Conservation Project:
The working citrus farm on the property is called "Miskruier" (Afrikaans for Dung Beetle), and it was deliberately named so by Mr. HHJ Potgieter, when he bought the property 12 years ago. He wanted to help save the Miskruier, a flightless dung beetle, from extinction. As well as building five chalets with a lapa overlooking the Zuurberg Mountains, he decided to build a 50 X 50 m enclosure for the protection of these dung beetles. 150 cubes of soft sand were offloaded into the enclosure to assist dung beetle burying activities. The conservation project's purpose was to breed Circellium bacchus dung beetles and reintroduce them back into nature, and also to create an awareness of conservation outside of a National Park. We started our Conservation project by introducing 11 dung beetles to the enclosure.
The Beetle is…
• … 22 – 47 mm long
• … amongst the largest dung beetles in Africa
• … flightless (no wings)
• … they favour elephant dung
Because of its once widespread but now localised distribution, this specific dung beetle is understood to be endangered. Both male and female beetles roll food balls, but only the female construct brood balls. The males always follow the female and they are never far behind. This behaviour has not been documented in any other ball rolling species.
A guided visit to The Addo Dung Beetle Breeding Station on our premises will teach you more about this unique beetle and we will gladly share our efforts to conserve one of the “little African rarities” of our country.
Our guest farm now extends into 263 ha of succulent valley bushveld, one of the seven South African biomes. This land is also a game viewing area, where some of the dung beetles will be reintroduced. Species that occupied the land historically, like kudu, duiker, bush pigs, bush bucks etc, will also be introduced to this land. Addo Dung Beetle Guest Farm is an ideal tranquil setting for couples, parents who want to get away, honeymooners and small groups of up to 10 people.
