VN July 2023

Vetnuus | July 2023 24 • AI of the ranch cows with semen obtained from Brahman bulls imported from Texas. As the bulls would not mount in oestrous cows, he successfully improvised an electro-ejaculator. Some 1000 cows were inseminated annually, and the success rate was approximately 50%. • Pregnancy diagnoses (PDs) on some 15000 breeding cows occupied much of his time. As he became more and more proficient, Japie reached a record of 2689 head in one day on Nuanetsi Ranch, where he also worked from time to time. • The high mortality levels on some sections of the farm deserved intensive research. Theileriosis (buffalo-associated) caused massive losses – they lost some 600 head in one year – on certain parts of the ranch, and the problem was only solved by removing the cattle from there. He also encountered unusual deaths in young cattle due to hookworm infection and discovered that it was associated with a particular dam where a big salt block had been placed close to a spot where all the animals concentrated to drink. The problem was solved by removing the block and drinking at one spot prevented by covering the area with branches from thorn trees. Malignant bovine catarrh occurred from time to time, as could be expected in the presence of blue wildebeest, and tuberculosis was in the process of eradication. Facial paralysis caused by a small abscess pressing on the facial nerve associated with slight injury by a faulty neck clamp was another unusual problem affecting several animals that he had to unravel and solve. In 1957 Japie resigned from Liebig’s and accepted a position as a veterinary officer in the government’s veterinary department. After initial stints at the Salisbury (now Harare) laboratory and FMD duties, he was posted to Gwelo and then to Enkeldoorn. He resigned after three years to farm the acquired family farm but was soon reappointed in the same government post, and he started farming on a part-time basis. In 1964, at the age of only 33 years, Japie was promoted to Assistant Principle Veterinary Officer and transferred to Bulawayo. Five years later (1969), he was transferred to Fort Victoria (now Masvingo) to be close to his farm. His home was a house on Netridge farm close to Fort Victoria. FMD was particularly prevalent in the district, and outbreaks were handled like an outbreak of war. Working hours became non-existent at such times with the examination of cattle on adjacent properties for signs of FMD infection, the establishment of defence-line cordons, collection and dispatch of suitable specimens for typing of strains and sometimes even the erection of fences. In 1975, in light of the deteriorating security situation, Japie reluctantly resigned from government service to concentrate on his farming activities and eventually (1979) moved to his farm in the Gutu district. With his farming activities prospering and augmented by income from his private practice, which included a lot of PD work (a total of 1,6 million by 2018), Japie systematically acquired more land. By the early 1980s, he owned four title deeds, his total cattle herd - consisting mostly of Mashona cattle - numbering just under 2000 head. Finally Japie, together with a daughter and son-in-law, acquired just over 12000 ha portion of Liebig’s Ranch that was offering lots for sale. However, with the looming government restriction on ownership of farmland, Japie and Hannalah decided to give some of the farms to two of their children, who were already involved in the farming venture. In 2002 all the farms were systematically confiscated by President Robert Mugabe’s followers, and, despite trying his best to negotiate with the invaders, the Jackson clan was forced to leave all the farms they had acquired and developed into well-managed, productive enterprises. Japie reluctantly moved to Bulawayo, henceforth conducting a private practice with PDs as his main activity, thus totalling an astounding 70 years of work as a veterinarian, the last PDs being conducted shortly before his April visit to New Zealand. Japie’s love of the veld was infectious, and he preached what he learnt in practice on his various farms. Through close observation and study from fairly early childhood, he had acquired an impressive knowledge of the veld and its composition of grasses and bushveld trees. He loved watching cattle grazing, thereby getting to know their grazing habits and preferences of the available natural fodder. On the sour highveld, he advocated keeping the grasses very short in their early highly nutritious state as long as possible by applying various managemental strategies, such as veld burning and continuous utilisation by grazing cattle. However, for the sweet veld, with its much lower rainfall and hot climate, he advised short interval grazing and long rests during the growing season to enable the much more nutritious perennial grasses to recover from grazing and assert themselves. Conception rates (established by PD) served as a measurement of the level of management on his own farms and those of his clients. His views on veld management – based on the observations and research done on his own farms – and some of the difficult veterinary problems that he had to face and solve are dealt with in detail in one of his books. This was the only book that he offered for sale. Japie was indeed a prolific writer, publishing more than 20 books, mostly in short format, at his own expense. The majority dealt with various aspects of his unwavering Christian faith and were based on his remarkable knowledge of The Bible. Evolution was invariably refuted based on his ceaseless research on the contents of The Bible. The book he referred to most frequently in conversations, however, dealt with his beloved Hannalah. She was and remained the shining light in his life, also after her death. An extensive book with personal and professional anecdotes as well as comprehensive expressions of opinion on a variety of subjects, including an analysis of the deteriorating political situation in his fatherland, was published in 2022. In Memoriam