Kruger Park e-Times

August 2009 - e2

BioBoundary
Keeps Wild Dogs
in Unfenced
Reserve

Crocodile
Deaths
Continue
in Kruger

Forensics Help
Fight Ivory
Fraudsters

African Village Dogs Are Genetically Much

More Diverse than Modern Breeds
photo: Lynette Strauss
 Newsclips Why People Visit Parks? Do the
CITES Says Yes to
Answers Matter to Management?
Shooting of More
Elephants “Why travel motivations and socio-de- research identifies six motives for tourists
mographics matter in managing a National travelling to the Addo Elephant National
Park” by authors Melville Saayman and Park; these are nature, activities, family and
The International Convention Andrea Saayman is an article, published socialisation, escape, attractions and pho-
on Trade in Endangered Species by Koedoe, which highlights the extent to tography. The research found that a com-
(CITES) has authorised an increase which socio-demographic and behavioural bination of socio-demographic and moti-
in the number of elephants Mozam- and motivational indicators influence the vational factors influences visitor spending
bique is allowed to kill from 40 to 60 spending of tourists to the park. A bet- decisions.
per year. ter understanding of the latter could help Added to this, the research confirms that
Agriculture minister Soares Nhaca marketers and planners to increase the eco- tourist attractions, including national parks,
told AIM that he welcomed this in- nomic impact of a park. differ from one another and that the vari-
crease, since it will make it somewhat The Addo Elephant National Park is one ables that influence spending therefore also
easier for the government to man- of only a few national parks in the world differ.
age conflicts between wild life and that offers the Big 7 experience and is there- In order for national parks to fulfil their
humans. Elephants in particular can fore one of South Africa’s prime tourism conservation mandate, they require fund-
have a devastating impact on crops. destinations. The park plays an important ing. One of the main sources of income
Nhaca said the government can role in the regional economy and has be- for national parks is tourist spending. This
now, with CITES approval, shoot come a hub for tourism development. article identifies the socio-demographic and
problem animals, and because this Since 2001, surveys have been conducted motivational factors that influence tourist
culling is authorised, the trophies can among tourists to the park and have includ- spending. Hence, park management can
be legally exported. ed a number use these results in order to market and cre-
“The decision also means that we of socio-demographic, behavioural and ate opportunities for tourists to spend more
can increase the government’s capac- motivational questions. In this analysis, 537 thereby benefiting conservation directly.
ity to train wardens for various parks questionnaires were used. The methodol- Url: http://www.koedoe.co.za/index.
and wild life reserves”, he added. ogy used includes factor analysis, cross-sec- php/koedoe/index For more information
A further measure taken to try and tional regression analysis and pseudo-panel contact, Liezel Grunewald, title operations
keep wild life and people apart is to data analysis to determine and compare coordinator, KOEDOE - African Protected
fence elephant migration routes. Ac- possible influences on spending. The Area Conservation and Science.
cording to Tourism Minister Fernan-
do Sumbana, work is now under way
to build fencing along the elephant
migration corridor that leads to the
Maputo Special Reserve in the far
south of the country. He expected the
work to be finished this year.
A similar strategy is being tried in
the far north of the country, to keep
the animals of the Quirimbas Na-
tional Park out of the fields of local
farmers. Here community hunters
have been trained to protect people
living near the park.
Of all the country’s large animals,
the one responsible for most human
deaths is certainly the crocodile. The
government plans to fence off certain
river areas, so that people can fetch
water there without the risk of a croc-
odile attack.
The strategy also envisages selected
shooting of crocodiles, and the col-
lection of crocodile eggs, which can
then be incubated in crocodile farms. The Kruger Park e-Times is published regularly to keep you uodated on
Allafrica.com conservation, science, sustainable development and tourism issues in
and around South Africa’s national parks, transfrontier parks and other
environmental hotspots. Send your comments and contributions to: kru-
gerparktimes@vectorbb.co.za

kruger park times - 2 - kruger park times

BioBoundary Confines Wild Dogs
Craig Jackson
The endangered African wild dog was
historically distributed throughout much
of sub-Saharan Africa, but due to direct
persecution and habitat loss, very few vi-
able populations remain. Wild dogs have
very large territories that range in size from
350 – 1000km2. In the southern African
bushveld, territories in the region of 500
– 600km2 are more
common. As a result
of these extensive ter-
ritories, wild dogs oc-
cur at low densities.
Conserving this wide-
ranging species is thus
very difficult, and re-
quires very large pro-
tected area. The only
self-sustaining and vi-
able wild dog popula-
tion in South Africa
occurs in the Greater
Kruger National Park
ecosystem. The re-
mainder are scattered
across the country
in several smaller re-
serves that are fenced
and geographically
isolated. As a result,
this precludes natural
dispersal events (both
emigration and im-
migration) that play
a fundamental role in wild dog population
dynamics. Consequently, intensive manage-
ment is required to manage these meta-
populations, necessitating periodic translo-
cations to supplement gene pools. This is
difficult and not always successful.
The Northern Tuli Game Reserve
(NTGR) in eastern Botswana is largely un-
fenced and borders South Africa and Zim-
babwe. The reserve is scheduled to form
part of the greater Shashe-Limpopo Trans-
frontier Conservation Area. Several dispers-
ing wild dogs have been seen in the reserve
over the past couple of years. Dispersing
animals are usually single-sex groups that
leave their natal packs in search of other
wild dogs. They form a new pack with dogs
of the opposite sex, and in this way mate
with unrelated individuals. Since there has
not been a resident pack of wild dogs on the
NTGR for several decades, dispersing wild
kruger park times - 3 - kruger park times
dogs merely move through the NTGR and bouring packs probed and later filled the
do not become resident. territorial voids. This sparked the idea of
In November 2007, 18 wild dogs were using scent marks to limit the ranging be-
moved to the NTGR and later released in haviour of wild dogs.
April 2008. The overall goal of the proj- Prior to the release of the pack on the
ect was to establish a resident pack on the NTGR, scent marks were collected from
reserve. Since dispersing dogs still pass one of McNutt’s study packs, frozen, and
through the reserve periodically, it is envis- flown down to the reserve. These were
aged that a resident pack will facilitate the strategically placed towards the periphery
formation of new wild dog packs in the of the reserve in an attempt to create ar-
tificial territories.
We refer to this as
the BioBoundary: a
biologically relevant
boundary. This nov-
el experiment has
had great success,
with the pack still
on the reserve more
than a year after re-
lease. The dogs have
successfully raised
12 pups and will
shortly have second
litter of pups.
What makes
the achievements
even more remark-
able is the fact that
the relocated pack
was removed from
Marakele National
Park after repeated-
ly breaking through
the perimeter fenc-
ing and moving into
region. Since these would be free ranging the neighbouring farming areas. Several
packs, they would not necessitate the inten- dogs were in fact shot on one of these for-
sive management associated with South Af- ays.
rica’s meta-populations. The second part of the BioBoundary ex-
This conservation opportunity presents periment is underway at BPCT’s head of-
itself as a result of the open ecosystem (no fice in Maun, northern Botswana. A labo-
fences). How could one then open the en- ratory has been set up and in an attempt to
closure’s gates and merely expect a pack of unravel the key volatile odorants found in
wild dogs, capable of travelling hundreds the scent marks and that are responsible for
of kilometres, to become resident on the communicating territoriality. This complex
reserve? component of the project is headed up by
In natural free-ranging populations, Dr Peter Apps, and the project is still in the
packs have large yet well-defined terri- early stages of development. Should these
tories. Boundaries are communicated to compounds be identified, they can be pro-
neighbours using urine and faecal mark- duced synthetically, making the deployment
ings. Dr J.W. “Tico” McNutt, director of of scent in the field far more feasible. This
the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust groundbreaking approach would have great
(BPCT), first noticed the long-lasting effects significance for the management of not
of these scent marks in 1996 when four of only wild dogs, but other carnivores and
his ten study packs died after an outbreak of territorial species.
rabies. It took several months before neigh- photo: Conrad de Rosner
 Newsclips
Disease Killing Fish
in Zambezi River
A deadly disease devastating fish
stocks in Africa’s Zambezi River ba-
sin and threatening the livelihoods
and access to food of millions of rural
people could soon reach other parts
of the continent, the United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) warned.
The most affected country is Zam-
bia, covering two-thirds of the basin’s
almost 1.4 million square kilometres,
with over 2,000 villages and some
7,000 people now at risk of hunger
as fish is a major source of income in
many rural districts and the cheapest
source of protein, said FAO.
The disease, called Epizootic Ul-
cerative Syndrome (EUS), is caused
by a fungus forming deep lesions on
fish and results in high mortality rates.
Although fish infected with EUS
do not normally pose a threat to
humans, the ugly lacerations ren-
der them unmarketable, threatening
some 25 million people dependent on
agriculture or fishing and fish farm-
ing in the Zambezi River basin with
serious economic loss.
“If not properly contained there
is the risk of the disease spreading
to other countries surrounding the
Zambezi River as well as river sys-
tems in the region,” said Rohana
Subasinghe, FAO Senior Fishery Re-
sources Officer.
Indications are that EUS, which
was first confirmed in Africa in 2007,
is spreading both upstream and
downstream of the Zambezi and risks
taking hold in other parts of Africa,
FAO said in a news release.
Since 2007, FAO has bolstered
defenses in the seven Zambezi River
basin countries – Angola, Botswana,
Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia,
Zambia and Zimbabwe – against the
disease, with measures including basic
diagnosis, targeted surveillance and
aquatic animal health management.
In cooperation with the World Or-
ganization for Animal Health (OIE),
FAO is establishing a programme to
strengthen institutional and human
ability for managing aquatic animal
health in the wild in the affected
Southern African countries.
kruger park times - 4- kruger park times
Elephants Don’t Always Keep
It in the Family
In elephant society, nothing is more im-
portant than family. From traveling packs
of mothers and calves to larger groups that
contain aunts and cousins, all segments of
the creature’s complex social structure are
typically composed of relatives. But what
happens when these populations are deci-
mated by humans? Robert Koenig,  Scien-
ceNOW Daily News, reports that new re-
search reveals that elephants sometimes
bring in non-kin to keep their social groups
viable.
The finding is based on a survey of about
400 elephants living in Kenya’s Samburu
National Reserve. The elephants are part
of a larger population that lost three-quar-
ters of its members to ivory poachers in the
1970s. Today, the group remains vulnerable
to illegal killing by nomadic tribes, farmers,
and others.
Curious about how such devastation has
affected the social structure of the Samburu
elephants, conservation biologist George
Wittemyer of Colorado State University
in Fort Collins and colleagues studied the
creatures for 5 years. They pinpointed the
elephants’ genetic relationships to each
other by sequencing DNA from fresh dung
samples. The researchers found that when
they looked at the largest groupings of el-
ephants in this society--so-called “clan” and
“bond” groups--many of the elephants had
opened up to include nonrelatives.
Wittemyer, whose team reports its find-
ings today in the Proceedings of the Royal
Society B, says the elephants may be willing
to accept nonrelatives into their group to
ensure they have the critical mass needed to
gather food and protect themselves. “The
results indicate that the illegal killing of el-
ephants can erode the genetic basis for their
social structure but does not necessarily
destabilize their social organization.” Co-
author Iain Douglas-Hamilton, an Oxford
University zoologist who also directs the
Kenya-based Save the Elephants charity,
says the research “helps us to understand
the extent to which an elephant society is
disrupted by ongoing mortality from poach-
ing but can yet adapt and recover.”
Still, wildlife biologist Kathleen Go-
bush, who studied elephant groups as part
of the University of Washington’s Center
for Conservation Biology, says that mixing
with nonrelatives can come with “real long-
term costs.” Gobush and colleagues found
similar nonkinship elephant groups in a
shorter-term study of elephants in Tanza-
nia’s Mikumi National Park, where poach-
ers killed three-quarters of the elephants
before the 1989 ban on the ivory trade. In
a separate study about to be published, Go-
bush also found evidence that such mixing
causes “significant behavioral differences”
between elephant groups of kin in contrast
to groups of non-kin. For example, she says,
mixed groups showed aggressive behavior
at water holes more often than groups com-
posed solely of kin.
Other elephant experts say they are in-
trigued by the findings but would like to see
similar studies in other populations. Ecolo-
gist Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell of Stanford
University in Palo Alto, California, stud-
ies elephants in Namibia and says that “it
would be great to get this kind of data from
other disturbed populations to see if the
pattern is consistent or just a local phenom-
enon that could have other explanations.”
Source:sciencenow.sciencemag.org
Crocodile Deaths Continue in the
Olifants River
The mysterious crocodile killer that
prowled the Olifants River at the onset of
winter last year in the Kruger National Park
has returned.
So far this year, rangers and scientists have
found close to 30 dead and many other sick
crocodiles in the Olifants and Sabie Rivers
in the park. Helicopter surveys showed that
there are a total of 385 crocodiles in the
Olifants Gorge and lower Letaba River.
“Our research has shown that these croc-
odile mortalities are now a recurrent prob-
lem that is likely to occur every winter. If
mortalities continue at this rate, there will
be very few crocodiles in the lower Olifants
and Letaba rivers by 2010,” added SAN-
Parks’ head of department: scientific ser-
vices, Danie Pienaar.
Following these latest deaths, KNP re-
searchers and rangers call for more collab-
orative efforts to ensure that South African
rivers are clear of pollution.
“It is unlikely that management actions
which are taken inside the KNP can solve
this problem. One would need a much
larger and overarching restoration pro-
gram for the entire Olifants River system,
which should focus on issues such as acid
mine drainage, agricultural pesticides and
fertiliser use, sewerage treatment and indus-
trial and household sources of pollution,”
said Pienaar.
During May 2008, crocodiles in the Oli-
fants River gorge in the Kruger National
Park started dying, with a mortality rate of
20 crocodiles per week reached during June
and July. A total of 170 crocodile carcasses
had been recorded by late November 2008.
Post mortem examinations revealed yellow-
orange coloured, hardened fat in the tails
and abdomen – a condition known as pans-
teatitis.
Researchers analysed water, sediments,
fish and crocodile tissue samples for poten-
kruger park times - 5 - kruger park times
tial toxins and chemi-
cal compounds at lab-
oratories, both locally
and around the world,
and although many
heavy metals, agricul-
tural pesticides, fertil-
izers, organic waste
and persistent organic
pollutants (POPs) were
detected, none were
found to be above lev-
els where adverse ef-
fects are expected and were therefore not
individually responsible for poisoning the
crocodiles.
An initiative, known as the Consortium
for the Restoration of the Olifants Catch-
ment (CROC) was established in order to
establish a clear cause-effect relationship
and it became increasingly clear that the
death of all these crocodiles was symptom-
atic of serious and growing environmental
problems in the Olifants River system. This
multi-institutional collaborative research
program includes representatives from
SANParks, national government depart-
ments, including the Department of Water
& Environmental Affairs, CSIR, research
organisations, universities, independent
consultants, NGOs and the Water Research
Commission.
CROCs research focus centred on further
analysis of the water and sediment, fish pa-
thology, water chemistry and algal composi-
tion of the river water, the population dy-
namics of the crocodiles in the Olifants and
Letaba river systems, clinical blood param-
eters of the affected crocodiles in compari-
son to unaffected crocodiles, invertebrate
and fish population dynamics and research
into populations of fish-eating birds.
Some of the findings have included the
fact that invertebrate species numbers have
halved compared to 20 years ago, the river
has changed from being a free-flowing river
with diverse habitats to a standing water
body thanks to the back-flooding caused
by the raised Massingir Dam wall in Mo-
zambique, numerous pollutants are pres-
ent in the water and sediment although
the levels of these pollutants are relatively
low, toxic blue-green algae (Microcystis spp)
and dinoflagellate (Ceratium spp) which
cause red-tide in marine environments are
present, fish species such as barbell (Clar-
ias gariepinus) show hyperplastic pale gills,
liver pathology and some show signs of ste-
atitis in their fat and the fact that crocodiles
in the Olifants River already show lower
levels of antioxidants than crocodiles found
in other water sources.
“We will continue to burn all crocodile
carcasses that we find as this seems to limit
the spread of disease and will also continue
our monitoring of the crocodile popula-
tions which includes marking crocodiles
with VHF down-load transmitters, colour-
coded tags and both daytime aerial surveys
and night spotlight counts. Long term water
quality data, collected as part of DWEA’s
national monitoring programs, will be eval-
uated to facilitate a better understanding of
the status quo of the Olifants River. These
monitoring programs include the National
Toxicity Monitoring Programme, National
Chemical Monitoring Programme and the
National Eutrophication Monitoring Pro-
gramme, amongst others,” said Pienaar.
Pienaar concluded by saying that the
crocodiles dying in the KNP are a clear
alarm call that we can not continue to pol-
lute our water sources as we have done for
the past several decades.
photos: Danie Pienaar
and Andrew Deacon
 Newsclips
Bird Guides Trained
BirdLife South Africa’s Kruger
to Canyons Birding Route recently
completed the training and assess-
ments of thirteen of its trainee bird
guides at Sunbird Lodge in Phalabor-
wa. All trainees initially underwent
a one-month-long training course at
Wakkerstroom in Mpumalanga. The
week in Phalaborwa started off with
a brief two-day theoretical refresher
course presented by Antares Field
Guide Training Centre. The trainees
had time to ask questions and iron
out any uncertainties before the ex-
amination on Wednesday.
The majority of the trainee bird
guides on the Kruger to Canyons
Bird Route are currently unem-
ployed. With the successful comple-
tion of the training course, they will
not only attain two accredited guid-
ing unit standards, a level one first aid
certificate and a basic guiding kit, but
subsequently have the opportunity to
apply their new skills in the tourism
industry and find a permanent job for
the very first time.
It is hoped that these trainees will
follow in the footsteps of Abel Eras-
mus Pass based bird guide, Michael
Kumako. The pass is a gateway to the
central lowveld area and hosts some
of the best raptor birding along the
Kruger to Canyons Birding Route.
The many lay byes near the tunnel
also offer an excellent opportunity
to scan the surrounding cliffs and
forest for special birds. This is Mi-
chael’s office from where he has been
able to create a sustainable livelihood
for himself with some help from,
amongst others, the rare Taita Fal-
cons.
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African Village Dogs Are
Genetically Much More
Diverse than Modern Breeds
African village dogs are not a mixture of
modern breeds but have directly descended
from an ancestral pool of indigenous dogs,
according to a Cornell-led genetic analysis
of hundreds of semi-feral African village
dogs.
That means that village dogs from most
African regions are genetically distinct from
non-native breeds and mixed-breed dogs.
They also are more genetically diverse be-
cause they have not been subjected to strict
breeding, which artificially selects genes
and narrows breeds’ gene pools.
Dog domestication
The study, published online August, 3
2009 in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, sheds light on the
poorly understood history of dog domesti-
cation.
Future work may help explain the tim-
ing and locations of dog domestication and
how dogs have adapted to the African en-
vironment, human settlements and dietary
shifts.
“The genes of modern breeds all cluster
together in one little group, but the Afri-
can village dogs we sampled show much
greater diversity genetically,” said lead au-
thor Adam Boyko, a research associate in
the lab of Carlos Bustamante, the paper’s
senior author and a professor of biological
statistics and computational biology.
Field researchers from the University of
California-Davis, who are part of the Cor-
nell-based Village Dog Genetic Diversity
Project, and others, including local veteri-
narians, sampled 318 village dogs from sev-
en regions in Egypt, Uganda and Namibia.
They also looked at breed dogs, includ-
ing those reputed to be from Africa, Puerto
Rican dogs and mixed-breed dogs from the
United States.
Researchers and veterinarians also col-
lected photos and information on weight,
age, coat color and body measurements and
sent blood samples for analysis to the Ca-
nine DNA Bank at the Baker Institute for
Animal Health, part of Cornell’s College
of Veterinary Medicine, which maintains a
growing DNA archive of dogs worldwide.
Mosaic of indigenous
and non-native mixed-
breed dogs
Boyko, Bustamante and colleagues used
a computer program to track genetic diver-
sity in the samples.
They found that the African village dogs
are a mosaic of indigenous dogs descended
from early migrants to Africa and non-na-
tive mixed-breed dogs. Such reputed Afri-
can breeds as Pharaoh hounds and 
Rho-
desian ridgebacks clustered with non-native
dogs, suggesting they originated from out-
side of Africa.
A previous study of village dog genetics
confirmed that domesticated dogs likely
originated from Eurasian wolves some
15,000 to 40,000 years ago, and reported
that East Asian village dogs had more ge-
netic diversity than any others sampled for
the study, suggesting that dogs were first do-
mesticated in East Asia.
But the African village dogs analyzed in
this study revealed similar genetic diversity,
which raises doubt on the claim that dogs
were first domesticated in East Asia.
As the group continues to collect sam-
ples from worldwide locations, including
the Americas, the researchers will explore
where modern breeds originated and how
much genetic diversity has been lost with
the development of modern breeds.
The researchers are interested in working
with dog owners and local veterinarians to
get more DNA samples of dogs from re-
mote corners of the world.
For more information: http://villagedo-
gs.canmap.org
Co-authors included Heidi Parker and
Elaine Ostrander, geneticists at the National
Human Genome Research Institute; Rory
Todhunter, a professor of clinical sciences
in Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medi-
cine; and Paul Jones, a genetics researcher
at the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition in
the United Kingdom, among others.
The study was funded by Cornell’s Cen-
ter for Vertebrate Genomics, Department
of Clinical Sciences and Baker Institute of
Animal Health; the National Institutes of
Health; and the National Science Founda-
tion.
 Kruger National Park: newsclips
It’s War
SA National Parks has declared war on
poachers and warns it is going to win the
fight.
“Poachers must beware because we will
seek them out, we will find them and they
will be dealt with. This is a war that we
plan on winning,” SANParks head David
Mabunda told a media briefing at Skuku-
za in the Kruger National Park (KNP) on
Thursday, according to a statement sent to
Sapa. Mabunda said the KNP had lost 26
white rhino and one black rhino to poach-
ers since the beginning of this year.
The KNP would be using R2m - received
from the Parks Development Fund - to in-
crease the number of rangers in SANParks’
flagship reserve.
“The funds will be used to employ 57
more rangers, increasing the number of
motorbikes, and... [for] purchasing a state
of the art crime information management
system, all of which will increase visibility
on the ground and improve our anti-poach-
ing efforts.” Mabunda welcomed govern-
ment’s decision to return the army to pa-
trolling the KNP’s eastern boundary, which
coincides with South Africa’s national bor-
der with Mozambique.
“The exit of the military three years ago
had created even more pressure on the work
of the rangers,” he said.
- SAPA
Moving Kruger’s Border
so Hunters Can Kill
Mike Cadman,  reports in the Sunday
Independent  of July 12, that South Af-
rican National Parks (SANParks) is plan-
ning to move a 48km section of the world-
renowned Kruger National Park’s (KNP)
western boundary fence to create a new
150km2 contract park specifically to allow
trophy hunting.
The southern African director for the
International Fund for Animal Welfare
(Ifaw) Jason Bell-Leask said the plan to cre-
ate a new hunting area is an issue of “grave
concern”.”This cannot be disguised as any-
thing but a green light for hunting in the
KNP, which makes no ecological, biological,
ethical or economic sense,” Bell-Leask said.
“Kruger animals will be hunted if this deal,
in its current form, proceeds”. Legalised
trophy hunting in provincial and private re-
serves that share unfenced boundaries with
kruger park times - 7 - kruger park times
Kruger has intensified in the past year, with
two new concessions being opened in the
Makuya and Mthimkulu provincial parks
in Limpopo.The exclusive Associated Pri-
vate Nature Reserves (Timbavati, Klaserie,
Umbabat and Balule), which are part of the
Greater Kruger National Park, were also in
2008/2009 granted their highest ever el-
ephant and buffalo trophy quotas.To create
the new hunting area, which lies north of
Phalaborwa between the Klein Letaba and
Shingwidzi Rivers, SANParks will have to
move the existing boundary fence, much of
which has recently been upgraded at a cost
of R270 000 a kilometre, about 3km to the
west.A new fence, which must be able to
contain elephant, is likely to cost consider-
ably more to build than the existing fence.
Sanparks Corrects
Double Booking 2010
Following a system error in the booking
of accommodation for the June / July 2010
period in the Kruger National Park, South
African National Parks has managed to
make alternative arrangements for accom-
modating virtually all of the 17 affected
customers. The affected customers’ book-
ings were accepted into the reservation sys-
tem despite the allocated units having been
already committed to a blocked booking
arrangement made with MATCH for the
accommodation of international customers
that will be visiting South Africa during the
2010 World Cup.
According to Sydney Soundy, SANParks
Chief Operating Officer, the system error
was picked up early in the process, which
allowed the organization to rectify the situ-
ation before it affected more than the 17
customers. “Virtually all 17 affected cus-
tomers were contacted and offered alterna-
tive camping sites within the Kruger Na-
tional Park, with the exception of the two
Gauteng families customers who refused al-
ternative accommodation offered to them,
and have instead taken their unhappiness to
the media. We still want to find mutually ac-
ceptable solutions to these customers as far
as are practically possible.”
Kruger Park Land Claims
The government is likely to pay as much
as R20 billion to settle just 30 land claims
for 400 000 hectares of Kruger National
Park land situated in Mpumalanga and
Limpopo reports Slindile Khanyile in Busi-
ness Report.
Blessing Mphela, the chief land claims
commissioner, described this amount as
a conservative estimate, though it is the
equivalent that the commission spent on
settling 75 400 claims over 10 years.
Briefing journalists on July 22, about the
progress made so far on the land restitution
process, Mphela said the final figure spent
on this claim would depend on currency
fluctuations and land value at the time of
finalisation.
The land claims commission was con-
ducting research and a decision was yet to
be taken on whether the claim would be set-
tled through financial compensation or re-
turning the land to the claimants, or wheth-
er both mechanisms would be applied.
“There seems to be a trend that the land
value is low when the sale is person to per-
son but much higher when it is person to
state. This is speculation at the moment and
we are investigating,” said Mphela. No one
is opposing the claims involving the Kruger
National Park.
source: http://www.busrep.co.za/
Archaeological Research
at Sabi Bridge Post in
KNP
An archaeological excursion will again
be conducted at one of the outposts of the
Steinaecker’s Horse unit in the Kruger Na-
tional Park (KNP) from 2 - 15 August 2009.
This time it will be the site at Sabi Bridge,
close to Skukuza.
The project is lead by historical archae-
ologist; Dr. Anton van Vollenhoven and is
undertaken by the research department of
Archaetnos Archaeologists, of which he is
one of the directors. Various students from
different universities partake in the excava-
tions every year.
The aim of the Archaetnos Research De-
partment is to do archaeological and histor-
ical research. The Steinaecker’s Horse proj-
ect is now running for its twelfth year. The
project is not funded by the South African
National Parks (SANParks), but they assist
in some of the logistical matters relating to
the research.
The Steinaecker’s Horse project was
launched in 1997. The current phase will
last until 2010.
 Newsclips
Help Monitor Life on
Earth
Scientists asked people around the
world to help compile an internet-
based observatory of life on earth as
a guide to everything from the impact
of climate change on wildlife to pests
that can damage crops.
“I would hope that ... we might
even have millions of people provid-
ing data” in the long term, James Ed-
wards, head of the Encyclopaedia of
Life (EOL) based at the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington, told Re-
uters of the 10-year project.
He said scientific organisations
were already working to link up
thousands of computer databases of
animals and plants into a one-stop
“virtual observatory” that could be
similar to global systems for monitor-
ing the weather or earthquakes.
People in many countries already
log observations on the internet,
ranging from sightings of rare birds
in Canada to the dates on which flow-
ers bloom in spring in Australia.
The new system, when up and run-
ning, would link up the disparate sites.
About 400 biology and technol-
ogy experts from 50 countries met in
London from June 1-3 at an “e-Bio-
sphere” conference organised by the
EOL to discuss the plans. The EOL
is separately trying to describe the
world’s species online.
“This would be a free system that
everyone can access and contrib-
ute to,” said Norman MacLeod,
keeper of palaeontology at the
Natural History Museum in Lon-
don which is hosting the talks.
Edwards said a biodiversity overview
could have big economic benefits,
for instance an unusual insect found
in a garden might be an insect pest
brought unwittingly in a grain ship-
ment that could disrupt local agricul-
ture. Among health benefits could be
understanding any shifts in the rang-
es of malaria-carrying mosquitoes
linked to global warming, Edwards
said, “Within 10 years, scientists say
they could have an efficient and ef-
fective way of tracking changes over
time in the range and abundance of
plants and animals as worldwide tem-
perature and precipitation patterns
shift,” a statement said.
- Reuters
kruger park times - 8 - kruger park times
Forensics Help Fight Ivory
Fraudsters
The forensic technique of carbon dating for example, that a piece of ivory dates
can now be used to help catch law-breaking from after 1947, meaning it’s illegal. This
ivory dealers. It’s not illegal to buy and sell scientific evidence should make it much
antique ivory products – as long as the ivory harder for illegal traders to evade prosecu-
in question dates back to before 1947. tion – and will hopefully help break the il-
As you can imagine, there’s no shortage licit poaching and trading cycle.
of people willing to swear their products The Forensic Analysis Fund was set up in
are over the required age (even deliber- 2008 to finance forensic techniques needed
ately ‘ageing’ the appearance) in order to to investigate and prosecute people for wild-
make a sale. It’s a loophole that has helped life crime. The fund is financially supported
maintain the illegal
ivory trade. Before
now, the only way
to estimate the age
of animal parts was
to employ an expert
with a skilled eye,
which was not al-
ways enough for a
successful prosecu-
tion.
But it’s been dis-
covered that by ap-
plying the forensic
testing technique of
radio carbon dat-
ing, we can prove if an ivory product is pre- by WWF, TRACE (the wildlife forensics
or post- the 1947 watershed, and therefore network), the RSPB and the DEFRA. With-
legal or not. The scientific test accurately out this funding, tests like this wouldn’t be
measures levels of radioactive carbon-14 in given priority within the limited budgets of
the ivory – an element that significantly in- the police and customs, and prosecutions
creased in the environment (and in the cells wouldn’t be taken forward.
of all living organisms) when nuclear bomb WWF’s Eyes and Ears Initiative asks the
tests started in the early 1950s. Alarming public to report any suspicious activities, in
but true. the UK or abroad, which might be linked to
This means any animal born since 1950 the illegal trade in wildlife. Reports can be
will display the tell-tale high levels of car- made by calling 01483 426111.
bon-14 – and would coincidentally prove, photo: Jacques Goosen, Sanhu
International Elephant Conservation and
Research Symposium
The International Elephant Foundation Call for papers: Please submit your ab-
and the National Zoological Gardens of stracts by 31 October 2009. For more infor-
South Africa announced that the Interna- mation, please visit the website at www.nzg.
tional Elephant Conservation and Research ac.za/iecrs
Symposium will be held from 27 - 30 Janu-
ary 2010 at Kwalata Game Ranch in South
Africa. The symposium will concentrate on
the research and conservation needs of cap-
tive and wild populations of elephants. We
invite researchers from around the world to
present conservation projects and research
results on human-elephant conflict, popula-
tion management, health, nutrition, repro-
duction and behavior.
Land Repossessions Threaten
Hundreds of Black Farmers
Hundreds of South Africa’s emerging
black commercial farmers could face evic-
tion in the next few months because of their
inability to service government loans to buy
the properties, granted under the land re-
form programme.
In July the state-owned Land Bank, which
provides financing and advice to black
farmers and is pivotal in addressing racially
skewed land ownership, told parliament
that more than 350 farms would have to
be repossessed if the non-payment of loans
continued.
The bank said it was losing R100 million
(about US$13 million) a month as a con-
sequence of unpaid loans and had repos-
sessed 25 farms in the second half of 2008,
of which six were owned by emerging black
farmers. A moratorium on repossessions for
several years had served only to allow the
debts of struggling farmers to mount.
The moratorium was lifted in July 2008
when oversight of the Land Bank - mired in
financial scandals - was moved from the De-
partment of Agriculture and Land Affairs
to the finance ministry.
However, the Western Cape provincial
president of the National African Farmers
Union (NAFU), Willy Williams, said the
Land Bank and government were as much
to blame for the situation as the struggling
farmers, because they failed to provide ad-
equate support to the new farmers.
  “Our members face many challenges
when getting started, and many of these re-
volve around a lack of expertise in running
a modern farm. The state is responsible for
providing training in this area, but it does
not have the capacity to deliver it on time,”
he said.
 Lack of support
“There is also an issue around the high
cost of land in the Western Cape, because
the state does not provide enough money to
cover the cost of purchasing the land and
the initial working capital needed to run a
farm.”
Kallie Geslin, 38, and Charles Pietersen,
42, were part of a group of 74 emerging
black commercial farmers who secured
government and Land Bank loans of R4.6
million (about $600,000) in 2003 to buy a
Western Cape wine farm under the land re-
kruger park times - 9 - kruger park times
form programme.
The men had been brought up on wine
farms in the region and said agriculture was
“in their veins”, but their dream of operat-
ing a successful enterprise was over by 2008,
when the Land Bank repossessed their 205
hectare farm near the town of Paarl be-
cause of arrears.
Although they had practical experience
of working the land in their youth, they did
not have the technical expertise or manage-
ment skills necessary to operate a commer-
cial farm.
“When we started to work the farm in
2004 we did not have the skills or the work-
ing capital to get us through the beginning.
We had to sell our first crop to get operating
money, but we did not get enough,” Geslin
said.
  “This caused a lot of infighting in our
group, as some people wanted an income
from the sale of our crop rather than rein-
vesting it in the farm - they did not under-
stand we needed to put the money back into
the business. Because the ownership of the
land was allocated as a share to individuals,
everyone had the same rights. This made it
very difficult to make the right decisions for
the business.”
The men said the management skills
training “also came very late, and by the
time we began training it was too late to
save the business - we were already in trou-
ble. The farm has now been sold back to a
white farmer,” Geslin said.
NAFU’s Williams said about 40 percent
of the emerging black commercial farm-
ers in the Western Cape were struggling to
make ends meet, and many of the ventures
were group initiatives, which had been gov-
ernment’s preferred option.
  “We find the emerging black farmers
who are most successful are involved in the
equity scheme - this is where an existing
farmer sells a portion of their land to an
employee and remains involved in the busi-
ness, helping with expertise,” he said.
 Small-scale farming the
answer
Ben Cousins, Director of the Institute
for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies
(PLAAS), told IRIN that farmers experi-
encing difficulties were badly advised by the
Land Bank in terms of the size of the loans
they should secure.
“Profitable farming is not so easy in
South Africa, given that arable land and
proper water are scarce. The input prices
[production costs] have also been rising far
more quickly than the output price [sales
price] recently, which is increasing the pres-
sure in a market already squeezed by fierce
competition,” he said.
  “So I think many of these farmers in
trouble received bad advice [from the Land
Bank and department of agriculture], and
were given loans way beyond what they
could repay.”
Cousins said there was a strong argument
that government should make small-scale
farmers the primary beneficiaries of their
land reform policy because the chances of
success were much better.
  “Land reform has been a big disaster
story because of the high failure rates. Gov-
ernment officials contend that beneficiaries
should mostly be emerging black commer-
cial farmers rather than smaller-scale oper-
ators, but these can be highly productive,”
he said.
 “They do not need major bank loans to
work, but rather innovative forms of financ-
ing that are supported by the NGO sector
in terms of advice and expertise.”
© IRIN. All rights reserved.
Anthrax Bacteria Conspire with
Viruses to Stay Alive
The brute force of Bacillus anthracis, the earthworm could play an important role in up completely new strategies to combat an-
ancient scourge that causes anthrax, can the life cycle of the deadly pest. For the first thrax infection, says Fischetti.
sweep through and overpower a two-ton time, Shuch and Fischetti have now con- This isn’t the first time that Fischetti and
animal in under 72 hours. But when it firmed Pasteur’s early hunch. They found Schuch have seen that bacteriophages can
isn’t busy claiming livestock and humans that in the gut of the earthworm, B. anthra- affect the survival of B. anthracis. In 2006
throughout the world -- up to 100,000 an- cis infected with a type of virus, known as they showed that infected anthrax-causing
nually -- it resides ominously in the soil as a a bacteriophage, live longer than virus-free bacteria become more resistant to a natural
spore waiting for its next victim. Research- bacteria. The gut of the earthworm, they antibiotic found in the soil. The new studies
ers at Rockefeller University now reveal that surmised, provides the infected bacteria now go further, showing how these survival
this deadly bacterium isn’t the only master with a safe niche in which to exist. capabilities are not just affected by bacterio-
of its fate. Its survival is directed and shaped The researchers further show that in both phages but actually depend on them.
by the DNA of bacteria-infecting viruses in the gut of the earthworm and the stark Bacteriophages, the researchers found,
what appears to be an evolutionary contract confines of a Petri dish, viruses can alter exert their control via molecules known as
written to benefit both parties. the lifestyle of B. anthracis in two principal sigma factors, which delegate proteins to
The research, led by Vincent A. Fischetti, ways. One is associated with the ability to turn specific host genes on or off. Different
head of the Laborato- build communi- viruses encode different sigma factors, so
ry of Bacterial Patho- ties, the state in the appearance of different traits depends
genesis and Immunol- The secret life of anthrax-causing which bacteria on which virus infects the bacterium. While
ogy, and Raymond bacteria emerged from a seemingly prefer to live the DNA of some bacteriophages gets in-
Schuch, a research as- innocuous observation made by in the environ- corporated into the bacterium’s single
sistant professor in the Louis Pasteur more than 100 years ment; the other chromosome, the DNA of others exists as
lab, revamps the way ago. The famous bacteriologist affects the bacte- separate circular entities called episomes.
scientists think about found that earthworms were associ- rium’s ability to These episomes can either stay inside one
how pathogens exist ated with anthrax-infected animal produce spores: bacterium or flit in and out, infecting sev-
in the environment in carcasses in the ground and hy- round, dormant eral bacteria in a matter of hours.
between outbreaks, pothesized that the earthworm could cells with a thick The finding has implications for the se-
focusing on the role play an important role in the life cell wall that en- quencing of genomes. “What that means
viruses play during cycle of the deadly pest. For the first ables them to is that sequencing the genome may not be
this dormant stage in time, Shuch and Fischetti have now endure harsh enough,” says Fischetti. “There are more
the life cycle. The im- confirmed Pasteur’s early hunch. e nv i ro n m e n t a l than 1,000 known isolates of anthrax and
plications reach far conditions that there is little genetic variation between one
and wide, from the se- the rod-shaped isolate and the next. So at face value, it is
quencing of genomes to the recurrent and bacteria cannot. What’s more, they found a really boring genome. But what we see
cyclical nature of disease. that depending on the conditions of the here is that the phage DNA, which works
“B. anthracis leads a much more compli- environment, the virus’s DNA manipulates together with the anthrax genome, has al-
cated life than we had ever known,” says the bacterium’s genome to toggle between ways been overlooked.”
Schuch, whose work will appear in the Au- spore production and community building. If bacteriophages can govern the fate of
gust issue of PLoS One. “Small, infecting The relationship appears to result from bacteria and bacteria affect human health,
viruses dramatically alter the survival ca- some sort of evolutionary contract that the transformation of these bacteria may
pabilities of B. anthracis. It is more or less a keeps the interests of bacterium and virus be able to explain the recurrent and cycli-
symbiotic relationship in which the interests in balance. Since viruses cannot infect and cal nature of certain diseases. Humans have
of both the bacterium and virus are kept in grow in spores, they have an interest in si- 10 times more bacteria on them or in them
balance.” lencing genes that ramp up spore produc- than the number of human cells, explains
The secret life of anthrax-causing bac- tion and in activating genes that help build Fischetti. And there are 10 times more bac-
teria emerged from a seemingly innocuous B. anthracis communities. But when soil teriophages than there are bacteria. “Bacte-
observation made by Louis Pasteur more conditions threaten the survival of anthrax- riophages play a major role in us and what
than 100 years ago. The famous bacteri- causing bacteria, spawning a tougher line goes on around us in nature,” he says. “I am
ologist found that earthworms were associ- of defense to weather the soil’s extreme convinced of that.”
ated with anthrax-infected animal carcasses conditions benefits both parties. The un- This research was supported by a grant
in the ground and hypothesized that the veiling of the bacterium’s life cycle opens from the National Institutes of Health.

kruger park times - 10 - kruger park times

Trust Dedicates Resources to Plight
of African Penguin
The African penguin is in danger of or more than two birds per hour. This phe- Coastal Management, explained: “There
becoming extinct. Oil spills, predation by nomenon is not unique to Dassen Island but are no islands along the South Coast where
seals, disease and a few other problems have is an example of the massive reduction in the penguins can move to. They simply can-
contributed to the situation. But by far the African penguin numbers around our coast. not follow the fish the way the boats can”.
major culprit is food scarcity, say scientists. In the past four years, the stocks of sar- In April, at the 2nd International African
African penguins have been sliding to- dine and anchovy on the West Coast have Penguin Conference, the latest depressing
wards extinction since industrial fishing collapsed. Stocks along the south coast results were presented, and speaker after
started around the Cape. The last four are doing somewhat better. While fishery speaker reported shrinking populations
years have seen a population crash. BirdLife managers debate whether it is due to cli- from their respective islands. Dr Ross Wan-
South African has found someone to cham- mate change or overfishing, the penguins less, seabird division manager for BirdLife
pion its cause. South Africa, was there.
Dr Roelof van “I was deeply shocked
der Merwe, a trust- at the state of the pen-
ee of the Charl van guin population. The
der Merwe Trust results that were pre-
heeded BirdLife sented at the confer-
South Africa’s exec- ence were almost unbe-
utive director, Mark lievable, but I couldn’t
Anderson, call for argue with the num-
someone to become bers”.
the ‘Species Cham- The Charl van der
pion’ for the Afri- Merwe Trust asked
can Penguin. The Dr Wanless to iden-
request is in line tify interventions
with Birdlife’s ‘Pre- that would help turn
venting Extinctions’ the species’ fortunes
programme which around. Through Bird-
was developed a few Life South Africa, the
years back, where- trustees will provide a
by someone could significant amount of
become a ‘Species funding to fund col-
Champion’, to fund laborative projects, fo-
conservation work cusing initially on fish
for an endangered stocks and food avail-
or critically endan- ability. “If good prog-
gered bird species. ress is made after two
In the 1920s, de- years, the Trust has
spite more than a dedicated itself to pro-
century of sustained viding additional re-
persecution, princi- sources,” explained Dr
pally from egg col- Wanless.
lecting and guano “This couldn’t have
scraping, around come at a better time”
1 million pairs of said Prof Peter Ryan
African penguins of the Percy FitzPatrick
Spheniscus demer- Institute at the Univer-
sus bred at Dassen sity of Cape Town, one
Island, off the West of the collaborators.
Coast of South Af- “We are at a critical
rica. Now the global population is a mere and other seabirds that depend on the fish juncture, with the African Penguin popula-
28,000 pairs. As for Dassen, last year fewer are disappearing. Fishing companies find it tion in apparent free-fall. A Species Cham-
than 6000 pairs nested. That’s half a per inconvenient to close operations in Lam- pion will provide the resources we need to
cent of the former numbers. Averaged out berts Bay and move to Mossel Bay, where try and rescue the situation”.
over 100 years, this collapse represents a the healthier sardine stocks are located; the Photo: Peter Ryan
loss of 20 thousand birds per year from just penguins don’t have that option. Dr Rob
one colony, equivalent to 1600 birds a week, Crawford, penguin specialist at Marine and

kruger park times - 11 - kruger park times


One Million
Bird Records
Just two years ago, an exciting project was
initiated to map the distribution of birds in
Southern Africa using the efforts of keen
civil society volunteers. Early on the morn-
ing of Monday 29 June, the millionth re-
cord was submitted to the project.
“Southern Africa’s bird-watchers are
making a massive contribution to one of
the country’s most important biodiversity
research projects”, says Doug Harebottle,
from the animal demography unit, Univer-
sity of Cape and manager of the Southern
Africa Bird Atlas 2 project (SABAP).
Ornithologists and conservationists are
tapping into the skills and enthusiasm of
Southern Africa’s bird-watchers to collect
information about the distribution and rela-
tive abundance of its 850 or so bird species.
“SABAP2 builds on the success of SA-
Lucas Radebe Appointed as 2010 Ambassador
Lucas Radebe was introduced by Min-
ister Marthinus van Schalkwyk, the Min-
ister of Tourism, as South African Tour-
ism’s 2010 ambassador to the world.
Minister van Schalkwyk made the an-
nouncement at an event in Sandton on
August 13 where he also launched a Brand
Messaging Book for Tourism for South Af-
ricans.
“We are truly privileged that a foot-
baller of Lucas’s stature and a human
being of his calibre has agreed to part-
ner with us to grow excitement about our
kruger park times - 12 - kruger park times
BAP1, which was undertaken from
1987 to 1991”, says Doug. “There’s
an army of enthusiastic bird-watch-
ers out there, eager to add value to
their bird-watching”, he added.
Some 554 bird-watchers are
dedicated to the project. At about
07h23 on Monday 29 June, the
one millionth bird observation was
submitted to the project. Profes-
sor Les Underhill, Director of the
Animal Demography Unit (ADU)
at the University of Cape Town
which is coordinating the project,
said: “The 30th June 2009 was the
second anniversary of the project,
with 780,000 of the million records
being submitted in the past 12
months”.
SABAP2 is a partnership between
the University of Cape Town’s Ani-
mal Demography Unit (ADU), the
South African National Biodiver-
sity Institute (SANBI), and BirdLife
South Africa. The ADU provides
the technical skills, SANBI provides
the financial resources and BirdLife South
Africa’s members are the ‘citizen scientists’
who are in the field collecting the data.
SABAP2 uses innovative technologies,
where the submission of bird records, the
verification of the data, and the subsequent
preliminary analyses are all electronic. As
a result, the records on the project website
(www.sabap2.org) are updated every three
hours. This allows the project progress to
be monitored and, for example, see how
the jigsaw puzzle of pentads (9 x 9 km grid
cells) are filled, as atlasers travel to farflung
reaches of the country to fulfil their bird-
watching passion. So far, 4681 or 27% of
the country’s pentads have been atlased at
least once.
The project’s methods are very simple.
destination. We look forward to working
with him as 2010 approaches to spread the
message of the anticipation and optimism
sweeping our country.
Radebe will work with South African
Tourism between now and the end of
the tournament to help deliver destina-
tion messages and to help grow interest in
South Africa globally, not only as host of
the FIFA spectacular, but also as an awe-
some and amazing holiday destination.
Radebe is honored, proud and excit-
ed to play this role. “Africa has waited a
“One essentially completes a list of the
birds seen in the pentad over a minimum of
two hours, visiting all the different habitats
during that time,” said Doug Harebottle.
“The listing of the birds in the order in
which they were observed allows for a crude
estimation of abundance, as common spe-
cies would generally be recorded first”, he
explained. The data are then entered into
specially developed software, and submitted
to the ADU electronically.
Dr Phoebe Barnard at SANBI, chair of
the project’s steering committee, says “The
project has several aims, with one of the
most important being to map over a fine
scale the distribution of South Africa’s
birds”. “This information will allow us to
make comparisons over time, especially to
determine climate change effects on bird
distributions and to allow for fine-scale con-
servation planning.
A total of 125 of our birds are threatened
and listed in the Red Data Book, so it is also
important to monitor changes in their dis-
tribution and numbers”. We need to know
whether their numbers and ranges continue
to decline, and whether or not our conser-
vation interventions are effective.
“BirdLife South Africa’s members are
very involved in this project”, says Mark
Anderson, executive director of BirdLife
South Africa. “Some of our members have
become very passionate about SABAP2 and
their contributions to the project and ulti-
mately to bird conservation are invaluable.
It would be impossible to employ profes-
sional ornithologists to achieve the results
of these ‘citizen scientists’.
The millionth record was recorded by at-
laser Christopher Patton, that of a White-
backed Vulture, ironically a species predict-
ed to be negatively affected by climate and
land-use change.
long, long time for the honour of hosting
the world’s biggest sporting spectacular.
I am excited at the impending reality of
welcoming the world’s greatest footballers
to my homeland. I am proud that South
Africa will host hundreds of thousands of
fans. I am honoured to be associated with
South African Tourism and to be given
an opportunity to work with them to raise
the profile of my country not only as host
of the 2010 FIFA World CupT, but also
as the greatest holiday destination in the
world.”
Positive Aspects of Elephants ...
an Experiment
Fred de Boer and Edward Kohi
The increasing of elephant populations is
a major concern to wildlife managers and
ecologists in many protected areas around
Africa. There is a perceived threat that the
continuous growth of elephant populations
could have a detrimental effect to other spe-
cies in the system.
Elephants are bulk feeders, so they need
a lot of forage, and sometimes push over,
uproot, or ring bark trees. Especially bulls
are known to fell trees. Such feeding hab-
its could have negative impacts on the veg-
etation composition and structure. Indeed,
there are several known cases where an in-
crease of elephant density has been linked
to the decrease of certain species. Large
trees could locally disappear and patches of
woodland might be lost if elephant popula-
tions continue to grow.
For instance, in several studies baobab
density is known to decrease with increas-
ing elephant densities, and in Addo Na-
tional Park, mistletoes and aloes are known
to decline in numbers as elephants increase.
It is often found that some plant species
are preferred whereas other species are not
consumed at all. The difference in prefer-
ence for certain species can often be ex-
plained by a different quality of the leaves,
such as through differences in the nitrogen
content of the leaves. However, some species
also have so-called secondary compounds in
their leaves, which are a sort of toxic chemi-
cals aimed at deterring animals from con-
suming them. These are compounds like
tannins, which are also found in black tea
leaves, responsible for the relatively bitter
taste of some tea. The plants produce these
compounds to prevent herbivores from eat-
ing plant parts.
Other plant species, such as mopane and
some acacia species seem to be more tolerant
of elephant impact, depending on their re-
generation potential and their recruitment.
Even though elephants can hammer these
species and decrease the maximum height,
some of these tree species are remarkable
resistant and can sustain this impact well.
Some scientists even refer to “hedging”
when discussing the impact of elephant on
mopane, as elephants continuously come
back to mopane patches and browse the
trees to a certain height and large branches
are broken off from the main stems.
kruger park times - 13 - kruger park times
It is only recently that some scientists
realised that these elephant impacts could
also have positive effects for some species. In
order to understand the impact elephants
have on the system, a large study, known as
the Tembo project, is underway in the As-
sociated Private Nature Reserves (APNR)
and the Kruger National Park to investigate
this in more detail. Edward Kohi and Fred
the Boer are two of the scientists involved
in the project.
first analysis
According to our first analysis of field-
work results we find that elephants indeed
change the structure of trees. Tree height
is reduced under elephant browsing, as
branches are removed, and some trees are
pushed over or partly uprooted.
However most of these trees continue to
grow and produce new leaves, albeit at a
lower heights. Hence the forage availability
is affected as more leave material becomes
available at lower heights that can now be
used by elephants and other smaller brows-
ing species like steenbok, impala or kudu.
It is not only the forage height that is af-
fected, but also the number of leaves, the
regrowth and the quality of the leaves.
Mopane, but also other species, are known
to resprout rapidly after browsing. In the
wet season for instance, the defoliated leaves
can sometimes be replaced in two weeks
time. The new leaves are often of a better
quality than the previously browsed leaves.
The nitrogen and phosphorous contents of
these new leaves are often higher. These are
two nutrients preferred by herbivores. The
concentrations of secondary compounds in
these leaves are also often lower. So herbi-
vores could indeed benefit from elephant
impact, as the forage availability at lower
heights and the forage quality is improved.
But do they? In an experiment we tested
several of these predictions, such as wheth-
er the nutrient content increases after de-
foliation. Indeed this seems to be the case,
forage quality increased, especially at lower
browsing heights. We also experimentally
simulated the impact of elephants, by cre-
ating several plots in which we cut back
the mopane trees extensively to encourage
denser growth, other plots where we pushed
over trees and yet other plots were we totally
removed all trees.
We were interested whether other her-
bivores species like the smaller steenbok
and duikers are attracted to these patches
in comparison with intact control plots. We
measured the visits of the other species by
dung counts and spoor counts. Preliminary
analyses showed that some herbivores spe-
cies indeed seem to benefit from the better
forage availability at lower levels. Impala,
Steenbok, and even Kudu reacted strongly
and were relatively more abundant on plots
which simulated elephant impacts. Even el-
ephants were more frequently recorded in
the plots where the branches were cut back
compared to the control plots.
This is a phenomenon that has also been
observed elsewhere. Elephants seem to re-
turn to browsed patches and apparently
benefit from the different vegetation struc-
ture and higher forage quality at these plots.
Habitat selection for most herbivores is
mainly determined by forage quality and
availability, but the risk from predators also
plays an important role. Hence, on the clear
cuts where we removed all trees, some of
the smaller species were more frequently
recorded, especially impala. Impala are
known to prefer feeding on the transition
zone from woodlands to grassland or open
areas. Maybe impala benefits from the clear
cuts that elephants can create, facilitating
the detection of predators? The impact of
elephants on other herbivores species yields
a complicated picture. Some species cer-
tainly seem to benefit, either by more forage
provided at lower feeding heights, or forage
of a higher quality for other species.
Elephants are also able to create clear
cut areas where other species can then eas-
ier detect predators. The question whether
populations of browsing ungulates also
grow under an increasing elephant popu-
lation remains to be answered though.
However, that elephants only have negative
impacts on the savanna systems by remov-
ing large trees is a one-sided vision and we
are able to prove that the reality is far more
complicated.
Elephants have a huge impact on the
vegetation and thereby on other species
that use this vegetation and we are just at
the beginning of unravelling these patterns
and processes to understand the role that el-
ephants play as one of the species in these
large savanna ecosystems.
Upload Abstracts to
Koedoe
Koedoe invites African Universities to
submit abstracts of masters and doctoral
theses to this journal. Thesis abstracts
can be uploaded on this website (www.
koedoe.co.za), and linked to the insti-
tutional repository (if applicable). Such
uploaded abstracts will be indexed by
search engines and is also searchable on
the site, leading to greater exposure of
institutional research.
Students, supervisors and/or depart-
mental administrators may upload ab-
stracts, but all abstracts will need veri-
fication by the study supervisor before
it will be activated. Departments may
obtain a code from the thesis abstract
administrator of the journal to bypass
supervisor verification.
Further information needed? Con-
tact administrator, Liezel Grunewald
at email: information@koedoe.co.za or
telephone: +27 021 914 5100.
Please note that thesis abstracts will
not be peer reviewed by this journal and
will not qualify for Department of Edu-
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Submit Thesis Abstract here: http://
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thesis
Minister Wants Big
Seven
South Africa will soon be boasting the
Big Seven, when the shark and the whale
are added to the already well-know Big
Five tourist attractions in the country re-
ports Vivian Warby of Bua News.
Minister of water and environmental
Affairs Buyelwa Sonjica announced this
on July 18, when briefing media shortly
before her budget vote in Parliament.
The minister said this was “a very sig-
nificant move for tourism as we will be-
come the only country in the world to
boast a Big Seven.
“We will be marketing these animals -
sharks and whales - to the whole world.
It will have a significant impact on tour-
ism,” she said.
She said, on the basis of available sci-
ence, South Africa has significant num-
bers of species in the top ocean preda-
tors such as the shark and the whale.
“On that basis we will add these two
species to the Big 5 and then have a re-
sultant Big 7.”
kruger park times - 14 - kruger park times
The Amazon River is
11 Million Years Old
The Amazon River originated as a trans-
continental river around 11 million years
ago and took its present shape approxi-
mately 2.4 million years ago. These are
the most significant results of a study on
two boreholes drilled in proximity of the
mouth of the Amazon River by Petrobras,
the national oil company of Brazil. A team
formed by the Institute for Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) of the Uni-
versity of Amsterdam, the University of
Liverpool and Petrobras used this new oce-
anic record to reconstruct the history of the
Amazon River. The study was published in
the scientific journal ‘Geology’ in July 2009.
Until recently the Amazon Fan, a sedi-
ment column of around 10 kilometres in
thickness, proved a hard nut to crack, and
Social Networking Site for Research-
ers Aims to Make Academic Papers a
Thing of the Past
myExperiment, the social networking site
for scientists, has set out to challenge tra-
ditional ideas of academic publishing as it
enters a new phase of funding.
The site has just received a further
£250,000 funding from the Joint  Informa-
tion Systems Committee (JISC) as part of
the JISC Information Environment pro-
gramme to improve scholarly communica-
tion in contemporary research practice.
According to Professor David De Roure
at the University of Southampton’s School
of Electronics and Computer Science, who
has developed the site jointly with Profes-
sor Carole Goble at the University of Man-
chester, researchers will in the future be
sharing new forms of “Research Objects”
rather than academic publications.
Research Objects contain everything
needed to understand and reuse a piece
of research, including workflows, data, re-
search outputs and provenance informa-
tion. They provide a systematic and unbi-
ased approach to research, essential when
researchers are faced with a deluge of data.
‘We are introducing new approaches to
Jason Trollip
scientific drilling expeditions such as Ocean
Drilling Program could only reach a frac-
tion of it. Recent exploration efforts by
Petrobras lifted the veil, and sedimentologi-
cal and paleontological analysis on samples
from two boreholes, one of which 4.5 kilo-
metres below sea floor, now permit an in-
sight into the history of both Amazon River
and Fan. Prior to this publication the exact
age of the Amazon River was unknown.
This research has large implications for
our understanding of South American pa-
leogeography and the evolution of aquatic
organisms in Amazonia and the Atlantic
coast. It is a defining moment as a new eco-
system originates which at the same time
forms a geographic divisor.
make research more reproducible, reusable
and reliable,’ Professor De Roure said. ‘Re-
search Objects are self-contained pieces of
reproducible research which we will share
in the future like papers are shared today.’
The myExperiment Enhancement proj-
ect will integrate myExperiment with the
established EPrints research repository in
Southampton and Manchester’s new e-
Scholar institutional repository. With its
emphasis on social networking, myExperi-
ment provides essential social infrastructure
for researchers to discover and share Re-
search Objects and to benefit from multi-
disciplinary collaborations.
‘We are investigating the collision of
Science 2.0 and traditional ideas of re-
positories,’ said Professor Carole Goble.
‘myExperiment paves the way for the next
generation of researchers to do new re-
search using new research methods.’
In its first year, the myExperiment.org
website has attracted thousands of users
worldwide and established the largest pub-
lic collection of its kind.
http://www.myexperiment.org
Is Climate Change Affecting Our
Birds? Help Us Find Out …
Researchers at the South African Envi-
ronmental Observation Network (SAEON)
are calling on our country’s birders to join
them in monitoring the impact of climate
change on bird migration be-
haviour in the lowveld and
bushveld regions of South
Africa.
Volunteers will be asked
to record the arrival date of
some of the more common,
easily identifiable migra-
tory birds in their gardens,
farms, workplace or in their
favourite birding area on
a monthly basis. “We are
especially looking for dedi-
cated birders who would be
willing to record the arrival
date of migrant birds over a
number of years,” says proj-
ect manager Nikki Stevens.
Citizen scientists have
been assisting SAEON’s
Ndlovu Node in their bird
monitoring project since
2007. Ndlovu, an observa-
tion platform responsible
for long-term environmen-
tal monitoring in South Af-
rica’s savanna biome, plans
to keep the programme
running indefinitely as it is
yielding valuable and much-needed infor-
mation to detect reductions or expansions
of the ranges of certain savanna bird spe-
cies. “Birders have been playing an invalu-
able role in adding crucial information to
the existing knowledge base,” says Stevens.
With almost one degree of warming hav-
ing occurred over the past century, scientific
work shows mounting evidence that birds
are being negatively affected by the change.
Long-term environmental monitoring has
indicated that global climate change has
already extended plant growing seasons,
changed animal and plant distribution pat-
terns, and altered the annual dates of flow-
ering, breeding, and bird migration.
As far as bird migration is concerned, the
emerging picture shows that many species
that breed in the northern hemisphere have
been arriving later than normal in South
Africa since the second half of the 20th
century. The delayed arrival can result in
birds missing important food peaks, which
kruger park times - 15 - kruger park times
can have disastrous impacts on bird popula-
tions.
“Birds are excellent indicators of climate
change as they are very sensitive to climate
and weather,” Stevens explains. “They are
also very important indicators because large
amounts of information on their behaviour
and migration patterns have been collected
by members of the public, specifically in the
northern hemisphere.”
In Britain, for example, the arrival dates
of certain migratory birds have been re-
corded by members of the Royal Meteo-
rological Society since 1883. This very im-
portant long-term series of observations has
generated a wealth of valuable long-term
data in the northern hemisphere. It is this
information in particular that has shed light
on how bird-migration patterns are affected
by climate change.
Stevens says that there is little long-term
data available for Africa. “Global climate
change is likely to affect birds here as well,
if not already, yet we are still largely unsure
of how they are affected,” she explains.
It was to help bridge this gap in knowl-
edge that SAEON joined the ranks of or-
ganisations involved in gathering informa-
tion on bird migration two years ago.
So, if you are based in a savanna region
and are interested in participating in the
project - or have already been collecting
such information - please contact Dr Dave
Thompson on birds@saeon.ac.za or Tel
013 735 3535/ 013 735 3534 to register as
a participant. Alternatively, download a reg-
istration form from http://ndlovu.saeon.
ac.za, email it to birds@saeon.ac.za or fax
it to 013 7353544.
photo: N Stevens
British Pupils to Star
in KNP Filmed Reality
TV Show
Children at a Lincoln school are
planning to wow TV executives in a
race to become the faces of an exotic
new series. Four up-and-coming stars
from Yarborough School in Riseholme
Road, Lincoln, will be selected from
more than 30 of their peers to appear
on a brand new CBBC television pro-
gramme.
And to film it, they will be whisked
away to South Africa to work as ju-
nior game rangers in Kruger National
Park. Head of drama Katie Cummins
has transformed the school’s drama
department since she took up the post
in September.
“The BBC contacted me only last
Friday and it’s because they haven’t
worked with any kids from Lincoln-
shire in a while,” she said.
“I thought it would be an exciting
opportunity. The students have had to
fill in application forms detailing why
they would like to go to South Africa.
The show, which is set to run for 13
episodes, will see the chosen four join a
further four South African children for
a month. They will track, care for and
live among some of the most beautiful
animals on earth.
For the full story see: www.thisislin-
colnshire.co.uk
About 17 000 Species are Threatened
With Extinction
A detailed analysis of the well-known
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™
shows 869 species are Extinct or Extinct
the Wild. This figure rises to 1,159 if the
290 Critically Endangered species tagged
as Possibly Extinct are included. Overall, a
minimum of 16,928 species are threatened
with extinction. Considering that only 2.7
percent of the 1.8 million described species
have been analyzed, this number is a gross
underestimate, but it does provide a useful
snapshot of what is happening to all forms
of life on Earth.
The IUCN analysis, which is published
every four years, comes just before the dead-
line governments set themselves to evalu-
ate how successful they were in achieving
the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss.
The IUCN report, Wildlife in a Changing
World, shows the 2010 target will not be
met.
The report analyses 44,838 species on
the IUCN Red List and presents results by
groups of species, geographical regions, and
different habitats, such as marine, freshwa-
ter and terrestrial.
An increased number of freshwater spe-
cies have now been assessed, giving a bet-
ter picture of the dire situation they face. In
Europe, for example, 38 percent of all fishes
are threatened and 28 percent in Eastern
Africa. The high degree of connectivity in
freshwater systems, allowing pollution or
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ DID YOU KNOW?
• The IUCN Red List has a long es-
tablished history as the world’s
most comprehensive information
source on the global conservation
status of plant and animal species.
It is based on an objective system
of assessing the risk of extinction
for a species. Species listed as
Critically Endangered, Endangered
or Vulnerable are collectively de-
scribed as threatened. The IUCN
Red List is not just a register of
names and associated threat cat-
egories. It is a compendium of in-
kruger park times - 16 - kruger park times
invasive species to spread rapidly, and the
development of water resources with scant
regard for the species that live in them, are
behind the high level of threat.
In the oceans, the picture is similarly
bleak. The report shows that a broad range
of marine species are experiencing poten-
tially irreversible loss due to over-fishing,
climate change, invasive species, coastal
development and pollution. At least 17 per-
cent of the 1,045 shark and ray species, 12.4
percent of groupers and six of the seven
marine turtle species are threatened with
extinction. Most noticeably, 27 percent of
the 845 species of reef building corals are
threatened, 20 percent are Near Threat-
ened and there is not enough data for 17
percent to be assessed. Marine birds are
much more threatened that terrestrial ones
with 27.5 percent in danger of extinction,
compared with 11.8 percent of terrestrial
birds.
The report shows nearly one third of am-
phibians, more than one in eight birds and
nearly a quarter of mammals are threatened
with extinction. For some plant groups, such
as conifers and cycads, the situation is even
more serious, with 28 percent and 52 per-
cent threatened respectively. For all these
groups, habitat destruction, through agri-
culture, logging and development, is the
main threat and occurs worldwide.
In the case of amphibians, the fungal
formation on the threats to the spe-
cies, their ecological requirements,
where they live, and information on
conservation actions that can be
used to reduce or prevent extinc-
tions.
• Although only 2.7 percent of the
world’s 1.8 million described spe-
cies have been assessed so far,
the IUCN Red List provides a use-
ful snapshot of what is happening
to species today and highlights the
urgent need for conservation ac-
tion.
disease chytridiomycosis is seriously affect-
ing an increasing number of species, com-
plicating conservation efforts. For birds, the
highest number of threatened species is
found in Brazil and Indonesia, but the high-
est proportion of threatened or extinct birds
is found on oceanic islands. Invasive species
and hunting are the main threats. For mam-
mals, unsustainable hunting is the greatest
threat after habitat loss. This is having a
major impact in Asia, where deforestation is
also occurring at a very rapid rate.
Red List Indices make it possible to track
trends of extinction risk in groups of spe-
cies. New indices have been calculated
and provide some interesting results. Birds,
mammals, amphibians and corals all show
a continuing deterioration, with a par-
ticularly rapid decline for corals. Red List
Indices have also been calculated for am-
phibian, mammal and bird species used for
food and medicine. The results show that
bird and mammal species used for food and
medicine are much more threatened. The
diminishing availability of these resources
has an impact on the health and well-being
of the people who depend on them directly.
To read the full report, Wildlife in a
Changing World – an analysis of the 2008
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™,
please click here. http://data.iucn.org/
dbtw-wpd/edocs/RL-2009-001.pdf
• Birds are the best known group
with less than one percent of spe-
cies classified as Data Deficient,
meaning that we do not have
enough information to say if they
are threatened or not. However, for
many groups, we cannot say what
the situation is for a large propor-
tion of species and many of them
could well be threatened: 47 per-
cent of 1,045 species of sharks and
rays, 35 percent of marine mam-
mals and 24 percent of amphibians
are Data Deficient.

Mike Elected
as President
Dr. Mike Peel of the ARC-Animal
Production Institute (Rangeland Ecol-
ogy) was elected as President of the
Grassland Society of Southern Africa
at the 44th Congress of the society held
at the UNISA campus in Johannesburg
in July. He looks forward to the chal-
lenge of taking this vibrant and diverse
society which comprises both range-
land and pasture scientists into 2010.
Important topics discussed at Con-
gress 44 included: the impact of cli-
mate change on the natural resources
of southern Africa and the need for a
complete re-analysis of the agricultural
sector; concerns around the shortage
of plant breeders in South Africa; the
issue of future payment for ecosystem
services; food security; rangelands and
mining; the use of pastures in animal
production; the burgeoning wildlife
industry; and the importance of the
emerging farmer sector. Dr. Peel be-
lieves that the interconnectedness of
ecosystems and the fact that there is
often a shortage of personnel in insti-
tutions necessitates a networking ap-
proach to rangeland and pasture re-
search.
He states that ‘the Society is in a
strong position to grow and in this re-
gard the mentorship programme of
the society should encourage working
partnerships between young and estab-
lished scientists to ensure the future of
the discipline in southern Africa’. Dr.
Peel who is based in Nelspruit is pro-
gramme manager of the Rangeland
Ecology Programme and also heads up
the Savanna Ecosystem Project which
he initiated in 1989.
kruger park times - 17 - kruger park times
How Small Farms Could Feed
the World
As an African Union summit on agricul-
tural investments opened in Libya, donors
and non-profits calledparticipants’ atten-
tion to the role smallholder farmers - mostly
women - can have in feeding their commu-
nities.
Agriculture is an overlooked “emergen-
cy” that deserves as much attention as the
global financial crisis, according to Kate
Norgrove with Oxfam UK’s office in Dakar,
Senegal. “Nearly US$9 trillion has been in-
jected into the global financial sector since
January 2009 verses $4 billion in global
ODA [overseas development assistance] to
agriculture. That is small change relative to
the scale of the problem.”
Decades of declining production have
pushed more families into hunger and
disease, according to Alliance for a Green
Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
AGRA calculated that 18 percent of
ODA in 1980 went to agriculture versus
four percent in 2006.
Small farms bear the brunt of these cuts,
according to Oxfam UK. In a recent re-
port, the NGO noted the United States and
European Union invested less than $3 per
small farm in poor countries from 1986 to
2007.
“Half these farmers do not produce
enough to feed their families,” Namanga
Ngongi, AGRA’s president, said. “Small-
scale farmers are not organised and do not
have a voice in their government’s agricul-
ture policies.”
More than 70 percent of Africans depend
on agriculture to live, according to the UN.
People across sub-Saharan Africa protested
when the prices of agricultural inputs, food
and fuel soared in recent years; prices re-
main unaffordable for many.
Tanzania to Bring in Black Rhinos from South Africa
Tanzania expects to import 36 black rhi-
nos from South Africa this year to boost the
population of the endangered wildlife spe-
cies in the country.
The Minister for Natural Resources and
Tourism, Shamsa Mwangunga, said the
government currently does not know the
exact number of rhinos still surviving in
the country and warned that the species
are in increasing danger of being wiped out
altogether. Ms Mwangunga said the black
rhinos to be imported from South Africa
Small-scale revolution
AGRA’s Ngongi said while he recog-
nised the term “green revolution” recalls
memories of failed agricultural invest-
ments, “Running away from the word does
not solve productivity problems. We cannot
tinker around the margins. Africa’s agricul-
tural problems need massive investments
- nothing short of a revolution.”Solutions
need to be tailored to small-scale produc-
ers’ needs, he added. If smaller packages
of fertilizers, seeds and tools were available,
people who can only afford smaller quanti-
ties are more likely to buy.
 The readily available packages weighing
up to 100kg are impractical for farmers -
most often women - travelling in precarious
transport over long distances on poor roads,
Ngongi said.
He said farmers are now forced to travel
long distances to get seeds and fertilizers
because there are not enough small trad-
ers in rural areas. “In western Kenya where
AGRA has implemented agro-leadership
programmes to train traders, farmers are
now walking on average four kilometers to
buy inputs versus 17 kilometers before.”
Cash-strapped governments are unable
to back loans to small farms, according
to AGRA. “Banks need risk assurance,”
Ngongi said, describing a loan-assurance
programme in Kenya backed by AGRA
and the UK Department for International
Development (DFID) that has agreed to
loan $50 million to small-scale farmers over
three years.
© IRIN. All rights reserved.
 
will comprise equal numbers of males and
females (18 each).
She said they will initially be sent to one
of the country’s many national parks, and
later distributed to other national parks.
The minister explained that the rhinos
will start arriving in Tanzania from South
Africa in August. She said South Africa will
be donating the animals to Tanzania as a
gift in appreciation of the historical bilat-
eral ties between the two countries. THIS-
DAY, Dar es Salaam
Ranger’s Diary, Skukuza Section,
December 1959
Henry Wolhuter, also
known as “Kwesi” which
refers to ‘morning star’.
Good rain fell during the night with a
total of 7.5mm. Went out to Tlapa-la-
Mokwena but little rain fell there and there
was little extra water in the dam. Went on
to Mbyamedi dam and found it to be just
under half full. Good rains had fallen in
the area from the Mbyamedi plots south.
Saw one lone young sable bull. Looked at
the control burns. S12 burnt well and little
damage due to a hot fire was done. Unfor-
tunately, S15 was a very hot burn, also S16
and S23.
The Mtomene and Nhlowa were both
running and the Mtomene dam was over-
flowing, very good rain fell here. Most of
the impala that were seen along the Voor-
trekker Road were rams. A few lambs
were seen in the vicinity of the Myamedi
causeway. Saw a magnificent specimen of
martial eagle at Mbyamedi. The Kompaite
windmill was pumping well and there was a
wonderful show of Barberton daisies in the
vicinity of the ‘gat’. Light rain last night of
3,5 mm. Attended the park sale. Delivered
rations and water to Toulon Gate and Ma-
sutlu picket.
The Sabie river rose overnight consider-
ably. On Mr Labuschagne’s request took a
party up to Tshokwane abd back via Mlon-
dozi. On the way back up the Lower Sabie
road, picked up one of the ‘hitch hiking’
baboons about three miles out and brought
him all the way into the camp before he de-
cided to get off. This ‘hitch hiking’ is now
becoming a regular thing amongst several
of the larger males. Sent a lorry and gang
of staff from the engineering section down
to section three to burn block S28. Went
over to Pretoriuskop and had a look at all
the two year spring burns, which are al-
ready looking green. Also looked at some of
the erosion work that was done in the sec-
tion. Saw a very good variety of game in the
spring burns.
Wildebeest calves were plentiful, these
being very early this year. Also saw three
cheetah at Sithlabe. Ranger Smit reports
that there have been cases of wildebeest
calves being killed by the cheetah. Received
radio instructions from nature conservation
officer to deal with the plague of spotted
kruger park times - 18 - kruger park times
backed weavers nesting in the trees in the
camp where they are stripping the trees of
all their leaves. To destroy the birds with
any means at our disposal is almost impos-
sible and I think the most effective method
will be to destroy all the nests and hope that
this will drive the birds away.
Sunday Two people arrested at the station
with spion and handed over to the police.
Saw three giraffe in the lower portion of the
Sabi-Sand river corner, this I think is rather
unusual. Quite a number of steenbok are
seen along the Lower Sabie road which is
not their typical type of veld, it being rather
bushy. During the past week the number of
impala lambs have increased rapidly, espe-
cially along the Lower Sabie. Started the
spotted backed weaver campaign; pulling
down 520 nests from the trees in the camp.
These were mostly old deserted nests and
only 40 chicks were found and few eggs. In
one nest a small python of about three feet
was found. Light drizzle most of the day.
Did monthly game count up he Sabie and
back via Doispane. The impala seen were
mostly rams. Few lambs were counted.
Good rains fell during the night in the Dois-
pane-Masahalane area.
Continued the weaver operation and de-
stroyed 900 nests with 214 chicks. Arranged
to burn up Mbyamedi with assistance from
ranger Espach. Met him at Hlambamad-
uba. Burnt S15 and S14. Both blocks are
fairly green and did not burn too well. A
heavy storm fell late in the afternoon and
put out all the fires. The burning was done
with a gang from the engineer’s section.
The staff knew very little or nothing
about burning, nor did they know the area
and several were lost for a few hours and
much time and mileage (55 miles) was
wasted looking for them. On day occasional
leave. Continuing the war on the weavers.
Today 180 nests were pulled down from
knoppiesdoring trees with 31 chicks.
These chicks are of varying ages, some
newly hatched and some just ready to fly.
The trees that were dealt with on the 7th
and 8th are now deserted. As all the nests
are either in knoppiesdoring, torchwood
or buffalothorn trees,which are all full of
thorns, it takes time to get the nests down.
One Diedericks cuckoo chick was found in
one nest.
One woman was arrested at the station
with a bottle of spion. Light drizzle in the
morning. Received a radio request to pro-
ceed to Satara and give rangers Kloppers
and Lorentz a hand with shooting an el-
ephant that they had wounded and which
had retreated into very thick bush. Neither
of them had had any experience with el-
ephant shooting before.
This was a bull that had repeatedly been
doing damage in the Satara Camp. Met
rangers Kloppers and Lorentz and followed
the spoor for about 14 miles to the Ma-
vumbye windmill where it was killed. The
day was extremely hot. Arranged for a lorry
up from Skukuza to stay over the night and
return with the meat. Returned to Skukuza
in the evening.
Sunday
Received a message from the 06h00
train that there were several buffalo lying
dead near Kemps Cottage. Went down and
found that nine buffalo had been killed by
the train, most probably by the 03h00 train.
This was never reported to us. Arranged for
all the meat to be brought in. Four of the
legs had been removed by someone before
we got there and the suspicion was on the
03h00 train staff. The Railway police were
contacted but no trace of the meat was
found.
One woman was arrested being in posses-
sion of meat which she had helped herself
to and paid five pounds admission of guilt.
Extremely hot with emperature at 100 de-
gree F. Again very hot and humidity high.
The war on the weavers continued and
167 nests were pulled down, but no eggs or
chicks were found.
Went to Tlapa-la-Mokwena. A little rain
fell in the area and there was a little extra
water in the dam. Returned via Maklori.
Day of the covenant. Hot, temperature 105
degree Fahrenheit. Pulled down a few nests
again, mostly old.
Temperature up to 106 degrees Fahr-
enheit but the humidity is down. Foot and
mouth reported in the Numbi-Sabie corner
and across the Sabie on Madras. Further
nests were removed, but no eggs or chicks
were founds. 6mm of rain at night.
Days occasional leave. Light drizzle most
of the day. In the evening had to go out on
Hippopool road to pull car out of mud.
Overcast and light drizzle.
Ranger’s Diary, Skukuza Section,
December 1959
continued from page 18
Sunday
Accompanied the warden to Tlapa-la-
Mokwena. Spoor of large herd of buffalo
crossed Napi road from the direction of
the Mbaymedi heading towards Mlalene.
Looked at Napi dam and found both adms
full. It will be necessary to stone the two
spillways as these are likely to erode with
heavy rains.
During the last few days, weavers have
started building again in some of the trees.
Today pulled down 154 new and old nests.
Went down to Crocodile Bridge.
The section received light soaking rains
and the grazing looks good.
Along the Lebombo flats there are large
herds of wildebeest and zebra. Burnt block
S14 along the new firebreak from Napi road
to Ngwenyene. The grass is very green and
burning is very slow.
Burnt through the centre of block S14
from west to east.
This burnt well at midday, but I do not
think it worth the trouble to attempt to
burn this block any more. Saw several small
flocks of Quela feeding of grass seeds in
the Mbyamedi area. The Ngwenyene wa-
kruger park times - 19 - kruger park times
terhole is full and there is a fair amount of
spoor there.
One day occasional leave.
Christmas Day
A quiet and orderly day. On patrol to Pre-
toriuskop saw a herd of nine roan, one was
this season’s calf, two last season’s and the
remaining adult animals. Also saw a lone
sable bull at the Mhlanganene, this being
very much east of their normal habitat.
General duties.
Sunday
Small flock of Quela in my garden. Road
patrol – Lower Sabie.
Warden’s clerk now on leave till the end
of January, which rather ties me down to
Skukuza as I the daily three Met recordings
to do. Had the field rangers and three camp
staff cut down the reeds opposite the restau-
rant. Light drizzle at night.
The weavers have almost deserted the
camp now. There remain a few isolated ones
that seem to be nesting, though they do not
seem to be doing this in earnest, and I think
the trouble is now over for the season. 2272
nests were pulled down, from which over
300 chicks were killed, plus a large number
of eggs being destroyed. I should think that
in future years the big trees could be saved
from being stripped of their leaves by de-
stroying the nests as soon as they start build-
ing. The main attraction for buildings in the
camp is the easily available supply of food,
mainly the porridge from the staff quarters.
Staff Christmas feast.
General duties. Received an enquiry from
Dr Naude as to the position with the weav-
ers. I notified him that there was no need at
the moment for any action from his depart-
ment.
Land Rover: 40098 miles
Total for month: Ranger duties: 721
miles, other: 201 miles
Outside Park: none
Private: none
Petrol consumption: 18.4 mpg (miles per
gallon)
Rainfall: 86.8mm
Field ranger establishment: 13
Field ranger strength: 12
Kruger Krazies’ Claim to Shame

These park visitors were seen on the main road from Lower Some people. 
Sabie to Skukuza. When I confronted them, they told me that Regards, Paul van den Berg, Cape Town
they wanted to get a closer photo of the Hippo.

These photos of transgressors of Park rules are published in an attempt to assist in restoring basic respect for
others and the Park. Entries are sent by visitors, rangers and all people concerned wit the welfare of the Park
and its visitors.

Letters * Letters * Letters * Letters

Breakdown in Kruger: Great Assistance

I am writing to you about our experience
and mishap when we had this breakdown in
the Kruger Park.
At least once a year we visit the Park, and
enjoy every minute while driving around,
but never had such bad luck. As they always
say, there is always a first time for every-
thing.Maybe you like to print that in your
news paper, to show other people, what can
happen.
The problem is getting SPARE PARTS
in South Africa. There is an Opel dealer in
Nelspruit, but he did not had a oil sump for
us. He had to order it from Johannesburg,
so to get my husband home, I arranged the
spare part in Joburg and travelled myself
forward and backward to have the car run-
ning again and get my husband home. He
would have had to wait at least a week, if
not more.
The sad part was that while my husband
was stuck in Skukuza, he could not even get
out and see any animals. But do not worry,
we will be back!
Thanks for reading my letter, my thanks
go as I mentioned in the attachment to the
wonderful people in Lower Sabie, the Man-
ager was very helpful, and also the Shan-
gaan Ranger, unfortunately I have forgot-
ten his name, he drove us late back to the
Crocodile Gate.
The Park has wonderful people working
there.
Kind Regards, Heidi Hasenkopf
Response from Laura
Mukhwevo, customer
relations t Kruger
National Park
We acknowledge receipt of your letter
(attached) and email below
regarding your recent visit to the KNP.
Thank you for taking time to write us such
feedback; we deeply regret the mishap you
had on the road and for all the inconve-
niences suffered as a result.
It is also wonderful to receive such posi-
tive feedback about our staff members;
thank you for such comments following
your experience of courteous service of-
fering. We are proud to be associated with
staff members who go an extra mile to ex-
ceed guests’ expectations and are glad they
were there to assist; they are assets in the
organization.
Your compliment was relayed to all
staff concerned so that they can continue
to maintain that service standard. It is ac-
knowledgements like these which will spur
one to greater excellence and on behalf of
KNP
Management; please allow me to express
my gratitude in a humble way for such rec-
ognition.
Once again thank you for bringing the
matter to our attention; we wish you memo-
rable visits to the KNP.
Go, said the bird,
for the leaves were
full of children,
Hidden excitedly, con-
taining laughter.
T.S. Eliot

kruger park times - 20 - kruger park times

 Letters * Letters * Letters * Letters
Wonder From Waste
While on vacation in the Kruger Nation-
al Park in May this year, we met Makhadzi
Picnic Spot attendant, Josef Krokedil. Jo-
sef keeps the picnic spot clean and tends to
visitors’ thirst and braai equipment needs.
He crafts the most beautiful flowers from
all discarded cold drink cans.
The place is an oasis and we would like
to encourage visitors to stop here for a
breather and perhaps, a bite, before further
exploring God’s creation.
Abraham and Davina Pretorius,
Secunda
Impressed With Service at Letaba Rest Camp
Frank Malubeke and Simon Ndlovu
tend to the maintenance at Letaba
Pesticide Used by Poachers
Please take to heart the severity of the
below information and forward this in-
formation to as many of your friends and
colleagues who work in the farming and
pesticide fields. Furadan, a pesticide used
in the agricultural industry, is being used by
poachers in Africa to poison fish and wild-
life. Poachers put the poison in rivers to kill
fish and hippo’s. This poison is also being
taken up by birds and other predators as
well as grazers, all dying as a result.
I assume the poison has no or little ef-
fect on humans that ingest the meat of the
poisoned animals but the poison itself has
a profound effect on the animals that eat it.
Furadan is manufactured by FMC in the
USA but the authorities there have put a
ban on its use in the USA and now it’s being
dumped in Africa. It has been established
that 25 wild dogs have already died in Zim-
kruger park times - 21 - kruger park times
left: Josef Krodedil, attendant at middle: Davina Pretorius at Makhadzi
Makhadzi Picnic Spot right: The kitchen at Makhadzi
On out recent visit to the Kruger Na-
tional Park we noticed how helpful and
committed the staff at Letaba Rest Camp
go about their day to day activities. Their
conduct is indeed a proud example to lo-
cal and international visitors. The Camp
is neat with SANPArks staff cleaning and
doing maintenance every day.
Abraham Pretorius, Secunda
Hut attendants, Agnes Chauke and
Paulina Nkhwaxu
babwe as a result of Furadan poisoning.
Dereck Joubert of the National Georaph-
ic Society has confirmed that Furadan is
being used by fish and wildlife poachers
in Botswana and Zambia. It has also been
confirmed that the product is being sold in Silas Mukoki ensures tourist servic-
Kenya and Tanzania. It has not been estab- es are in place at Letaba
lished yet whether Furadan is easily avail-
able and being sold here in Zimbabwe or
whether our poachers are buying this prod-
uct across our borders.
If anyone has information as to compa-
nies here in Zimbabwe that are selling this
product please can you provide us with that
information so that we can contact those
companies to advise them of its misuse.
Many Thanks, Dirk Nel, Harare,
Zimbabwe David Molobi, duty manager at
Letaba
 Letters * Letters * Letters * Letters
Pretoriuskop is Tops
In December 2008 we were residents
at Pretoriuskop. One morning we noticed
an impala calf on the outside of the camp
fence and its mother on the inside.
How this happened we do not know. The
calf could only have been a few days old.
Kuduzela Launched for SA Soccer Fans
A wind instrument in the shape of a kudu
horn, the Kuduzela, has been launched in
South Africa and is expected to become
synonymous with football in South Africa.
Launched by the South African National
Parks (SANParks) and First National Bank
(FNB) the Kuduzela is a truly African icon,
according to the chief executive officer of
SANParks, Dr David Mabunda.
“Traditionally, in some African commu-
nities, the kudu horn has been used as an
instrument to call people together for gath-
erings at the royal house or for a commu-
nity imbizo but most importantly as a call
to battle. Now the Kuduzela will fulfil the
same role,” said Dr Mabunda.
He said the Kuduzela would be used to
call all South Africans, international guests
and soccer fans to South Africa for a spec-
tacular 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Appropriately it will be calling the “war-
ring parties” to the symbolic battlefield of
soccer.
kruger park times - 22 - kruger park times
They were both frantically running up and
down alongside the fence. The mother was
stamping and snorting continuously.
A most upsetting situation.
We then went out on a game drive. My
husband reassured me that the mother
would somehow get to the calf.
On returning to the camp at about
14h00 the situation had not changed, but
worsened. The calf was laying down weak-
ly and exhausted and the mother was still
running up and down against the fence.
What do you do?
I then said to my husband I am going to
reception to report the matter. he was most
apprehensive, saying they were camp staff,
not game rangers. But I still went.
At the reception I was introduced to the
camp manager, Margaret JOnes and as-
sistant manager, Philip Mkhabela. On ex-
plaining the situation to them, without hes-
itation they accompanied me to the fence.
They then started to herd the impala
mother towards the gate. This was easier
said than done. They had to herd the moth-
er and make sure the calf move with her.
this took about two hours and eventually
Dr Mabunda said the Kuduzela sounded
like a trumpeting elephant.
“When there’s action near the goal
mouth, you will hear the elephants going
really crazy,” he said, adding that describ-
ing the atmosphere in a stadium packed
with thousands of fans blowing their Kudu-
zelas would be difficult.
A percentage of the manufacturing cost
of the Kuduzela will go to a conservation
project - Kids in Parks, an environmental
education programme which helps learners
explore South Africa’s national parks and
understand their place in the natural and
cultural world.
By visiting national parks and engaging
in hands-on experiences with the local flo-
ra and fauna, school children learn about
ecology, natural history and the importance
of caring for the natural habitat.
Michael Jordaan, chief executive officer
of FNB said: “The Kuduzela will not only
give visitors a South African experience but
calf and mother re-united.
We were all so relieved.
I have written this note to thank Margaret
and Philip for ‘going the extra mile’.
Thanks again and keep up the good work.
And thank you for caring.
Best regards, Rina Bell, Boksburg
a truly African experience as well. We be-
lieve that the Kuduzela will take pride of
place in many a South African home, as
well as at the centre of many South African
future celebrations.”
The Kuduzela is produced at the Ver-
eeniging-based Kudu Kudu Manufactur-
ing plant where they manufacture injection
moulded vehicle parts.
“The downturn in the economy and the
subsequent slowdown in vehicle produc-
tion, led the owners of the plant to look for
innovative ways to keep the plant opera-
tional and their staff employed.
“Through innovation and lateral think-
ing, a section of the plant was adapted and
a new business established to manufacture
the Kuduzela, using as much recyclable
plastic as possible,” adds Jordaan.
He urged South Africans to begin prac-
ticing as lip flexibility and lung capacity - in
short, a fair amount of technique, where
needed to get the right sound. - BuaNews
Charcoal Profits Fuel War in East
Charcoal profits are helping to fuel the
conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC), where militia groups and
some segments of the national army con-
trol the production of and trade in the com-
modity, say officials.
“All the armed groups, including the
FDLR [Forces démocratiques pour la lib-
eration du Rwanda], and some individu-
als in the army are implicated in the traffic
of makala [charcoal],” said Emmanuel de
Merode, director of Virunga National Park.
“Illegal trade in makala generates sale
of up to US$30 million per year. A large
proportion of this money goes to the armed
groups,” said De Merode.
Charcoal trade is common in the east.
On the roads leading to Goma, North Kivu
Province’s main town, lorries and bicycles
are often seen stacked with sacks of char-
coal sourced from militia strongholds. In
Rutshuru territory, the FDLR controls log-
gers, charcoal burners and sellers, accord-
ing to trader Solomon Mubake. Traders in
North Kivu obtain their charcoal from Ru-
gari in Rutshuru, 35km north of Goma, or
Burungu and Kitchanga, 80km and 90km
west of Goma, respectively.
“The FDLR consider the forest as be-
longing to them... they have sub-divided it
into tracts of about 5km, which three or
four FDLR combatants monitor [day and
night] when [the FDLR] are not fighting,”
said Mubake.
Militia-controlled
logging
When they do not requisition the loggers,
the FDLR imposes monthly taxes of be-
tween $5 and $25 per logger.
“It’s better to stay in the house without
exploiting the charcoal when one is not able
to pay the $5... The people are afraid to die
as the FDLR have no prisons,” said Mu-
bake. “These days, there is a lot of settling
of scores. The FDLR kill those who betray
them.”
In Masisi territory, charcoal trade is main-
ly under Congrès national pour la defense
du peuple (CNDP) control. Theoretically,
the CNDP ceased to be a rebel movement
with the integration of its elements into the
army in January. But on the ground the re-
ality is different.
“There are still checkpoints and barriers
[manned] by armed elements who claim to
belong to the CNDP and who are also tak-
kruger park times - 23 - kruger park times
ing $5 per month in tax and demand money
to allow the passage of each sack of charcoal
to the market,” said Bimwa Shebatende,
a distributor. Villagers who do not obey
CNDP rules are chased from their homes.
The situation is similar in South Kivu Prov-
ince where the same armed groups control
the charcoal trade.
Mathilde Muhindo Mwamini, president
of a women’s group, denounced the exploi-
tation of civilians, especially women and
children in the charcoal trade, as well as the
engagement of army officers.
“It [charcoal trade] is one of the activi-
ties carried out by the FARDC [Congolese
army]. They... sometimes use the civilian
population to cut the wood [and] to make
the charcoal... but they sell it themselves,”
Muhindo said. She said in the past it was
the FDLR who exploited the charcoal, hav-
ing started these activities as refugees.
 Army operations
The Congolese army and the UN Mission
in the DRC (MONUC) have since January
conducted military operations against the
FDLR and other militia in the east aimed at
improving civilian security and cutting the
militias’ sources of financing.
The FDLR is a 6,000-strong armed group
that has been a key factor in the instability
in the Kivu provinces ever since its founders
fled Rwanda in the wake of the 1994 geno-
cide. Some 30 percent of the FDLR’s forces
are now Congolese.
At least 80,000 people were displaced in
June in North Kivu and another 17,000 in
neighbouring Orientale Province, according
to the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). www.irin-
news.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=85222
MONUC says the army’s operation Kim-
ia II has helped oust the FDLR and other
armed groups from the mining sites but not
from their forest hide-outs.
“Kimia II is aimed at recovering the main
mining sites. [This] has been done and is
being done but there are other sources of
income [still available] for the FDLR and
the armed groups,” said MONUC military
spokesperson, Lt. Col Jean-Paul Dietrich.
 Counting the cost
According to De Merode, almost 92 per-
cent of the makala produced in North Kivu
comes from trees harvested in the park.
Virunga is a world heritage site notable for
its active volcanoes and diverse habitats
housing endangered species.
So far, 20 percent of the park, about
790,000ha, has been destroyed by illegal
wood-cutting and charcoal-burning and at
least 120 park rangers have been killed by
various armed groups, he said.
“For us, it is the ICCN [l’Institut Congo-
lais pour la conservation de la nature] that
has paid the price of the armed groups’
presence with [their] blood,” he said. The
ICCN manages DRC’s national parks.
 Alternative energy
The ICCN is supporting alternative ener-
gy sources such as biomass briquettes, which
can be made from leaves, tree bark and fruit
peelings or other farm waste. The produc-
tion is low cost due to the abundance of raw
materials and the briquettes also provide 70
percent more energy than makala.
It is distributing briquette production kits
in Rutshuru and to IDP camps with the aim
of reducing financing for militias, because
the earnings will be collected in the villages
and not in the forests where the FDLR are,
said De Merode.
However, some NGOs are worried:
“There are negative consequences to offset-
ting the charcoal trade,” said Laura Miller
of the NGO Mercy Corps. “Briquette
presses may be destroyed by the rebels
that control the charcoal trade, or commu-
nity members may be forced to produce or
transport charcoal for them.”
© IRIN. All rights reserved.
“To laugh often and much; to
win the respect of intelligent
people and affection of chil-
dren; to earn the appreciation
of honest critics and endure
the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty, to find
the best in others; to leave the
world a bit better, whether by
a healthy child, a garden patch
or a redeemed social condi-
tion; to know even one life has
breathed easier because you
have lived. This is to have suc-
ceeded.” Ralph Waldo Emerson 
Your Thoughts About the 200-bed Luxury
Hotel Proposed for Kruger National Park
In the previous issue we asked
your comments about the proposed
200-bead hotel for the Kruger Nation-
al Park. This is what you said...
doing this is because they are lacking funds opposed to this idea.  Keep hotels out of
to upgrade the camps for 2010, and if they the Kruger.  At the moment you have far to
generate more they will spend more! The many private operators with game viewing
KNP is an experience that one cannot find vehicles roaming around.  Where were the

•ThoseI personally
think this sucks.
up and coming middle class who
are not happy with the current self catering
accommodation should either get a life or
find alternate holidaying venues.
The whole idea of visiting the park is to
anywhere else in the world. To commer-
cialise it any more than it is already, is just
going to spoil what one went there for. If
visitors want to stay in KNP, let them feel the
real experience as that is what is it all about,
and if they don’t like that, let them stay in
a concession  (which is rubbish anyway and
days when one had to search for hours to
see the best wildlife in an unspoiled environ-
ment, today - thanks to two way radios the
“Park” is over run by these vehicles.
  Sorry but we can not support such an
idea of a luxury hotel inside the park.
 Pieter du Plessis, African Group Director

enjoy the basics in life. Want a five star ex-
perience? Go elsewhere.
The park is already over commercialized.
Regards, Denis
•
only created for generation of funds) or they
can stay at one of the fancy lodges outside No Hotels In Kruger-Kruger Belongs
the various gates into the KNP. To The Animals Not To Humans
So, no, please DON’T DO IT! A.M.Pretorius, Secunda

•For Well •TonyGoodProudfoot

Kind regards to you
done on your newsletter. Lorraine & Hermann Hofreiter idea. Way to go for future.

• As a Ecotourism operator I am totally

comment on the 200 bed hotel, I be-
lieve that the only reason that SANParks are

Butterfly Enthusiasts Asked to Help

The South African Butterfly As- on site. Correct identification of the
sessment is in the process of gather- butterflies in the collection is not a
ing data on butterfly species distri- major requirement but aspects such
bution. Over and above the inputs as date collected and locality is very
given by contributors to the Virtual important.
Museum, digitising specimens from If you are prepared to contribute
private and museum collections is of to the project please contact Ian at
great importance. the phone numbers 084 722 1988 or
The objectives of the project are: 015 793 1482.
• Build a comprehensive data-
base
• Survey all butterfly species in
Southern Africa
• Map the distribution of but-
terfly species
• Assess the conservation sta-
tus of each species according to
IUCN criteria
• Assess threats to butterflies
including the identification of
priority threats and threatened
species
Any collector willing to have
his collection digitised will be
contributing to an important
project that is surveying South-
ern Africa’s butterflies. Your
collection is considered valuable
and will be handled with care

kruger park times - 24 - kruger park times