Questionable Buffalo and Hippo culling in Kruger

[Klipspringer]

Furthermore, a dedicated helicopter should be considered
since, the present helicopter’s main purpose is for anti-poaching and will therefore stop the
harvesting process for any anti-poaching activities.

I wonder if the helicopter and vehicle costs fall under anti-poaching

[Klipspringer]

The idea might be to sell the fresh steaks to visitors

Suggested procedural changes:
Presently, all these products are currently sold at a very low price and thus, it becomes difficult,
if not impossible, to cover the operational cost and to help subsidise the cost of the stew meat
for the school outreach program. Therefore, new value-added products should be produced,
with a larger profit margin. However, all these raw products can be sold in the KNP but cannot
be sold raw outside the buffer zone that surrounds the KNP due to FMD. However, by using
the value chain analysis to find out what the consumers want in KNP, products can then be
adjusted accordingly and also create a larger profit margin for these value-added products.
The KNP is in an unique situation in that it has the final control on the meat that is sold at its
restaurants and in its shops as well as to some of the private lodges/camps that are in the
KNP. Casual observations during this investigation indicated that particularly the latter are
aware of the quality meat being sold and are regular customers. However, there is a negative
association to this “formal” selling of meat to the public in that customers arrive at any time ad
disrupt the flow of work in the deboning plant. It is thus suggested that meat and meat products
only be sold to the public on Fridays (if the program of Monday/Tuesday is applied for the
harvesting of the buffalo).

The meat products from WPS
are currently only sold to the staff members of KNP at a very low price, too low to help
subsidise the cost of the stew meat for their interactions with the adjacent communities. Trophy
heads are sold to hotels and restaurant as decoration or to individuals, further the hides are
sold at an auction to the highest bidder and the bone meal sold as fertilizer.

[Lisbeth]

Four to eight animals twice a week make quite a number at the end of the year, depending on how many weeks they are doing the harvesting.

....to create a positive park-stakeholder relationship between the different
stake holders (tourist, politicians and local communities).

IMO they should keep the tourists out of this

[RogerFraser]

Four to eight animals twice a week make quite a number at the end of the year, depending on how many weeks they are doing the harvesting.

....to create a positive park-stakeholder relationship between the different
stake holders (tourist, politicians and local communities).

IMO they should keep the tourists out of this

read it carefully they dart 4-8 per operation but take +/-15 every day that is 30 per week

again and
moves them to an open space were the harvesting continues until the required number (±15) of
buffalo is reached.

There is no way if they selling this at low cost they covering the costs of having a vet and helicopter as well as ground vehicles + crews doing this .I am sure they could find a far more cost effective way of setting up a boma and moving a herd of buffalo in to harvest if this is really needed .IMHO this is again just a PR exercise that was started when they originally said they were going to cull because of the previous drought and they started supplying the meat now they cant stop else they get protests again . WTF do they need to supply politicians with free meat I think they get enough handouts from the Taxpayer already

[Lisbeth]

Maybe I read it too quickly

[Klipspringer]

The aim of the study is to improve this. They want to develop the sales of high price meat, not only biltong and stew.

Game ranching as a new business for SANParks is as good as tourism, boths have little to do with conservation

[Richprins]

As said, they do not need to reinvent the wheel here. In the old days similar culling was not designed to make profit, and expenses were barely covered by selling. Elephant products made a big difference, and personally I hope and suspect ellies are also being culled and sold/distributed as 'goulash", but that is very specialised indeed.


With elephant you need to cull a whole herd, down to the babies now, as there is little space for relocation anymore. (There is obviously plenty of space in neighbouring countries, but at the moment they will just be poached there.)

One immobilises the herd matriarch, and all the rest of the herd gather around that individual, so easy to dart them and they don't move. The scoline/M99 suffocates them within a few minutes, which is a bit of a problem but there is nothing better yet. So they die in a neat heap, making it very easy to process!

Culling ellies would almost overfeed communities, while also saving Kruger from eventual decrepancy, as they are breeding wildly out of control now.

[Lisbeth]

A heap of elephants are not easy to transport

Do they stick to the rule of culling the whole herd? I hope so

[Richprins]

I doubt they kill whole herds now yet, Lis. In the old days they also made the mistake which they are probably doing now, by simply shooting random elephant as the trucks and depot could handle. This drove the herds crazy, and they would attack tourist vehicles once they should come into a tourist area. (Culling obviously took place miles from tourist roads.)

[Lisbeth]