Elephant Numbers in South Africa

Discussion on Elephant Management and poaching topics
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Lisbeth
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Re: Elephant Numbers in Kruger

Post by Lisbeth »

t would also be really interesting to see if migratory patterns can be reproduced, it looks like this may be already happening to an extent based on these observations?
It would be great for once to get good news instead of the continuous negative ones \O


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Re: Elephant Numbers in Kruger

Post by Richprins »

Ja, as they say, water is obviously a major factor. Ellies are also one of the reasons Kruger gives now and again for closing artificial waterpoints, as the fancy takes them...


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Re: Elephant Numbers in Kruger

Post by Lisbeth »

Some more conservation science and less "fancy" would be better O**


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Re: Elephant Numbers in Kruger

Post by stefan9 »

Welcome Ginzy.

Thank you for sharing the study.
Personally agree with it. Have never agreed that knp has too many ellies.
Last edited by stefan9 on Sun Jun 17, 2018 7:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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Re: Elephant Numbers in Kruger

Post by Ginzy »

Hi Stefan9,

Thanks for the welcome 0/*

It would be really interesting to see what some of the experts have to say if they were to peer review...surely a paper like this should be making waves over at park management...


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Re: Elephant Numbers in Kruger

Post by Richprins »

There are two SANParks "specialists" in the list on the paper, Ginzy: Van Aarde and Ferreira. Not sure if it is just their research that was looked at?


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Re: Elephant Numbers in Kruger

Post by okie »

This is a very interesting and complicated matter . At first glance , reading a report that states a potential carrying capacity of up to 50 000 elephants sounds quite absurd , but who am I to question it if those numbers were reached through good thorough scientific methods of investigation . ;-)

Thinking back , I recall during 1970's and 1980's , the area north of Letaba were considered elephant haven , and driving in those parts , it was quite evident that elephants did lots of damage to plant/trees etc . At that time , ellie numbers were around 7000/8000 , and the abbatoir in Skuks was kept busy due to slaughtering/culling operations .
Culling was totally stopped about 1994 ( ? ) , and it appears that from then on , the environment did indeed start to recover , but , it also went hand-in-hand with increased numbers of elephants :O^
Now , it would appear that when ellies were being culled , to a large extent , they did not really spread around very much , and were probably quite confined to specific areas of grazing etc , which in turn obviously then led to over-utilising of those localised resources , but once culling stopped , then ellies moved around more , and as such , the over-utilised vegetation could recover .
Nature is also wonderful in that aspect .
If you periodically prune a tree very heavily , it often grows back again with increased vigour .
And I can say with confidence that the Kruger today , is in much much better condition than it was in 1980's , and as such of course be able to sustain much larger volumes of biomass .

Have a look at the Elephant management plan for Kruger by clicking on this link :
https://www.sanparks.org/assets/docs/pa ... t-plan.pdf

Very interesting read .


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Re: Elephant Numbers in Kruger

Post by Richprins »

There is another factor though, okie. There was an extended dry cycle during the late 1980's up to 1997, followed by a very wet one indeed all the way up to 2015? -O-


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Re: Elephant Numbers in Kruger

Post by okie »

Yes indeed RP . In fact that dry cycle started late 70's and probably exacerbated the situation at that time . And it was also during this time that a lot of boreholes were sunk which allowed for wider spreading out of animals in general . And with stopping of the cull , elephant number basically " exploded " , doubling up in a relatively short period of time .
But , even with dry spells now , vegetation is under much less stress , and being able to recover quicker - just think of last year . It was dry, dry dry , but look at how quickly everything became lush again .
Then , the elephants also now cover a much wider area . The private reserves bordering Kruger did not have many ellies and were actively chasing ellies back into Kruger whenever they overstepped the boundaries , but no longer is that the case \O


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Re: Elephant Numbers in Kruger

Post by Richprins »

Ginzy! 0/*

Dr Joubert phoned us from the Park and says thanks very much! \O

He disagrees with the study and feels that the SP scientists mentioned there are unduly influenced by IFAW and Conservation Action Trust, which are financially linked and have a vested interest in prohibiting culling at all costs.

He will respond next month after his holiday. It is suggested you look at the role of Glynis O'Hara so long? -O-

He also says there is currently a significant increase to be seen in the populations of calves of all ages, indicating that growth of the population is carrying on exponentially regardless of environmental factors.



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