NUANETSI RANCH was once one million acres in extent. It lies near the Mozambique border and Kruger National Park. Once owned and run by the South Africa Imperial Cold Storage Company, in the late 1960s about half of it was sold off. The dry, warm climate and horizon-to-horizon mopane scrub made it ideal game country. Naturally cattle thrived there, although stocking rates were very low. After Rhodesia became Zimbabwe, Nuanetsi changed hands several times; the last I heard, a rich Englishman had bought large sections of it for the purpose of hunting and running safaris.
Some fifty years ago, I was employed on Nuanetsi Ranch doing game cropping and other work. Some of the ranch had recently been sold and fences were being put up for the first time. Previously the free-roaming cattle had been mustered once or twice a year and otherwise left to their own devices, although dedicated lion hunters were once employed to control predation. My work was on Mpapa section, doing
