Over four years, Kalahari Research and Conservation has monitored the fates of 13 lions known to have killed livestock in rural Botswana. The lions were translocated into protected areas by the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) as part of a management strategy to reduce human-lion conflict. A short communication recently published in the African Journal of Wildlife Research analyses the success of this approach: of the 13 lions, ten died less than a year after release. This research adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests translocating lions does not often reduce conflict and the relocation of “problem” animals is not always a practical solution.
Kgalagadi lion
Human-wildlife conflict is undeniably one of the greatest threats facing the remaining wildlife across the planet, particularly in Africa. It is an intensely complicated issue, and conservationists and philanthropic organisations alike are eternally searching for ways to mitigate the collision between potentially dangerous animals and the people who live on the fringes of protected areas. One such potential solution is the relocation of the escaped wild animal to a place where it is less likely to come into contact with people or livestock. Unfortunately, while this may seem an ideal answer, such efforts seem to have limited success.
DWNP captured 13 lions from areas around the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Both parks are surrounded by Wildlife Management Areas and community lands used for livestock grazing. Before their release into new areas (120km or more from the original point of capture), researchers fitted the lions with satellite telemetry collars to monitor their movements.
Of the 13 lions, ten had died an average of 275 days after release. Six of these died outside of the protected areas, five killed by farmers. The cause of death of the other five was not established. The collars initially provided four locations per day, but scientists increased this to 13 in situations where the lion showed signs of returning to livestock areas. Six of the translocated lions continued to kill livestock and were recaptured and released back into the protected areas. One lion required a third translocation.
Study area and movement of 13 lions post translocation in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The DOTS represent point of release. The DIAMONDS represent the last location. In the key, letters after numbers indicate multiple translocations of the same animal.Study area and movement of 4 lions post translocation in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
A more thorough analysis of the lions’ movements and activities after their release suggests that targeting groups of adult females could potentially yield higher success rates for translocating lions. However, this could prove problematic in practice and relocating only some pride members may reduce the chances of survival for both the translocated lionesses and those that remain behind. Furthermore, the soft release of predators (that is, the translocated animals are kept in an enclosure for a period of adjustment before release) could also increase the chances of success.
The researchers conclude that their results are in line with similar studies involving the relocation of “problem” animals such as lions, leopards, and cheetahs, mainly where the animals concerned are repeat livestock raiders. These translocations are associated with a high mortality rate and also come with high financial costs. Previous studies involving the relocation of cheetahs indicate a cost of between $5,000 and $7,330 per cheetah translocation. Though the cost was not analysed in this instance, it is likely to be significantly higher for lion translocation, given the substantial size difference between the two cats.
In addition to high mortalities and costs, there is a shortage of suitable areas for translocating lions. Ideally, lions should be translocated to areas with sufficient prey, low lion densities and low poaching levels. Yet, most of the protected areas within Southern Africa have already reached their carrying capacity (itself a testament to the success of conservation efforts in these areas). In addition, translocating lions ideally requires adequate information about the lion demographics within the intended release site, which are not always available to researchers and managing bodies. The effects on the established territories and demographics of the resident lions and the potential spread of the disease are also potential concerns.
Based on these results, the authors argue that translocation/relocation is not an effective solution for addressing human-wildlife conflict. Instead, they suggest that limited available resources should be used to improve livestock husbandry, strengthen livestock kraals, and promote livelihoods beyond farming. Seizing a problem animal and putting it somewhere else may seem convenient and immediate, but overwhelming evidence indicates that it is simply not a practical approach.
Today, 11 African canids, from excitable African painted wolves and shrewd jackals to the tiny fox species, hunt the continent’s desert, alpine grassland, savanna and woodland.
Some 40 million years ago, the first identifiable canid (dog) species, Prohesperocyon wilsoni, arose in what is now Texas. The fossilised remains were classified as Canid partially because of the absent, upper third molars and an enlarged bulla (a hollow structure in the ear). As canids diversified across North America, evolution favoured them with several cursorial adaptations including long limbs and lightweight bodies. They were built to run from the start – a family trait that served them well and has survived in most species. When cooling climates exposed the Bering land bridge, canid ancestors raced, trotted, and slunk across to spread through Asia, Europe and eventually Africa.
African painted wolf or wild dog
African painted wolf (Lycaon pictus)
The most well-known African canid, African painted wolves (wild dogs), are the third-largest extant canid in the world and the largest in Africa. They are coursing, cooperative hunters, with lithe, athletic bodies built for speed and stamina. Their frenetic hunting style exploits panic and confusion, creating fast-paced, exhilarating sightings for those fortunate enough to encounter a pack on the move.
African painted wolves live in tight-knit packs, and there is little so heart-warming as watching pack members affectionately reaffirming their bonds. In social situations, the intimate relationships are expressed in joyful greeting ceremonies and play sessions, accompanied by an endearing array of squeaks, yips and whines. The alpha pair typically monopolises breeding, while the rest of the pack devote their attentions to feeding and caring for both the mother and her pups during the denning period.
They are the only member of the Lycaon genus and the only canid to have four toes on the front foot (they lack a dewclaw). Human persecution, habitat loss and fragmentation, and disease have all played a role in devastating African painted wolf populations. They are currently listed as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List. Further reading: What’s in a name?
Black-backed jackal
Black-backed and side-striped jackals (Canis mesomelas and Canis adustus)
It is bewildering that the average safari-goer dismisses jackals, intent rather on chasing down traditionally iconic creatures. This is unfortunate because jackals are attractive and adventurous little predators in their own right. Both species are consummate survivors with an indiscriminate palate and a boldness that belies their slender physiques. Jackals are opportunistic omnivores that can quickly and efficiently dispatch invertebrates, birds, reptiles, or even small antelope, but will also readily wolf down fallen fruit or seeds. Furthermore, any animal that dares to snatch the scraps out from beneath a hungry lion’s nose should be entitled to automatic respect.
Jackals are monogamous and territorial, though they may gather in larger numbers when there is a more substantial carcass. Grown offspring from the previous year’s litter occasionally stay and help their parents with subsequent pups – before dispersing. Interestingly, though the black-backed jackal is the smaller of the two, where black-backed and side-striped jackals do occur in the same place, the black-backed tends to dominate interactions.
African golden wolf (Canis lupaster)
The African golden wolf is notable mainly for the insights it has provided researchers of African canid evolution. Until recently, it was classified as an African variant of the golden jackal, which is widespread throughout the Middle East and Asia. Though scientists had long argued for a distinction between the two species, it was only in 2015 that a series of genetic studies revealed that the golden wolf is more closely related to grey wolves, Ethiopian wolves, and coyotes than it is to Asian golden jackals.
Slightly larger than the two jackal species, African golden wolves can catch and kill prey nearly three times their own mass. This is unusual however, and golden wolves tend to confine themselves to smaller prey species such as rodents, birds, lizards, snakes, and insects.
The wolf-like ancient Egyptian deities such as Anubis (the god of death) may have been based on African golden wolves.
Ethiopian or Simien wolf
Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis)
The Ethiopian wolf has the lamentable honour of being the most endangered carnivore in Africa. Fewer than 500 individuals remain, though this is an optimistic estimate. An IUCN estimate made in 2011 suggested a declining population of just 197 mature individuals.
They are endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands and found at altitudes over 3,000m above sea level, with more than half found in the Bale Mountains. The remaining five populations are isolated and fragmented; threatened by habitat degradation, conflict with humans and diseases carried by feral domestic dogs.
While most canid species are fairly generalist feeders, these beautiful, russet-coated Simien wolves are particularly adept at hunting Afroalpine rodents, especially big-headed mole-rats. The wolves wait patiently until a rodent emerges from its underground burrow before pouncing and digging frantically at the entrance. Interestingly, some wolves form temporary associations with geladas, and research indicates that their hunting efforts are more successful when they associate with these foraging troops. The wolves do not attempt to hunt the geladas, and the primates appear unconcerned by the canids’ presence.
While Ethiopian wolves tend to be solitary hunters, they live in small packs with an established hierarchy and one breeding female, who, when she dies, is usually replaced by one of her daughters.
Bat-eared fox
Bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis)
These little canids are the only insectivorous canid species in the world and, despite their common name, are not true foxes (genus Vulpes). Instead, they are the only Otocyon member, set apart by their unusual dentition adapted for demolishing invertebrates. They have up to 50 teeth (most canids have around 42), with reduced shearing surfaces on the molars and unique morphological adaptations which allow for extremely rapid chewing. The majority of their prey consists of harvester termites.
Bat-eared foxes are highly social and live in mated pairs or small family groups that forage, play and rest together. Somewhat unusually, the males take on the majority of caretaking activities where the young are concerned.
They are easily identified by their enormous ears (second only to the fennec fox below), and their scientific name refers specifically to this characteristic: “mega” meaning large and “otus” meaning ear.
Cape fox
Cape fox (Vulpes chama)
The only true fox species in sub-Saharan Africa, the delicate Cape fox prefers semi-arid and arid habitats. In true fox fashion, they are omnivores with a taste for everything from small mammals to seeds and fruit. Though common throughout most of Southern Africa, Cape foxes are nocturnal and seldom seen except in certain reserves where they have become habituated to people.
Though they appear to form monogamous bonds, Cape foxes prefer to forage alone, and the male and female usually only associate during the breeding season. When the kits are born in underground burrows, the male will care for and defend both the mother and young for the first few weeks.
Fennec fox (Fuchs zoo specimen)
Fennec fox (Vulpes zerda)
The fennec fox is the smallest canid species on the planet, weighing less than 2kg. They are perfectly adapted for the aridity and blistering temperatures of their Sahara Desert habitat. Most noticeably, their enormous ears, proportionately the largest of any canid species in the world, help dissipate heat – not unlike the ears of an elephant. Their tiny paws are covered in dense fur to protect against extreme heat and maintain traction on the desert sands. Fennec foxes’ most astonishing achievement is the ability to pant at 690 breaths per minute (over ten breaths per second!) without the expected adverse effects of hyperventilation.
They forage for insects, reptiles, small mammals and birds at night. Plants supplement the diet and aid with hydration.
The fennec fox’s Disney-like appearance has made it a popular exotic pet, even though it is ill-suited to a domestic existence away from its natural desert habitat. Though they are highly social, little is known about the intricacies of their societies, and most behavioural observations have been gleaned from captive individuals.
Pale fox
Pale fox (Vulpes pallida)
Pale foxes are the least studied of all African canids, and little is known about their day-to-day lives or individual numbers. They inhabit the Sahel region of the African continent (the transition zone between the Sahara Desert and savannahs further south). They are distinguished from the Rüppell’s fox (see below) by the black tip on their tails. Just a fraction smaller than the Cape fox, pale foxes are omnivorous and predominantly nocturnal.
Rüppell’s fox
Rüppell’s fox (Vulpes ruepelli)
The Rüppell’s fox is confined to the continent’s northernmost reaches and is distinguished by a white-tipped tail and black markings under the eye. Like all desert-dwelling foxes, they have enormous ears, though not quite to the same degree as the fennec fox. Though the species is widely distributed, there is little available information on Rüppell’s foxes.
Red fox (this is an individual photographed in Europe. In Africa, the red fox tends to be much smaller and greyer than in Europe.)
Red fox (Vulpes vulpes)
Typically associated with the countryside and alleys of European cities, few people realise that red foxes also occur in Africa’s northern fringes. This species is largest of the true foxes, though the southern grey desert subspecies is significantly smaller and less brightly coloured than its European counterparts. These animals are not as well adapted to truly arid areas as other desert foxes and tend to be more common around rivers and oases where there is better access to water.
Barking up the family tree
As the canid ancestors loped their way across Asia and into Africa, they faced competition from the two other hyper-carnivorous predator families: the Felidae (cats) and the Hyaenidae (hyenas). For all predators, the competitive landscape was changing as prey species evolved to run faster through increasingly open habitats. This evolutionary arms race was to shape all three families. The felids came to rely almost exclusively on stealth and ambush, while the dog-like hyenas (distinct from their bone-crunching relatives) all but disappeared (with one exception).
And the canids of Africa? They took on the various forms described above – most are lightweight and fleet of foot and all are bright-eyed, intelligent, and adaptable.
[Editorial note: Blanford’s fox (Vulpes cana) has been recorded on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. There is only one record of an individual collected west of the Suez Canal. While it is possible there are resident populations in the African portions of Egypt, this is unconfirmed, and we have thus omitted this animal from our list.]
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If social media is an accurate measure of how we communicate as a species, then humankind now ranks virtue-signalling above coalface reality, and we trash distinguished track-records and careers overnight if enough cloistered people feel offended.
In the African conservation context, what does this mean for Africa’s ground zero conservation workers, who don’t have the time or inclination to participate in this race to algorithmic dominance? And what about the Internet-bereft rural people who live amongst Africa’s wild animals and carry the cost of doing so – are they considered by the machine to be irrelevant? Just asking
Keep the passion
Simon Espley – CEO, Africa Geographic
From our Editor-in-Chief
For many people, bats are not creatures that conjure emotions of warmth, joy or affection. Let’s face it, few of us have willingly cuddled a bat or expressed the desire to do so. Those that have touched one have normally done so while flapping and screaming in an undignified manner while the terrified little chiropterid tried to untangle itself from hair, mosquito net or shirt. Well, cast those irrational fears aside as you read our first story below – a story of the world’s largest mammal migration in the gorgeous Kasanka National Park of Zambia.
Fairies, strictly speaking, are not of African origin. Yes, there are many other sprite-like or magical semi-humans littering African folklore – but no fairies. So it was always unlikely that a European hobgoblin would ultimately be found responsible for the strange, vegetation-free circles that litter parts of the Namib and Kalahari deserts. Well, science has come to the rescue – not fairies but Euphorbias. Our second story below is a fascinating explanation of the strange circles.
Finally, the 11th week of Our Photographer of the Year which carries a prize of 10 000 USD and a six-day safari to Khwai in Botswana. This week’s edition has everything from tiny, sparkling spiders to endless African landscapes – best enjoyed on a large screen with inspiring music in the background. Here’s how to enter.
Story 1 LARGEST
The Kasanka bat migration in Zambia is the largest mammal migration on Planet Earth. It’s a spectacular must-see for nature lovers.
Story 2 FAIRIES?
Fairy circles – Euphorbia toxins are responsible for the bizarre fairy circles in Namibia that have baffled and fascinated scientists – new research
Story 3 BEST PHOTOS
Week eleven of our 2021 Photographer of the Year
Our Photographer of the Year 2021 is open for submissions, with cash prizes of US$10,000 for the overall winner and the two runners-up. They and their partners will also join our CEO Simon Espley and his wife Lizz on the ultimate private safari in Botswana.
The competition runs from January to June 2021. Get your entries in now and join us in celebrating Africa! Proudly brought to you by Hemmersbach Rhino Force and Natural Selection.
It’s the end of November, and there are at least 8 million straw-coloured fruit bats (Eidolon helvum) filling the skies at eye level as we perch in our tree-top hide. The annual Kasanka bat migration – the planet’s largest mammal migration – has arrived. It is one of the natural world’s best-kept secrets, and for years this startling sight remained virtually unseen by African travel enthusiasts. It is an animal carnival to astound the senses.
At 3:45am I emerged from my room, rubbing sleep from my eyes, coming face to face with a tiny lesser bushbaby, who stared at me, unblinking with surprise, gripping the spindly branch of a small tree overhanging the deck in front of our room. I’m not sure who was more startled. The bushbaby was simply doing what bushbabies do in the early hours of the morning. I, on the other hand, instead of being tucked up in bed, was off to see millions of fruit bats returning to roost after a night of foraging.
Kasanka is 39 000ha – one of Zambia’s smaller national parks.
Between October and December each year, the bats descend into a tiny patch of evergreen swamp forest inside Kasanka National Park, northern Zambia. The African straw-coloured fruit bat is the second-largest fruit bat on the continent, can have a wingspan up to a metre, and the adults weigh up to 350g. They come to feast on the pod mahogany, musuku, mufinsa, milkwood1 and other wild fruit that appears with the first rains. Scientists are not entirely sure where these bats spend the rest of the year, though they do know that for some of them, it is somewhere deep in the rainforests of the Congo. The bats in Kasanka are at all different stages of the breeding cycle, with some mating, some in various stages of pregnancy, and some with young. It’s known from observation of individual colonies around Africa that these bats are seasonal and synchronise their breeding within the colony, so the diversity seen in Kasanka implies that they are coming from various areas.
Straw-coloured fruit bats resting in the midday heat.
Eidolon helvum are predominantly recorded around the edges of equatorial rainforests, but no-one knows as yet if large colonies live deep inside the rainforest. The ecological implications of 3,500 tons of flying mammals arriving over a three month period are profound. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour, who visited in 2019, say they are yet to fully explain the sheer scale of the Kasanka bat migration. Researchers indicate that the number of bats is far greater than the sum of individuals in all known colonies within several thousand kilometres. So it would seem that Kasanka’s special significance to straw-coloured fruit bats is a question that science is not yet able to answer. Hopefully, ongoing satellite tracking research will yield further information on both their migration routes and the species as a whole. While this incredible spectacle is not typically at the top of the traditional safari traveller’s bucket list’, it is a unique experience.
We arrived at Kasanka the previous evening and almost immediately headed to one of the park’s bat hides. We held tightly to the 13m of wooden handrails that wrapped around the trunk supporting the wooden viewing platform. Thirteen metres is not really that high, but it certainly gave a spectacular perspective of the area. Three white-backed vultures perched in a nearby tree. Catching sight of them, my husband, who is not fond of heights, commented that they looked like they were waiting (in vain) for us to plunge to our deaths! A beer for him and a G&T for me restored our equilibrium. We waited and watched as the sun sank.
As the sky turned orange and lightning streaked the sky in the far distance, in a hectare of forest below, the tree silhouettes began to tremble – the bats hanging from their branches started to wake. The branches were so tightly packed with bats that some of them, unable to grasp the branches, were left clinging to their neighbours.
A sunset winged carnival.
As dusk fell, they fluttered off in search of wild fruits, their large, leathery wings filling the air with loud rustling and heavy flapping. As the flock took to the sky, the drooping branches of the bat forest lifted back into place. The bolder bats took to the air first, followed in fits and starts by the rest of the colony. Some headed out, then, appearing to change their minds, turned back, only to try again a few minutes later. The sky was soon filled with chatter as the bats darted in and out of the trees, in a cloud-like mass resembling a giant swarm of overgrown bees.
We waited in our treetop eyrie until it was almost too dark to see the ladder down. By then, the sky was empty; the bats had vanished. The sound of thunder drew closer as we felt our way back down the ladder and, by the light of torches, made our way back to the vehicle. Fat drops of rain began to fall as we drove back to camp.
When morning came, it was only me, the bush baby and my guide Ruston, who seemed to be awake. My husband snored contentedly from under his bed covers. After hot tea and biscuits, I climbed onto the back of the vehicle, wrapped myself snugly in a blanket, and we set off for the tree hide in the bat forest. It was still dark as we walked through the forest with torches in hand, the bats fluttering and feasting in the waterberries above our heads – last-minute snacks before sunrise. As day broke, the bats returned to roost. It was like watching a film of the previous night’s action in reverse but even more breathtaking. Vivid splashes of scarlet, tangerine and gold lit the sky, silhouetting the bats like prehistoric pterodactyls as they flocked, in droves, back to the colony.
They tumbled into the trees pushing, shoving and clambering noisily over one other to find a space to sleep during the day. The area became so overcrowded that I could hear the occasional snap of a branch and then squeaks as a few fruit-bloated Eidolon helvum plummeted, ungracefully, to the ground. Finally, one by one, they settled, and silence descended over the bat forest again. We headed back to camp for breakfast.
Returning to roost after a night out foraging for fruit.
Researchers have found that most of the females in the colony are either pregnant or nursing pups during their migration to Kasanka. The abundant fruit helps support the increased energy they require. They gorge themselves on seasonal fruit, one study finding that they eat up to twice their body weight in a night. By the time they depart Kasanka, the bats will have consumed over a billion fruits! All this provides them with the reserves needed for their long migrations across Africa. No wonder the branches strain and crack under their combined weight, and why, at the end of the bat season, the forest they leave behind looks rather dilapidated.
Even now, scientists don’t really know exactly where the participants in the Kasanka bat migration come from and where they go. At roughly 39 000ha, Kasanka is one of Zambia’s smallest national parks, yet it is home to the world’s largest mammal migration. A small park with a massive treasure.
Wasa Lodge, managed by the not-for-profit Kasanka Trust.
FUN FRUIT BAT FACTS
– The Kasanka bat migration plays a leading role in the regeneration of forests. The bats’ role as pollinators and seed dispersers is significant, and their ability to travel great distances helps them maintain genetic diversity and connect plant populations across fragmented landscapes.
– According to GPS tagging studies by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany, straw-coloured fruit bats have the furthest migration routes of all mammals, including other bats, in Africa, travelling thousands of kilometres annually – a distance unheard of in any other fruit bat species.
– Each individual of this species has its own unique scent and call. This allows mothers to find their young in large colonies of millions
– Research by the Kasanka Trust has found that the bats fly on average 50 km from their roost every night to feed in the surrounding forests, covering an area of more than 500,000 hectares!
WHEN TO GO
The bats start arriving in Zambia’s Kasanka National Park towards the end of October. Their numbers steadily increase over the next few weeks. Mid-October to mid-December is the best time for the bats. By the end of December / beginning of January, the forest is bat free.
It’s not just the bats you will see at this time of the year. The rains bring green grass, bright flowers and plenty of migratory birds. Although Kasanka isn’t a place for the ‘Big Five’, you are almost guaranteed to see the rare and special sitatunga.
WHERE TO STAY
Wasa Lodge, located on the shores of a lovely lake, is the closest lodge accommodation for the Kasanka bat migration. There is also a seasonal fly camp, Kapabi, which is well situated. Kasanka also has several self-catering campsites.
Want to see the Kasanka bat migration? To find lodges, search for our ready-made packages or get in touch with our travel team to arrange your safari, scroll down to after this story.
Across the deserts of Namibia and the Northern Cape in South Africa, certain areas are dotted with barren sand patches where nothing seems to grow. These peculiar ‘fairy circles’ have captured the imaginations of scientists and tourists with everything, from termites to UFOs, being mooted as potential causes. A new study from the University of Pretoria, South Africa and ITMO University in Russia indicates that dead Euphorbia plants are the culprits for the famous circles. Or, more accurately, the long-term effects of these toxic succulents on soil properties and chemistry.
Fairy circle marked by Theron (a) and remains of E. damarana (b) on Giribes Plain
The multidisciplinary study began six years ago with researchers investigating the impact of Euphorbia species on the circles’ soil properties. They examined the effects on soil chemistry, germination inhibition and antimicrobial activity on rhizosphere bacteria (which many plants need to ‘fix’ nitrogen in a usable form). The researchers then compared the spatial patterns of the fairy circles with the current growth patterns of Euphorbia species, including E. damarana, E. gummifera and even E. gregaria. All of these roundish succulents contain a highly poisonous, latex-like sap.
The scientists propose that the Euphorbia species colonised the sandy soils when climatic conditions were more favourable. Research indicates that Namibia has experienced periods of significant temperature increase over the past few centuries. In the last three decades, temperatures have increased roughly three times more than the global mean. These high temperatures and increasingly arid conditions would have seen the Euphorbias competing for access to water and nutrients, particularly in soils with a low water-holding capacity. As a result, many would have died.
E. damarana and FCs in the background and the dead plant remains in the front on the Giribes Plain
However, the researchers theorise that while the plants may have died off, their legacies remained deep within the soils. As the dead plants decomposed, the sticky, toxic latex would have soaked into the soils and changed its chemical properties, making it more hydrophobic (repelling water). Other compounds capable of inhibiting plant growth and microbial activity would have entered the soil, trapped around soil particles as the latex solidified. This is an example of allelopathy – where organisms produce biochemicals that inhibit the growth of other organisms.
Their theory was supported by soil analysis which revealed that soil from the fairy circles and soil taken from beneath decomposing Euphorbia plants had very similar phytochemistry (chemicals produced by plants.)
The idea that dead Euphorbias may be behind the formation of the ‘fairy circles’ has been around since the 1970s, when botanists observed the co-occurrence of the plants and fairy circles. Researchers marked dead and decaying E. damarana plants in 1978, and these circles were not covered by grasses when rechecked in 2016. By integrating rainfall, altitude and landcover into a sophisticated suitability model, the researchers in this study were also able to predict where fairy circles would be expected to occur. This model largely overlapped with the distribution of the three Euphorbia species and also resulted in the discovery of more fairy circles in the South African section of the Kalahari Desert.
Site suitability prediction map for fairy circle distribution
However, this ‘fairy circle’ explanation has proved contentious, and there are still several scientific theories as to their origins. Sand termites (Psammotermes allocerus) were previously shown to be present in 100% of newly formed fairy circles, leading researchers to theorise that they were responsible. A recent research paper proposed that the circles are natural vegetation patterns that arose due to competition between different grass species.
For a hypothesis on the cause and maintenance of one of nature’s most mysterious phenomena to be accepted, it would have to explain all of the most important properties of the ‘fairy circles’ themselves. These include the mostly circular shape, their unusually high densities, their size and their changing diameter at different latitudes. The new study proposes an explanation of all of these characteristics, particularly given the almost circular shapes of the Euphorbia species.
If this hypothesis is correct, it also means that there is an astounding historical ‘footprint’ of hundreds of thousands of succulent Euphorbias, stretching from Angola in the north to South Africa in the south. It also explains the life-expectancy of the ‘fairy circles’ themselves. As rainfall gradually washes away the hardened latex from the soil particles, the toxins break down and allow for the natural plant succession process.
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In this instance, I will leave most of the talking to my phenomenally capable colleague James. Just this: today some 20,075 sunrises ago, my mother gave birth to me. I don’t celebrate human dates, but I do worship the ground that my mom walks on. Peace out.
Keep the passion
Simon Espley – CEO, Africa Geographic
From our Editor-in-Chief
I would suggest that before you delve into the meat of our main stories, you pour a cup of tea/ coffee/ malt whisky, don a pair of headphones and push play on our video of the week (scroll down). It’s an inspirational tribute to Namibia by some tremendously talented Namibians and will kindle your wanderlust for wilderness.
Our first story below is not quite as inspirational as the video. The Okavango has lost all its rhino in the past, and it looks like the ignominy of another local extinction is on the cards if the government doesn’t acknowledge the upsurge in poaching.
For our second story below, you might want to pour your second tea/ coffee/ malt whisky before marvelling at the magic of Laikipia – a spectacularly beautiful collection of conservancies in central Kenya. It must be one of the most progressive attempts to incorporate the needs of human beings and wildlife in one protected space; a mosaic of commercial farms, rangelands and wildlife conservancies with huge biodiversity and endless choices for travellers of every bent.
In our third story below, some extremely dedicated souls from Elephants Alive have developed a coding system for identifying individual elephants based on their ages, tusks and ear features. The system has some hugely important applications for elephant monitoring and management.
Finally, the tenth week of Our Photographer of the Year carries a prize of 10 000 USD and a six-day safari to Khwai in Botswana. It’s an eclectic collection of Africa’s exuberant life from desert to ocean. Here’s how to enter. If you’ve captured an image that makes you smile or ponder, send it in – it might just do the same for everyone else!
Story 1 SHADES OF GREY
Rhino poaching in Botswana: Is political pride hurting efforts to stop rhino poaching in Botswana? Opinion post by Melissa Reitz
Story 2 SAFARI MECA
Laikipia in Kenya – a land of staggering beauty & biodiversity – a mosaic of wildlife conservancies, ranchlands & commercial farms
Story 3 JUMBO ID
Elephant identification is a difficult task – but a new system based on ear patterns is making the task easier – research by Elephants Alive
Story 4 BEST PHOTOS
Week ten of our 2021 Photographer of the Year
Our Photographer of the Year 2021 is open for submissions, with cash prizes of US$10,000 for the overall winner and the two runners-up. They and their partners will also join our CEO Simon Espley and his wife Lizz on the ultimate private safari in Botswana.
The competition runs from January to June 2021. Get your entries in now and join us in celebrating Africa! Proudly brought to you by Hemmersbach Rhino Force and Natural Selection.
Laikipia – “It was not just the beauty and wildness of the landscape. It was not just the smells, intense of dust and elephant, of jasmine and moonflower, nor the incredible concert of birds singing with liquid voices in the golden afternoons. It was not just the profile of the hills and the short purple sunsets, nor the vivid colours of the hibiscus and of the sky and of the yellow grass, nor the emotions of a sudden rustle of leaves of a scared francolin while I was walking alone in the bush, nor the surprise of the leopard, still as a statue in the full moon.”
As Kuki Gallman so vividly describes in her iconic novel, I Dreamed of Africa, Laikipia is a land of staggering natural beauty and biodiversity, enriched by complex cultural strands of human history and influence. The plateau is a mosaic of wildlife conservancies, ranchlands, rangelands and commercial farms that bridge the gap between East Africa’s savannas to the south and the arid lands of the Horn of Africa to the north. Here, endangered species often roam alongside Boran cattle and camels across a conservation landscape unlike any other in Africa.
Game drives, conservation experiences, horse safaris and camel rides – just a few of the myriad wilderness activities on offer in Laikipia.
The basics
Laikipia (‘treeless plain’ in Maa) is one of Kenya’s 47 counties, covering an area of 9,500km2 (950,000 hectares) and part of the much broader Ewaso ecosystem. The Ewaso Ng’iro River flows north-east through the county, fed by tributaries flowing off Mount Kenya’s glaciers. For the most part, the entire region is open to wildlife and fences are limited to the wetter southern areas where farming is more prevalent, and human-wildlife conflict is a common occurence.
The landscape is dominated by ancient gneisses, which form rocky outcrops and hills, while the western lava sheets bear testament to the tumultuous history of the Great Rift Valley. The Aberdare Mountains run along Laikipia’s southwestern boundary, while Mount Kenya’s shadow looms large to the southeast. Most of the county lies at altitudes over 1,500m, so, despite lying across the Equator, the climate is relatively cool and temperate, becoming increasingly dry towards the central and northern regions.
Laikipia is wild, magical, whimsical
A different kind of wild space
Apart from Mukogodo and Rumuruti Forest Reserves, none of Laikipia’s various wildlife areas has formal protected status (that is, none of them is a game reserve or national park). Instead, the guardianship of the wilderness is based on the Kenyan conservancy model. Here, the lines between wild spaces and humanity are blurred. Many of the properties involved in wildlife conservation and tourism combine these efforts with raising livestock. Several group ranches are run by community-owned companies, many of which have dedicated their energies to conserving vast swathes of land.
Scattered throughout Laikipia are wildlife conservancies supported by a thriving tourism industry. The Laikipia Conservancies Association consists of 24 member conservancies which cover an area of 3,500km2 (350,000 hectares), including:
Ol Pejeta Conservancy
360km2 (36,000 hectares)
Ol Ari Nyiro (also known as Laikipia Nature Conservancy)
365km2 (36,500 hectares)
Naibunga (a group ranch composed of 9 ranches)
477km2 (47,700 hectares)
Loisaba Conservancy
226km2 (22,600 hectares)
Borana Conservancy (contiguous with Lewa Conservancy)
120km2 (12,000 hectares)
Il Ngwesi (a group ranch)
93km2 (9,300 hectares)
Lekuruki Conservancy
92km2 (9,200 hectares)
Ol Jogi Conservancy
240km2 (24,000 hectares)
Sosian Samburumburu
97km2 (9,700 hectares)
Ol-Lentille
162km2 (16,200 hectares)
The above list of operational conservancies is complemented by several unfenced private ranches, many of which offer their own intimate safari experience. Under the Laikipia Wildlife Foundation’s guidance, this extensive ecosystem is managed as a cohesive ecological entity. It is also open to the renowned Lewa Wildlife Conservancy to the east and attached to the Mount Kenya Forest and National Park to the southeast.
Laikipia’s precious wildlife treasures
The plateau’s gradual transition from intensive livestock farming to wildlife haven is a testament to the success of a progressive and inclusive conservation approach. Laikipia’s heterogeneous landscapes now offer some of the most magnificent wildlife viewing in Kenya, from the standard Big 5 experience to more unusual and elusive creatures. The county is home to the second-largest elephant population in Kenya, and many of these herds now migrate north to Samburu during the two rainy seasons. Naturally, big cat sightings are regular and always exciting, but equally enthralling are the opportunities to spot the sloping back of a striped hyena, the absurdly elongated neck of the peculiar gerenuk and the spear-tipped horns of the Beisa oryx. The exceptionally fortunate may even see one of the melanistic leopards recently confirmed to be lurking in some conservancies.
However, part of Laikipia’s real magic lies in its inordinate concentration of endangered species, particularly rhinos. Perhaps most famously, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy is home to the last two northern white rhinos in the world, vigilantly guarded day and night. Najin and her daughter Fatu were given to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy by the Dvůr Králové Zoo in Czechoslovakia in 2009. Najin’s father – Sudan – was the last surviving male northern white rhino until he died in 2018. At present, scientists are working towards creating embryos using sperm collected. Until this project succeeds, a visit to Laikipia offers the last opportunity to see the northern white rhino.
White rhinos aside, Laikipia is also home to nearly half of Kenya’s black rhinos. Many of the conservancies and ranches have dedicated rhino sanctuaries that have contributed immensely to rhino conservation in East Africa. The county is an important stronghold for the endangered Grévy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe (also known as the Somali giraffe), and Jackson’s hartebeest (regarded as a rare hybrid between the Lelwel and Coke’s hartebeest). African painted wolves (wild dogs) course across the vast woodlands and open plains, their propensity for covering large distances supported by the size of the ecosystem available to them. The Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Ol Pejeta is also the only place in Kenya where visitors can see chimpanzees, as they do not occur naturally.
Clockwise from top left: The endangered Grévy’s zebra; the endangered reticulated giraffe; endangered and curious wild dog puppies; lion mother spots supper over the grass; white rhino mum and calf
Variety and adventure – the Laikipia experience
Want to go on a safari to Laikipia? To find lodges, search for our ready-made packages or get in touch with our travel team to arrange your safari, scroll down to after this story.
Apart from its remarkable wildlife, the Laikipia experience can be defined by two quintessential principles: exclusivity and freedom. The private conservancies and ranches guarantee that visitors can immerse themselves in the wilderness, free from the almost crushing pressure of tourist numbers in the more renowned national parks and game reserves. This high quality, low-density approach to tourism has opened up unique experiences for visitors, such as accompanying ecological teams in the field to monitor endangered species, track lions or walk with baboon troops. Variety is the order of the day, and tailored adventures are the norm in Laikipia.
Free from the rules and restrictions of national parks, the lodges offer expertly guided walks, night drives and horse safaris. Intrepid visitors can opt to explore the landscape on a mountain bike or quad bike, rolling along paths inaccessible to the average vehicle and discovering hidden nooks and crannies. Those that prefer a more sedate pace can hop on the back of a camel and enjoy the scenery from a novel vantage point, accompanied by the gentle tinkle of camel train bells.
As a general rule, Laikipia does not stint on comfortable accommodation, though there are options available to suit tighter budgets. There are a number of either community-owned or community-operated lodges for conscience-driven travellers. However, it is important to note that access to the vast majority of the conservancies and ranches is restricted to guests, and only Ol Pejeta offers access to day visitors. Like the Maasai Mara, there are two rainy seasons: the ‘short’ rains in October/November and the ‘long’ rains lasting from March until June. Though rainfall levels are not as high as they are in the Mara, high rainfall may affect the activities and the wildlife viewing.
Camps for all tastes and pockets
A triumph of conservation
Though Laikipia offers various habitats and experiences for the discerning visitor, these are all underscored by a common theme – authenticity. In Laikipia, the fortunes of people and wildlife are inextricably linked. This is not to say that this process has been without its own challenges, and indeed, Laikipia has seen its fair share of conflict and heartache. However, the inclusive approach that values livelihoods and biodiversity has successfully used tourism to galvanize the creation of one of the largest wilderness areas in Kenya.
The concept of individually- or community-owned conservancies should be considered a Kenyan conservation success story. Tourists that visit these conservancies and ranches play an enormous role in ensuring the future of these protected wilderness areas and supporting a continuous revenue stream for the local communities. With over 65% of Kenyan wildlife existing outside of government-protected wilderness areas, it is easy to see why conservancies will be critical to conservation efforts in the future. The sprawling plateau of Laikipia, home to some of the most endangered species in Africa and steeped in complex history, is the perfect example of this process in action.
To the novice eye, most wild animals of the same species look mostly identical to each other unless marred by a prominent scar or perhaps sporting a different colour variation. However, closer observation reveals that each individual, whether leopard, lion, or elephant, possesses a set of identifying characteristics as unique as human fingerprints. For researchers monitoring these animals, being able to identify individuals is extremely useful for estimating populations and understanding demographics. However, the process is often time-consuming, labour intensive and subject to human bias. For 25 years, the team at Elephants Alive, spearheaded and led by Dr Michelle Henley (last author), have developed their own solution for elephant identification: a System of Elephant Ear-pattern Knowledge (SEEK).
Despite their size, monitoring elephants to estimate populations and demographics comes with its own set of complications. Traditional capture-mark-recapture techniques are expensive, dangerous, and impractical, large-scale aerial surveys are prohibitively expensive, and dung counts vary depending on vegetation type. This has necessitated the use of alternative techniques such as mark-resighting studies which in turn generally rely on photo-identification. The use of photographic records depends mostly on manual matching techniques and human memory, and while automated software models are in use, they still require further development.
The Elephants Alive team monitor elephants across the Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR) on the western boundary of the Kruger National Park and have been conducting field research since 1996. The team began putting together their own simplified coding system at the start of the period which initially entailed creating detailed drawings of the ear features of individual elephants. The study was officially registered with South African National Parks (SANParks) in 2003 and has continued until the present day.
In 2012, the first comprehensive coding system was developed. The animal was grouped first according to sex and age and then incorporated into a feature and element system. The method was refined over time, to simplify the system and exclude observer bias for more complex shapes.
Today, each elephant assigned to the database has been given a unique code that corresponds to specific aspects of that individual. The first letter of the code will be either B (bull) or C (cow) and the following two numbers place the individual in an age bracket. Following that, the presence or absence of tusks is recorded. From there, features on the left ear have been assigned numbers depending on the position on the ear itself – with the most prominent tear listed first, followed by the most prominent hole, the second most prominent tear and the second most prominent hole (in this exact order). The right ear follows the same pattern. The coding system is completed with reference to the existence of extreme features (applied to ear tears or holes that cover more than 25% of the ear) and any other special features (a missing tail for example).
So, for example, B70T01E808_-403_X00S00 is a bull elephant, born between 1970 and 1979 (B70), with a tusk on his left side but not the right (T01). The most prominent tear and the second most prominent tear are both at the 8 position of his left ear (E808). On his right ear, the most prominent tear is on the 4 position, while the second most prominent tear sits on the 3 position (-403). Neither ear has any prominent holes. He does not have any extreme features nor any special elements (X00S00).
SEEK has been developed to follow the rules of the search function of both Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word, allowing researchers to rapidly narrow down their search when presented with an image of an elephant they are trying to identify. If all recorded individuals are ruled out, the new elephant is added to the system. The additional Microsoft Office Wildcard function also allows for situations where not all characteristics are observable (if presented with only one side of the individual, for example).
The extensive development of SEEK is a truly extraordinary accomplishment, born of decades worth of research and practical experience. The evolution of this method has been shaped by the pragmatic realities of fieldwork while still allowing for identification accuracy, resulting in a system that can be applied by other such research programmes as well as an extensive historical database of elephant individuals in the Greater Kruger. From behavioural studies to understanding long-term population trends, individual identification is vital in the efforts to conserve one of the most iconic animals in Africa.
Botswana’s recent upsurge in rhino poaching is reaching a crisis point. More than 100 rhinos have been poached in under two years from a population of less than 400. Yet, the government remains resolute in its denial of a growing catastrophe.
Former Botswanan president Ian Khama recently announced on social media that over 120 rhinos have been poached in the past 18 months. The post said that poachers were ‘killing rhinos with or without horns,’ and that ‘after corona (virus) there will be none left for tourists to see.’
Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) has denied the accusation – saying Khama’s announcement is irresponsible and will negatively impact tourism. In a statement, the DWNP claims that wildlife-related crimes are down by 70 per cent since the COVID 19 period from March 2020.
But on the same day as DWNP’s statement release, Bhejane Trust, a Zimbabwean rhino conservation organisation, publicised the massacre of 12 more rhinos in the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana saying, ‘Urgent action is required by the Botswana authorities, and they should bring in expert advice and assistance immediately if any rhino(s) are to survive.’
Conservationists are concerned that Botswana’s rebuttal to its growing poaching crisis is encouraging rhino horn poachers to focus on the remaining rhino in the Okavango Delta area and could lead to an absence of safari tourists.
‘The current government already has a poor conservation record, and it seems to be following the same policy of denial it used with the elephant poaching over the last few years,’ says Ian Michler, conservationist and specialist wilderness guide. ‘Let’s be clear; the poaching syndicates have seen the weakness and have turned their attention on this country. Without a strong and effective response, Botswana runs the risk of seeing rhino disappear from its parks and reserves for the third time.’
After numbers crashed in the early nineties Botswana engaged in a rhino relocation project in 2001 which spanned over ten years, introducing viable populations of black and white rhinos back into the Okavango Delta.
In June last year, the Botswanan government began removing rhino horns and relocating rhinos away from the Delta in an attempt to reduce the risk of poaching. The official count for poached rhinos was 56 since 2018, marking it the worst onslaught since the country’s black rhino population was wiped out in 1992 and white rhinos dropped to below 30 individuals.
According to Dereck Joubert, who leads the Botswana non-profit Rhinos Without Borders, the relocation of rhinos away from the Delta was essential amid the coronavirus pandemic as poachers were using the absence of safari tourists during lockdown to their advantage. Asian rhino horn traders had also begun to tout rhino horn as a cure for the virus.
At that stage, nearly 50 poached rhinos had been recorded since late 2019.
In August 2020, the poaching crisis was still showing no sign of let-up and the government went back on its decision to reduce the military capability of the arms carried by its wildlife rangers. With 17 poachers shot dead in six months in gunfire exchange with the army, it was decided to re-arm anti-poaching rangers with military weapons.
Is this what it seems to be? An attempt by the government to minimise what is obviously a devastating onslaught on the last few remaining rhinos in Botswana; a repeat of their stance on elephants just two years ago?
In 2019, the newly elected President Mokgweetsi Masisi denied that elephant poaching was at a crisis point when aerial surveys revealed that almost 400 elephants had been poached between 2017 and 2018.
“The question remains: why is the Botswanan government not engaging the international community for help? Other countries are using NGOs and civil society to assist them with wildlife crime,” says Adrienne West of Political Animal Lobby. “Botswana cannot expect to tackle an issue of this magnitude alone.”
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Our safari industry is in tatters as extended travel bans and doubt about fundamental issues continue to plague our core markets. The past few months have seen businesses hit the dirt, and there will be many more casualties as this stalled industry sheds weight and reboots. But this is a passion-led space, and it will rise again, FOR THE BETTER. Of that, I have no doubt. The arrival of the ‘new normal’ will be an exciting time for those of us that are fortunate enough to remain – and for you, the passionate safari-goers. The future is being crafted right now – it will be what we make of it. You can help the safari industry by booking your next safari – even if it is in a year or two from now.
I have recently hinted about new AG plans – and we are deep under the hood with this exciting development that will somewhat shake things up and empower you to play a larger role in Africa. It’s coming …
Now here is an INSPIRING project. One of southern Africa’s most respected birding and walking guides plans to do a world-record 30,000 burpees in 10 days to raise funds for anti-poaching efforts. What an amazing initiative – PLEASE support him – see the video link below.
Keep the passion
Simon Espley – CEO, Africa Geographic
From our Editor-in-Chief
Our first story below is a scientific marvel born of potential catastrophe. What a sad state of affairs that it has come to this. Thank goodness for forward-thinking philanthropists prepared to throw money and action at a problem rather than conferences and committees. Hemmersbach Rhino Force has created a cryo-lab (basically an uber fancy freezer and Tupperware combo) for the harvesting of and storage of rhino gametes (swimmers and eggs) for the eventuality that these ancient pachyderms do not survive the poaching onslaught. The Cryovault is a remarkable, commendable and inspiring commitment.
Our second story below, from a wildlife veterinarian with decades of field experience provides strong evidence that fences were highly unlikely to have contributed to the Botswana elephant die-off in 2020 (as reported here). More than this perhaps, the story and its design point out the value of ground-truthing, common-sense and experience. It cautions that not even the peer-review process is infallible.
Photos
Finally, the ninth week of African celebration through your images takes us on a journey through southern Africa, into the world’s oldest desert flying up through central Africa and, unusually, into west Africa. Our Photographer of the Year carries a prize of 10 000 USD and a six-day safari to Khwai in Botswana. Here’s how to enter. We look forward to your evocative, pictorial stories.
Story 1 JUST IN CASE
Just in case: The rhino Cryovault holds repositories of rhino DNA, gametes, and tissues preserved indefinitely – in case we fail to save our rhino
Story 2 FENCES & ELEPHANTS
Dr Erik Verreynne disputes the claim that fences stop elephant migration in Seronga, Botswana or contributed to the 2020 die-off
Story 3 BEST PHOTOS
Week nine of our 2021 Photographer of the Year
Our Photographer of the Year 2021 is open for submissions, with cash prizes of US$10,000 for the overall winner and the two runners-up. They and their partners will also join our CEO Simon Espley and his wife Lizz on the ultimate private safari in Botswana.
The competition runs from January to June 2021. Get your entries in now and join us in celebrating Africa! Proudly brought to you by Hemmersbach Rhino Force and Natural Selection.
The rhino Cryovault is a biobank that holds the largest genetic repositories of rhino DNA, gametes, and tissues in the world; frozen and preserved indefinitely. What does it mean to save a species? What happens if, in the absolute worst-case scenario, we fail? While Hemmersbach Rhino Force is doing everything in their power to make sure that does not happen, they do have one last ace – the rhino Cryovault.
In every cell of every organism, from the smallest bacterium to the hugest blue whale, four unique, organic molecules (nucleic acids) are arranged in their millions to form a genetic blueprint that dictates the organism’s – shape, potential size, dietary needs, reproductive proclivities, propensity for language, eye structure – the list is nearly endless. Within the DNA double helix, this code holds most of the secrets to the diversity of life as we know it. Every time a rhino is poached, an entirely unique genetic fingerprint is lost.
Clockwise from top left: An endangered black rhino; a southern white rhino calf; a black rhino – not impressed
What is genetic diversity?
The term “biodiversity” has become very popular since first introduced in scientific publications of the 70s. By now, most people understand that the foundation of conservation rests on protecting biodiversity. Biodiversity refers to the variety of species in an ecosystem, their ecological complexes and their interactions within an ecosystem. The third level of biodiversity is a measure of the variety of genetic characteristics within a species – genetic diversity.
It should be relatively self-explanatory why genetic diversity is of fundamental importance to the survival of a species. In the long-term, genetic diversity underpins one of the cornerstones of evolutionary theory. Genetic differences translate to certain traits that allow some organisms to breed more successfully than others – survival of the fittest. Greater genetic diversity within a species enables adaptation to changing environments (think climate change) and confers greater disease resistance to the species as a whole.
Conversely, as individual numbers of a species decrease, inbreeding will result in a loss of genetic diversity, which will decrease a species’ robustness in the face of new challenges (parasites, climatic changes etc). Inbreeding can also cause ‘inbreeding depression’, which is the reduced biological fitness of a population. This can lead to severe genetic defects, reduced fertility and even infertility. In essence, when humans decimate biology (animals, plants, mushrooms etc), we are not only destroying individuals and their potential genetic legacies, but we are also reducing the species’ capacity to recover and overcome adversity.
The Rhino Force team at work
Hemmersbach Rhino Force
Enter Hemmersbach Rhino Force, a direct action conservation organisation dedicated to safeguarding Africa’s remaining rhinos. Their anti-poaching services are provided free-of-charge and utilise a combination of innovative tactics, cutting-edge technology and old-fashioned boots-on-the-ground to tackle wildlife crime in Southern Africa. Rhino Force is operational in the Greater Kruger region (where some 50% of poaching events in Africa occur). They work with local authorities, private entities and anti-poaching operations on everything from surveillance and intelligence to proactive prevention and forensic work. In addition, their Zambezi Black Rhino Project in Zimbabwe is geared towards restoring a wild haven for the reintroduction of black rhinos, once abundant before poaching devastated their numbers.
Rhino Force’s holistic approach to protecting rhinos includes extensive work with local communities, promoting education and employment and tackling anti-poaching through anti-poverty strategies. Improving living conditions, restoring and equipping schools, litter removal, and supporting community engagement are just some of the initiatives that the Rhino Force has thrown their weight behind.
However, the sheer severity of the rhino poaching crisis prompted the creation of the Hemmersbach Rhino Force Cryovault in 2018, a biobank of vital biomaterial including DNA and viable sperm. As unsettling as it is, we must face the reality that we may not be able to stem the tide of poaching. This proactive approach is intended to create a genetic backup before it is too late.
The Cryovault field laboratory
The Cryovault and Veterinary Unit
The Cryovault team consists of Dr Imke Lüders, a specialist veterinarian from Germany and Dr Janine Meuffels, a veterinarian from South Africa. The team members all have long-standing backgrounds in animal reproduction and wildlife medicine. They are, at present, the most experienced team in Africa at executing large-scale gamete conservation projects. Together, they have successfully collaborated in collecting semen from elephants, giraffes, and rhinos, from both live (intra-vitam) and deceased (post mortem) animals in wild and captive situations.
As with any other Rhino Force projects, the Cyrovault is not a commercial operation. Instead, it provides specialist veterinary wildlife reproduction and biotechnology support services to other scientists, veterinarians and their clients. The laboratories are equipped with the resources necessary to evaluate gametes’ viability and store tissues, gametes, and DNA indefinitely through cryo-preservation.
Inside the Cryovault laboratory
The ART of reproduction
Assisted reproduction technologies (ART) including artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilisation and embryo transfer are techniques that have been used successfully for years, particularly in the agricultural industry with livestock. There is a perception that because these techniques have been so effectively applied in both humans and livestock, it should be simple to transfer them to wild species. However, this is far from the case. Every species has evolved a unique anatomy and reproductive physiology. Successful ART requires extensive research and the development of species-specific protocols. Unravelling secrets of ART for the African rhino species is the calling of the Cryovault team.
Theriogenology – which concerns the study of veterinary reproductive medicine and surgery – is a field subject to continual refinement. Conservation-minded reproductive specialists are continually searching for ways in which these techniques can be used to balance the odds for threatened species. Viable semen has been collected and cryopreserved, leading to successful artificial insemination (using both fresh and frozen semen) of elephants, giraffes, and southern white and Indian rhinos. However, most advancements in wild species have been made in captive settings where scientists have unrestricted access to the animals.
The Cryovault team continues to offer tremendous contributions to this knowledge base, and in 2020, they collected, processed and cryopreserved free-ranging (wild) black rhino sperm samples – a world first. They have teamed up with Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA) for a three year project to collect and store samples from as many black rhino individuals as possible.
Where rhinos are concerned, the Cryovault team’s approach to gamete collection is largely opportunistic currently. When a live bull rhino is anaesthetised for a routine process such as a dehorning or ear notching, the team applies a low-voltage stimulation to the prostate gland in a process known as electroejaculation. In the case of poached, hunted, or euthanised animals, the testes are harvested in their entirety. Once the samples return to the lab, the viability of the sperm is tested and, if shown to be suitable, it is transferred to sperm straws and frozen using liquid nitrogen. It is even possible to separate the sperm cells according to whether they carry an X or Y chromosome, thus controlling the sex of potential offspring.
The process of ovum (egg) collection from a live female rhino is known as an ovum pick up. This is a highly specialised technique and requires the regulation of several physiological factors. The team can also harvest oocytes from deceased animals, but with only a six-hour window in which to do so. This is logistically complicated – with a low success rate.
The Cryovault field team harvesting semen for analysis and storage
Managed wildlife breeding – a conservation tool
What does this science mean for the future of our rhinos? The reality is that there are few self-sustaining wild rhino populations left throughout the world. In South Africa, home to most of Africa’s rhino, roughly a third are privately owned. Most of these populations are already intensively managed. Suppose the captive growth rate, and the poaching rate continue along the same trajectory. This eventuality could quickly shift the proportion of privately-owned rhino to 50%. The onus will be on private owners to protect the remaining rhinos. Intensive breeding management programmes are an inevitable part of a survival plan for a species approaching the brink. Accepting that rhinos are on that list must happen sooner rather than later.
One of the primary objectives is for the Cryovault facility to be the largest of its kind for African rhino genetics. This massive archive will contribute enormously to DNA population genetics research and act as a reference database for the species. Most importantly, it can be applied to both current and future rhino breeding. Expanding our collective knowledge of rhino reproductive physiology, gametes’ parameters and developing protocols for successful, repeatable methods of assisted reproduction that can be applied to rhinos, is of paramount (and urgent) importance.
Back from the brink (again?)
In the past, the call for reproductive specialists to save a species on the brink has generally come far too late, when just a few individuals of the species remain. Developing appropriate techniques and protocols at this stage is impossible, and the rhino Cryovault team is entirely focussed on ensuring that this time, the approach is a proactive one.
While it may be impossible to freeze time, the Cryovault offers the next best thing – a way to ensure that, in the worst-case scenario, we can preserve some of the genetic legacies of our rhinos before they are lost forever.
[Hemmersbach Rhino Force is one of the two direct action projects of the social purpose IT company Hemmersbach, driven by a desire to fight injustice where authorities fail. Hemmersbach does this through Direct Action: their projects and actions are purely self-financing and reliant on the commitment of their team members, without the need for external donations. Hemmersbach is committed to using 20% of the company’s annual profits for these Direct Action projects, directed towards a good cause with the assurance that this revenue is focused where needed.]
We asked Botswana-based wildlife veterinarian Erik Verrynne to shed light on the issue of whether fences prevent elephant migrations and restrict their movements in northern Botswana. This clarification is required after this research paper ‘The 2020 elephant die-off in Botswana’ by van Aarde et al, on 11 January 2021 [1] and our summary . In it, the authors claim that fences are an underlying cause for the elephant mortalities in NG11/12 (Botswana) in 2020.
Map of the affected Seronga region (courtesy, the African Elephant Specialist Group)
Wildlife vet Erik Verrynne:
Introduction
The scientists used movement data from 13 collared elephants in the Seronga area between 2003 and 2006 to prove that the elephant population is unable to cross barriers formed by surrounding fences, deep-water channels of the Okavango River and human activity (harassment).
The study concluded that the ‘boxed-in’ effect created by the boundaries prevent elephants from migrating to other areas during times of food pressure, or from regularly reaching the fresh water of the Okavango River.
The elephants are therefore forced to drink the stagnant water of the waterholes which increases stress and the risk of drinking pathogens such as cyanobacteria toxins or infectious agents.
The underlying stress in a growing, boxed-in elephant population is a potential cause of increased disease susceptibility and contributed to the die-offs.
They postulate that the ‘boxed- in’ effect would have enhanced the fast spread of the agent within the population but prevented the spread to other populations outside the Seronga area.
The article places the die-offs and the underlying ecological drivers within the context of the resistance hypothesis and the metapopulation theory by proposing the realignment of veterinary fences to promote dispersal.
Botswana relies on the dispersal of elephants into the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) to reduce its large elephant population. At the same time, it is trying to prevent cattle contact with potentially disease-spreading cloven-hoofed wildlife species in order to protect beef export markets. More than 20% of the elephant population in Botswana shares land with subsistence beef and crop farmers where fences are used to protect cattle against disease. The Seronga area, with 15 000 elephants, is an area where both elephant crop damage and disease restrictions have socio-economic implications for the communities.
The potential of commodity-based trade is currently being investigated in Seronga as an alternative to veterinary fencing. Additionally, the Government of Botswana (GoB) has been looking into designs of species-specific targeting fences, while NGOs are working hard on programmes such as Ecoexist to promote coexistence between communities and elephants.
Despite all efforts, the dispersal of elephants away from Botswana as a long-term solution remains a challenge. Figures released by GoB indicate that only about 20% of the large KAZA elephant population is dispersing freely between countries, mainly between Botswana and Zimbabwe. The challenges are further illustrated by dispersals deeper into Botswana during the drought of 2017/2018 rather than into neighbouring range states.
Clockwise from top left: One of the 2020 mortalities; carcass on the flood plains May 2020; remnants of the 2020 die-off
What is causing the resistance to dispersal and do fences and channels play a role?
The reasons for the low dispersal levels in many areas seem to vary. Proposed solutions follow a large-scale approach based on general assumptions, often ignoring local factors.
The article suggesting that fences facilitate elephant deaths illustrates the challenges we face. Remote sensing data is used to postulate drivers and causes, and to offer solutions, while local knowledge or fieldwork critical to verify the collected data is ignored.
The fences around the area are the double veterinary border fence between Bwabwata NP in Namibia and the Seronga area of NG11/NG13 in Botswana, and the northern buffalo fence. The latter fence was erected in 1995/96 to prevent the spread of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) that came across from Namibia. CBPP was declared under control in 1998 only after the mass slaughter of 320,000 cattle.
Albertson (1998) reported how the northern buffalo fence cut off migratory patterns of zebra and elephant, causing the death of migratory species and even an elephant cow and calf. The original fences consisted of sturdy 1,2 m – 1.4m high wooden posts and intermediate wooden droppers connected with strands of steel wire and a single strong steel cable to strengthen it against elephant damage. At the time the fences were regularly maintained to prevent the crossing of any cattle or buffalo. After CBPP containment and the subsequent removal of the Setata fence in 2003, seasonal migrations of wildlife across the removed fence resumed. Therefore, in some cases, fences can present effective barriers to elephants.
The authors of the article stated that the fences in question are still being maintained and therefore present impermeable barriers to elephants wanting to disperse. A quick visit would have immediately shown that this is not the case. Even the current condition of the international boundary fence is not capable of blocking the movement of cattle or buffalo in certain places although in general, it appears much sturdier than the northern buffalo fence.
Over the last few years, I have visited different parts of the fences in question with the exception of the western section of the international boundary near Mohembo, and the section of the northern buffalo fence from the Selinda gate to the north through NG13.
The sections of all the fences I visited had gaps where the fence was either on its side, or most steel wire strands and wooden intermediate droppers were missing. In many cases, the connecting steel cable was on the ground, covered by vegetation. Elephants and antelope were crossing the northern buffalo fence at will while I saw tracks of a few solitary elephants crossing the double vet boundary with Bwabwata NP.
The presence of active photographic tourism lodges and sporadic patrols by the Botswana Defence Force may account for the fact that there is reportedly little poaching in NG12. Neither the fences nor the small amount of human activity on the southern boundary are likely to restrict the movement of elephants out of the Seronga area.
Realignment of the current veterinary fences, even removal of the international boundary fence would not, in my opinion, have a significant impact on, or resolve future cases of disease outbreaks in elephants in the area as claimed by the authors.
Elephant reluctance to move across the deep channel at Seronga remains a mystery. Elephants along the Chobe River cross deep water at will. We regularly see bulls and family herds crossing over onto the sinuous islands, wading chest-deep across the deep channels around Kadizora and Xanaxara. The reluctance to cross water may simply be driven by individual behavioural preferences.
Clockwise from top left: A section of border fence pushed over by an elephant crossing; elephant tracks crossing the border between Botswana and Namibia; fences destroyed by water; an elephant on his way to crossing the northern buffalo fence
If it is not the fences, why are the elephants not moving?
Verifying the movement data to see if the elephants are indeed not moving out of the Seronga area should be the first reaction. Unfortunately, it is difficult to see if the presented data support the statement of a ‘boxed in’- effect.
The authors present data of only 13 elephants within the Seronga and adjacent areas between 2003 and 2010 while reference to 25 more collared elephants was not supported with data and therefore could not be considered. Therefore, the lack of access to raw and other referred movement data, and the historical nature of the data makes it difficult to place the claims in perspective.
However, other collaring data and anecdotal evidence and observations confirm the lack of mass dispersals of elephants in and out of the Seronga area. Local seasonal movements between food and water sources inside the Seronga area by a large part of the population and very localised seasonal movement of small numbers between NG12 and NG16 are regularly-reported occurrences.
Dispersal does not happen spontaneously. It must be driven by a catalyst usually generated by a change in resources, environmental conditions, or threats strong enough to elicit a group response and overcome memories of any previous hindrance. The response must have the potential to correct or improve the situation both to the individual and the population.
Thirst is a major driver for elephant migrations or dispersals. The restricted access to water is acknowledged in the article in supporting the need to disperse. However, the authors failed to consider the opposite situation where sufficient key resources and safety may nullify the sustained pressure to disperse. In short, the elephants may not want to move because the food, water and shelter is enough for most of the year, while the conflict and harassment by people is short-lived and can be mitigated without the need to migrate.
Clockwise from top left: elephants entering the Terminalia woodlands in the dry season; elephant highways fanning out across the impact zone in the dry season; eating mopane in the dry season; crossing the impact zone during the drought
How sustainable are the key resources?
Key resources in the Seronga area are provided by both the seasonal floodplains, long sinuous islands, and the woodlands.
NG12 is the area to the south of the line of fields and villages and is covered by the seasonal floodplains which vary in width from 3 to 10 km. Across the floodplains NG 12 transitions into a series of long sinuous islands. It ends in the sandy Kalahari apple leaf islands and shrub mopanes towards Vumbra Plains (NG22) in the south, the reedbeds of the deeper channels of NG23 to the southwest and mopane belts to the east into NG16. Many circular islands on the seasonal floodplains accommodate a variety of large riverine forest trees, with jackal berries (Diospyros mespiliformis) and water berries (Syzygium cordatum) providing much sought-after fruit in late winter and early spring. The browse potential for elephants on the circular islands is relatively low and during the dry season, some herds cross over the seasonal floodplains onto the long sinuous islands in search of food.
The most important resource on the seasonal floodplains is therefore fresh water during the dry season of May to October, and during droughts. Water in the woodlands is only available at the latest up to July. The river starts flooding the floodplains at Gunistoga in late March or early April, retracting in June but water in large pans and deep channels remains, sustaining the elephants, wildlife, and cattle until thunderstorms provide water in the north again. While the Okavango River is flowing, the channels provide water, and the floodplains remain the most important sustainability factor during drought. The woodlands to the north in NG11/ NG13 and long sinuous islands to the south provide the other key resources.
The major impact zone is the line of fields and villages along the road and banks of the floodplains where 16 000 people live in 13 villages and numerous settlements. Fields for subsistence crop farming stretch up to 15km, but on average about 6km from the villages towards the woodlands in the north.
Once past the 10 to 15km impact zone, the woodland vegetation transitions into a mosaic of deciduous broad-leaved trees in the deep Kalahari sands, alternating with more claylike soils, where a combination of shrub and cathedral mopane dominates. The woodland vegetation is lush and dense during the wet season but most of the trees lose their leaves at the height of the dry season (July, August and September). As result, a part of the elephant population crosses the floodplains to the sinuous islands where they feed on a variety of trees and mopane shrubs.
The largest part of the elephant population switches back to remain in the woodlands almost immediately when the first thunderstorms fill the pans. Only a small part of the population remains close to the impact zone, drinking from the water on the floodplains. They remain invisible most of the time, their tracks crossing the main road at night as they move between the nearby browse and the waterholes on the floodplains past the fields and villages.
Numerous waterholes or pans formed in the clay soils of the mopane woodland fill during the rainy season between November and April and provide water to the wildlife and livestock that move north into the woodlands for the wet season.
It is some of these waterholes that were implicated as sources of the cyanobacteria toxicity in the mortalities amidst much speculation. However, indications are that mortalities had already started in March when it was still raining, while some carcasses were found in flowing water on the floodplains. Both conditions are less favourable for algal blooms. In my opinion, the true cause of mortalities remains unknown and open to speculation.
Overlapping and sustained utilisation by elephants, other wildlife, people, and livestock, have created the high-impact utilisation zone with many trees destroyed and mopane reduced to shrubs. This zone represents high risk and low resource use to the elephants in the dry season because they are forced to cross the zone daily between available resources. Risk is avoided by moving mainly at night and at speed, using elephant highways and the 13 corridors demarcated by Ecoexist as known routes past the field and village lines. By this time, crop harvesting has fortunately finished. By mid-May, most fields are empty. (Crop raiding happens from January to mainly April and seems to involve a small part of the population that remains close to the impact zone.)
Clockwise from top left: enjoying the waterholes during the rainy season; lush woodlands in the north during the wet season; a herd on a ‘long sinuous island’; typical circular islands on the floodplains near Eretsha
Why are they not dispersing during the drought and will elephants eventually move?
Elephants are hindgut fermenters that digest cellulose in their massive colons. This evolutionary adaptation does not need quality feed, but quantity – something the high-biomass mopane and apple leaf areas can provide in abundance. The adaptation also allows them to utilise twigs, branches, and bark in the absence of leaves during the dry season or drought. They can push tree resources beyond normal resilience thresholds to levels of advanced deterioration before it negatively affects the nutritional intake values, provided the elephants have access to enough water. The thermoregulatory needs of such large animals when ambient temperatures are high, also necessitate water. Elephants are able to travel more than 20 km a day between food and water, an ability that mitigates their water dependency during droughts.
Drought, impact from an increasing elephant population, and an increase in human utilisation of resources around village lines in the impact zone, are causing deterioration which is gradually widening the impact zone into the woodlands, onto the floodplains and even onto the fertile long sinuous islands. Eventually, it may reach a threshold where the abilities of the elephants to negotiate the distances to water, and the increased conflict-related harassment will be sufficient to drive dispersal or migration. Only then is it likely that they will consider moving closer to the water resources of the Linyanti, Kwando or Zambezi Rivers.
The dispersal thresholds are unknown, as the resources appear to be more resilient than the tolerance of the villagers. The ensuing conflict may burst the dam wall long before the resources give in. Managing co-existence is a challenge for Botswana
For now, the elephants seem to be staying. Not because of fences or deep-water channels, but simply because the available resources suit them. Alternative key resources may not be close enough, and they may have adapted local strategies to mitigate droughts and human conflict risks. Drivers or memories of good places far away may not be strong enough to justify dispersal despite disease or harassment. Memories of some of the old barriers is still strong enough to remove the immediate need to move to other unknown areas.
The behaviour of the Seronga area elephants raises some questions about our theories on the metapopulations and dispersal within KAZA. Maybe it is time to acknowledge that elephants exert a choice based on the available resources or even memories of what appear to be boundaries. Our expected thresholds on resource utilisation may be wrong and elephant migration preferences may be more localised. Promoting dispersal across KAZA may require stronger drivers than simply removing fences. Elephants may consider our proverbial grass as not always greener on the other side of our fences.
top: crossing the floodplains to the water October 2019; bottom: enjoying the relief of water after a long walk
About the author
Erik Verrynne is a veterinarian and agricultural consultant who been working in Botswana since 2003. He is a wildlife and livestock vet with an MPhil in wildlife management.
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Here’s something for us all to think about: One is made of compressed carbon and the other of compressed keratin. And yet, both are highly valued as status symbols because manipulative marketing campaigns have duped humans into believing the fairytale. Both are extracted at massive ecological cost amidst a plague of bloodshed and criminal activity where a few individuals scoop the financial windfall, and others pay the price. Think about that next time you check out that diamond or criticise someone who does the same with rhino horn—mea culpa.
The on-off journey continues! Distressing news is that the green light has now been given for large-scale open-pit mining in Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park. This saga has so many twists and turns it’s tough to keep up! Don’t get me started.
Keep the passion
Simon Espley – CEO, Africa Geographic
From our Editor-in-Chief
The saga of the Namibian elephant auction continues. The auction is complete but it is unclear who has bought the elephants, how many were sold or where they will go. There has been widespread anger and criticism from various armchairs, keyboards, conservation NGOs and journalists. The Namibian Ministry of Environment Foresty and Tourism, meanwhile, has taken exception to the auction being portrayed as a corruption-driven scam and painted many objections as the hysterical rantings of people utterly bereft of on-the-ground realities. In our first story below, Gail Thomson, an independent Namibian environmentalist, reviews the reasons for the sale.
After that rather heavy yet necessary read, our second story below will have you daydreaming of being suspended in the verdant forest canopy of the Albertine Rift; the ancient cacophony of screeching primates and avian choirs lulling you to peace. Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda is home to bird megaticks, breathtaking vistas, waterfalls, trails and rare primates. There are options for all budgets so sit back and immerse yourself in the mystical magic of the forest.
Finally, the eighth week of celebrating the beauty of Africa through our Photographer of the Year, which carries a prize of 10 000 USD and a six-day safari to Khwai in Botswana. Enter here. Remember you don’t need a boat-load of obscenely expensive kit to take a good pic. You might even be lucky with your phone! Your image needs to tell a story and evoke an emotion.
Story 1 JUSTIFICATION?
Namibian elephant auction: The background, context, and reasons provided for the controversial sale by auction of 170 wild-caught elephants
Story 2 WONDERLAND
Nyungwe National Park is one of Rwanda’s best-kept secrets – a magical tract of montane forest bursting with extraordinary biodiversity
Story 3 BEST PHOTOS
Week eight of our 2021 Photographer of the Year
Our Photographer of the Year 2021 is open for submissions, with cash prizes of US$10,000 for the overall winner and the two runners-up. They and their partners will also join our CEO Simon Espley and his wife Lizz on the ultimate private safari in Botswana.
The competition runs from January to June 2021. Get your entries in now and join us in celebrating Africa! Proudly brought to you by Hemmersbach Rhino Force and Natural Selection.
The recent decision by the Namibian government to sell 170 elephants has been met with public outcries, media articles full of unsubstantiated accusations and considerable confusion. In order to judge why this decision was taken and what other options could be available for these elephants, we need to consider the historical and current context, rather than simply assume the worst of the accusations to be true.
Towards the end of 2020, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) announced their intention to sell a total of 170 elephants[1] from four different locations in Namibia (see map below). The stated reasons for the sale were increased human-elephant conflict[2] in the four areas, which has been exacerbated by the recent drought. In each area, the elephants to be taken were entire family groups (i.e. females and young) plus a few bulls. Those wanting to buy these elephants had to employ qualified Namibian game capture teams and move them to a suitably fenced private reserve in Namibia, or if they wanted to export them to another country, adhere to all CITES export and import requirements.
The four human-elephant conflict hotspots falling on freehold farmlands from which the 170 elephants would be taken, shown on inset map of elephant distribution across northern Namibia (darker green = higher densities). The south-eastern conflict hotspot is caused mainly by bull elephants moving from the far eastern population primarily during the wet season (the elephant counts are done during the dry season). Note that 31% of the elephant population in Namibia occurs outside National Parks, and all of target populations for removal are far from the international boundaries and are not part of the transboundary elephant population in the Zambezi Region. (Source: MEFT 2020)
The important points to note from the tender advert are MEFT’s insistence on taking whole family groups (rather than individuals) and their concern that the buyer and destination abide by national and international law. The requirements set forth here would weed out the unscrupulous buyers who would prefer to take young individual elephants that can be tamed (or broken) for the purposes of human entertainment. The requirements for proper fencing in Namibia are likely to ensure that the elephants do not simply start causing conflict in other areas of the country, or return to the capture location.
There are some details left out of the tender advert that are nonetheless crucial to understanding the thinking behind the decision. I have obtained a draft copy of a document called “An Overview of Elephant Conservation and Management in Namibia” that accompanies the Draft National Elephant Management Plan. This document details all of MEFT’s recent public consultations, past and present elephant research and monitoring, and approaches to reducing human-elephant conflict by MEFT and non-governmental organisations. The information contained in this extensive document (commissioned by MEFT, but prepared by an independent consultant) provides valuable insight into the reasoning behind MEFT’s intention to sell 170 elephants.
Understanding the historical context
The history of elephants in Namibia, as with most things in Africa, is tied up with the history of colonialism, war and land development. Rock art engravings reveal that elephants occurred throughout the country before waves of colonisers eradicated almost all of them in the southern half of the country during the 1800’s. The remaining elephants in the more remote northern regions were killed in high numbers by the South African military, colonisers, and local people in the mid- to late-1900’s. Severe drought in the north-west during the 70’s and 80’s added to the elephants’ woes in this region. Even elephants in Etosha National Park were not safe, and this population was eradicated in 1881, only to return 70 years later.
Around the same time that elephants were pushed out of the central parts of Namibia that are most suitable for agriculture, the land was settled and fenced. Today, these farms are still privately owned (known as freehold land), and the people living on these lands usually farm for commercial purposes with livestock or wildlife. The infrastructure on the livestock farms includes windmills and diesel pumps to provide water for cattle troughs and fences within livestock farms have been erected to manage livestock grazing. The farms that have converted to wildlife are fenced with high game fences to keep valuable wildlife in, and while internal fences have been dropped, water is still pumped for game species to drink (some of these species are particularly expensive, such as sable and roan antelope).
In the communal “homelands” established during apartheid, rural Namibians were dispossessed of their traditional rights to hunt and were branded as “poachers[3]” when they hunted to survive the severe drought of the 70’s and 80’s. Today, nearly 60% of these communal lands have been gazetted as communal conservancies[4], as a means for the people living there to regain their historical rights to using wildlife on their land. This programme has reduced elephant poaching tremendously, particularly by allowing people to benefit from photographic and hunting tourism.
The current situation
A dam and gate destroyed by elephants trying to access water on the Kavango Cattle Ranch.
All of these historical details are necessary to understand the situation with Namibian elephants today. Elephants have not only recolonised Etosha, but have recovered in the communal conservancies in the north-western and north-eastern parts of Namibia. Until recently (1990’s and 2000’s), however, the freehold farmlands have remained free of elephants. The infrastructure mentioned above has thus been developed without the need to protect it from thirsty and often destructive pachyderms.
Human-elephant conflict is continuously managed in the communal conservancies by their game guards[5] and Event Book[6] monitoring system, and the Human-Wildlife Conflict Self-Reliance Scheme has been set up to assist farmers in communal areas that lose crops to elephants (note that water infrastructure is not covered). Further, the wildlife-based industries in conservancies create a direct link between elephant presence and benefits in the form of conservancy income, tourism jobs and elephant meat. While mitigating conflict will always be part and parcel of the communal conservancy programme, these efforts have generated a fairly high level of tolerance for elephants among conservancy members.
The human-elephant conflict that is addressed in MEFT’s tender for selling 170 elephants is targeted at elephant populations that have moved onto freehold farmlands from neighbouring communal lands and National Parks. Farmers that operate commercially are generally wealthier than their communal counterparts and elephants have been absent for many years on freehold lands. The government’s focus has therefore been to help poor communal farmers living with elephants in conservancies, but the recent drought has brought elephants back to the freehold lands they lived on 50-100 years ago. The elephants that arrived recently have found a land of plenty – water all year round (albeit pumped for livestock) and many large trees that have grown in their absence. More and more elephants have found their way onto these farms in the last few years as the drought has pushed them to search for greener pastures.
The damage to infrastructure by elephants dwarfs the crop damages reported in communal conservancies. During the consultations held for input into the Elephant Management Plan, several freehold farmers calculated losses amounting to N$ 100,000-200,000 (US$ 6,800-13,600) per year. Fixing a single windmill damaged by elephants costs N$ 30,000-50,000 (US$ 2,000-3,400). With an estimated 180 freehold farms affected by elephants, infrastructure damages could come to N$ 9 million (US$ 600,000) using a conservative estimate of N$ 50,000 per farmer per year. By contrast, the payments to offset the cost of crop losses throughout communal conservancies amounts to about N$ 2 million (US$ 140,000) per year.
This windmill that was broken by elephants will cost N$ 30,000-50,000 to repair.
Given the costs of living with elephants, it is unsurprising that the farmers MEFT consulted were requesting a solution. Urgently. Farmers suggested that MEFT reduce elephant numbers, allow elephant hunting to cover costs incurred, and assist with the costs of infrastructure repair and protection. The resounding cry from the consultations was: HELP!
Short-term options for helping farmers
The situation as it stands is untenable; doing nothing is not an option. Long-term mitigation plans (discussed in the next section) are necessary, but farmers cannot keep haemorrhaging money until these plans come to fruition. Since MEFT does not have the resources to compensate farmers whilst awaiting a more permanent solution, something else must be done in the short-term to help these farmers.
The advert to sell the elephants and translocate them elsewhere reveals MEFT’s first choice of action. Elephants have been sold and successfully moved to private reserves in Namibia in the past (for example, some of the elephants on Erindi Game Reserve[7] are privately owned and others are leased from the government), so this sale seems to be an effort to replicate past success. If elephants can be moved from where they are not wanted to where they can live in peace and generate tourism revenue, we have a win-win situation.
The recent drought and damage to the tourism industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic may, however, undermine this plan. If no Namibian buyers could be found, then perhaps reserves in other countries that have experienced elephant declines would be interested. Angola and Zambia come to mind, as they have habitats similar to parts of Namibia and could be interested in restocking some of their protected areas. The costs involved in moving entire family groups over large distances may prove prohibitive, however.
The simplest and cheapest option would be to cull the elephants currently occurring on freehold farms and sell the meat to recoup the costs. Several farmers suggested this course of action during the public consultations. This is clearly not MEFT’s preferred option (as they would have done it already), but it might become necessary if there are no willing takers for the elephants in the conflict hotspots.
Others have suggested chasing the elephants out of the farmlands, but this is impractical and inhumane. The distances one would have to chase these family herds to get to the nearest protected areas from the conflict farms would cause much more severe stress than culling. There is also no guarantee that the elephants would stay in the protected area – the same drivers that are causing elephants to leave these areas (too many other elephants, need for food and water) would still be present and some parks do not have sufficient fencing to prevent future breakouts.
Long-term options for conflict mitigation
Water points can be protected from elephants by building walls around them, but it will take time and money to protect the large number of vulnerable water points in northern Namibia.
The proposed sale of 170 elephants is meant to take about half of the elephants in each of the populations that are being targeted. So it is clearly a measure to try and limit damages in the short-term whilst searching for longer-term solutions. Building walls around water points[8] have proven to be successful in conservancies, particularly if a solar pump is installed (diesel pumps get expensive when elephants are drinking the water). Adding a strand of live electrical wire around the perimeters of farms where elephants are not wanted may also be feasible in certain areas.
A few of the farms in the Kamanjab area south of Etosha have turned to tourism for their income, but these elephant-tolerant farm owners are surrounded by others that are still farming livestock. Transforming the Kavango Cattle Ranch in the north-eastern conflict hotspot into a game reserve might also work if sufficient funding is available to make the transformation (this Ranch is managed by the Namibia Industrial Development Agency on behalf of the Ministry of Trade and Industry). An elephant-proof fence would then need to be erected around the Ranch to prevent elephant movement onto neighbouring freehold farms. In all four conflict hotspots, however, there are farmers who are not interested in developing their farms for tourism, especially in the wake of COVID-19 that has devastated the tourism industry.
Farms that are part of the Kavango Cattle Ranch are highlighted. Collared elephants (coloured dots) spent most of their time on the Ranch and did not enter the Mangetti National Park to the east (Source: MEFT 2020, data supplied by N/a’an ku sê).
Several farmers suggested that the government supports private elephant ownership, which at the moment is limited to only a handful of farms. This would give farmers greater freedom in terms of managing their elephant populations through hunting, culling, or live sales to other farmers (these actions would all still require permits, as elephants are specially protected in Namibia). Freehold farmers could then access similar elephant-related benefits to communal conservancies, which would help to offset the costs incurred from living with them.
Support rather than criticism
Considering the substantial recovery of elephants since Namibia’s independence, the nature of the current conflict, and MEFT’s efforts to resolve it without culling elephants, one would think that the elephant sale would be met with international interest and support. While previous elephant translocation efforts[9] in other African countries have been heralded as wonderful conservation initiatives, this offer to translocate elephant herds to suitable locations has been met with harsh criticism.
One of the key sore points is the conflict hotspot near the village of Omatjete, as concerned parties assume that the elephants targeted by this action are those roaming west of Omatjete in the Ugab River. These desert-adapted elephants have a high tourism value; the communal conservancies in this area benefit from their presence and therefore tolerate them. Elephant Human Relations Aid[10] (EHRA) has invested heavily in protecting the water points in this area and monitoring these elephant herds.
This particular criticism would thus be well-founded if it were not based on a misunderstanding of which elephants are being targeted. The elephants in the lower reaches of the Ugab (west of Omatjete) are not the same ones that are causing havoc on the freehold farms east of Omatjete, which are the ones that MEFT is targeting (see map below). If the elephants that are currently on the freehold farms are sold, as per the tender advert, one could use that money to electrify the fence line between the communal conservancies and the freehold farms and thus establish a longer-term solution.
The purple areas are communal conservancies; the polygons with grey outlines are freehold farms; blank white space is communal land that is not in a conservancy. Elephant monitoring data from EHRA sightings (triangles) and collared elephants (dots) shows their focus on communal lands in the west. The highlighted farms have all reported problems with elephants that are from a different population to the desert-adapted elephants in the west. (Source: EHRA)
With some context and a better understanding of the situation, my hope is that those reading this article would consider ways to support MEFT and the farmers. Long-term investment into conflict mitigation and tourism is required in all four of the conflict hotspots. Near Omatjete, some of the communal conservancies need joint-venture tourism partners to realise the same benefits as those located further west. There are also many communal farmers here that have not established conservancies, and they require assistance as much as the nearby freehold farms. All of the hotspots on freehold land require protection for their water points, while strategically placed electrified fencing would ensure that the elephants stay where they are welcomed (or at least tolerated).
In the wake of a devastating multi-year drought and the COVID-19 pandemic that has crippled tourism, Namibian farmers on both freehold and communal lands stand in dire need of support. MEFT and its partners have stepped in to help the communal conservancies with the COVID resilience fund[11], and the tender advert is intended to provide much-needed relief also to freehold farmers suffering from elephant damage. At this moment in time, Namibian conservation efforts could do with fewer critics and more genuine supporters.
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I have a brief story to tell, and it goes some way to explaining why conservation is in such a mess these days.
Two talented, passionate people have taken up the cause of lion conservation and made a career of it. Neither lives in Africa. Both have recently featured regularly on international television and news media. BUT they occupy opposite ends of the acrimonious debates about the role of trophy hunting in wild lion conservation. And they regularly slag each other off on social media – often flinging out reams of information at their adoring followers.
We approached each to write a story for us, including providing FACTUAL evidence backing up their oft-repeated claims about the evils/benefits of trophy hunting of wild lions. Neither knew that we had approached the other. Both submitted their stories to us, but neither has responded to our fact-check questions, despite repeated requests going back many months.
And there you have it. While INFLUENCERS slug it out for dopamine-infused social media fame, Rome burns. It is what it is.
Keep the passion
Simon Espley – CEO, Africa Geographic
From our Editor-in-Chief
In the wake of Hukumuri’s death, lots of people are now interested in human-wildlife conflict (HWC). Many wanted to replace Romina Mathonsi’s livestock. The issue of compensation for livestock killed by wild predators is complicated. Some research shows it exacerbates HWC. Other research indicates precisely the opposite. I went to find out how or if compensation is given on the Greater Kruger National Park’s western borders by the national park, the private reserves, and the provincial governments. I also spoke to NGOs working in the HWC space. I doubt Romina Mathonsi (or anyone who has lost livestock) gives a flying hoot about the reams of research, conferences and committees deciding whether or not compensation is a good idea. She needs goats. Thornybush River Lodge, didn’t muck about. They bought two goats and delivered them quietly to her. So as the debate rages, at least Ms Mathonsi has some comfort. Find out more in our first story below.
Our second story below tackles the conservation effect of farming wild species and legalising trade in their parts for human consumption. Interestingly for me, apparently stigmatising wildlife consumption helps reduce demand.
The subject of our third story below, looks at the slightly taller, red-eared version of the domestic moggy, but, to paraphrase Basil Fawlty…cuddle that, and you’ll never play the guitar again.
Finally, the seventh week of glorious African celebration through your images in our Photographer of the Year, which carries a prize of 10 000 USD and a six-day safari to Khwai in Botswana. Here’s all you need to know about entering. We are looking for pictures that evoke emotion and tell an African story.
Story 1 HUKUMURI FOLLOW-UP
Is there compensation when rural villagers lose livestock and crops to wildlife on the western border of Kruger NP? We ask questions and find out
Story 2 TOUGH MOGGIES
The African wildcat is one of Africa’s “Secret 7” – tough little cats are just as untamed and fierce as their iconic big cat cousins. Read more here
Story 3 SUSTAINABLE?
Farming and legal trade of wildlife could increase demand for wildlife products and so be negative from a conservation perspective – research
Story 4 BEST PHOTOS
Week Seven of our 2021 Photographer of the Year
Clockwise from top left: A domestic bull watches a buffalo calf through the reserve fence; a fence broken by an elephant bull; tracks of an elephant herd in communal grazing lands; an elephant bull making himself at home in communal grazing land – the remnants of the fence he broke are bottom left; a domestic calf killed by lions.
A cure while searching for prevention
On the 12th of February 2021, we posted a story on the circumstances surrounding the death of a famous leopard Hukumuri. Many people asked what they might do to help all concerned (animal and human). This article attempts to explain the complex issues around compensation for damage caused by wild animals.
An outpouring of emotion
The death of Hukumuri unleashed a wave of emotion: outrage, sadness, helplessness, fear.
There was also an outpouring of reasoned compassion. Sympathy extended to Hukumuri, to African people living in close proximity to potentially dangerous animals and to Ms Mathonsi who, to remind you, has seven children and lost two pigs, two goats and a dog to Hukumuri. Some wanted to know how they might help to stop this sort of thing from happening again. Many expressed an earnest desire to give money to Ms Mathonsi in order that she might replace her herd.
I wish we could simply have posted her PayPal account on social media, and told those generous souls to have at it. Ms Mathonsi would no-doubt have replaced her herd many, many times over. Unfortunately, it simply ain’t that simple – in 2021 it should be, but it ain’t.
Firstly, Mrs Mathonsi has never heard of PayPal. She might have a bank account but will have no digital access to her bank because of a combination of ridiculous data costs, poor education, and physical separation from an actual bank. Secondly, Ms Mathonsi is not the only one who lost livestock to leopards in the recent past – perhaps to Hukumuri, perhaps to others, no-one really knows. Thirdly, Ms Mathonsi lives in a village awash with cultural complexities that I’m not going to vaguely attempt to delve into save to say that were she suddenly to receive a windfall, she’d immediately become a target.
So what can those kind souls who want to help do?
Well, I think the best thing we can do is explain how compensation for wild animals is effected on the western borders of the greater Kruger National Park, and then provide a few guidelines.
Compensation pros and cons
In this case, compensation means a cash (or kind) payment for a loss incurred to a Damage-Causing Animal (DCA) that has escaped from a reserve. It must be remembered that compensation is just one part of a very complex set of interventions used to mitigate human-wildlife conflict (HWC). It is a deeply emotive and powerful intervention however.
A look at the literature around financial compensation for incidents involving wild animals indicates mixed effectiveness in Africa and beyond. In summary, if managed correctly with effective reporting, adequate resources, a proper legal framework and long-term commitment, compensation has a positive impact on conservation. That said, if reporting is open to abuse and there is no legal framework then compensation can result in people encouraging DCA incidents or inventing them – nothing earth-shattering there [1][2][3]. A little more earth-shattering are reports of incidents where people will specifically cut fences and chase elephants out, claiming that they are DCAs so that the animals will be shot and the meat can be consumed.
The greater Kruger boundary
The border of the greater Kruger National Park in South Africa is more than 700 kms long. There are in excess of two million people living in rural villages living along the borders. There are many more in the region but not all live close enough to the park for DCAs to be an issue. It is important to understand that the KNP in South Africa is fenced along the entire border – this is unusual in Africa. The fence provides a hard boundary and often there is no buffer zone separating people from the fence.
The people living in these villages are poor. Villagers survive on a combination of government grants (for the elderly, unemployed mothers, the indigent and the disabled), livestock, gardening or small-scale farming. Unemployment is above 70% in many areas.
Most villages have electricity but few residents can afford it. Potable water is normally collected from communal taps which frequently run dry. Medical care is appalling and often far away. Schooling, provided by the government, ranks somewhere near the bottom of the world in various measures[4].
The purpose of this rather detailed socio-economic description is to illustrate how utterly devastating it can be when a wild animal comes out of the park and kills livestock or destroys crops – when your livelihood and those of your children is tied up with your little maize crop, your herd of goats or your cattle.
Who gives what to whom?
Although a number of reserves and lodges do not offer direct compensation for incidents involving DCAs, they do provide support for a number of community projects (water provision, education bursaries, game drives for local children, farming, medical etc.). The effectiveness and proportional generosity of these interventions form the basis for countless PhDs, endless conferences and reams of politically-charged commentary. Support of this nature comes from the lodges themselves and not the reserves they are on.
With all this in mind, we wanted to find out about the compensation policies of SANParks (operators and custodians of the Kruger National Park), the private reserves on the western boundary, and the state-operated Manyeleti Game Reserve.
By law, when an animal escapes from the greater Kruger, it becomes a problem for the province in question. In the Kruger that is either the MTPA (Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Authority) or LEDET (Limpopo Economic Development Environment and Tourism). One of these authorities has to decide what to do with escaped animals and whether or not they are declared DCAs. So when an elephant, for example, breaks out of the Kruger, it becomes the responsibility of the province – not SANParks – although often SANParks will be brought in to help with the situation because the provincial authorities cannot deal with the situation for financial or logistical reasons.
Community members of Phalaubeni Village discuss damage-causing animal incidents
South African National Parks (SANParks)
SANParks – Kruger National Park is responsible for the longest length of boundary bordered by rural villages. They have a compensation plan that, in broad strokes, does the following:
When claims can be verified compensation is given for livestock killed by escaped lions, spotted hyenas, cheetah and wild dog.
Livestock killed by leopards is generally not compensated for, as these cats are free-ranging and found outside of reserves.
No compensation is given for crop destruction due to the difficulty in verifying such incidents.
Each incident and request for compensation must be investigated by the relevant conservation agency official (provincial or SANParks). Photographic evidence and other forms of information must form part of the submitted claims.
Compensation can be difficult to do effectively. It is complicated and requires on-going discussion and engagement both inside and outside of the organisation. However, livestock compensation next to Kruger is necessary, has born positive results and will continue to do so as it adapts through the various lessons learnt.
To summarise what a highly experienced conservationist once said to me: if you are going to treat animals as assets, then the custodians or owners of those assets must take responsibility for them. If your asset causes damage, then you have a moral duty to try to reduce the impact felt by the person in whatever way you can. This creates goodwill. Without goodwill, your asset simply becomes a hindrance to the person’s livelihood and when that happens, people may take matters into their own hands.
The financial cost of the compensation is most likely relatively low compared to the benefits. Especially when considering that only a relatively small fraction of people actually own cattle, and have likely been affected by predators directly and would need compensation. In contrast, many more people express a perceived fear of stock loss or danger from wild animals. So addressing the impact through actions such as compensation can go a long way in influencing perceptions at a broader scale.
There is no compensation given for human-wildlife conflict. The Sabi Sands defers to the MTPA for all incidents involving DCAs. That said, the Sabi Sands will fund helicopter and capture operations if their fence is breached provided such operations are deemed viable and appropriate.
No compensation plan – deferral to the MTPA or LEDET depending on where a DCA animal escapes.
Balule Game Reserve
There are no rural communities that live near the Balule fence. The reserve does not have any specific compensation policies in place for DCA incidents. Since the surge in rhino poaching, the boundaries are monitored constantly – at least twice a day on foot, continually with digital alarm and camera systems. Any breach of the fence by human or animal is immediately acted upon which lessens the chance of predators escaping. This is more or less the case for the Sabi Sands, Timbavati and Klaserie.
Manyeleti Game Reserve
The Manyeleti defers to their land custodians, the MTPA. They do not pay compensation or make any decisions on DCA incidents.
The Klaserie does not have a compensation plan because, as an official told me, they do not have villages directly on their borders.
Abelana Game Reserve
Abelana (the business) does not have a specific compensation policy. That said, the landowner is the community on the eastern border of the reserve. Relations with the community are of the utmost importance to the well-being of the business. Because of this priority, the eastern fence line is patrolled almost permanently and repaired continuously. To date, Abelana has not had any DCA incidents. They will, however, treat any DCA claims on an ad hoc basis and consider compensation.
Makalali Game Reserve
Makalali, does not have any villages on the borders and therefore does not have a compensation scheme. There is a big buffer zone between Makalali and the nearest village. They do however have insurance that should cover them in the event of an animal causing damage in a village or on the main road. In instances where elephants have broken out and caused damage to the fences of neighbouring properties, the reserve has reimbursed the owners and reclaimed this from their insurance.
They do have breakouts of animals from time to time because, as the warden admitted, it is very difficult to maintain 90kms of fence in permanent, perfect condition. None of these breaches of the fence has resulted in a DCA incident.
The provincial authorities
The MTPA, through their spokesman, told me emphatically that ‘…the MTPA doesn’t pay community members who lost livestock due to wildlife.’ That said, there is anecdotal evidence that ad hoc compensation has been paid from time to time. It is possible that the MTPA does not want a flood of compensation claims and therefore does not have an official policy for compensation but this is a guess.
I made multiple attempts to contact LEDET and was promised some information but none was forthcoming. Going on hearsay from people intimately involved with HWC issues, it would seem that LEDET does not pay compensation.
Clockwise from the top left: K2C environmental monitors (EMs) learning about conservation; EMs patrolling the fence; EMs investigating a broken piece of the boundary fence for incursions; a long piece of fence pushed over by elephants.
Ye olde adage – prevention is better than cure.
It would seem that compensation is a cure or medicine required for as long as the ‘sickness’ that are DCA incidents occur. The better we become at preventing DCA incidents, the less this cure will be required. Until then, compensation – well managed, funded and equitable – has shown some positive results, not only in improving relations between people and parks but also helping reserve authorities to identify hotspots where fences are regularly breached. These areas are monitored and this has reduced DCA incidents in hotspots on the western boundary of the greater Kruger.
I spoke with Mike Grover of Conservation South Africa and Vusi Tshabalala of Kruger to Canyons Biosphere (K2C), both of whom are dedicated to making the confluence of people and parks amicable, equitable and mutually beneficial.
One of the programmes that K2C facilitates, involves employing a number of environmental monitors from 74 communities on the western boundary. A pilot project in five villages, sees the environmental monitors deployed specifically to assist with human-wildlife conflict. Their role is to educate community members, identify problems through patrols and tracking, and then facilitate communication with the right authorities when an issue is identified.
Further afield, in the Mozambican part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a specialised herding scheme allows for community members to graze their cattle in the reserve. The scheme, using specialised bomas and highly-trained herdsmen has reduced cattle losses to predators from 22 animals a month to zero – and this is INSIDE the Transfrontier Conservation Area!
It is initiatives like this that will ultimately provide the prevention and negate the need for the difficult-to-administer cure that is compensation.
So how can you help?
Your best bet is find an NGO (not for profit), research what they do, and contribute to their work trying to mitigate human wildlife conflict – arguably Africa’s greatest conservation challenge. There are some highly experienced, specialised and knowledgeable people with decades of experience in this space and they need support. In many cases they are having measurable success in making sure that tragedies like the death of Hukumuri, become less and less frequent.
Also, of course, you can travel responsibly. Research the lodges and reserves you visit. Make sure that their initiatives align with efforts to reduce human-wildlife conflict.
[1] Maclennan, S. D. et al. 2009. Evaluation of a compensation scheme to bring about pastoralist tolerance of lions. Biological Conservation.
[2] fao.org/3/ap537e/ap537e.pdf
[3] Bauer, H. et al. 2015. Financial compensation for damage to livestock by lions Panthera leo on community rangelands in Kenya. Oryx, volume 51, issue 1.
Our Photographer of the Year 2021 is open for submissions, with cash prizes of US$10,000 for the overall winner and the two runners-up. They and their partners will also join our CEO Simon Espley and his wife Lizz on the ultimate private safari in Botswana.
The competition runs from January to June 2021. Get your entries in now and join us in celebrating Africa! Proudly brought to you by Hemmersbach Rhino Force and Natural Selection.
“In ancient times, cats were worshipped as gods. They have not forgotten this…” ~ Terry Pratchett
A cat stretched out on the best seat in the house, lazing in the sun, is the very picture of domestication. They purr contentedly and rub up against their human servants’ ankles, demanding to be timeously fed, or regard the excitable family dogs with a kind of contemptuous smugness from a place of safety. Yet as every cat owner knows, there are times when these cats stalk their surrounds, pupils wide and teeth and claws at the ready, embroiled in their own hunts, scuffles, and romances. In these moments, domestic cats don’t appear particularly domestic.
Their instincts are a throwback to a time when their ancestors stalked Africa and Asia, surviving by their wits and reflexes, and preying on any number of small mammals, birds, amphibians, and arthropods. Some of these cat ancestors were drawn to human settlements and abandoned their wild existence to enslave their human owners. Yet others remained wild and, to this day, African wildcats continue to live as they have for thousands of years. Rangy and hard-bitten, they slink through the continent’s savannas, forests, and wetlands – seldom seen and often overlooked but every bit as wild as the other members of the feline family.
Stealth, speed and strength – hallmarks of all members of the cat family, no matter how small they may be. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa
The true ancestors of domestic cats
In many ways, African wildcats are to cats what wolves are to dogs, with some important differences. While a history of domestic cats may seem out of place in an article on a wild creature, it goes to the heart of understanding the challenges faced by conservationists in classifying and protecting African wildcats.
The process of cat domestication was a complex one, and fossil evidence is in short supply, making piecing the events together somewhat tricky. Historians and scientists now believe that domestic cats went through two different periods of domestication – first in south-west Asia around 10,000 years ago and then, once again, in Egypt about 3500 years ago. Genetic analysis indicates that domestic cats may have two different source populations that can be traced to different periods but confirms African wildcats are the true ancestors of domestic cats.
As with dogs, scientists believe that cats were domesticated along a commensal pathway. Essentially, the wildcats (initially in Egypt and the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East) would have been attracted to human settlements for a variety of reasons, including warmth and increased food availability. Over time, people realized the benefits of keeping cats for pest control and gradually a shift took place from a purely pragmatic mutualistic relationship to one that extended to companionship (and selective breeding). A skeleton of one wildcat uncovered in Egypt and dated to somewhere between 3,600 and 3,800 years ago shows evidence of healed fractures that suggest the injured cat was cared for by a human.
Unlike dogs, modern cats have retained more genetic and behavioural similarities with their wild relatives, most likely because, while domestic dogs have been largely isolated from their ancestral wolf populations for thousands of years, domestic cats have continued to breed with their wild cousins. This, in turn, has ultimately led to one of the greatest threats facing wildcat populations not only in Africa but across the globe.
Close similarities between African wildcats and their domestic cousins speaks to an interwoven evolutionary history. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa
What’s in a name? Everything.
Given that domestic cats have only been “domesticated” for around 4,000 or so years and have continued to breed with their immediate wild neighbours, they are almost indistinguishable genetically from wildcat populations. These genetic and morphological similarities have made the classification of several smaller cat species extremely complicated and often contested. So much so that even the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature only confirmed the domestic cat as a separate species in 2003.
The Felidae family or cat family evolved around 10 million years ago, and the Felis genus diverged some 7 million years later. This genus of small and medium-sized cats encompasses several different species and subspecies including domestic cats (F. catus), the jungle cat (F. chaus), the black-footed cat (F. nigripes), the sand cat (F. margarita) and the African wildcat (F. lybica).
The IUCN Red List still lists the African wildcat as a subspecies of the European wildcat (F. silvestris), which in turn has been allocated a conservation status of “Least Concern”. However, this is likely to change after a 2017 report by the IUCN’s own Cat Specialist Group recognized the African wildcat as a separate species – Felis lybica. The report also tentatively proposed three different subspecies distinguished primarily on distribution: F. l. lybica (found in North Africa), F. l. cafra (the Southern African wildcat) and F. l. ornate (found in Asia).
Species and subspecies distinctions may seem pedantic in animals that are almost identical on so many levels, but these distinctions are fundamental to conservation efforts. Classification as a separate species allows zoologists to draw substantive conclusions as to the animal’s conservation status. It also makes the process of identifying specific threats more selective. In the case of the African wildcat, it is the threat to its genetic integrity that menaces the population.
The conservation (cat)astrophe?
In a 2010 study by the Ecology Global Network, scientists estimated that there were some 600 million domestic cats in the world. By contrast, while there are no estimates of African wildcat populations (the logistics and their widespread distribution make counting them an almost impossible task), there is no doubt that they are massively outnumbered.
As available wild spaces have vanished one by one, human populations have expanded, bringing domestic and feral cats with them. Given their genetic similarities, sexual encounters between domestic cats and wildcats are inevitable, and hybridization is common on the fringes of wildcat distribution ranges.
In a 2014 study, researchers concluded that in South Africa at least, levels of hybridization are still relatively low, especially in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park which is a population stronghold for the African wildcat. The DNA samples collected from wildcats that indicated the highest levels of interbreeding came from individuals in the Kruger National Park. Given the high human population density on the Park’s border, this is hardly surprising.
A project such as Alley Cat Rescue aims to mitigate this impact through domestic and feral cat sterilization programmes, focussing their attentions on specific border areas. These programmes also implement vaccination schemes to reduce the risk of disease transmission between domestic and wildcats.
African wildcats can be identified by reddish shading on the back of their ears. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa
Is it a wildcat or an escaped moggie?
To the uninitiated, an African wildcat could look for all the world like a slim domestic cat. There are, however, subtle differences between the two. African wildcats are slightly taller than the average domestic cat, and their legs are proportionately longer, which gives them a more upright posture, particularly when sitting. Their walking gait is more like that of a serval or cheetah than the average domestic cat.
The variety seen in domestic cat coat colours is a product of selective breeding, and this variety is not reflected in the coat colours of the African wildcat. Instead, their almost uniform colour ranges from red to sandy and brown to grey, with very faint stripes known as the mackerel-tabby pattern. The end of their tails is ringed with black, the backs of their ears are characteristically russet, and the underside of their paws are pitch-black.
African wildcats are highly efficient little hunters in their own right. Chobe National Park, Botswana
Behaviour
Like their domestic congeners, African wildcats have proved to be extremely adaptable and, as a result, occupy a wide number of different habitats from deserts and grasslands to savannas (though their range does not extend to rainforests). Their diets are varied and unselective – anything, including small mammals, birds, reptiles, and arthropods are all targeted. Some individuals have even been known to prey on young livestock animals such as lambs or kids, putting them at risk of conflict with farmers. African wildcats are reliant on keen senses, particularly their hearing, to identify prey. Their ambush approach is well-honed, and they demonstrate extraordinary patience in stalking – often biding their time for hours at a time.
Unusual circumstances for an opportunistic jackal. Erindi Private Game Reserve, Namibia
One of the common effects of domestication (seen in domestic dogs, cats and other animals) is an increased breeding frequency. Female domestic cats reach sexual maturity as early as four months old and are capable of producing three litters of kittens every year. In contrast, the African wildcat generally only produces one litter during the wet season.
Being one of the smallest members of the cat family, their natural predators are numerous and include the larger cat species and birds of prey.
Conclusion
For the most part, African wildcats are somewhat underappreciated – they look so similar to feral cats that they are often dismissed as such, despite their status as one of the “Secret 7” (serval, wildcat, large-spotted genet, civet, porcupine, aardvark and pangolin). Yet these gangly, tough little cats are just as interesting, untamed, and fierce as their iconic big cat cousins.
The debate surrounding the farming and regulated, legal trade of wildlife is one of the most polarizing discussions in conservation. Supporters of both sides have reached an effective deadlock over the historical and perceived advantages and disadvantages of each approach. A new study by the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife in the USA investigates the effects of bans/legalisation on the Chinese consumption of animal parts. The results caution against legalising trade.
In summary, the findings show that:
The legalisation of trade impacts personal and social perceptions of the use of wildlife parts;
The legal trade of wildlife reduces the stigma and increases the personal acceptability and social approval of animal parts’ consumption for both medicinal and non-medicinal purposes;
The effects of wildlife farming are more pronounced on the perceptions surrounding the use of mammals: farming mammals reduces the stigma attached to using mammal parts;
Reducing the stigma attached to the use of animal parts could see a massive increase in demand;
Trade and farming of one species has knock-on effects on the stigma attached to other, non-target species; and
For bans to be effective, they need to be purpose-specific – directed at both medicinal and non-medicinal use.
The background
One of the primary questions at the heart of the wildlife trade debate is the effect that legalisation has on demand for the animal part concerned – does a legal wildlife trade saturate the market or increase it? Following on from this question is whether or not farming wildlife can meet this demand and reduce poaching of wild populations. Yet even though these conversations dominate conservation circles, little empirical evidence exists to answer these complex questions. The study by Dr Rizzolo, an expert in conservation criminology, is based on an experimental vignette survey conducted in Mainland China to address some of these unknowns in a more quantifiable manner.
The survey
When used for research purposes, vignettes are essentially short stories about a hypothetical person or situation presented to the participants of the survey. The participants are then asked a series of questions based on the context of their specific vignette. In this case, the various scenarios presented in the vignettes focussed on four species (bears, tigers, snakes, and turtles) and two different uses of the animal product (medicinal or non-medicinal). It also dealt with three legal situations: the product is illegal; the product is legal and from a farmed animal; or the product is legal and from a wild animal.
Once the respondents had read the vignette, they were presented with a series of questions around the acceptability of wildlife consumption, the social approval of wildlife consumption and the legal repercussions for the various wildlife species. The survey was conducted online with a sample of 1002 adult respondents, and the demographic variables (age, gender, and income) were approximately representative of China’s population as a whole. The sample did include more highly educated respondents than is representative of China as a whole. However, given the link between social status and wildlife consumption, the researchers were comfortable that the survey captured the demographic relevant to the questions at hand.
Legal trade of wildlife = increased acceptability and social approval
The results of these surveys provide empirical evidence for the stigma effect on wildlife consumption. There is strong evidence that the legal context of a particular animal part affects not only influences perceptions of legal punishment, but also the level of acceptability and social approval for wildlife consumption. Naturally, while this acceptability does not automatically alter behaviour (purchasing and using animal parts), it does act as a decisive motivating factor. The fact that illegality decreases both acceptability and social approval challenges the idea that demand can be saturated through legal products – because demand will invariably increase with legalisation.
Interestingly, the study also indicates that legalisation and wildlife farming are related but distinct policy contexts. Hypothetical bans had a uniform effect on the survey responses for all species concerned, but the impact of legal wildlife farming was more nuanced. Where parts from mammals (in this case, bears and tigers) were concerned, wildlife farming increased the acceptability of their consumption and reduced the stigma surrounding their use.
Furthermore, wildlife farming and wildlife trade bans can also impact the consumption of non-target species. For example, in a hypothetical scenario where snake consumption was banned, this correlated with increased acceptability of the consumption of bear products and social approval of the use of tiger bones. On the other side of this spectrum, legal bear farming was associated with the increased acceptability of tiger bone and skin. The reason for use (medicinal or non-medicinal/consumptive) also affected perceptions of the use of non-target species. This demonstrates just how complex the effects of wildlife farming and trade bans can be for all wildlife, even those species not directly under discussion.
The conclusion
The author acknowledges that there are limitations to this research, including the lack of qualitative data that could have provided some insight into the respondents’ motivations. In addition, the stigma attached to the use of wildlife products is only one of several factors that influence the acceptability of consumption.
However, the study offers important insights into how the legalisation of wildlife trade and wildlife farms affects consumers and, ultimately, the demand for wildlife products. The data indicate that for bans to be effective, they need to be tailored to the species, the product, and the type of use. Where mammal-based medicinal products are concerned, a ban that explicitly targets medicinal use is needed to reduce demand, rather than just a species-level consumption ban. Notably, the study concludes by suggesting that “bans on wildlife consumption and decreased wildlife farming of mammals can have conservation benefits”.
Studies such as this are of profound importance in the realm of African wildlife conservation, as conservationists and policymakers debate the legal trade in rhino horn (both from wild and farmed animals) and the farming of lions for their bones. Understanding the real demand for animal parts once the illegal stigma is removed is vital to determining whether there is any truth to the popular theory that farmed wildlife will keep wild populations safe.
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Turn up the mic; I’ve got something to say.
It’s no secret that Covid-19 and other viruses originated in the wildlife markets of China. Of course, this needs to be officially confirmed so that society can find a way to avoid further illness, death and economic misery – as we are currently experiencing. But here’s the thing: this pandemic was forecast by health experts and China was warned about the ‘wet’ markets. Despite that, what are the chances that the government of China will be held ACCOUNTABLE for the tidal wave of death and economic misery that has swamped us all? The world surely needs to keep the government of China in a good mood if our stuttering economies are to recover, and we will all certainly continue to buy mobile phones, computers, clothes and other goods made in that country. Expect a light slap on the wrist for the government of China, for the evil wildlife trade to continue unabated (it has already recommenced, after a brief hiatus) and for the next wave of viruses to come rolling off the factory floor.
On a lighter note, check out the NEW FEATURE on our website where you can easily find our best stories – based on species, places, safari tips and safari report-backs. From our home page, go to ‘Our stories’ on the menu and see the drop-down menu of delicious content offerings. Off you go!
Simon Espley – CEO, Africa Geographic
From our Editor-in-Chief
Our two stories below will invoke entirely disparate emotions.
The first will leave you frantically making excuses to your employer for why you need a few weeks off. My wife and I honeymooned in the Kgalagadi last year (note: camping in the desert is an excellent test of whether newlyweds have made a great choice or a catastrophic mistake). It is a mystical desert of astonishing life. Whether you camp or choose more salubrious accommodations, the Kgalagadi will plug you right back into wilderness.
The second story is a tragedy on multiple fronts. A tale that has created heated debate, anger, sadness, compassion, learning and, lamentably, vitriolic attacks. Most people reacted with compassion, expressing a desire to help. Hukumuri was a magnificent leopard. He died too soon. If there is an atom of positivity to be taken from Hukumuri’s tragic demise, it is that his fame has created an awareness of human-wildlife conflict challenges; a greater appreciation of the fact that there are people, straining well below the breadline, who must live with beautiful, threatened but potentially dangerous African wildlife.
Lastly, another stupendous collection of images in our Photographer of the Year, which carries a prize of 10 000 USD and a six-day safari to Khwai in Botswana. Send in your images. Here’s all you need to know about entering. The only criterion is that the pictures must be a celebration of Africa. (They should not include, as one hopeful submitted, a selfie using nothing but a coat hanger to cover the bits no-one wants to see. That’s just odd).
Story 1 PREDATOR HEAVEN
Safari on your mind? The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park offers one of the most spectacular and intimate immersions in nature imaginable
Story 2 DEATH OF THE KING
Hukumuri, the beloved leopard, is dead- shot by the authorities because he was killing livestock & posed a threat to people in rural villages
Story 3 BEST PHOTOS
Week Six of our 2021 Photographer of the Year
Our Photographer of the Year 2021 is open for submissions, with cash prizes of US$10,000 for the overall winner and the two runners-up. They and their partners will also join our CEO Simon Espley and his wife Lizz on the ultimate private safari in Botswana.
The competition runs from January to June 2021. Get your entries in now and join us in celebrating Africa! Proudly brought to you by Hemmersbach Rhino Force and Natural Selection.
As dusk descends over the red sands of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, her animal choir prepares for another encore-worthy performance. First, the barking geckos emerge to set up the staccato rhythmic accompaniment for what is to come. The pennywhistle arpeggios of the pearl-spotted owlet – disproportionately loud for such a small bird – weave through the gracenote “brrps” of the scops owls and trills of the rufous-cheeked nightjars. Waiting patiently in the wings, a lion adds a booming baritone that echoes over the ancient, ephemeral, rivers, setting the stage for the main performance of the evening.
As the sun dips below the horizon, the scenery is bathed in the colours of the Kalahari, and a solitary jackal howls. One by one, its neighbours add their voices to the call and response melody, a haunting, lupine soprano that cuts through the night and raises goosebumps on human skin.
This is the song of the Kgalagadi
A lanner falcon takes exception to a black-backed jackal’s thieving.
The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park covers an enormous 35,551km2 (3.5 million hectares) in the Kalahari Basin, incorporating national parks in South Africa and Botswana. In Botswana’s southwestern corner, the Gemsbok National Park covers nearly three-quarters of the Kgalagadi (28,400km2) while the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park and the !Ae!Hai Kalahari Heritage Park together comprise the South African section in the Northern Cape.
As the oldest transboundary protected area in Africa, the Kgalagadi enjoyed a de facto existence from as early as 1948, when informal agreements between the national parks ensured that the entire ecosystem was holistically managed. However, it was only in 1999 that South Africa and Botswana legally formalised these agreements, and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park was officially opened in May 2000. Visitors are free to travel between the two countries within the park without a passport, provided they exit from their original country of entrance.
While the rolling red dunes and Kalahari sandveld plains are spectacularly beautiful, life in the Kgalagadi centres around its two ephemeral rivers: the Nossob and the Auob. The rivers hardly ever flow at surface level; instead, underground water supplies the surrounding camelthorn trees and other vegetation which, in turn, provide essential nutrients to the park’s herbivores at the end of the long dry season.
The basics
The Kgalagadi – which possibly translates as ‘the land of thirst’ – is not an appropriate destination for spontaneous exploration or the inadequately prepared visitor. Main camps aside, most of the wilderness camps and campsites offer only basic facilities and little in the way of phone signal. Though there are entrance gates on both the South African and Botswanan sides, most of the park infrastructure and camps are dotted throughout the South African portion of the park. In contrast, the Botswana side is vast and wild. Large distances and limited roads separate campsites with few facilities and no fuel. This section is only accessible with 4X4 vehicles.
Three main or “traditional” camps in the Kgalagadi are equipped with shops and fuel, as well as electricity (though only Twee Rivieren offers 24-hour power). Twee Rivieren, Nossob and Mata Mata are connected by the park’s main roads which are corrugated but accessible to 2X4 vehicles unless there has been unusually high rainfall. These main camps are the hub of park activity, and visitors can book guided drives (including night drives), guided 4X4 trails and walks.
The wilderness camps (powered by solar and gas) and isolated campsites are unfenced, offering an entirely immersive experience free from the trappings and distractions of modern life – including, in some luxurious cases, flushing toilets. As a result, the Kgalagadi is one of the few remaining wild spaces where visitors can lose themselves in nature and revel in the wildlife’s authenticity; especially the ubiquitous, bright-eyed ground squirrels that have learned to capitalise on the generosity (or messiness) of passing campers.
Clockwise from the top: Tashebube Rooiputs; Camping at Nossob; ‘Nothing to see here…’ a young lion finishes his shower at Mabuasehube. Campfire at Rooiputs.
The wildlife
Arid it may be, but the Kalahari ecosystem is a complex web of life well-adapted to extremes. The Kgalagadi itself is probably not suited to first-time safari-goers, particularly not those intent on ticking off the Big 5, because elephant, rhino and buffalo are not present in the park. Nevertheless, the wildlife viewing in the Kgalagadi is exceptional for two main reasons: the profusion of predators and the opportunity to appreciate the underappreciated.
A quenching puddle before the evening hunt.
A predator profusion
Of the 60 or so recorded mammal species in the park, nearly a third of these are predators. For most people, top of the list are the lions of the famed Kalahari black-maned pedigree. The Kgalagadi is considered a vital Lion Conservation Unit (as designated by the IUCN Cat Specialist Group) and it is not uncommon to fall asleep to their roars only to wake up in the morning and discover their tracks crisscrossing the previous night’s braai site. Cheetahs and leopards complete the big cat trifecta, especially during the dry season when the desolate landscape makes it somewhat easier to pick them out at a distance. Russet-coloured caracals with their characteristic black ear tufts are relatively common and the Kgalagadi is home to one of the largest (and genetically purest) wildcat populations in Africa.
Of the other large predators, brown hyenas are particularly well-adapted to desert habitats. These shaggy predators patrol the dunes and scrublands in a constant search for their next carcass or moisture-rich tsamma melon. Their spotted cousins are less numerous but more vocal and conspicuous, often wallowing in pans during the heat of the day.
The smaller canid species are some of the Kgalagadi’s most captivating residents. When not serenading each other, black-backed jackals use their canine wiles to eke out a tenuous existence in the inhospitable landscape. Whether they are scrapping over a leftover piece of leathery skin, bravely snatching a morsel of meat from beneath a lion’s nose or launching acrobatic attacks to catch unsuspecting sandgrouse, time spent with jackals is never wasted.
Like the jackals, Cape foxes (also known as silver-backed foxes) can be equally entertaining, particularly for those fortunate to spend time at den sites with young kits, which must surely rank among the world’s cutest baby animals. Unlike the insectivorous bat-eared foxes (which are also present), the Cape fox is the only true fox species in sub-Saharan Africa.
Clockwise from left: A normally nocturnal caracal scouring the midday; A delightful Cape fox kit draws comfort from mum; Suricate mum and young always alert and watchful; A terrifying looking but utterly harmless armoured ground cricket.
The underappreciated
The Kgalagadi experience is one of quality over quantity, and rushing from sighting to sighting is not a recipe for success. Instead, time, patience and attention to detail yield greater rewards to the discerning visitor, especially if it means a few hours spent at one of the waterholes at dusk and dawn.
Even within the confines of the camps themselves, life abounds. The aforementioned ground squirrels are so commonplace that they are often overlooked. Close observation of familiar individuals, however, reveals that they lead complex and intriguing lives. Their habit of using their tails as built-in parasols and charismatic personalities make them extraordinarily endearing. Yet, they are also consummate survivors, and their reflexes are lightning-fast, as this brave mother demonstrated in her battle with a Cape cobra.
From honey badgers, meerkats, and mongooses to elephant shrews, whistling rats and chameleons, appreciating nature in all her glory is the very essence of exploring the Kgalagadi.
Clockwise from top left: The flowers of the three-thorn (Rhigozum trichotomum) are a delicious spring treat for a springbok; A spectacularly lucky Kgalagadi sighting of mum and two cubs in spring green; A posing oryx completes an atmospheric shot at Lesholoago.
Jumping for joy…
At the risk of repetition, the best wildlife viewing is at the end of the dry season. The animals are forced to congregate around available water resources (particularly the pumped pans), and vegetation is sparse. However, the park is magnificent regardless of the time of year and the transformation effected by the seasons and the arrival of the rain around December is remarkable. Seemingly overnight, the barren, desiccated landscape is revitalised and carpeted in new life’s green flush. As the thunderstorms roll overhead, annual flowers spring up out of nowhere, painting the scenery in flamboyant colours that seem decidedly out of place in a desert.
Herds of blue wildebeest, gemsbok, red hartebeest, and eland congregate in celebration of the rains, migrating within the park to secure the best resources for the birthing season. There is a palpable sense of relief among the animals that survive the savage dry season, and this is particularly apparent in the herds of springbok that seem to jump for joy. Their unique, pronking leaps provide hours of entertainment. While there are solid biological explanations for this behaviour (displaying physical fitness to predators and potential mates), to many of us, these antelopes simply seem to be enjoying themselves.
A bateleur demonstrates the perfect landing technique.
The experience
The only luxury lodge in the Kgalagadi is !Xaus Lodge which is found on the border of the southern section of the park, in the !Ae!Hai Heritage Park. This 580km2 section of land was set aside for both the ‡Khomani San and Mier communities, and profits from the lodge are fed back to these communities.
The Kgalagadi is a land of extremes, and visitors should be prepared to face them. At the height of summer, the temperatures soar above 40˚C every day, and the relentless sun beats down on the red sands, lifting temperatures to around 70˚C on the surface. As already mentioned, most of the camps are rudimentary, and few are equipped with fans, let alone air conditioning. By contrast, the temperatures at night in winter can drop to well below freezing and where there is plumbing, it is not unusual to wake to pipes frozen solid. Comprehensive planning and research will ensure that visitors get the most out of the Kgalagadi experience.
A stroll around the campsite at night with a UV light will reveal the scorpions emerging to take advantage of the cooler temperatures. This, combined with regular snake sightings, should be sufficient to convince even the most experienced camper to wear sensible footwear at night and carry a powerful flashlight.
Want to go on a safari to Kgalagadi? To find lodges, search for our ready-made packages or get in touch with our travel team to arrange your safari, scroll down to after this story.
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WOW, our tragic breaking news story of a few weeks ago about the plummeting Kruger rhino populations has certainly rattled a few cages and grabbed worldwide attention. Many international news media and conservation/activist organisations took up the story and made it their own. My team and I are proud of this role we play – as originators of factual content.
Our own Jamie Paterson (scientific editor) conducted two radio interviews and helped spread the actual situation to an even larger audience. Listen to her brief interviews below. I was particularly affected by her story in the one interview of takeaway food packaging strewn around the bloody poached rhino carcass – another day at the office for these evil ones.
The South African government’s high-fiving press releases about fewer rhinos poached will now fall on a few more EDUCATED ears and be treated with caution. That said, I see that many news media platforms simply cut-and-paste this misleading information to a gullible public desperate for good news.
Our first story below features the region in Kruger National Park favoured by those in the know. The Makuleke Contractual Park is a special place if you seek remote areas with huge trees, giant elephant bulls, JAW-DROPPING biodiversity and fascinating human history. Next, we celebrate the discovery of a tiny chameleon in Madagascar – although of course nature has known of its existence for a while. Our third story is what you need to know about the aardwolf – that seldom-seen hyena that so many ardent safari-goers have yet to see. What a fascinating creature!
And, finally, we celebrate yet another week of entries to our Photographer of the Year. Competition for the US$10,000 cash prize and a rather special Botswana safari is hotting up. PLEASE send the link below to photographers you feel may benefit from the exposure and prizes 🙂
Story 1 SAFARI SECRET
Two rivers and three countries merge in northern Kruger – expect spectacular biodiversity and a historical hotspot at Crooks Corner
Story 2 TINY GEM
This dwarf chameleon is officially the world’s smallest chameleon, measuring just 22mm. Found only in Madagascar, this is Brookesia nana
Story 3 KNOW MORE
The aardwolf is one of the most specialised carnivores on the planet – and a highly sought-after species on game drives
Story 4 BEST PHOTOS
Week five of our 2021 Photographer of the Year
DID YOU KNOW: There are eight recognised species of baobab: six native to Madagascar and one native to each of mainland Africa and Australia. Read more about baobabs here.
Hukumuri, a famous Lowveld leopard, is dead. He died on 16 January 2021 – shot by the local authorities in a rural village after he killed livestock and a dog. These are indisputable facts, and an ongoing investigation may reveal more detail. Huk, as some know him, was a favourite amongst tourists to the northern Sabi Sands Game Reserve and amongst online live safari followers. He was not in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve at the time of his death, and the game reserve management had no hand in his death.
We have, as far as possible, in the short time available, tried to establish exactly what the facts surrounding Hukumuri’s death are. We have spoken to park officials, and yesterday Jamie visited Mr Nabot Mathonsi, the village headman, and the homestead of Romina Mathonsi who lost valuable livestock – almost her entire life’s savings. Here then are our findings, followed by our personal thoughts about a leopard we knew and loved.
Hukumuri’s body was removed by authorities. He was killed with one shot.
This, then, is what we know with relative certainty:
The Mpumalanga Parks and Tourism Authority (MPTA) has confirmed to Africa Geographic that Hukumuri was shot by staff of the Manyeleti Game Reserve with the full authority of the MPTA. Most importantly, this was a ‘last resort’ decision. The staff of the Manyeleti made multiple attempts to catch the leopard under challenging circumstances. If further details become available, we will share them.
He was shot in a village a few kilometres north of the Sabi Sands Game Reserve, some 200 metres west of the Manyeleti fenceline.
Hukumuri killed several goats, pigs and at least one dog, causing a potentially devastating loss for more than one family.
Ms Mathonsi, who has seven children, including young toddlers and lives in abject poverty, lost all of her female livestock and one of her dogs when it tried to chase Hukumuri from her home. The animals had been placed in a ‘kraal’ for the night, and she cried when relating the story to us. When the leopard was tracked down, he was lying beneath a buffalo thorn just 100 metres from her homestead.
Despite the obvious frustration they felt, the community did not take matters into their own hands but called the relevant conservation authorities.
Many of the people living around the game reserves in the area are resentful about the lack of benefit (employment) and the perceived lack of help with compensation when livestock is lost to wild predators. The process of applying for compensation requires a certain level of literacy from the applicants, yet few of the villagers have had any formal education.
The potential for conflict in the area where Hukumuri died is very high. There is no buffer zone between the fence and the villages – there is no soft boundary, and people live virtually up against the fence.
We know, as a hugely experienced guiding friend reminded me, that Hukumuri had become a potential danger to human life. It is often small children who look after livestock in the villages and a non-territorial, possibly injured or sick leopard is not only a threat to livestock but also villagers – especially young children herding livestock. Both Mr and Ms Mathonsi told us that they were terrified for the lives of the village children.
We know that Hukumuri was being pressurised by other males in his area and had probably lost his territory – maybe even more than once. This comes from guides who work in the area and have spent extensive periods with him.
We know that darting and then relocating leopards back to reserves they have left, because they’ve been excluded from territories, seldom works. The costs of relocation are also very high. Despite this, the Manyeleti did make multiple attempts to catch Hukumuri.
Sadly, we also know that this will not be the last time something like this happens despite many people’s best efforts.
One of Romina Mathonsi’s remaining goats in the kraal. Hukumuri jumped in and killed two animals before dragging the carcass of one into her yard.
When a leopard such as Hukumuri dies, many of us who knew him, feel devastated. It feels like we have lost a close friend, or even, dare we say it, a beloved pet. Hukumuri, of course, would not have mourned our passing because he did not seek out the company of the countless humans he met in the way that a pet might have. But that doesn’t make it any easier for those of us who mourn the loss of a favourite leopard.
We knew Hukumuri for many years – we watched him forge his first territory – full of youthful exuberance and powerful, uncompromising energy. We watched him hunt warthogs to the delight of a live, international, television audience. We noted with trepidation the conflict that left him blinded in one eye – we wondered if he’d manage to hold onto his territory. He became a figure of admiration as he overcame this disability, and then we delighted when he fathered cubs. Sadly, we also noted that despite his relative youth, he seemed to be feeling the pressure from several other male leopards in his area, and his future became uncertain.
It is this sort of rollercoaster drama that makes the lives of animals like Hukumuri so compelling. There will be those who argue we should watch in a detached ‘scientific’ manner. Then again, there are plenty of scientists who have shed tears at the loss of a favourite animal.
When the death of a beloved animal like Hukumuri comes brutally, the pain is that much worse. (We must remember that, in the wild, death very seldom comes peacefully). When the death is brutal and at human hands, the pain we feel often spills over to rage. Anger and pain create mists through which it is very difficult to evaluate situations objectively.
None of this will help the feeling of loss that many of us feel – be it a sense of loss because we knew him, or because we simply love these mystical, spotted cats and can’t bear the thought of them being destroyed in a time of such wanton environmental carnage. But these are the realities of conservation in Africa.
Romina Mathonsi has seven children to support. The two goats and two pigs represented most of her life’s savings. She is cynical about her chances of compensation.
Human-wildlife conflict is one of, if not the greatest challenge facing African nature conservation. There are some very complicated situations at play where people and parks meet. In a simplistic nutshell, the people living on the borders of conservation areas are usually impoverished. They have often been removed from the land or excluded from benefiting directly from it. This has created a situation where conflict with wildlife and wildlife authorities is all but inevitable. If disputes are not quickly and timeously resolved, poor people who bear the brunt of the conflict with wildlife, take matters into their own hands.
In this case, the villagers concerned, while frustrated, further impoverished and also fearful, did not do so and they are to be commended for their patience. Remember that this is a village where the unemployment rate probably exceeds 70 percent. Those who do have jobs are frequently employed in ecotourism. The positive attitude that many community members show to conservation and game reserves is partly a function of this employment.
Top: behind the pigsty, in the treeline, is the fence between the village and the Manyeleti Game Reserve – Hukumuri’s final hiding spot is visible in this picture, to the right of the marula tree. Bottom: Hukumuri was found hidden in a thicket near a waterhole. It was an extremely inaccessible area.
The loss of Hukumuri is a tragedy; there are no two ways about it. He was only around nine-years-old when he died. In a perfect world, he would have sired more cubs, established himself in another area and continued to delight us with his one-eyed belligerence. But this is nowhere close to a perfect world, and because of the realities of nature conservation in Africa, we have lost a leopard – to many almost a friend.
However, we do not believe that the sadness of this tragedy should overshadow the realities of the situation or override an objective perspective. Hukumuri was pressurised in his territory; he left the protection of the reserve; he killed livestock and posed a genuine threat to human life; the Manyeleti staff did what they could to mitigate the situation; they took the last-resort decision to destroy Hukumuri because they did not see another option.
Were mistakes made? Possibly – we’re all human. Will this happen again? Almost certainly. We must work tirelessly to inform ourselves – to understand the wildlife, the people who live beside it and the myriad factors at play in the complex arena that is African nature conservation. We need to learn to treat the people most affected by conflict with wildlife with the same compassion we would show the animals concerned. Only then can we hope to avoid further tragedies like this one.
Our Photographer of the Year 2021 is open for submissions, with cash prizes of US$10,000 for the overall winner and the two runners-up. They and their partners will also join our CEO Simon Espley and his wife Lizz on the ultimate private safari in Botswana.
The competition runs from January to June 2021. Get your entries in now and join us in celebrating Africa! Proudly brought to you by Hemmersbach Rhino Force and Natural Selection.
Scientists have discovered a new contender for the title of world’s smallest reptile: a minute Madagascan chameleon species that can balance comfortably on the tip of a finger. The newly described Brookesia nana male has a body length of just 13.5mm and overall length of 22mm (including the tail). It is the smallest known adult male reptile species. Astonishingly the male’s genitals make up 18.5% of its body length.
The tiny chameleon was discovered by a joint team of German and Malagasy scientists on an expedition to northern Madagascar in 2012. Extreme miniaturisation is relatively common in Madagascar, home to some of the smallest primates, frogs, and chameleons.
The B. nana specimens were collected in a degraded montane rainforest where they spend their days hunting for mites and springtails on the forest floor. At night, the chameleon hides on grass blades. Despite the scientists’ extensive efforts, the team could only find two specimens – a female and a male. The female is slightly larger, usually the case with smaller chameleon species.
Micro-CT scans reveal the internal structure of the chameleons, including the reduced tail length.
One of the most critical tasks was to confirm whether the specimens were mature adults or juveniles. Micro-CT scans of the female revealed two developing eggs, confirming her maturity, but the process for the male was somewhat more complicated. As male chameleons mature, their reproductive structures, termed ‘hemipenes’, change, becoming more intricate. In this case, the male’s hemipenes were sufficiently well-developed for scientists to conclude that he had reached maturity.
The explanation behind the extraordinary size of male genitals most likely lies with the reversed sexual size dimorphism in smaller chameleons. The outsized hemipenes ensure a better mechanical fit during mating.
Of further interest to scientists is just how small complex vertebrates can get, as many of the tiny frog, gecko and chameleon species seem to converge around a similar size. The Brookesia genus (the Madagascan dwarf or leaf chameleons) all demonstrate similar reduction of particular body parts and a lack of head ornaments such as crests or cones. Though there are several theories, the reason the miniature chameleons of Brookesia are as small as they are remains a mystery.
Brookesia nana male (top) and the female (bottom)
Equally unknown at this point is just how many of the newly discovered B. nana chameleons exist in the wild and whether or not their populations are sustainable. Other members of the genus have a limited distribution, and all are threatened to some extent by habitat loss. While Madagascar is home to around half the world’s chameleon species, it is estimated that less than 10% of island’s forests remain. Of the Madagascan chameleons, 52% are threatened, and 70% are considered threatened or near-threatened. Fortunately, the tiny, new chameleons live in a newly proclaimed protected area ‘Resérve de Ressources Naturelles du Corridor Marojejy-Anjanaharibe Sud-Tsaratanàna partie Nord’, thankfully abbreviated to COMATSA Nord. However, the report recommends that B. nana be classified as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List.
“Unfortunately, the habitat of the nano-chameleon is under heavy pressure from deforestation, but the area has recently been designated as a protected area, and hopefully that will enable this tiny new chameleon to survive,” says Oliver Hawlitschek from the Centrum für Naturkunde in Hamburg.
Until now, the Brookesia micra was considered the smallest chameleon in the world.
The word carnivore in Africa instantly conjures images of long canines and sharp claws – powerful predators like lions or leopards, capable of rending flesh from bone or enthusiastic painted wolves coursing after their equally speedy prey or perhaps even the sinuous athleticism of Madagascar’s fossa. Yet one of the most highly specialized carnivores on the planet wanders the grasslands, deserts, and savannas of the African continent, largely unnoticed and unrecognized. This is the Aardwolf.
Africa’s aardwolf is one of the continent’s most underappreciated yet charming characters. Unlike their larger, spotted cousins, aardwolves are, for the most part, extremely shy and often elusive – few visitors are fortunate enough to spend any time with them and even fewer genuinely appreciate just how lucky they are to do so. For out of all the hyena species, the aardwolf is unique: the last of the dog-like hyenas to survive an evolutionary purge by virtue of its somewhat unusual diet.
The black sheep of the family
The aardwolf (Proteles cristata) is a member of the Hyaenidae family, along with the spotted hyena (Crocuta Crocuta), the brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea) and the striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena). Of all the hyena species, the aardwolf looks most like a striped hyena, though this is where the similarities end.
The ancestral origins of all four species can be traced back to a civet-like hyena species known as Plioviverrops that thrived throughout Eurasia around 20-22 million years ago. Devoid of canine competition at the time, the early hyenas provided a particularly neat example of convergent evolution – steadily developing longer legs and pointed jaws like those of the canid species in North America. From there, evolution began to follow two different specializations, producing a dog-like hyena lineage that chased down smaller prey and a bone-crushing lineage of hyenas capable of capitalizing on the kills of the large felid species. By 15 million years ago, 30 different species of hyenas roamed early Earth, most of which were dog-like hyenas not dissimilar to jackals.
Then, for the hyenas at least, catastrophe stuck sometime between the 5 to 7-million-year mark. Climate changes resulted in a gradual decline in dog-like hyenas and canid species began to cross the Bering land bridge (between present-day Russia and Alaska) into Eurasia. What followed, presumably, was an evolutionary war of competition, with the canids emerging victorious. One by one, the dog-like hyenas vanished, barring a scattered few: the ancestors of the aardwolf, now the sole survivor of an evolutionary dead-end.
Compared to its bone-crunching cousins, the aardwolf is fine-featured and delicate
Fussy eating is not always a bad thing
Most evolutionary biologists point to one particular trait responsible for the aardwolf’s survival – the ability to digest the toxic terpene excretions of termites. Myrmecophagy (eating termites or ants) is surprisingly rare in the mammal kingdom and it is a trait typically associated with more ‘primitive’ species such as the pangolin or aardvark. (For the sake of clarity, it is important to note that while many mammals feed on termites or ants on occasion, myrmecophagous mammals are entirely dependent upon them.) What makes the aardwolf so fascinating is that its origin is considered to be relatively recent, with the oldest member of its family tracing back to around between 10 and 20 million years ago (unlike pangolins or aardvarks, whose ancestors have been around for some 60 million years).
Speculative biologists suggest that perhaps it was the aardwolf’s ancestor’s exceptional capacity to digest decaying food that imparted at least a partial tolerance to the otherwise toxic excretions of the termites. This in turn allowed these ancestors to slide into an ecological niche with significantly reduced levels of competition by changing their dietary approach. Unlike the previously evolved termite specialists, aardwolves lack the powerful claws and digging equipment necessary to break open termite mounts to unearth their prey. As a result, aardwolves have come to rely on termite species that forage in large numbers on the soil surface. They feed mainly on nasute harvester termites of the Trinervitermes genus, though the specific species differs according to specific regions. During the cold winter months, they may shift to the more heavily pigmented (and therefore, more diurnally active) Hodotermes species.
Whatever the origins of this unusual dietary preference, the fate of the aardwolf’s success was irrevocably linked to the presence of these specific termites. As a result, in areas such as Zambia, Central and West Africa where these termite species are uncommon or do not congregate on the surface of the soil, the aardwolf is conspicuous by its absolute absence.
The long, dog-like muzzle and reduced molars of an aardwolf (left) compared to the blunt-nosed skull structure and robust molars of a spotted hyena (right).
The price of reduced competition
This reliance on specific dietary requirements may have allowed the aardwolf to survive the extinction that awaited all other dog-like hyenas, but every adaptation comes with its own cost. Unlike their bone-crushing cousins whose bite-force is renowned, the slim-jawed aardwolf lacks this characteristic entirely and their molars are greatly reduced in size. Their tongues and palates have broadened, and massive salivary glands secrete a constant stream of sticky saliva that coats the tongue, which in turn is covered with hardened papillae, allowing the aardwolf to lap up over 200,000 termites every night. There are patchy records of aardwolves consuming small mammals and birds, but these instances are rare and likely highly opportunistic as the peg-like molars would struggle to process harder food sources.
Given the available numbers of termites, this specialization might seem ideal, but researchers have also shown that seasonal abundance has a profound impact on an aardwolf’s physical condition and survival chances. Termites are temperature sensitive and may be entirely inactive during the cold winter months. Research shows that during this time, the aardwolf’s termite intake reduces to just a fifth of the normal amount and body mass losses of up to 20% have been recorded. These winter months have also been shown to be the period of highest mortality for cubs.
This has interesting ethical implications for guides and visitors looking to view one of Africa’s more unusual offerings. The best chance of seeing an aardwolf is during the winter months when, similar to aardvarks, their behaviour becomes more diurnal to conserve heat. However, great care should be taken to avoid frightening or chasing them during this period, as this unnecessary burst of energy will just add a metabolic drain to their already stressed bodies.
Unlike aardvarks, aardwolves usually leave the termite mounds intact, preferring to lick termites off the surface of the soil.
Familial familiarity
While their diets are diametrically opposed, the aardwolf does bear some similarities to its larger bone-crushing congeners, particularly in terms of behaviour. Like the striped hyena, aardwolves generally form monogamous pairs and like all other members of the family, they have highly developed anal glands that produce a pungent paste used to mark territorial boundaries.
They occupy burrow systems, and both the males and females accept responsibility for caring for their young, with the male guarding the den while the lactating female is foraging. As is the case with most monogamous pairings in nature, monogamy does not always equate to fidelity. Typically, this takes the form of male promiscuity but in aardwolves, both the males and females have been observed mating with neighbouring or intruding individuals. In many cases, a more dominant male neighbour will begin regular incursions onto a rival’s territory prior to the onset of the female’s oestrus, sometimes adding their own scent marks inside the territory itself. The female, if allowed the opportunity, will readily mate with the more dominant intruding male. This overt cuckoldry is rare in the animal kingdom and may result in the male deserting the female, a behaviour that has been observed in aardwolves. However, research suggests that this desertion is rare and that the male will usually continue to raise the cubs as his own. Fights between rival males, while unusual, can be ferocious, accompanied by an extraordinary range of vocalizations including a roar-like sound.
The cubs themselves are born with their eyes open, like other hyena species, but remain inside the den for at least six weeks. The litters usually consist of around two to three cubs (though up to five have been recorded) and they begin to venture out on brief foraging excursions at around three months old. Though they reach independence at a young age (between four and six months old), they usually remain with their parents until their mother comes back into oestrus.
Grass flies everywhere as an aardwolf has a vigorous shake after emerging from the grass while foraging at sunset
A consummate survivor
Despite the fact that their retiring natures mean that they are seldom seen, aardwolf numbers appear to be relatively stable, at least for now, earning them a conservation status of “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List. In the past, their association with the hyena family caused significant levels of persecution at the hands of farmers under the mistaken impression that they were preying on their livestock. Fortunately, this misconception has been rectified for the most part through educational campaigns and aardwolf populations have been observed to be flourishing in some agriculture areas.
As a specialized forager, conservation organizations recognize that future environmental changes such as global warming may have a significant impact on aardwolves as has already been demonstrated in aardvarks. However, the extent of this impact is still unclear.
Conclusion
Expectations around safari experiences are changing and there is a growing realization that not everything revolves around spotting the ‘Big 5’, as wonderful and iconic as they may be. Many visitors to Africa are now equally enthralled by the prospect of viewing some of her more unusual offerings – from slinking servals to powerful-bodied aardvarks and endangered pangolins. Yet somehow the aardwolf seems to have remained cloaked in obscurity, despite their fascinating lives and intriguing evolutionary oddities.
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It is time to rally together and kill the enemy that is IGNORANCE. Because ignorance fuels the ideological differences that cause us to bicker while Rome burns and results in environmental enthusiasts in the western world lambasting African people for a perceived lack of commitment to wildlife conservation – amongst other consequences. At the root of most behaviour that is destructive to biodiversity and ecosystems lies ignorance.
SO THIS IS A CALL-OUT: Please help us destroy ignorance. The more people we can recruit into our tribe, the more we can spread fact and considered opinion to counter the mountains of misinformation that now dominate our lives. You can help us destroy ignorance by sending this link to those of your family and friends that you know care for Africa as much as you do. Let’s build this tribe and kick some ignorant butts.
Our first story below illustrates my call-out fairly well. No single factor killed those elephants in Botswana last year, nor is there a SILVER BULLET solution. Despite what the needy campaigners will tell you, as they draw a straight line between these deaths and their personal feelings. Now, respected scientists have suggested additional factors that contributed to the elephants’ demise. No, it’s not 5G or Covid-19 or any of the other silly suggestions from the armchair experts. This is an important read to understand how complex these situations often are.
Then, some intriguing details about the sexual DALLIANCES of those remarkable creatures – hyenas. And our third story below is the next instalment of our ever-popular Photographer of the Year – week four. Kick back, scroll, enjoy.
Finally, I leave you with this quote, emailed to me by tribe member Mark Winsloe from the US. “The rarer they get, the fewer meanings animals can have. Eventually, rarity is all they are made of.” – Helen MacDonald
Story 1 THOSE DEAD ELEPHANTS
New study examines whether fences could have impacted the elephant deaths in the Seronga region of Botswana in mid-2020
Story 2 SEX AND THE BUSHVELD
High-ranked male spotted hyenas are more reproductively successful than their low-ranked rivals – based on hormone and behaviour analysis
Story 3 BEST PHOTOS
Week four of our 2021 Photographer of the Year
Did you know: Giraffes hum to each other at night – according to research
Our Photographer of the Year 2021 is open for submissions, with cash prizes of US$10,000 for the overall winner and the two runners-up. They and their partners will also join our CEO Simon Espley and his wife Lizz on the ultimate private safari in Botswana.
The competition runs from January to June 2021. Get your entries in now and join us in celebrating Africa! Proudly brought to you by Hemmersbach Rhino Force and Natural Selection.
Did fences in northern Botswana cause the mysterious death of hundreds of elephants in 2020? News media have been quick on the draw to blame fences, after the release of a recent report suggests a strong link. But, as is often the case, the situation is nuanced and requires pragmatic analysis rather than finding simple solutions to complex problems.
Between March and June 2020, a mysterious illness claimed the lives of 330 elephants in the Seronga district of Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Now, a new study has shed light on the broader ecological implications of these elephant deaths and how a complex interplay of natural and anthropogenic factors (including fences) all played a role.
Scientists have used previous research on elephant movements in the area to interpret the wider conservation implications of these deaths. In particular, their conclusions highlight three main aspects significant for the management of elephant populations, not just in Botswana but throughout Africa:
The impact of fences on conservation – data from collared elephants indicates that the combination of the Okavango River and fences have prevented the elephant population in Seronga from dispersing under unfavourable conditions;
The overlap between natural and unnatural factors – the elephants were likely more susceptible to natural diseases/toxins due to anthropogenic restrictions and, potentially, stress due to human-wildlife conflict;
Land-sharing between people and elephants becomes superficial when the elephants’ access to resource is restricted, and they are prevented from dispersing naturally.
Their recommendation to mitigate future mass die-offs is to remove or realign certain fences around the Seronga district of Botswana.
The background
As would be expected, the deaths of such large numbers of elephants fuelled considerable concern and significant media speculation, though investigating authorities ruled out poisoning, poaching, and anthrax. Samples were sent for testing in Zimbabwe, the United States and South Africa’s Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Pretoria, though COVID-19 restrictions delayed the process significantly. In September, Botswanan officials announced that the deaths had resulted from poisoning by cyanobacterial toxins caused by a bloom of cyanobacteria in the available waterholes. These bacteria are naturally occurring, and ‘blooms’ happen when conditions are suitable.
The recently published (11 January 2021) report was written in October 2020, just after the Botswana government’s announcement regarding the cause of death. However, the authors note that other carcasses, including domestic animals, would have been expected had the pans been contaminated by cyanobacteria. They state that the “restriction of freshwater supplies that force elephants to use pans as a water source possibly polluted by blue-green algae blooms is a possible cause, but as yet not supported by evidence.”
Most of the elephant carcasses were found within an area administratively known as NG11, along the Panhandle region of the Delta – a region where human-wildlife conflict is rife. Neither NG11 nor neighbouring NG12 have protected status and are designated for subsistence agriculture. These regions neighbour the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area that extends over five countries and is home to the largest population of African bush (savanna) elephant in Africa.
NG11 and NG12 administrative blocks have no protected status (A). The Seronga area (NG11, NG12, and a part of NG13) is cut off from the surrounding landscape by either deep water of the Okavango River and Delta (blue) or veterinary or border fences (dashed lines) (B). The shapefiles for the protected areas were sourced from the World Database on Protected Areas (https://www.protectedplanet.net/en) and for the Okavango Delta from the ESA Climate Change Initiative (Land Cover project 2017).
The research
The study was authored by members of the Conservation Ecology Research Unit in the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of Pretoria and the Nicholas School of Duke University Environment. Their previous research included a long-running research programme in the region, tracking the movements of ten collared elephants within NG11 for several years and those of elephants in neighbouring blocks. Their research indicates that the elephants within NG11 are restricted by the Okavango River to the west and international border and veterinary fences to the north, east and south. As a result, the elephants cannot disperse when numbers are too high or when environmental conditions are harmful. The population growth rate for the Seronga area since 1995 is exceptionally high, and elephant numbers in NG11 and NG12 are significantly higher than those in neighbouring blocks, though densities are comparable.
The report concludes that while a disease is a likely explanation for the mass die-off, this would have been caused by several forces acting in concert, exacerbated by both natural and artificial factors. The restricted movements have resulted in high densities of elephants and, at the same time, confined the death-causing agent to one specific region. It is also possible that poaching, conflict with people and restricted access to the Okavango Region forced elephants to rely on stagnant water. Increased stress levels may also have increased their susceptibility to disease. Thus, the article suggests that “such a complex chain of events consisting of multiple causes makes communication complex and policy actions intricate.”
The pathways of five elephants in the Seronga area (NG11, NG12, and NG13) from October 2003 to November 2006 and eight elephants roaming beyond Seronga that we tracked from November 2004 to March 2010. The elephants in Seronga did not cross the veterinary fence (dashed lines) or the Okavango Panhandle. Neither did the elephants beyond the boundaries separating Seronga and the adjacent areas in Botswana, Namibia, Angola, and Zambia. Basemap Source: ESRI, MAXAR.
The implications
These complexities highlight several aspects for deeper consideration. The first is the impact of fences on the broader African conservation landscapes and how, historically, veterinary fences have contributed to the declines of antelope species such as sable and tsessebe, and zebra and wildebeest numbers. According to the authors, the restriction of elephant movement and dispersal in Seronga adds more evidence of the potential hazards of fencing. However, they acknowledge that this is area-specific and there are areas, like South Africa, for instance, where fencing may benefit conservation.
The second is what kind of management response is required, given that the causes were likely a combination of natural and anthropogenic ones. Diseases are not unnatural, and mass die-off events are not without precedent. However, the barriers that prevent dispersal and access to the permanent river are unnatural.
The third aspect centres around the discussion of the human-wildlife coexistence (or lack thereof). Essentially, the question of land-sharing, as opposed to land-sparing in the case of national parks, becomes superficial when access to resources is restricted, and artificial barriers prevent dispersal, allowing for the spread of contagious disease. The land is not “shared” with them. Here, the authors recommend a discussion around realigning to veterinary fences.
In essence, the deaths of 330 elephants will have little impact on the region’s overall population and represent just 2% of the total estimated 15,000 elephants in the Seronga region. The event that caused their death, whether contagious disease or poisoning by cyanobacterial toxins, is almost certainly natural. However, the circumstances that made it more likely to occur are due to human restrictions on both movement and access to fresh water.
The authors conclude that “we must not allow our predilections for simple answers to interfere with reasoned analysis and discussing the broader significance.”
The full study can be accessed here: “The 2020 elephant die-off in Botswana”, van Aarde RJ., Pimm SL., Guldemond R., Huang R., Maré C., (2021), PeerJ
For animals, reproduction is a biological imperative, an instinct to pass their genetics onto the next generation. This translates into a complex dance of competition, dominance, and courtship for the males of the species. The process is even more fascinating in spotted hyena clans, with their hierarchies and intricate systems of power-plays and alliances. Long-term behavioural research and hormone analysis by the Hyena Project in Tanzania reveal further insight into the complicated romantic lives of spotted hyenas.
As is the case with the females, every individual male hyena in a clan has a particular rank, with immigrant males finding themselves at the bottom of the clan hierarchy. Status and dominance equate to better access to both food and females. The researchers’ questions set out to answer related to how this social rank influences an individual’s reproductive success. Were high ranked males more successful because they are stronger and fitter and, therefore, a more attractive mate choice likely to produce sturdy offspring? Or, given the intricacies of hyena society, was the reason more complex? The results of the research indicate the latter.
Due to the clan hierarchy and their unique genital structure, female spotted hyenas control the process of mate selection entirely. Extended courtships are the order of the day for hopeful males, and they will nurture their relationships with certain females, sometimes for years at a time. The supplicant male will do everything in his power to convey his intentions to a receptive female, bowing and scraping in a comic display of humility. If he is successful, she may just allow him to mate with her. According to the study results, high-ranked females are more in demand than those of a lower rank, which is to be expected given the benefits conferred on offspring of higher-ranked females (“the silver spoon effect”).
Three male hyenas courting a female.
Naturally, this intensive courtship requires both time and energy, things that the study indicates are in shorter supply for lower-ranked males. In collecting over 400 samples of fresh hyena scat, the researchers analysed levels of faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations – cortisol, a stress hormone – to estimate the psychological effects of social interactions between clan individuals. The results indicate that male-male interactions are more stressful for the low-ranking males than for high-ranking ones. These interactions are an inevitable part of everyday life for spotted hyenas. The males are obliged to maintain relationships with clan-mates but low-ranked males, understandably, spend more time on their own, avoiding stressful situations. In essence, low ranked individuals invest less time in sexual activities, social activities and spend more time away from clan mates.
Researchers at the Hyena Project in the Ngorongoro Crater in northern Tanzania have recorded behavioural data of spotted hyenas for over 20 years. In recognising each clan member and understanding their histories and dynamics, the authors of the study were able to use the biological information imparted by hormone analysis to interpret observed behavioural trends.
In conclusion, the researchers note that fortunately, for the low-ranking hyena males, chances are their time will come. ‘Social queuing’ means that a male hyena’s status and rank will increase when a higher-ranking individual dies or disperses. Rather than using physical strength and violence to increase their chances of reproducing, it is simply a matter of patience for most.
Group of hyenas during boundary encounter with another clan. Internal skirmishes are forgotten in the face of a common enemy.
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Before I unload another rant on you, a quick SHOUT-OUT to the Thulamela Royal Family for emailing such a wonderful note to thank my team for last week’s story about that ancient Kruger walled kingdom known as Thulamela. Respect.
OK, stand by for a rant of note.
I am battling to find the words to explain my frustration and confusion about our wild rhinos’ situation. We are plagued by humans from the east who think that horn provides all sorts of medical benefits, others who gift horn to boost their status and some who stash horn in the vault as a speculative investment. Supplying horn to these misinformed people are sophisticated networks of illegal operators who also trade in drugs, humans and weapons. So our rhinos have become properly COMMODITISED – often trafficked by the evil ones alongside legal goods. And here in South Africa, where we host the vast majority of the remaining wild populations of these gentle giants, they are being butchered by locals desperate for money. Those in charge of these massive operations have inculcated themselves into our society at every level. They live amongst us, and some even walk the corridors of power.
The rhino population in Kruger National Park is crashing – our first story below refers – and my sources tell me that the true numbers are worse than the official stats we managed to dig up (the stats are well-hidden). Kruger ground crews are stretched, worked to the bone – under massive emotional and physical pressure. And yet our Minister of these things says that the situation is sustainable. In fact, she wants to reduce the CITES protection status of our rhinos. What is going on?
Rant over. I feel better now. Not really. Breath deeply Simon. Remember to celebrate.
On a more positive note, thank goodness that in the current state of global chaos, some caretakers of our wild areas are still DELIVERING the goods – see our second story below.
And finally, check out the awesome gallery below. Our Photographer of the Year celebration is already smoking hot – and it’s only the third week! Entrants are competing for a US$10,000 cash prize and a Botswana safari of note!
Story 1 DISASTER
LATEST rhino population stats: Rhino numbers in the Kruger National Park have plummeted in recent years, according to official sources
Story 2 HOPE
A successful large-scale collaring of elephants and antelopes aids in the restoration and protection of Pendjari and W National Parks, Benin
Story 3 BEST PHOTOS
Week three of our 2021 Photographer of the Year
Our Photographer of the Year 2021 is open for submissions, with cash prizes of US$10,000 for the overall winner and the two runners-up. They and their partners will also join our CEO Simon Espley and his wife Lizz on the ultimate private safari in Botswana.
The competition runs from January to June 2021. Get your entries in now and join us in celebrating Africa! Proudly brought to you by Hemmersbach Rhino Force and Natural Selection.
After years of silence about Kruger National Park rhino populations from South Africa’s Ministry of Forestry and Fisheries and Environmental Affairs, we can now confirm that populations in the Kruger National Park have plummeted to an estimated 3,549 white rhinos and 268 black rhinos.
This represents a population reduction of 67% for white rhinos – from 10,621 in 2011 and 35% for black rhinos – from 415 in 2013.
Note that the Minister’s regular rhino poaching updates over the last years focussed on volumes of rhinos poached and other related statistics such as arrests and park incursions – but did not include population details. Recent updates claimed progress in the war against poaching on the grounds that the volume of rhinos being poached per year has reduced recently. This population update suggests that the population reduction is a significant factor contributing towards lower poaching volumes, although refined tactics and back-breaking work by a dedicated and passionate SANParks’ team and various service providers are arguably also contributory factors.
PUBLICLY-AVAILABLE RESOURCES:
1. These latest stats (2019) are available on page 96 of the 2019/2020 SANParks Annual Report: download.
2. 2018 stats are available on page 101 of the 2018/2019 SANParks Annual Report: download.
Pendjari National Park and W National Park in Benin have completed a major collaring exercise, the largest of its kind in the region, fitting satellite collars on 25 elephants and 14 antelopes to increase the surveillance and protection of these species in this transboundary landscape. Both parks are managed by conservation non-profit African Parks through a partnership with the Ministry of Living Environment and Sustainable Development, the National Agency for Heritage Promotion and Tourism Development (ANPT), and the National Centre for the Management of Wildlife Reserves (CENAGREF). They have worked together since 2017 to ensure the sustainability of these vital, connected West African ecosystems for the benefit of people and biodiversity in the region.
His Excellency the Minister of Living Environment and Sustainable Development, Mr José Tonato said, “We are taking decisive steps and utilising the most innovative tools in biodiversity conservation to ensure the effective management of our parks, enhancing their natural resources for the development of eco-tourism and the promotion of livelihoods in local communities”.
W National Park Ranger assisting with getting the collar under the elephant’s head.
Pendjari and W in Benin form an anchoring part of the W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) Complex – a UNESCO World Heritage Site straddling Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. The WAP Complex is home to the largest elephant population in West Africa, in addition to the only viable populations of West African lion, cheetah and Korrigum antelope. However, its elephant population has declined over several decades due to the persistent threat of poaching, with recent surveys estimating that just over 3,250 remain in the entire WAP Complex, of which more than half are protected within Pendjari and W in Benin. Therefore, an effective monitoring system is crucial to supply accurate information on the species’ population dynamics and their threats to bolster efforts to conserve them.
On December 12th specialist veterinarians and park teams concluded an almost three-week operation. They successfully collared 20 elephants and four antelopes in W National Park-Benin; and five elephants and ten antelopes in Pendjari National Park. The satellite collars will enable teams to closely monitor the animals’ movements, thereby providing valuable insights to improve their protection and reduce human-wildlife conflict.
The collaring exercises were attended by the Minister of Living Environment and Sustainable Development, the Prefects of Alibori, Atacora and Donga, the Director-General of CENAGREF, the Executive Director of the West African Savanah Foundation (FSOA), Forest Administration officials, Mayors and representatives of communities neighbouring the two parks.
“This operation is an important milestone for ecological monitoring in the park. It will ultimately help to improve our ability to provide long-term security for people and wildlife, ensuring that both can prosper in this profoundly valuable landscape” said the Director of Pendjari National Park, Mr Jean-Yves Koumpogue.
Minister of Environment José Tonato and delegation members with W Park Manager.
“Having concluded a management agreement for W National Park with the Government of Benin in July, this large collaring project is a significant development for the park” added the Director of W National Park-Benin, Mr Christophe Lemee. “It is a true testament to the commitment of every partner involved – including the Ministry of Living Environment and Sustainable Development, CENAGREF, ANPT and local communities – to preserving this natural treasure, giving it a chance to evolve into one of Benin’s greatest national assets’.
The Benin Government prioritised the revitalisation of its protected areas as a core project of its national investment programme, “Revealing Benin, ” launched in 2016. With a vision of building ecological and economic sustainability, they initiated a partnership with African Parks to manage Pendjari National Park in 2017 and manage the contiguous W National Park in 2020.
The collaring initiative was made possible thanks to the Norwegian Government’s financial support through UNESCO and the Elephant Crisis Fund for W National Park-Benin; and the support of The Wyss Foundation, Elephant Crisis Fund, The Wildcat Foundation, FSOA, National Geographic Society for Pendjari National Park. This is the largest operation of its kind implemented by African Parks in the WAP Complex.
Elephant collars ready and waiting for their new owners.
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It was always going to be a matter of time before the evil ones in neighbouring countries were attracted by the stench of filthy lucre. Now, opportunists in Botswana supply the festering South African captive lion breeding industry with lion parts and live lions. How long before their Namibian counterparts join the feast, I wonder? Our first story below refers.
On to more pleasant matters. Last year, I had the honour of accompanying a small band of special people to a sacred place to pay respect to their forefathers, who had built a magnificent walled kingdom in what was to become the Kruger National Park. This was an ancient civilisation of goldsmiths, traders and farmers – sophisticated for their time. Every Kruger fan should spend time at this ancient site to truly understand the soul of the far north of the park. Story two is about Thulamela – my top travel experience of 2020.
Our third story shows how long humankind has been treating Africa’s riches like a limitless treasure chest. The shameless plunder by our forefathers was as morally bankrupt and repugnant as it is now.
And finally, our Photographer of the Year is picking up speed, and we showcase week two below. Selecting the best of every week is a highlight for my team – thanks so much for your submissions and for sharing our galleries far and wide!
Story 1 GOLD RUSH
Lion bones from Botswana: Investigation reveals Botswana is exporting live lions and lion parts to South Africa – possible links to canned hunting
Story 2 RESPECT
Thulamela is an ancient and sacred walled kingdom in Kruger National Park that unlocks some of the fascinating history of southern Africa
Story 3 SORDID
Ivory recovered from a 500-year-old shipwreck reveals details of the ivory trade and how it has devastated forest elephant populations
Story 4 BEST PHOTOS
Week two of our 2021 Photographer of the Year has produced some stunners
Our Photographer of the Year 2021 is open for submissions, with cash prizes of US$10,000 for the overall winner and the two runners-up. They and their partners will also join our CEO Simon Espley and his wife Lizz on the ultimate private safari in Botswana.
The competition runs from January to June 2021. Get your entries in now and join us in celebrating Africa! Proudly brought to you by Hemmersbach Rhino Force and Natural Selection.
Data shows that over a 10-year period South Africa received most of the live lions and lion products exported from Botswana – including 16 live lions in 2019.
Botswana is deeply involved in the controversial export of live lions and lion products to satisfy growing international demand.
Experts fear that the legal trade in lion commodities, including bones, claws, teeth and skins, could be used as a front for illegally obtained products.
There are also concerns that the export of live animals may be linked to “canned” lion hunting in South Africa, the subject of international condemnation.
In the past, Botswana has been at the centre of uproars about the illegal exportation of lion bones to South Africa, and has controversially exported live lions to South Africa for canned hunting.
Lion products are growing in importance as a replacement for tiger derivatives in some traditional medicines in Asia as tigers become rarer and more difficult to hunt.
The products are claimed to be the result of trophy hunting, natural mortality and “problem” lions that farmers have killed in retaliation for attacks on their livestock.
Botswana continued to take part in the trade even after the previous president of the country, Ian Khama, imposed a moratorium on the hunting of the big cats in 2014. The government also banned canned hunting of carnivores, in response to an exposé by Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism that showed the then minister of agriculture, Christian de Graaff, had exported a large shipment of lions to a canned hunting outfit in South Africa. (Botswana bans canned hunts).
About 20,000 African lions are thought to remain in the wild. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List now classifies them as “vulnerable”, and some experts believe that at the current rate of decimation, the big cats may be extinct by 2050.
CITES data
A trove of data from the CITES Trade Database, which is managed by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre on behalf of the CITES secretariat, highlights the depth of the country’s involvement.
The data shows that over a 10-year period South Africa received most of the live lions and their products from Botswana, while lion derivatives went to China – the second-largest consumer – Hong Kong, India and the United States.
The data shows that in 2019 Botswana exported 16 live lions to South Africa, as well as derivatives such as bodies and skins.
The exports are listed as being for personal and commercial use. It is not clear whether “commercial” indicates they went to South Africa’s canned hunting industry.
In response to questions about who exported the live lions, Botswana’s director at the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Kabelo Senyatso, said he could not divulge the name of the farmer behind the exports, or of the South African buyers.
“The lions belonged to the farmer who exported them. We are not in a position to divulge who the lions were sold to,” said Senyatso.
Asked whether the trade could damage Botswana’s reputation for wildlife conservation, he said the exported lions would be governed by South African laws.
“Botswana cannot impose on South Africa how to manage resources within their jurisdiction,” he said.
Senyatso said the moratorium on the hunting of lions in Botswana was still in force, but denied that the exporting of live lions defeats its purpose, saying that the traded animals were bred in captivity and not hunted.
“The moratorium is on lion trophy hunting, not the export of live animals as in this case, or products from problem animal control,” he added.
He said the Wildlife Conservation and National Parks act of 1992 allows for the killing of any animal that has damaged and or is likely to damage property.
The Act requires farmers to report the circumstances of a killing and deliver trophies of the killed animal to the department or a police station. The department then carries out auctions of the dead animals and their products across the country.
Senyatso said the export of lions to South Africa was meant to address the carrying capacity of wildlife ranches and improve the gene pool.
Mind the gap: The data shows discrepancies in reporting by importing and exporting countries
Lion products
The CITES trade data base shows that the largest sale of lion products between 2010 and 2015 took place in 2013 when 126 claws were exported to China, from “problem” lions killed by farmers, natural deaths and trophy hunting – before the hunting moratorium came into place. Senyatso would not divulge the names of the three people involved in the claw exports.
The data also shows that China is not reporting the imports from Botswana, as required by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. India and Hong Kong have also failed to report lion imports from Botswana such as claws, skins and bones from 2015 to the present.
China only reported importing a rug in 2017 but failed to report nine claws imported in 2015 and two skins in 2017. Hong Kong failed to report the importation of a lion body, while India did not report the importation of two claws in 2018 and a skin in 2019
A former CITES desk officer at the department, Abednico Macheme, said that dealers could choose to utilise a commercial trade quota that is available to Botswana on lion parts and derivatives. “The claws you refer to were sourced in this manner and legally traded,” he said.
He said illegal trading takes place when criminal syndicates exploit loopholes in the legal system. “This becomes dangerous when there is institutionalised corruption, either at ports of entry or source points,” he said.
“Lion derivatives became a cheaper replacement for tiger products because the overheads associated with running a captive facility are eliminated. But illegal activity from smuggling is possible based on counterfeit documents from the legal trade,” added Macheme.
“Lions are listed in the CITES Appendix II which allows for legal trade in live lions and lion products,” said Macheme.
He would not comment on the export of the 16 live lions to South Africa in 2019, because he was not aware of the circumstances.
The government banned canned hunting of big cats after an Oxpeckers exposé showed the then minister of agriculture, Christian de Graaff, had exported a large shipment of lions to Makhulu game farm in South Africa.
[Editorial note: The featured image included at the start of this article is for illustrative purposes only and does not feature lions exported from Botswana.]
There is an ancient and sacred site on the Luvuvhu River in the northern reaches of the Kruger National Park that unlocks some of the fascinating history of southern Africa. The people of the walled kingdom of Thulamela first lived here about 400 years before Europeans first settled in South Africa. This was a sophisticated society of farmers, goldsmiths and traders who thrived by selling their manufactured jewellery and other goods to people from across the globe, using the river system to transport their goods to the east coast. I spent time at Thulamela with direct descendants of the Thulamela royal family as they paid their respects at the burial sites of a king and queen from way back when.
There are about 300 identified archaeological sites in Kruger National Park, ranging from early Stone and Iron Age settlements to more recent historical buildings. The 9-hectare Thulamela site is the largest and most dramatic of several ancient stone-walled sites in the area. This stone fortress was inhabited by an estimated 2,000 people from AD 1250 to AD 1700, rediscovered in 1983 by a park ranger and painstakingly restored in the 1990s. The stone walls have been beautifully reconstructed by masons who worked for 14 months and packed more than 2,000 tons of the original stones to rebuild the ancient circular kraals – without cement or mortar, just as they were several hundred years ago.
The meaning of the name Thulamela is not clear, with some sources suggesting it to mean ‘growing mound’, in reference to the tall anthills in the area and others suggesting “the place of giving birth” or alternatively ‘seed of stillness’.
The spectacular Thulumela walled kingdom is perched on a rocky hill overlooking the Luvuvhu River and shares its spectacular view with massive baobab trees, some dating back thousands of years – certainly far earlier than human settlement in the area. The kingdom was built by the Makahane subtribe – members of the Vhalembethu clan of the Karanga tribe (Shona ethnic group) from Zimbabwe. These are the forefathers of the Venda people.
The stone walls were reconstructed by skilled masons who packed more than 2,000 tons of the original stones.
SACRED LEADERSHIP
This was a hierarchical society, and the royal family ruled from their stone-walled fortress on the hill, while the commoners lived below where they farmed and mined iron ore from about 200 sites. These civilisations were amongst the first in Africa to show the characteristics of sacred leadership and social classes.
According to oral histories, the people of Thulamela believed that there was a mystical relationship between their leader (the Khosi) and the land and that the ancestors of the Khosi would intercede on behalf of the nation. The Khosi was an elusive figure who lived a secluded life in a hilltop palace and could only be seen by specific individuals. If a commoner wished to meet the Khosi, he would go to a special chamber that was divided probably by a central wall separating the visitor from the Khosi. The concept of sacred leadership transcends that of today’s king and queen.
Members of the Thulamela royal family pay their respects at the burial sites of a king and queen from ancient times
GRAVES
During the 1996 archaeological excavations, 2 graves were found beneath hut floors.
The first skeleton discovered was that of a female, dated to around AD 1600. Anatomists believe she was somewhere between 45 and 60 years old and measurements of her bones indicate that she was over 1.73m tall. Her body had been laid on its side with her hands folded under her cheeks – the losha position, indicating respect. As a result, archaeologists named her Queen Losha. She was buried along with 291 gold beads, a gold bracelet on her left arm and copper wire on her legs. Queen Losha was later reburied on the site, with 800 people attending the ceremony.
The second skeleton, a male, was dated to around AD 1450 and it is possible that he never lived at Thulamela. The skeleton was broken and packed in a square shape, implying that the person did not die on the site. He had injuries to the lumbar vertebrae consistent with a sharp object and was buried with 73 gold beads and 990 ostrich egg beads. The archaeologists named him King Ingwe (leopard) because, on the day that his grave was found, a leopard was waiting as the excavating team returned to their vehicle.
TRADE
As we strolled the ancient fortress, we were shown various artefacts and tiny remnants collected from the site that reflect the extensive trade links of these people. Glass beads, Chinese porcelain, imported textiles, ivory bracelets, gold, bronze, and other jewellery have all been found. Skilled artisans forged gold and iron which were traded as currency in exchange for ivory, glass beads and grain from merchants closer to the east coast. There were likely also trade links with West Africa. Goods were ferried along the Luvuvhu and Limpopo Rivers to Mozambique for onward distribution via Arab traders to markets in the Middle East, India, South East Asia, and China.
Clockwise, from top left: A rock used to sharpen spears, livestock bone shards, a collection of artefacts found on the site, rocks used for grinding sorghum and millet
FARMING
The fertile Luvuvhu River flood plain was cultivated to yield sorghum and millet to make porridge and beer. Clay spindle wheels found in the area suggest that cotton was also cultivated for making cloth. Numerous potshards found on the site are the remains of discarded clay pots made by the women at Thulamela for cooking, eating, and drinking. The pots were of various shapes and sizes and often decorated.
WHY DID THEY LEAVE?
The Thulamela civilisation lasted about 450 years, and the area continued to be occupied for another 120 years – presumably by the same people. Subsequently, the Makuleke people moved into the area and assumed control (which has lasted till current times).
The reasons for the demise of the Thulamela kingdom are not known because there is no written history from the inhabitants of the kingdom, and oral history seems to have disappeared when the city was abandoned. Archaeologists and social anthropologists have presented many theories that range from traditions surrounding the death of a ruler, an environmental disaster or war over the control of land and resources. The influence of Portuguese colonialists in Mozambique and civil war in Zimbabwe have also been mooted as reasons.
THREE WALLED KINGDOMS
Many stone-walled sites around southern Africa reflect the presence and migration of these walled-kingdom-living people in southern Africa. The three best known, and the largest, are Mapungubwe, Great Zimbabwe and Thulamela. Another example is the Khami Ruins near Bulawayo – the second-largest stone ruin site in Zimbabwe.
It is believed that there was a migration of people between these three kingdoms, in that order – from Mapungubwe to Great Zimbabwe and finally to Thulamela. The exact dates of living and departing from each site are estimates, and there are overlapping periods when more than one location was inhabited.
During the Middle Iron Age – about AD 900 – Bantu people moved from the north into the Limpopo valley and initially established themselves at Mapungubwe (circa AD 1075-1220) where they built a walled kingdom. Before this, Bantu people were mostly nomadic in the region. From there they established Great Zimbabwe (circa AD 1200-1400) and then to Thulamela (circa AD 1250-1700).
Gold found at both Thulamela and Mapungubwe was found to have the same ‘chemical fingerprint’. “The conclusion could therefore be drawn that both the Mapungubwe and Thulamela gold artefacts originated from the same gold source,” wrote a team of researchers in a paper published in 1998 in the journal Gold Bulletin.
The three largest walled kingdoms of Southern Africa, showing the order of habitation and migration
WHO CAME BEFORE?
Of course, the Mapungubwe/Great Zimbabwe/Thulamela era is but a snapshot in time. Before these civilisations, the area was inhabited as far back as 100,000 years ago by San people (‘Bushmen’), as evidenced by Middle and Late Stone Age artefacts such as stone tools and rock paintings. The San people disappeared during the Late Iron Age after the arrival of the Bantu-speaking people from further north in Africa who were looking for more grazing land for their cattle. Arab slave traders were raiding the area circa AD 800, using the ports in Mozambique to ferry slaves to destination markets.
YOUR VISIT TO THULAMELA
Thulamela is a site of immense cultural importance. Although the site is in the Kruger National Park, no visitors are permitted unaccompanied by a SANParks guide, and booking is essential.
To visit Thulamela with a SANParks guide, please contact SANParks via this informative website page. If you are staying at a nearby lodge, ask them beforehand if they can arrange a guided visit to the site.
We stayed at Pafuri Luxury Tented Camp during our time in northern Kruger, an excellent base from which to explore the Makuleke Contractual Park and to visit Thulamela. For more about this camp and about the other RETURNAfrica camps, also read more about the Makuleke Contractual Park in the northern reaches of the Kruger National Park.
Want to go on a safari to Thulamela? To find lodges, search for our ready-made packages or get in touch with our travel team to arrange your safari, scroll down to after this story.
The gentle walk to the Thulamela site takes ten minutes from the parking area
FINAL WORD
The experience at Thulamela deeply moved me and my long-time friend and occasional travel companion, Sharon Haussmann. There is no question that this sacred site has a deep spiritual ambience – we both felt the presence of the ancestors who still preside over this wild part of the Kruger National Park from their hilltop fortress.
We had the immense privilege of attending a ceremony conducted by Khosi Wilson Matodzi Magulasavha Makahane and Makhadzi (aunt) Lucy Lufuno Makahane. Also in attendance were community member Gilbert Munyai and SANParks guides Carel Nkuna and Daniel Shibambu.
I would also like to thank Isaac Phaala of SANParks, and his colleagues, for making this immensely spiritual sojourn possible.
Our Thulamela sojourn was made possible by Isaac Phaala of SANParks, and his colleagues, and made thoroughly spiritual by Khosi Wilson Matodzi Magulasavha Makahane and Makhadzi (aunt) Lucy Lufuno Makahane.
About the author
I am a proud African and honoured to be CEO of Africa Geographic. My travels in Africa are in search of wilderness, elusive birds and real people with interesting stories. I live in South Africa with my wife, Lizz, and 2 Jack Russells. When not travelling or working, I am usually on my mountain bike somewhere out there. I qualified as a chartered accountant, but found my calling sharing Africa’s incredibleness with you. My motto is “Live for now, have fun, be good, tread lightly and respect others. And embrace change”. Connect with me on LinkedIn. ” Picture: Simon Espley with long-time friend Sharon Haussmann on assignment at Thulamela
The Kruger National Park’s northern reaches offer arguably the most scenic, biodiverse, and historically fascinating experience of the Greater Kruger area.Consider that this slice of wildland is sandwiched between two great rivers, three countries and millennia of geological and social upheaval – and you begin to get the picture. This is the 24,000 ha Makuleke Contractual Park, previously known as the Pafuri Triangle.
Since the Early Stone Age, humans have been drawn to this land of legends, and their impact is there for all to see – from rock art and cave paintings to stone fortresses perched on hilltops and ancient baobab trees etched by passers-by. The deep canyons and riverine forests whisper with the tales of tribal skirmishes, explorers, poachers, gun-runners, slavers and great white hunters. Civilizations have come and gone and left their mark, and the current custodians – the Makuleke people – have committed the land to conservation.
A bull elephant ambles amidst huge fever trees on the banks of the Luvhuvu River
TWO GREAT RIVERS MERGE
The ‘Pafuri Triangle’ refers to the triangular wedge of land at the Limpopo and Luvuvhu Rivers’ confluence, where forests of massive nyala trees and bright yellow fever trees thrive on the wide alluvial river floodplains. This wedge of land pulsates with biodiversity and is arguably Kruger’s best birding hotspot. Twitchers arrive to pursue Pel’s fishing owl, racket-tailed roller, grey-headed parrot and African finfoot – amongst other avian jewels.
In 1950, a Zambezi shark was caught at the two rivers’ confluence, having worked its way upstream from the Mozambique coastline. Wrap your mind around that nugget of amazingness!
The Big-5 are certainly present, although if this is your key pursuit, you are best served further south in the Kruger. That said, the concentration of huge elephant bulls and the presence of large herds of buffalo on the banks of the Luvuvhu River in the dry season make walking an exciting experience!
On its journey to meet up with the Limpopo, the powerful Luvuvhu River has carved its way through sandstone to create the breath-taking Lanner Gorge with its towering cliffs and steep-sided valleys – another biodiversity hotspot.
The two rivers meet at Crooks’ Corner, where the triangle’s tip marks the meeting of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. This unique bottleneck offers a crossing point between these countries for both wildlife and people.
Lanner Gorge (left) and the winding Luvhuvu River – ideal walking safari territory
CROOKS’ CORNER
Legendary tales abound about this celebrated region – a hub of wildlife and human activity. During the 1900s Crooks’ Corner was a safe-haven for gun-runners, poachers and other fugitives who would hop over the border when the long arm of the law threatened to catch up with them in either country.
Another nefarious activity that flourished in this wildland was ‘blackbirding’ – recruiting local tribesmen to work under appalling conditions on the South African mines.
The infamous elephant poacher and blackbirder Cecil Barnard was said to have hidden on an island in the middle of the Limpopo River to avoid arrest and confiscation of his ill-gotten ivory. Barnard, nicknamed ‘Bvekenya’, or ‘he who swaggers while he walks’, was the main character in TV Bulpin’s book The Ivory Trail. Notwithstanding the Colonial-era perspective of criminals like Barnard as adventurers and respected characters, he and his kind were as destructive for Africa’s wildlife as modern-day poachers and wildlife traffickers. There were warrants of arrest issued against Barnard from all three countries, and it is believed that Crooks’ Corner was so named primarily because of his presence and activities in the area.
Barnard plundered the area for 19 years and killed more than 300 large-tusked elephants during that time. The Ivory Trail describes how Barnard hung up his rifle in November 1929 after determinedly tracking down the giant elephant known as ‘Dhlulamithi’ (‘taller than the trees’). With the giant elephant is his rifle sites, Barnard decided that “enough was enough” and let Dhlulamithi live.
Today it is perhaps difficult for tourists to fully appreciate the legend that is Crooks Corner, particularly for those reaching this point via the Kruger National Park. Gazing at Zimbabwe and Mozambique on the opposite bank of the wide Limpopo River, you can usually hear cattle and people going about their business. There are no fences and elephants, lions and other dangerous species move between the three countries as a matter of course, so human-wildlife conflict is rife. Poaching is an ongoing problem for conservation authorities. Fireside discussions tell of unscrupulous human traffickers who provide transport to the big South African cities for illegal immigrants that walk across the wide Limpopo riverbed border. So perhaps Crooks’ Corner retains some of its reputation as a safe-haven for unlawful activity.
The lookout at Crooks’ Corner, where two rivers and three countries meet left) and the walled kingdom of Thulamela.
LAND OF TRANSITION
This land has attracted human migrants and occupiers since the Early Stone Age, and the human story continues today. After the Stone Ages (including the San era), the mid-Iron Ages saw the great Bantu migration from the Great Lakes region of East Africa into Southern Africa and the Limpopo Valley in search of grazing for their cattle. The Thulamela period was followed by the ‘Mfecane’ (meaning ‘crushing, scattering, forced dispersal, forced migration’), a period of widespread warfare amongst ethnic communities in southern Africa. It was during this time of upheaval that the forefathers of the Makuleke people arrived in the region.
The Makuleke people lived in scattered villages and practised various forms of subsistence farming and hunting. Crops such as tobacco, millet, sorghum, maize, potatoes, groundnuts, beans, watermelons and pumpkins were grown. Wild harvest included fish, meat, honey, mopane caterpillars, termites and various fruit and berries.
Following a significant Foot and Mouth disease outbreak in the region in 1938-39, the Makuleke were banned from keeping cattle, sheep, or goats. All livestock not secreted into Zimbabwe and Mozambique were killed by the authorities (without compensation).
The land south of the Luvhuvu River was declared as the Shingwedzi Game Reserve in 1903, and in 1933 the Makuleke area was proclaimed as the Pafuri Game Reserve – a provincial reserve under the control of the Kruger National Park. (Read The Kruger History & Future for a better understanding of how the Kruger came about.)
A fence was erected on the north side of the Luvhuvu River in 1961, effectively cutting off the Makuleke people’s access to their natural food sources. However, gaps in the fence permitted access to the river for water.
Then, in 1969, South Africa’s ‘apartheid’ government enforced the removal of the 3,000 followers of Chief Makuleke from the land that the tribe had occupied for more than 150 years. They were moved to Ntlavani – an arid area of equal size outside the Punda Maria gate. Their new homeland was previously part of the Kruger National Park.
This decision was reversed in December 1998 by the post-Apartheid South Africa government, with the first successful land claim. Having won their land back, the Makuleke people agreed to remain in Ntlavani homes and commit their land to conservation objectives. And so was born the Makuleke Contractual Park in the Greater Kruger.
THANKS, SEE YOU AGAIN
“I found the Makuleke area to be vibrant and diverse – a fantastic addition to what Kruger offers further south. The diversity of habitats and species will keep any experienced safari enthusiast buzzing with expectation, and the dramatic human history adds to the romance and nostalgia of this place. The feeling at the camp is one of friendship and family – the staff are clearly proud of their ancestral land and lodge. The game drives through giant fever tree forests, sandy river floodplains and rocky valleys were super-stimulating, and those huge baobab trees that lurk all over the place seemed to beckon to me with whispers of a bygone era. I could have stayed on my private deck all day – with a constant procession of elephant bulls and dagga boys below me harvesting the fallen anna tree seed pods and crunching them like pork crackling. But of course, I didn’t. Next time, for sure.” – Simon Espley – CEO, Africa Geographic
Huge baobab trees dot the Makuleke landscape, elephants parade along the Luvhuvu River and lovers walk in the fever tree forest
YOUR VISIT TO THULAMELA
During his research for this story Simon was hosted by RETURNAfrica at Pafuri Luxury Tented Camp. This exquisite camp stretches along the Luvuvhu River under the shade of huge trees, with each of the 19 privately positioned tented units accessed via a raised wooden walkway.
The other RETURNAfrica camps in the Makuleke Contractual Park:
Baobab Hill Bush House is an exclusive-use homestead perched on a ridge overlooking the Luvhuvu River – for private groups of up to 8 people on a catered or self-catering basis.
Pafuri Walking Safaris is a seasonal bush camp that acts as a base for walking safaris in this iconic landscape.
On Friday the 7th of March 1533, a Portuguese trading ship called the Bom Jesus set sail for India, loaded with gold and silver coins, ivory, and copper. At some point along its ill-fated journey, the ship foundered, and the notoriously treacherous Namibian coast claimed another victim. The wreckage was found in 2008 near Oranjemund and made international headlines as one of the oldest and most valuable wrecks ever discovered. For biologists and geneticists, the treasure of the discovery lay not in its precious metals but in the history stored in the ivory. Their analysis offers an unparalleled insight into the elephants of 500 years ago, and the effects of the trade that exploited them.
As archaeologists worked their way through the Bom Jesus cargo, they uncovered a collection of over 100 elephant tusks, the most extensive such collection ever discovered. Had the ship not fallen foul of the dangers of the sea, these tusks would have been made into anything from jewellery and combs to decorative and religious items. The tusks ranged in size and length and had been well-preserved courtesy of the chill created by the Benguela current that runs along the Namibian coast. As a result, scientists were able to extract DNA from 44 of the recovered tusks.
National Museum of Namibia curator and co-author of the study, Nzila M. Libanda-Mubusisi, with one of the elephant tusks during sampling.
DNA analysis showed that the tusks came from forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) rather than savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) and, interestingly, all of these forest elephants came from West Africa. This was somewhat unexpected, as extensive ivory trade routes through Central Africa were well-established by that point in history. The scientists expected to find samples from a variety of locations. Isotopic analysis of carbon and nitrogen also revealed that, rather than living in the tropical forests similar to today’s forest elephants, these forest elephants lived in scrubby woodland savanna.
This discovery alone has practical ramifications for modern conservation efforts: understanding the historic habitat use of forest elephants can help policymakers and conservationists protect the few that remain today.
Of particular interest to the researchers was the mitochondrial DNA recovered from the tusks. The DNA in mitochondria of cells is separate to DNA inherited from both parents during the normal fertilisation process. Instead, mitochondrial DNA is inherited from the maternal line only. Given the female-led herd structure of elephants, this is a useful way of investigating elephants’ genetic codes.
Distressingly, the study results indicate that the tusks analysed came from 17 different herds of forest elephants from West Africa. Today, there are records of just four of these lineages in the surviving West African forest elephant populations. The researchers believe that this reflects the profound impact of the ivory trade on elephant numbers and genetic diversity.
“The other lineages disappeared because West Africa has lost more than 95% of its elephants in subsequent centuries due to hunting and habitat destruction,” said Professor Alfred Roca, one of the authors of the study.
Raw elephant tusk from the 16th Century Bom Jesus shipwreck.
Once scientists studying forest elephants were faced with a limited amount of genetic data; the genetic information gathered from these “lost herds” has added a considerable amount of information to the database. The hope is that this information can be used and supplemented to inform anti-poaching and conservation efforts, particularly in analysing confiscated illegal ivory. Equally importantly, this collaborative effort across different scientific disciplines has resulted in new techniques and methodologies to examine historical and archaeological ivory.
Dr Ashley Coutu, Research Fellow of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford, said, “There is tremendous potential to analyse historic ivory from other shipwrecks, as well as museum collections. These scientific techniques are vital for understanding the histories of elephant populations, people who hunted and traded the ivory, as well as the global history of the ancient ivory trade, which increasingly drew Europe, Africa, and Asia together via the Atlantic Ocean”.
The Bom Jesus Shipwreck site recoveryIllustration of sailing ship from the period.
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I had a brief discussion on Facebook with a guy who felt that his ‘2 minutes of research’ (his words) trumps my 30 years of experience in the topic at hand. I don’t often get involved in social media discussions any more, but because he was using factual inaccuracies to challenge an AG post, I engaged with him. It was like talking a cat out of a tree, and a good reminder for me to continue avoiding social media discussion.
Yay, it’s time to celebrate again! Submissions for our 2021 Photographer of the Year have started trickling in, and we have some stunners! Entrants are competing for prestige, US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari – we expect the pace to pick up as the word gets out. Check out our first story below for a celebration of Africa at her finest.
Our second story is about Africa’s rarest parrot. I wonder how many people even know that Cape parrots cling to existence in the few remaining patches of mistbelt forest in South Africa. Centuries of logging of the old yellowwood trees on which they depend, disease and the caged bird industry are significant threats. And then along came climate change and Asian borer beetles …
And finally, our third story below is exciting – the possibility that we can monitor wildlife populations from space.
Story 1 BEST PHOTOS
Week one of our 2021 Photographer of the Year has produced some stunners.
Story 2 AFRICA’S RAREST PARROT
The Cape parrot is found only in small fragmented patches of the remaining mistbelt forests in South Africa
Story 3 JUMBOS FROM SPACE
Artificial intelligence and satellite images can help conservationists count elephants from space, says new research.
Our Photographer of the Year 2021 is open for submissions!
There are cash prizes of US$10,000 for the overall winner and the two runners-up. They and their partners will also join our CEO Simon Espley and his wife Lizz on the ultimate private safari in Botswana.
The competition runs from January to June 2021. Get your entries in now and join us in celebrating Africa!
South Africa’s remaining Mistbelt forests make up less than 0.15% of the country’s total land area, and less than 5% of these forests are under formal protection. They are small and fragmented, increasingly divided by the steady and persistent advance of human progress. Small though they may be, these forests are biodiversity hotspots in South Africa, home to some of the country’s most unique and unusual plant and animal life. One such creature is the Cape parrot. It is South Africa’s only endemic parrot species, and there are believed to be fewer than 2,000 left.
Introduction
Like all members of the Psittaciformes (the parrot family), Cape parrots are charismatic little characters; brightly coloured and intelligent. Similar in size to the African grey parrot (but with a larger beak), they measure between 251-349mm in length and weigh between 260-329g. While they are predominantly green in colour, the outer edges of their wings and shoulders are highlighted in vivid orange. They are occasionally mistaken for the more common and widely distributed grey-headed parrot (more on that later) due to the brownish feathers around the head and neck, though this colour can vary from olive-yellow to a golden brown. The juveniles and females have a bright orange patch of their foreheads, which the males typically lose upon reaching adulthood.
A flock of Cape parrots in flight
The parrot and the yellowwoods
While they occasionally do frequent other habitats, the lives of Cape parrots centre around the Mistbelt forests which are dominated by yellowwood trees and, as a result, the future of these parrots is intricately linked with that of South Africa’s national tree. Yellowwoods are large evergreen trees which may reach over 30m in height and, while lightweight, the wood is hard and durable. These characteristics meant that yellowwoods played a significant role in South Africa’s version of the industrial revolution, with millions of trees historically harvested for railway sleepers, mining, floors, wagons, and furniture. Today yellowwoods are officially protected, but the wood is prized for its quality and colour, making it one of the country’s highest-valued timber trees.
Cape parrots have the most specialized diet of any of their family members and show a distinct preference for yellowwood fruit kernels, though they will also feed on the kernels of other fruiting trees in the forests. They are pre-dispersal seed predators, and their powerful beaks crack open unripe kernels at a stage when their avian and mammal competition would find these unpalatable and inedible.
The fruiting of yellowwoods and other tree species varies and, as a result, Cape parrots are “food nomads”, sometimes flying up to 90km per day to find food. When other fruit resources are scarce, they have been known to feed on exotic species such as the seringa, jacaranda, and the black wattle, and will feed on protea flowerheads at certain times of the year. They have also been observed foraging in coastal forests and opportunistically feed on crop species like pecan nuts, which naturally puts them at risk of conflict with farmers.
The specialist dietary and breeding requirements of the Cape parrots means that their range is restricted to the mosaic of remaining Mistbelt forests in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal, with a small population in the forests of Magoebaskloof in Limpopo. Research has shown that there are three genetically distinct subpopulations: one in the Amatole mountains in the Eastern Cape, another which ranges from Engcobo and Mthatha in the Eastern Cape to the midlands of KwaZulu Natal and the isolated population in Magoebaskloof.
Ripe fruits of a yellowwood tree – the nutritious kernel is the Cape parrot’s preferred food source
Birds of a feather
Cape parrots have been recorded to live for over 30 years in captivity and breed for the first time between 4 and 5 years old. Though they may gather in large flocks of up to 70 or more individuals around suitable roosting sites on the higher ridges of the forest, Cape parrots are solitary nesters with peak breeding occurring between August and February. The eggs are incubated for between 26-30 days, and both parents play a role in caring for the chicks. Once the young parrots have fledged (between 55-79 days after hatching), the young remain with their parents, and they often move around in family groups before joining large juvenile flocks. Vocal communication between family members and other parrots is almost continuous throughout the day, particularly in flight.
Cementing their reliance on yellowwoods even further, Cape parrots also prefer to nest in yellowwood trees, utilizing cavities or holes made by other bird species and in dead portions of mature trees and often returning to the same nest in subsequent years. Research also indicates that their chicks are fed on a diet consisting almost exclusively of yellowwood kernels.
The Innominate Parrot
Of all the parrot genus divisions, the genus Poicephalus is the most species-rich and widely distributed in Africa. The classification of the Cape parrot (Poicephalus robustus) has historically been the cause of significant contention within the scientific community, and it was only recognized as an individual species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2017 based on a decision by BirdLife International. Before that, the species P. robustus was considered to have two subspecies: the grey-headed parrot (now P. fuscicollis suahelicus), the brown-necked parrot (now P. f. fuscicollis).
The taxonomic revision was based on an examination of differences in habitat usage, body size and morphology and behaviour. Although the revision was not based on genetic data, a genetic study by South African scientists which suggested the two taxa had diverged more than 2 million years ago did prompt BirdLife to take a second look. As in any situation where a species/subspecies division is under consideration, the classification of the Cape parrot as a separate species allows policymakers and conservationists to shape management strategies to protect them better.
Female Cape parrot. Their immensely powerful beaks are capable of cracking open unripe fruits and nuts
Conservation consequences
The change from subspecies to species on the Red List required the allocation of a conservation status, and the Cape Parrot is now considered to be ‘Vulnerable’ based on the fact that while the total population is small, the numbers seem to be relatively stable. However, within South Africa, the 2015 Eskom Red Data Book of Birds allocates the Cape parrot a local classification of ‘Endangered’, with the authors suggesting that in the next two generations, the population will have decreased by at least 20%.
The Cape Parrot Big Birding Day
The Cape Parrot Big Birding Day, an initiative of the Cape Parrot Working Group, began in 1998 and has been held on one day every year in April and May. Every year, volunteers gather at various appropriate sites to count birds and aid researchers in counting parrots, making this one of the longest-running citizen science projects in South Africa. As its popularity grew, more and more observers joined the process, and the first few population estimates increased dramatically from around 500 to over 1000 individuals before stabilizing at approximately 1,600 or so individual parrots. In 2019, the Cape Parrot Big Birding Day yielded the most extensive ever population estimate of 1,804 across the entire range. The 2021 count yielded 1,477 parrots.
The remaining patches of Mistbelt forests in South Africa provide the last refuge for Cape parrots
The threats
Habitat loss and fragmentation are the primary threats to remaining Cape parrot populations, though much of this damage was done before 1940 at the height of the logging of forest hardwoods. However, in some parts of the Cape parrots’ range, logging continues, especially of dead yellowwoods, which are their preferred nesting sites. An increase of non-indigenous trees (mainly pine) has also played a role in threatening Cape parrot populations. The knock-on effect of this logging and the degradation of natural habitats is a shortage of food. As mentioned earlier, fruiting in these forests tends to occur in “patches”. In the past, the forests would probably have been large enough that the parrots would simply move from place to place, but there are now times during the year when they are forced to seek food elsewhere, occasionally in orchards and farms.
While a robust breeding industry supplies the legal trade, Cape parrots are valued in the illegal wildlife trade, as is the case with all parrot species. The extent of this particular threat has yet to be quantified, but there are reports of birds being lured using bird calls and nestlings being harvested to supply the illegal trade.
Another major threat affecting both wild and captive Cape parrots is Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD), caused by a Circovirus which is believed to have originated in Australia. The disease may cause abnormal feather growth and the loss of normal feathers, as well as painful sores around the bill, and in acute cases, there is only a slim chance of recovery. The birds have been observed to be particularly susceptible to the disease during times of drought when food resources are limited, and severe outbreaks have the potential to cause serious harm to the remaining populations.
Clearing of indigenous forest for farming remains a significant threat to Cape ParrotsPsittacine Beak and Feather Disease causes feather loss and painful sores around the beak
Emerging threats
As if the Cape parrots did not have enough to contend with, researchers have also identified two major emerging threats to their future stability. The first is climate change, which is likely to impact almost every fauna and flora species on the planet but particularly specialist species with a small population and restricted distribution. The second comes in the form of a threat to Mistbelt forests and, in particular, the tree species utilized by the parrots. The polyphagous shot hole borer (Euwallacea fornicates), native to south-east Asia, infects host trees with a fungus which spreads through the tree’s internal transport system, eventually blocking it and resulting in the death of the tree. The borer has spread rapidly through South Africa, and 43% of the tree species affected by it are feed on by Cape parrots.
A Plan of Action
In September 2019, the country’s foremost experts in Cape parrots and their conservation held a workshop to develop an Action Plan to guide future and ongoing conservation efforts of the Cape parrot, incorporating new research and information and building on previous action plans. Amongst others, representatives from the World Parrot Trust, the Cape Parrot Working Group, BirdLife and the Endangered Wildlife Trust were in attendance to share their expertise and experience. The report from the workshop details extensive assessments of the threats facing the parrots both now and in the future, and details what actions will be taken and how responsibility will be delegated.
The Action Plan links the conservation of the Cape parrots to the protection of their vital habitat. It includes everything from continued research, the development of a vaccine against PBFD, the early detection of borer beetles, the management of captive populations, the assessment of logging quotas, as well as the extensive rehabilitation of critical forests.
A young male Cape parrot
Conclusion
The vision statement of the aforementioned Action Plan is described as working collectively towards a “thriving population of Cape Parrots acting as a flagship for the protection and recovery of indigenous forests in South Africa, for the shared benefit of people and nature”.
These enigmatic and characterful birds, as South Africa’s only endemic parrot species, are undoubtedly deserving of protection in their own right. However, in reality, the knock-on benefits of protecting the Cape parrot are also of paramount importance, not least of which is the preservation of the country’s few remaining Mistbelt forests and the many species that rely upon them in turn.
An accurate estimate of a species population is an essential starting point for conservation efforts and shapes everything from on-the-ground activities to policy decisions and legal protection measures. Nevertheless, attaining and updating these population estimates can be complicated, and scientists are always working on new ways to improve the process. Researchers from the University of Oxford Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) and Machine Learning Research Group have found a new way to use technology to count elephants – using satellites to spot elephants from space.
Monitoring elephant numbers in Africa is vital, especially since their numbers have been decimated over the past century due to poaching, habitat fragmentation and uncontrolled trophy hunting of large-tusked individuals. Researchers use several different techniques to count elephants depending on the size and logistical realities of an area, including dung and track counts, camera trap grids and aerial surveys. However, all of the current methods are usually time-consuming, labour-intensive, and prohibitively expensive, where large scale aerial surveys are concerned. All of the traditional techniques are also subject to considerable human bias and, potentially, fatigue.
Satellite remote sensing is one of the newest approaches to emerge as a viable monitoring technique in detecting wildlife and has been used in previous research to detect animals in homogenous landscapes and seascapes. It offers several advantages, including the capacity to cover a large area in a short space of time, allowing for regular reassessments. This also reduces the risk of double-counting animals that may move during a count. Furthermore, it removes the risk of human disturbance of the animal entirely.
Both practically and politically, satellite remote sensing can also render previously inaccessible areas accessible and avoids the complex and time-consuming process of applying for permits. It is, however, influenced by the size of the animal and the type of habitat.
The satellites generate enormous quantities of imagery that require processing. If this were to be done manually, it would take researchers months to work through the data and pick out individual elephants. However, through automating the detection process, the process can be completed in a matter of hours.
Biologists have been using machine learning to detect wildlife in several different images, including camera trap images, aerial survey images and unmanned aerial vehicle images. However, before this study, only three species had been detected by satellite using deep learning (an artificial intelligence function that mimics the human brain): albatross, whales, and pack-ice seals.
Individual elephants highlighted by yellow squares demonstrate just how tricky it can be to distinguish them from surrounding vegetation
The study was conducted in Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa and to test the technology, the research team used a training image dataset of 1125 elephants. These images were sourced from the highest resolution satellite imagery currently available – Worldview 3 from Maxar Technologies – and fed into a Convolutional Neural Network (a type of deep learning algorithm). The results were compared to human analysis and confirmed that elephants could be detected in satellite imagery with an accuracy equal to human detection capabilities.
While previous studies have primarily focussed on marine species due to their inaccessibility, the results of this research indicate that it is possible to teach a machine to automatically detect elephants in satellite imagery, in both homogenous and complex heterogeneous habitats. The authors of the study believe that these conservation technologies will open a new world of possibilities. This power, say the scientists, should be embraced as a matter of urgency as we barrel through the sixth mass extinction event in our planet’s history.
The technology was able to distinguish elephants in both woodland and open habitats
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Let me tell you a story. One of personal perspective and priorities. Two years ago my wife and I moved from Cape Town to the bushveld town of Hoedspruit. Our home is within a large residential wildlife estate bordering Kruger National Park – where dangerous wildlife species such as lion and elephant are EXCLUDED by a fence. There are leopards and hyena aplenty moving around the estate at night (fences mean nothing to them), and we keep our dogs indoors after dark. We fenced off the immediate area behind our house, to keep our dogs in and the warthogs out. It’s wonderful to share our lives with giraffe, zebra, waterbuck and many other species. And kudu. I thought it would be great to have these handsome antelope in the garden now and then. I was wrong.
You see during the peak of the dry bushveld months the grass and leaves have all but disappeared, and the desperate animals will eat just about anything. Kudus would hop easily over our fence and feast on our newly-planted indigenous trees and shrubs. In fact, they would annihilate our planted garden – nibbling huge aloes down to a withered stalk and even breaking a 4-meter sausage tree in half to get at the leaves (which they discarded).
Obviously, we would not knowingly harm any wildlife, but we also wanted a shady garden for our own enjoyment. Something had to be done. And so we increased the height of the fence by adding more wire strands (no electrification). It worked, and the kudus now cannot get to our precious plants, which are flourishing after excellent early summer rains.
I now have a different PERSPECTIVE of kudus from when I lived in Cape Town (which has no kudus).
Now imagine if I did not have the resources to keep wild animals out of my home. Imagine if the intruders were elephants or lions destroying my subsistence farming livelihood and threatening my family’s lives. That’s perspective for you …
Our first story below angers and saddens me – the state-sponsored rape of Namibia’s woodlands. How does the one-off annihilation of entire blocks of hardwood trees contribute to the country’s sustainable future? Note that the beneficiaries seem to be SHADY foreigners and local power brokers.
Then we celebrate Madikwe – a huge conservation success story where indigenous landowners invested in the future and are reaping the REWARDS. Good news indeed.
And finally, a DWARF GIRAFFE ?!?
Story 1 PLUNDER
Illegal logging is decimating Namibia’s remaining rosewood trees, earning millions for Chinese companies and political elites
Story 2 SAFARI SUCCESS STORY
Madikwe Game Reserve is a malaria-free safari haven and conservation success story that benefits people, wildlife and the ecosystem
Story 3 DWARF GIRAFFE!
Yes indeed, researchers have recently published a paper describing two dwarf giraffe in separate populations in Namibia and Uganda.
Travel in Africa is about knowing when and where to go, and with whom. A few weeks too early/late or a few kilometres off course, and you could miss the greatest show on Earth. And wouldn’t that be a pity?
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For many people, bats are not creatures that conjure emotions of warmth, joy or affection. Let’s face it, few of us have willingly cuddled a bat or expressed the desire to do so. Those that have touched one have normally done so while flapping and screaming in an undignified manner while the terrified little chiropterid tried to untangle itself from hair, mosquito net or shirt. Well, cast those irrational fears aside as you read our first story below – a story of the world’s largest mammal migration in the gorgeous Kasanka National Park of Zambia.
I am a proud African and honoured to be CEO of Africa Geographic. My travels in Africa are in search of wilderness, elusive birds and real people with interesting stories. I live in South Africa with my wife, Lizz, and 2 Jack Russells. When not travelling or working, I am usually on my mountain bike somewhere out there. I qualified as a chartered accountant, but found my calling sharing Africa’s incredibleness with you. My motto is “Live for now, have fun, be good, tread lightly and respect others. And embrace change”. Connect with me on 
