business) outside your territory or knowledge area.
There are many business lessons that can be taught to children or young business people from the kudu versus leopard or leopard versus kudu scenarios.
The business world is full of examples of both kudus and leopards. In my example we use large, strong businesses, say listed companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), as the leopards (predators), and small companies, such as one person enterprises, partnerships, and businesses with fewer than 50 permanent staff, as the kudu (prey).
How often does one hear the small business person saying the “large businesses will kill us”, we cannot compete against them. They sell large volumes and can cut prices below what the small business can afford to do. If kudus argued this way, they would have fled from the mountains long ago, away from the leopards, and settled on the plains. Ironically, they would probably have died there in the first winter, because they are leaf eaters and would not have found leaves on the trees on the plains. Kudus are also susceptible to the cold winds on the plains. As in the case of kudus, you should consider your risks and use your strengths to give you a competitive advantage to survive in your natural environment and to make a living.
It is especially the kudu, living close to and observing the leopard, which survives best and notices most of the opportunities. The same applies to successful large companies (leopards) that ensure mutually beneficial association and business ties with small enterprises (kudus) in order to harness the entrepreneurial power of successful small businesses, thereby making themselves more successful.
Large enterprises (leopards) should rather use the skills of successful small enterprises (kudus) and simply push other small businesses (other game in the environment) out of the way.
Small businesses (kudu) and large businesses (leopards) are both stronger and more successful when using one another as allies and utilising each other’s strengths.
For example, large businesses (leopards) have a large menu of transactions (prey) and cannot really specialise in one type of transaction (prey), while small businesses (kudus) survive by specialising in a niche market, e.g. they only eat leaves and fruit.
This is exactly where the secret lies. Large businesses (leopards) focus on the bigger picture (wide spectrum of products, transactions or prey), while small businesses (kudu) have to focus on the smaller picture (niche market specialisation) focusing on one or two products.
If you (the kudu) become the leader with regard to a specific product (or a specific terrain), the large businesses (leopards) become dependent on your product that you have manufactured or produced using your expertise.
Very important: the small business person will struggle to compete with the quality and diversity of vegetables available at Woolworths. Therefore, be the business that provides one of the products to Woolworths, make Woolworths dependent on your product. Who knows what could happen? Maybe in time Woolworths might sign a large contract with you and large volumes of your one specialised product will be distributed countrywide through their wide network of shops. Even if you only get a small percentage of each rand, the total of these small percentages will add up to a large amount of rands. This amount will be higher than the amount you would probably make when networking on your own via a number of transactions in a small localised area.
The moment that leopard businesses become dependent on kudu businesses and vice versa, a mutual respect develops, which forms the core of long, stable and profitable business relationships.
Small businesses (kudus) with specialised expertise become successful (avoid being eaten by the leopard), and other less successful businesses (other game) are taken over. The other game that are devoured by the leopard, are probably also leaf eaters and compete with kudu calves of the same height. The young kudus do not become the main prey of the leopard, and have a chance to become strong on the lower-hanging leaves in their fight for survival.
Therefore, although large businesses (leopards, for example) totally dominate an environment, it is possible for small businesses (kudus) to survive (and even thrive) successfully among large businesses.
ENTREPRENEURS / SMALL BUSINESSES
In South Africa it is not so easy to start a small business – there are simply too many regulations and legislative requirements. This has bothered me since my school days; why should you work for someone else, why should you ask permission for every creative thing you want to do? It may sound rebellious, but I know that what has bothered me as a child was “over-regulation”. Being told to wear your hair short, have it cut neatly and keep it neat. A hint to young creative people who want to become entrepreneurs: Start a business where the market regulates you, and not every second guy in a government who has never owned a business. Try to find your niche in an unregulated market, as it happens in nature.
Leopards and kudus, in fact nature as a whole regulates itself. Usually when humans interfere, they make a shambles of it.
Considering what I have discussed above, I thank heavens for the videos that have been uploaded onto the Internet and YouTube, otherwise I probably would have had to obtain permission and approval for every animal video from some or other council, which would send me to the next council to let me know in a year’s time, after I have phoned them ten times, that they have lost my submission.
Over-regulation and megalomania generally go hand in hand. The countries in the world where this does not occur, are those countries where regulations are relaxed and governments curbed where power is ill-applied. Entrepreneurs are supported, as it is these small businesses that create jobs and help more families to survive.
You need only have a look at how a leopard manages his environment successfully. Even though he might have the power and ability to kill all the game in an area, even if he does not need the meat, he does not do it. The leopard knows that he will then have to move to a different area, which he does not know and for which he will have to fight. By being greedy and devouring everything, the leopard would risk being seriously injured or losing everything (his life) if attacked by another leopard or caught by a game farmer.
No, a leopard would rather defend his own area with his life. He would remove the “weak” link and do the game farmer a favour to strengthen his herd by removing the genetically weaker game or the injured antelope that would have died anyway. In the same vein he would take out the antelope that does not belong there and which could disturb the balance (for example blesbuck, which keep in the bushy growth next to a river). The leopard’s mother has worked long since he was a cub (+/- 18 months) on his instinct and then set him free to survive. The market (laws of nature) will take you out anyway if you disturb the balance. If your product, price, packaging and value are not in order, the market has no place for you – consumers cannot be forced to buy from you.
If small businesses, such as kudus, are not allowed the chance to play their part entrepreneurially, economic growth, job creation and skills development will remain only a pipe dream.
Africa has the wonderful opportunity to learn all these lessons from nature. The governments of African countries should take cognisance of this and start to “deregulate”, and encourage small businesses to be creative and to share their entrepreneurship in order to create a positive mindset among all so that everyone can say: “I work for myself and help others who want to help me to develop themselves.”
