A family bought 11 farms and turned them into a big five wildlife haven

Samara reintroduced wild cheetahs to the Great Karoo in 2004 after 130 years. (Picture: Samara) In 1997, couple Sarah and Mark Tompkins set out to restore a part of South Africa’s Great Karoo that had lost much of its wildlife. Their effort eventually turned 11 former livestock farms into a 67,000-acre reserve, creating a large area where the land could recover and wildlife could return.The Great Karoo is a vast semi-desert region with open plains, mountains and relatively few people. According to Samara Reserve, it once supported large numbers of wildlife, including elephant, lion, black rhinoceros and wild dog. But hunting, farming and other human activity had gradually changed the landscape and reduced its biodiversity.Working with expert ecologists, Tompkinses brought together 11 farms covering five of South Africa’s nine vegetation biomes. They started with removing alien invasive plants, dismantling internal fences and allowed the property to rest for almost a decade. This was followed by a long-term programme to rehabilitate the land and reintroduce wildlife that had disappeared from the area.Making way for wildlifeWildlife could only return if the landscape could support it...