A wine estate located in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality may seem an unlikely location for wildlife, but Vergelegen in Somerset West has over the years introduced rare quagga, eland, and bontebok – once considered the rarest antelope in the world – into a 1 900ha nature reserve.
The reserve was declared in 2019 following the conclusion of a lengthy Vergelegen project, from 2004 to 2018, to clear 2 200ha of alien vegetation. This is believed to be the largest privately funded alien vegetation clearing programme in South Africa.
Bontebok were the first new wildlife arrivals, introduced 15 years ago when it was noted that the local Helderberg Nature Reserve had insufficient grazing to support all its bontebok. Some mineral deficiencies, especially zinc and possibly copper, were becoming apparent. Thirteen bontebok were captured and transferred to Vergelegen, with the understanding that nine animals would always belong to the City.
There are now approximately 95 bontebok on the estate, comprising three breeding herds plus bachelor groups.
Vergelegen then released five eland in July 2020 as part of the Gantouw Project, which researches how grazing animals can boost ecosystem diversity naturally.
These animals were joined by an eland bull, enlarging the herd to three cows and three bulls. “We are expecting some calves by end-March this year,” says Eben Olderwagen, Vergelegen Environmental Manager.
Quagga once roamed South Africa in large herds, particularly in the Karoo and southern Free State, until they were hunted out in the second half of the 19th century. An ambitious project was initiated in 1987 to use selective breeding to achieve a breeding lineage of Burchell's zebra (Equus quagga burchellii) which visually resemble the extinct quagga (Equus quagga quagga).
Seven quagga – one stallion, five mares, and a foal – arrived at Vergelegen in 2022, as part of the programme to introduce them to reserves similar to their former habitat.
“Three quagga have since been born at the estate,” says Olderwagen. “One mare in December 2022, one stallion in October 2023, and another mare in November 2023. They have not yet been named by the project, but have all settled in very well with the herd.”
The eland and quagga are currently located in a 180ha camp that includes natural grazing – a mix of renosterbos, Boland granite fynbos and various types of grass – and plentiful water from the Langkloof Dam. To accommodate the current inhabitants and new arrivals, the camp size will be enlarged to just under 500ha this winter.
The estate is also a long-serving participant in the Cape Leopard Trust project and five different leopards have been photographed on the farm. Regular sightings of Cape leopard, caracal and honey badgers are recorded on in-field cameras and there are numerous indigenous small mammals such as duiker, grysbok and grey rhebok.
Visitors can book a guided environmental tour in a designated Vergelegen game-drive vehicle, departing from the wine tasting centre.
