Restore the Past to Protect the Future

The Boerboel has been declared an indigenous landrace of South Africa and is protected under an Act of Parliament through the AIA (Animal Improvement Act). Today it is threatened, tomorrow it will be lost to us.

A landrace is a domesticated, locally adapted, traditional variety of a species of animal that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural environment of pastoralism, and due to isolation from other populations of the species.

Landraces are generally distinguished from breeds in the standardized sense of the land or environment designing them, not the breeder for confirmation or sport.

The Jäger Company's mission as a Nonprofit conserves this landrace animal before it goes the way of so many others that were threatened and nothing was done when something could be done.

Historically, the Boerboel developed as a utilitarian farm dog for the Afrikaners, who settled in South Africa from Europe in the 17th Century. The Boers (Afrikaners) continuously advanced deeper into the African continent to avoid conflicts with the British. The Boer’s dogs were very important to the daily lives of the Boer people as they not only protected livestock but also provided emotional support and comfort to the Boer family by defending it from predators and intruders. Approximately 12,000 of these Boer emigrants moved northward from the Cape and crossed the Vaal River where they settled in isolated farms.  The Boer dog, known today as the Boerboel became even more uniquely purposeful as the Boers settled and generations of Boerboels were shaped with traits like strength, stamina, intelligence, and fortitude needed for the environment on and outside of the farm.

The Jäger Company announces its 20-year Conservation Program to research, restore, and cryopreserve the genetics of rare and endangered landrace Boerboels from South Africa. Set in a private bio-secure location in New England, the Jäger Company’s Live-Learn Research Laboratory and Conservation Program sits on property ideally suited for research, restoration, preservation, and conservation.

The facility provides a Live-Learn Program for female students entering their Sophomore year of high school who share a common interest in academics, the environment, and personal development. As a research facility partnering with P.h.D. candidates researching their thesis, we have established a one-of-a-kind learning community centered around the research and conservation of the landrace Boerboel of South Africa.

The longitudinal studies that will be performed over generations of succeeding Boerboels will greatly benefit the ability to genetically identify diseases that plague not only the landrace Boerboel but other canines as well.

We think of all this effort as a safety valve program. If or when the genetics of the Boerboel get so far away from their origin, or the genetic diversity reaches devastatingly low levels, these dogs, frozen embryos, eggs, and semen will all be made available to the public to assist in restoring the diversity needed for a healthy population of Boerboels all around the world.

This possibility is not altogether remote or far-fetched. For all their efficiency and high output, modern dog breeds have become a weak, inbred bunch with no way of restoring themselves back to a healthy population. Less than forty years ago there were Boerboels all over South Africa with diverse genetics, now you see a rapid descent into a weakened inbred bunch of Boerboels that are getting weaker, have many more diseases, live considerably shorter lives, and possess very little of its original purpose.

The Boerboel we see today is becoming a breed of dog. With your help and support, the Jäger Company will insure the landrace Boerboel of South Africa stays a landrace and is true to the way the Boers and South African landscape built them over the last 300-plus years. Let us not see another animal lose its purpose and beauty.