Human-Wildlife Conflict

[Richprins]

Ref: 9/2/2 – 22 - KNP
Wednesday, 11, May 2022 Elephants 1 of 1
MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release
ELEPHANTS FROM MOZAMBIQUE
SUCCESSFULLY CAPTURED AND RELOCATED
The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) in partnership with SANParks today successfully captured and relocated five of the eleven elephants that were roaming the Madadeni area in the Nkomazi region on Saturday, 7 May 2022. The elephants, entered South Africa from Swaziland after having moved from Mozambique.
The elephants have been released in the Shingwedzi Section North of the Kruger National Park. This operation was successfully conducted with the assistance of SANParks Veterinary Wildlife Services (Game Capture) operations team and Ranger Services. This saw the provision of their Fixed Wing and Helicopter for Air Wing Support, Game Capture trucks, Loading Ramps, and all the other necessary resources required to ensure a safe and successful Game Capture operation.
The operation was conducted in a safe and secure manner under the authority of the MTPA to ensure that the elephants were captured in a safe manner and were not a threat to human life.
“We are grateful for the assistance received from the SANParks management and the KNP Ranger Services. The collaboration between the two conservation authorities made this operation a success. We are delighted that the elephants are safe and have been captured and relocated safely. Our Wildlife Management team will continue to monitor the situation on the ground and look out for the remaining elephants which it is believed to be with the breeding herds”, said Mduduzi Vilakazi, Acting CEO of the MTPA.
The Managing Executive of the KNP, Gareth Coleman commended everyone who was involved in the operation “this was a difficult and stressful operation, but we are happy at the turn of events and that the animals have been relocated and to a safe area away from communities. We urge communities to alert officials when they observe animals outside the protected areas to stay away from these animals and allow conservation authorities the space to carry out their duties unhindered for the safety of both animals and humans” concluded Coleman.
Since the elephants made their way to Mpumalanga, a number of people have been following their journey and there has been an appeal to ensure their safe passage back to Mozambique.
…..ENDS”
Issued jointly by the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency and the South African National Parks - Kruger National Park
Media Enquiries:
Kholofelo Nkambule Ike Phaahla

[Lisbeth]

Have I understood it wrong or are the elephants now in Kruger not back in Moz.?

[Richprins]

Said today they were taken up to Shingwedzi, and the injured one was shot.

[Lisbeth]

Kruger has enough elephants, better take the lot back to Mozambique .....and adding some more

[Lisbeth]

Deadly weights – lead fishing tackle is causing St Lucia’s crocs to lose teeth and suffer anaemia


A crocodile with black staining on its teeth and inside its mouth. Researchers suspect this is caused by lead poisoning and is a possible precursor to tooth loss. (Photo: Xander Combrink)

By Tony Carnie | 08 Jun 2022

There are signs in several crocodiles in Lake St Lucia of long-term exposure to the heavy metal, and scientists say there is a clear case for all lead fishing tackle to be banned.
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Scientists are calling for all lead fishing tackle to be banned around Lake St Lucia after finding crocodiles with the highest levels of lead poisoning in the world – with some now losing their teeth or showing signs of anaemia.

St Lucia, part of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and World Heritage Site, is home to about 1,000 crocodiles. It is one of the few remaining Nile crocodile breeding populations in the country and the largest estuarine population in Africa.

Dr Marc Humphries, lead author of a study published in the journal Chemosphere, said lead was found in the blood of every crocodile tested at the lake, with concentrations varying between 86 and 13,100 ng/mL (nanograms per millilitre). These were the highest concentrations reported for crocodiles globally.

Although most of the reptiles appeared to be in good physical condition, those with the highest level of poisoning had four to five times fewer red blood cells than “normal” crocodiles – and severe tooth decay.

“These findings suggest that anaemia and tooth loss may be clinical signs of long-term environmental exposure to lead,” said Humphries, a senior lecturer and associate professor at the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Chemistry.


One of the large toothless crocodiles captured by researchers at Lake St Lucia. Lead accumulates in bone and dental tissues by replacing calcium, causing deterioration in condition and eventual tooth loss. (Photo: Xander Combrink)


A healthy crocodile with normal teeth. (Photo: Philip Jordaan)

Although previously undocumented in crocodiles, alligators or caymans, these symptoms were also consistent with similar lead poisoning seen in birds and mammals elsewhere in the world.

This suggested that crocodilians may be more susceptible to the long-term toxic effects of lead than previously thought.

Call for an ‘immediate’ ban

The widespread, accidental exposure of many forms of wildlife to this toxic metal – through lead fishing weights, shotgun pellets and other lead-based ammunition – is now a major global concern because lead is an accumulative metabolic poison.

Because it poisons the brain and nervous system, lead has been banned from petrol and paint to protect human health.

Several studies have also linked exposure to neuropsychiatric conditions such as attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities and higher crime levels.

Now, Humphries and his research colleagues are calling for an immediate ban on lead fishing weights around Lake St Lucia.


A selection of lead fishing weights (circled in red) and stones found in the stomach of a poisoned crocodile at St Lucia. The reptiles swallow stones to help grind up food in their stomachs. (Photo: Xander Combrink)

“South Africa introduced regulations eliminating lead from petrol almost two decades ago, yet we still allow it to be used in some of our most important conservation areas,” he told Our Burning Planet.

“On the surface this seems quite bizarre, but I think lack of awareness is one of the major issues. In my view, iSimangaliso should ban the use of lead immediately.”

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority said it would study the report and consider the implications “as per our adaptive management approach”.

Although lead weights do not rust and have the advantage of being heavy and easy to melt and mould, Humphries says steel and tungsten are among the most popular non-toxic alternatives internationally.

Why are crocodiles getting poisoned?

One of the main reasons crocodiles are so vulnerable is because they deliberately swallow small stones and pebbles (gastroliths) to help to crunch up food in their digestive tracts.

Autopsies have revealed that some crocodiles swallow lead sinkers to serve as gastroliths, while others sometimes snatch away the fish hooked by anglers at Lake St Lucia.


A female crocodile showing clear signs of poisoning. She had a pale, anaemic appearance, had lost most of her teeth and had black staining on the inside of her mouth. She died a few weeks after capture. Researchers found several lead fishing weights in her stomach. (Photo: Xander Combrink)

Humphries and colleagues Xander Combrink, Jan Myburgh and Robert Campbell note that several waterfowl and other grain-eating birds also swallow grit and pebbles to help digestion.

Unfortunately, lead fishing weights remain within the stomach as the small pyloric valve in a crocodile’s stomach prevents such objects from passing into the duodenum and being excreted as waste.

These pieces of lead can be retained and slowly dissolved in the crocodilian stomach over years and possibly decades. As it dissolves in stomach acids, lead is absorbed into blood, body tissues and bone.

The St Lucia crocodiles appear to be particularly vulnerable because the 70km-long estuarine lake lies on a sandy coastal plain characterised by muddy bed sediments with few stones. So it’s possible that they actively target sinkers to serve as gastroliths.

Read in Daily Maverick: “​​Lake St Lucia fishers – ‘We just want to fish. Why are they killing us?’”

The vast majority of the breeding population are found in the aptly named Narrows Section of Lake St Lucia.

Although crocodiles prey on a variety of mammals, including antelope, bush pig and hippopotamus, the diet of adult crocodiles at Lake St Lucia is mainly fish.

Recreational angling

Humphries believes the crocodiles have been exposed to lead poison since the start of recreational angling at Lake St Lucia in the 1930s and 1940s.

Since some of the large male crocodiles are now older than 50, they are likely to have suffered sustained exposure to lead, with large volumes building up in their bones.

Other studies show that prolonged exposure to the metal can cause significant reductions in the calcium and magnesium content of bones and teeth.

“It appears that lost teeth are not replaced, and it is possible that long-term damage to the supportive bone tissues may prevent the growth of new teeth in affected individuals. In severe cases, tooth loss could thus result in nutritional stress and eventual death.”

The latest crocodile study has also highlighted the broader, accidental harms to wildlife from hunting and fishing.


Researchers extract samples of fat tissue from the tail of a St Lucia crocodile. (Photo: Marc Humphries)

In a separate study, English wildfowl researcher Kevin Woods has also called for stricter regulation of lead-based ammunition and fishing tackle to reduce poisoning of wildlife across the world.

He said poisoning by lead fishing weights and ammunition remains a major cause of death in a wide range of wildlife species, including the critically endangered California condor as well as Africa’s endangered white-backed vulture and Cape vulture.

In Britain, historical studies linked the death of 4,000 mute swans every year to swallowing lead fishing weights.

A voluntary campaign to reduce and phase out lead use among anglers was deemed ineffective and regulations were published in 1986 to ban the import and supply of lead weights in the sizes deemed most likely to be ingested by swans.

Since the regulation of lead fishing weights, mute swan numbers increased substantially, and restrictions on the use of lead shot in North America have been effective in reducing lead poisoning in waterfowl and predatory birds.

Back in South Africa, Humphries says: “At Lake St Lucia, the case for discontinuing the use of lead in fishing activities is clear… A shift towards non-toxic alternatives is warranted and represents the only practical way of mitigating exposure risks to wildlife.” DM168

[Lisbeth]

phpBB [video]

This Anatolian Guard Dog Protects Both Livestock & Predators


Smithsonian Channel
Captain is an Anatolian guard dog responsible not only for protecting his master’s herd of goats. He’s also indirectly causing fewer cheetah deaths by deterring them from even considering an attack.

Watch Full Episodes Here: https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/

[Richprins]

[Falanajerido1]

I am hurting over Hosana the leopard, a very famous leopard. Anti Poacher shot him , however pro killing. His death need to be investigated. Kruger National Park in djuma. Tristan's, jamie, and i forget the other ones name .they are guide on Wild Earth. Hosana everyone love i would like to know. When will this be done. You already know there is corruption they taking money from Poacher. Corruption and money laundering need to be explode thank you falana Jerido

[Lisbeth]

How Simon’s Town is trying to solve the baboon-human dilemma


A mother and baby from the Waterfall baboon troop in Simon's Town. (Photo: Joyrene Kramer)

By Peter Willis | 15 Jun 2022

What does it take to bring a community together to address a chronic problem that, for all its efforts, the government cannot fix without help? In some South African communities it is crime, in others it is crumbling infrastructure. Right now in Simon’s Town, on the Cape Peninsula, it is baboons. A volunteer initiative among residents hopes to tilt the scales through patient dialogue.
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The majestic mountain range above Simon’s Town is home to three troops of chacma baboons, one above Da Gama Park and Welcome Glen to the north, another – the Waterfall troop – directly above the town centre, and the Smitswinkel troop that ranges between Froggy Farm and Smitswinkel Bay in the south. There are an estimated 150 baboons in all.

Over the years the three troops have formed a habit of visiting the town or its suburbs every few days, sometimes more frequently. Despite years of effort to secure our homes as the troop approaches, still we make mistakes and our unpadlocked rubbish bins, open windows and even fynbos gardens seem to provide them with rich enough pickings to encourage the next visit, and the next.

My wife and I have lived in the area for nearly 30 years and thought we were super-vigilant, but recently a door left open for a few minutes allowed a handful of quick-thinking, hungry and silent baboons into our kitchen. They worked fast and messily until we stumbled upon them and shepherded them back out. It is hard not to feel their presence as challenging – they are so like us in so many ways, display exemplary levels of cunning and determination, and yet are so utterly wild. And beyond rational persuasion, of course.

Incursions like these happen almost daily somewhere in Simon’s Town and, not surprisingly, have generated a range of resident responses. To some, and for all their attractive wildness, the baboons’ persistent and at times assertive raiding behaviour, which can lead to altercations between them and residents’ dogs, and occasional negative or unwanted interactions between residents and baboons, often places them in the category of “problem animals”, even “pests”.

For South African conservation authorities, the adaptable, resilient baboon, given the size of its population, has the lowest conservation status. In the farming areas of the Western Cape farmers may secure a licence to shoot no more than one baboon per day to protect their crops.

Yet to others their very wildness, coupled with the fact that they are our distant evolutionary cousins, were here before us and are defenceless against our rifles or poison, marks them as a form of life that particularly deserves our protection and care.

Between these polarised perspectives sit the great majority of residents, who recognise that the current situation is unsustainable, both for us humans having to be constantly hypervigilant, and for the baboons who are becoming increasingly used to human contact with all the risks that poses for them. These people would like something done about it, but are reluctant to align themselves with the high-intensity blaming – of both authorities and “opposing” residents – that has occasionally characterised those most vocal on the issue; so they have tended to keep their heads down.

The STCA initiative

In March 2022, the Simon’s Town Civic Association (STCA) acknowledged that the behaviour of the three troops represented a crisis and identified two critical elements that were missing: a coordinated and strategic approach to urban baboon management from the key authorities (the City of Cape Town and SANParks); and a way for the polarised resident discourse to calm itself so that the town can develop its own strategic ideas and claim its due place at the planning table alongside authorities and experts. Waiting for the authorities to hand down a new, better management plan in which residents had had no active say was no longer an option.

At the governance level, things have recently moved in a promising direction, thanks largely to the leadership, determination and pragmatism of Environment Minister Barbara Creecy and Cape Town’s deputy mayor, Eddie Andrews. They have publicly committed to finding a sustainable solution that works for both humans and baboons. At a workshop on 7 June, Creecy leaned on SANParks to come to the collaborative table to hammer out a new modus operandi with the City and other key role-players, including residents. This represents a breakthrough after more than a decade of the City carrying the financial and management burden more or less alone.

At the resident level in Simon’s Town, the STCA asked Professor Ben Cousins, Nadima Smith and me – all local volunteers – to run a dialogue-based process to enable residents to articulate their frustrations and, more importantly, what elements of a solution would make the best sense to them, given their value preferences and their intimate understanding of local conditions.

The process, which began in early April, has been unfolding through stages that were hard to predict at the outset. Indeed, without a template to follow and none of us being an expert on the issues, our facilitation team has to design our pathway as we move along, adapting our approach continually.

We decided as a first step to meet separately with residents who had expressed strong views about the problem over a period of time, in letters to the press, lawyers’ letters directed at the City, or through social media. We thought it important to recruit them into the process from the outset, since their standing outside it might rightly lead others to question its legitimacy. These are, after all, passionate people who have applied themselves energetically to resolve a pressing problem. In any democratic process, such citizens have an important role.

In the course of these meetings we not only invited the participants to spell out their views on what should be done differently, we also requested that, while our dialogue process was under way, they refrain from denigrating residents who held different views (a long-standing practice). We also asked them to refrain from bad-mouthing the City or other external parties – in effect, to “go on a denigration diet”. All those we asked agreed.

Having secured at least the provisional involvement of those residents who had a vigorously articulated position, we turned our attention to the much larger demographic, those we referred to as “the missing middle” – missing in that their voices were not typically heard amid the cacophony of those more passionately public in their views. For these, we held a series of briefings on Zoom (Omicron being still at large) and face-to-face workshops at a manageable scale.

Two things became obvious to us. First, we needed to emphasise and demonstrate at every turn our own neutrality as to the outcome. Second, only a tiny minority of residents had more than a glancing familiarity with the science, legalities and history relating to local baboon troops. Deductions from one’s own experience can take one a long way, but if residents are ever to sit down with the authorities to discuss major management decisions, a baseline of credible knowledge is essential.

To that end we started interviewing the handful of experts who have been involved over the years in advising – or challenging – the authorities. These were academics, NGOs and practitioners and all were keen to help.

We have also sent a list of technical and strategic questions to these experts and at the time of writing we are consolidating their responses into a document we will circulate widely to residents, inviting feedback. We will then lay out what we believe are plausible options for a sustainable solution to the problem, and convene a series of workshops at which residents can review and discuss these options. The process will culminate, we hope, in a final stage where options are selected for taking into discussions with the authorities.

Reflecting on the challenge

It is tempting to believe that the struggles that will define our tomorrow take place far above our heads in that realm where headline-makers and political celebrities dwell. This can breed a sense of impotence, even fatalism. Yet, as we discovered during Cape Town’s drought and then in the early phases of the Covid pandemic, ordinary citizens represent an underestimated resource for mutual care and ingenuity. Yet we have few social mechanisms for bringing communities together in ways that allow these qualities to surface and be expressed. So, in a crisis, we have to make them up.

Although one cannot begin to compare Simon’s Town’s baboon crisis to the drought or pandemic, in its own localised way it reached a point where, with a little encouragement, citizens have proved themselves ready to experiment with fresh attitudes and thinking. The catalyst has been nothing more hi-tech than a series of opportunities to dialogue in small groups, listening more than talking. Perhaps there is the germ of a wider possibility here? DM/MC

Peter Willis is a resident of Simon’s Town, a freelance facilitator of strategic and leadership conversations and a Senior Associate of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. His co-facilitators in this project are: Nadima Smith, proprietor of The Lord Nelson Hotel in Simon’s Town and committee member of the STCA responsible for environmental matters; and Ben Cousins, Emeritus Professor at the University of the Western Cape, where he founded Plaas (Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies), and a fellow Simon’s Town resident.

[Lisbeth]

HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT

Pride of lions driven back to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park after killing five cattle



(Photo: Unsplash / Jean Wimmelin)

By Tony Carnie | 11 Jul 2022

A pride of lions has been shepherded back into the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park after killing at least five cattle in the neighbouring Okhukho area, near Ulundi in KwaZulu-Natal.
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The pride of five lions is thought to have escaped from the western section of the 96,000 hectare Big Five game reserve last week to hunt domestic cattle grazing close to the park boundary fence.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife spokesperson Musa Mntambo said the lions were believed to have crawled under a damaged section of the boundary fence adjoining the Okhukho rural community on 5 July, where they attacked and killed five cattles before returning to the park.

The predators (some fitted with tracking collars) escaped again about a day later, but were driven back into the park by Ezemvelo staff, with the help of a helicopter.

However, angry community members are demanding that park managers take more effective measures to ensure that lions, and other wild animals, remain in the park.

Msizi Myaka, spokesperson for the Okhukho Community Civil Organisation, said local residents were “continuously living in danger and facing the daily possibility of being mauled, killed or their livestock decimated by lions”.

“[Last] week alone, we have recorded more than five consecutive cases of livestock eaten by a pride of lions that escaped from the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. A few months ago, it was elephants that were roaming in the community vicinity.

“These incidents were reported to park officials and KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife, but they have failed to take preventive measures that limit lions from escaping the park,” he said.

Over recent years, the conservation agency has been criticised for its apparent failure to ensure the integrity of large sections of the boundary fence.

In August 2019, a pride of 13 lions escaped from the park, while another breakaway lion was shot in the Melmoth area in March 2020.

In February 2021, the killing of three runaway elephants reignited concern about the continued multimillion-rand delay in securing the boundary fence of the park, which was proclaimed as a wilderness sanctuary in 1895.

Last year it emerged that at least R43-million has been spent to fix the fence over recent years, but the problems had not been resolved and a further R99-million was needed to properly secure Hluhluwe-iMfolozi and 12 other Ezemvelo parks and nature reserves.


(Map: Google Maps)

When five elephants broke out from the western boundary early last year, staff managed to shepherd two of them back into the park using a helicopter, but the other three elephants walked about 7 kilometres from the boundary and were later shot dead by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife staff.

Park authorities said they were worried that the animals were close to a nearby village and that further attempts to chase them home could make them scatter and endanger the lives of residents.

The park has a population of more than 900 elephants, and a contraception project began in 2014 to control the burgeoning numbers.

Four years ago, the Auditor-General reported there had been allegations of “mismanagement” of fencing projects at the reserve since at least October 2015, which subsequently led to disciplinary and criminal action against implicated individuals.

Following the most recent lion breakout, Ezemvelo insisted that its staff acted swiftly to limit the danger.

“The first escape report received was on Tuesday [5 July] when there was indeed destruction of livestock. Officials investigated the matter, including making contact with the owners of the cows.

“It is reported that this very same pride of lions escaped the park again on Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Since then, our officials have ensured that the lions returned to the park and closed the gap at the river crossing where they had escaped.”

Asked to comment on whether the lions escaped due to poor fence maintenance, Mntambo said: “Ezemvelo has never denied that there are sections of the park that have poor fencing – but the recent escape was not because of poor fencing.

“The fence had been cut by people, probably who wanted to access the park for hunting. The lions were close to this fence when they noticed the cattle that were grazing nearby, and that led to the escape.

“If we had all the budget we need, we would have strengthened all the HiP fence and probably made it electrical. We are hopeful that we may soon be in a position to employ community members as fence line monitors.”

This would help to alert park managers to any future escapes, and to react quickly.

“Fortunately, the pride of lions that escaped [last week] had collars and we could easily monitor their movement. We know when they were out and we are certain that they are now inside the park. We are currently engaging the affected communities to discuss their compensation as per the applicable policy,” Mntambo said.

Last year, the Democratic Alliance (DA) voiced concern about the deteriorating relationship between Ezemvelo and some communities due to fence-related problems.

The party said it had received information that some Ezemvelo staff had also received death threats.

“Whereas management failures are certainly to blame for the poor fencing, sources have also indicated to the DA that certain members of local communities are deliberately cutting the fence. This is an attempt to both lure animals out of the park to be poached and to gain fence repair work opportunities.” DM/OBP