A1 Savannahs has changed hands from Martin and Kathrin Stucki to Martin M. Engster and family. This was a two stage handover. At first, the Stucki’s sold a share in the business and then after a while the remainder of the business was transfered to the Engster family.
A1 Savannahs is probably the most high profile cat breeders in the world. Compared to the typical hobby breeder they are vast. The facilities cover many, many acres in all. They breed Savannah cats of all generations, F1-F5 etc. and servals. Some people like to keep servals as pets or to breed F1 Savannahs from them. The serval is a medium sized wild cat. They raised the world famous Magic (female F1 Savannah), the world’s largest domestic cat, Motzie, another famous Savannah cat (F2) and Titan (F1 male). The famous Savannah cat video: A Beautiful Relationship, shows Magic with Andreas Stucki, the Stucki’s son.
The entire complex is very impressive. It is a real business as opposed to the typical cat breeder who does it for money, yes, but not as a full-blown business.
The Stuckis are great people. Highly professional and great hosts. I stayed at their guest house for ten days on one occasion. A1 Savannahs have a detached house on the premises for guests, usually buyers, who travel from many other countries to see the cats. They supplied F1 Savannahs to the King of Morocco as I recall.
A1 Savannahs is not only a cat breeding facility but the Stuckis also called it a farm because there are lots of other animals. That is the general background.
For me, and this is a personal issue, the new owner, Martin M. Engster is not my sort of person – not at all. Although I have no idea what he is like as a person, I do know, from quick research, that he sells guns and organizes hunting trips, including international hunts.
He runs a business called “Centerline Firearms”. This sort of mentality and activity is the kind I detest, sadly. A know a lot of people like to shoot animals for fun and they like their guns. This is anathema to me. Truthfully, too, I don’t think a person who likes to shoot animals for fun (sport hunting) should be involved in breeding cats. Sorry to state that. It it not meant as a criticism of the Stuckis. It is just that I feel strongly about these things.
There are many people who feel strongly about cat breeding never mind sport hunting. But Martin M. Engster combines the two. Arguably there is no place for cat breeding while there are millions of homeless cats wandering around starving and living miserable lives.
I am sure Martin M. Engster is businesslike. How sensitive is he towards the cats? A person who likes to kill animals cannot, in my opinion, be sensitive towards them. This is not good.
There it is. A sad day for me really. Just another little negative.
Go ahead and try to deflect the attention from the original subject. You can try to defend him cover up this travesty but this is all over the internet and it is spreading like wildfire on FB. I made a typo because I was in a hurry. Seems to me I am much more educated than you are and humane too. I guess you must enjoy to trophy hunt as well. So here is my wish for you and your friend I hope you go on safari together and a pack of Cape Buffalo stampedes and tramples you to death! What a fitting end. If you do not like what you see on this page then leave go look at pictures of the poor dead animals on your friends website, it seems you would enjoy day dreaming about your next trophy kill much more than hanging out here with people who are compassionate and concerned about animals. Maybe you only see 9 people here but trust me there are many, many people on FB sharing this info. Your pitiful excuses and defense of this man are just a blip on the screen, meaningless and useless so I am finished corresponding with you.
Also, You are right, I do not deny it, I do not believe that a trophy hunter and guide can be a true animal lover. Everyone here knows that all posts here are the opinions of the authors but the pictures and conflict of interest displayed by the Engsters are fact. So here are the facts:
Fact 1- Martin Engster has killed a beautiful wild Caracal and had the pic posted on his trophy hunting guide website sporting a big proud smile!
Fact 2- Martin Engster charges people to go on safari around the globe and he puts outrageous prices on the heads of beautiful wild and exotic animals including wild cats such as leopards, cheetahs and caracals (no price listed for caracals but since he killed on and has a pic of it, I guess they are fair game as well)
Here are just a few of the defenseless animals he offers to assist trophy kill From his website:
Following animals on request:
Cheetah $ 3000.- (CITIES regulations are strict)
Water Buck $ 2200.-
Leopard $ por
Giraffe $ 2800.-
Eland $ 2000.-
Impala Common $ 1000.-
(See the complete list in a post above)
Fact 3- He and his family now owns a cattery with exotic African cats and hybrids.
If you feel he can be a loving and caring owner to the same species that he hunts and kills for pleasure, that is your right and that is YOUR opinion. Even if I had visited the cattery and did not know about any of this, what I saw there may or may not represent the true person. It is not difficult for a person to pretend to be someone that they are not for a few hours especially if they are going to make a financial gain.
If there is no conflict of interest and if there is nothing wrong with what he does then why did he remove all of the pics that show him holding the caracal he murdered from his business site and why did he make his pics private on FB. Simple because he has been exposed! He knows that people know what he is all about and he is getting a lot of flack from cat lovers everywhere and it is well deserved. He needs to put the cattery up for sale and let someone who honestly cares and loves the breed take it over.
That comment was in reply to another posting, Michael, I do apologize for the confusion.
Secondly, please don’t be so confused as to think that I actually meant to call you a friend…I was using sarcasm to emphasize a point. I would never be friends with someone so quick to judge others based on one aspect of their life in the absence of any other research.
I do think, however, you should stop trying to force your opinions on your readers as facts. Hunting nowadays is big business all over the world, and the fact that you don’t like that doesn’t make it any less true.
You’re right. The nine people on this page have a grudge against sport hunters, that has become abundantly clear. I’m sorry you’re too judgmental of others to make a determination for yourself based on actual communication rather than posted pictures. As for breed preservation: what do any of his trophies have to do with the degradation of the savannah breed? Is there some link between the water buffalo and the Serval that I am unaware of? Even the Caracal is not a part of the breed, but merely genetically related…and with as much of a percentage as humans are to apes.
Please, stop trying to hide your prejudices against others as concern for the cats. If you were concerned for the animals, as you say you are, you would be doing more than judging the current owners on the internet.
It was not me who misspelled copyright.
Firstl, I did not make that assumption. I said a hunter can’t be sensitive to cats, which is more common sense to be honest. And if it is an opinion, I am entitled to make one on my own website. Lastly I am not your friend, clearly not.
I think you should stop trying to defend the indefensible. I mean hunting nowadays is madness considering how most wild cat species are becoming gradually extinct in the wild due to human activity. How can you defend this person?