Africa Wild

Thank you to Dr. Joubert....and to you

Olifantgetalle in Kruger “buite beheer”

23 April 2022
Du Preez de Villiers
Maroela Media

ʼn Stryd tussen emosie en pragmatisme speel hom tans in die Kruger Nasionale Park (KNP) af weens ʼn oormaat olifante en kenners waarsku die park se biodiversiteit is besig om in die slag te bly. Volgens natuurbewaarders is olifantgetalle heeltemal buite beheer en dié park is baie naby aan die punt waar dit nie meer gered kan word nie.

Wildbedryf Suid-Afrika (WRSA) is tans besig om druk op KNP uit te oefen om dringend weer olifante te begin uitdun. Hulle het ook al die minister van omgewingsake, Barbara Creecy, herhaaldelik gekonfronteer, maar daar word nie veel notisie van geneem nie.

Die organisasie is van mening dat die probleem ontstaan het toe die KNP meer as ʼn dekade gelede opgehou het om olifante uit te dun omdat die olifantbevolking se getalle kwansuis natuurlik beheer sou word.

Volgens dr. Salomon Joubert, wat die parkehoof tot in 1994 was, is daar vandag ongeveer 40 000 olifante in die park en die getalle sal tot tussen 4 000 en 5 000 verminder moet word om die plantegroei kans te gee om te herstel, voor die diere weer toegelaat kan word om tot die aangewese 7 000 te vermeerder.

Deon Furstenburg, WRSA se wetenskaplike raadgewer, is ook bekommerd oor die toename in olifantgetalle. “In die 1980’s was 58% van die gedeelte tussen Onder‑Sabie tot by Krokodilbrug met bome en plantegroei bedek en in 2019 het dit op 3% gestaan. Toe was daar 20 000 olifante in die park, vandag is daar meer as 30 000.

“Ons moet onthou dat feitlik alle ander fauna en flora vernietig word as die olifante se getalle so dramaties toeneem. Ek het al gesien hoe een bul in een nag meer as 50 bome omgestoot het,” sê hy.

Gerhard Heyneke, voorsitter van die WRSA, sê hy het ook ʼn sterk vermoede dat die afname in renostergetalle nie net weens stropery is nie. “Die oorvloed olifante ontsenu die renosters en dan kan hulle nie teen hul volle vermoë reproduseer nie.”

Hy sê tans is almal so vasgevang om renosterstropery te bekamp, dat die olifantkrisis heeltemal vergete is.
Volgens Furstenburg kan dit tot 50 jaar neem om die KNP weer tot sy eertydse glorie te herstel, indien dit ooit weer omgedraai kan word.

“Die uitdunning van olifante soos voorheen kan ongelooflik baie werk skep en die voedselnood buite die wildtuin verlig,” sê hy.

Omdat olifante nie natuurlike roofdiere het nie en daar nie veel siektes is wat hulle getalle beheer nie, neem hulle getalle volgens kenners onbeheers teen 6,5% toe indien hulle nie bestuur word nie.

“Sodra die mens begin om in te gryp, moet hy deurlopend ingryp,” sê Furstenburg. “Ons moet onthou dat die uitdunning van wild ʼn doodnormale, gesonde bestuurspraktyk is.”

Volgens Ralf Kalwa, ʼn voormalige veldwagter in die KNP, is intensiewe lugsensusse vroeër jare van olifante en buffels in die KNP onderneem, om tred te hou met die bevolkingstendense. “Die sensusse is tydens Augustus en September onderneem om met die droë seisoen saam te val. Met die toename in die olifantbevolking is daar in die 1960’s ook omvangryke plantegroei-opnames gedoen om hulle impak te bepaal. Uit hierdie opnames is vasgestel dat ʼn drakrag van 6 000 gehandhaaf kon word. Hierdie totaal is later tot 7 000 verhoog.” Dit het beteken dat die jaarlikse uitdunkoers ongeveer 500 tot 600 olifante sou moes wees.

Tydens die lugsensusse, asook uit veldwagters se verslae, is gebiede vir uitdunning vasgestel. Die uitvoering van die uitdunning het plaasgevind deurdat ʼn veldwagter elke dier in ʼn teeltrop uit ʼn helikopter met ʼn verdowingspyl skiet, waarna die grondspan inbeweeg het. Sodra die laaste olifant geval het, is al die diere ʼn finale geweerskoot toegedien. “Die hele proses is binne ʼn uur afgehandel en dit het soos ʼn geoliede masjien gewerk,” sê Kalwa.

“Ons het ook nuusgroepe soos die BBC ontvang wat alles verfilm het – niks is weggesteek nie.”

Druk om te hervorm

Joubert sê die hele aanslag tot olifantbestuur het intussen verander.

“Teen die begin van die 1990’s het druk vanuit die geledere van diereregte‑aktiviste en sekere nieregeringsorganisasies teen die uitdunning van olifante sterk begin toeneem. Dit het gelei tot die instelling van ʼn moratorium op die uitdunning van olifante, wat in 1995 ʼn aanvang geneem het.”

Dit was ʼn groot slag vir die Krugerwildtuin, aangesien dit as die begin van toenemende impak op die plantegroei en die afsny van ʼn bron van inkomste vir die park gesien is.

Kalwa vertel voorts dat die vang en vervoer van olifante deur die moratorium bespoedig is, wat gelei het tot die verkoop van volledige teeltroppe aan ander bewaringsinstansies.

“Pogings om 1 000 olifante in die Mosambiekse kant van die oorgrenspark te vestig, was egter nie doeltreffend nie aangesien die oorgrote meerderheid weer hul weg na die KNP gevind het. Versteuring deur die plaaslike bevolking het skynbaar ook ʼn rol hierin gespeel.

“Daar is ook met voorbehoedmiddels geëksperimenteer om bevolkingsgroei te demp, maar dit het veroorsaak dat die koeie die bulle weggestoot het, wat laasgenoemde aggressief gemaak het.

“Ons taak destyds was om die biodiversiteit te beskerm. Vir ons is ʼn olifant en ʼn maroelaboom dieselfde as dit by bewaring kom,” sê Kalwa. “Ek ken nie een veldwagter wat in die oggend opstaan en daarna uitsien om olifante te skiet nie. Dit was ons werk gewees. ”

In 2008 is die sogenaamde landskapbenadering ingestel, op die veronderstellings dat olifante nie in groot reservate, soos die KNP, gesensus word nie, die KNP groot genoeg is om baie groter bevolkings te onderhou en die jaarlikse aanwas sou afneem van die 6,5% wat onder uitdunning die geval was en die bevolking selfregulerend sou wees. Laasgenoemde sou verwesenlik word deur vrektes onder klein kalfies en ou koeie, veral ten tye van droogtes en die langer afstande wat hulle tussen weidingsgebiede en water sou moes aflê.

Die uitdunning van olifante is gevolglik heeltemal gestop.

Joubert het hierdie nuwe beleidsrigting destyds in verskeie ongepubliseerde skrywes gekritiseer. In 2010 het hy gewaarsku dat die nuwe rigting ʼn uitermate hoë risiko inhou en in ʼn onomkeerbare situasie kan ontwikkel. Hy het ook daarop gewys dat daar geen probleem met eksperimentering is nie, indien dit onder beheer plaasvind en regstellings gemaak kan word indien nodig. Hierdie waarskuwings het op dowe ore geval.

Op grond van inligting oor die olifantbevolkingsyfers wat van Skukuza ontvang is, het dit egter vroeg reeds geblyk dat die olifantbevolking nie selfregulerend is nie. Die bevolking se aanwassyfer het steeds op 6,5% gestaan en geen droogte-verwante vrektes onder jong of ou diere is ooit tydens die afgelope vier uitsonderlike droogtes in die park aangeteken nie.

Joubert het toe reeds uitgewys dat, indien die olifantbevolking tot 50 000 of meer toeneem, dit ernstige gevolge vir die biodiversiteit van die park sal inhou, asook vir binne- en buitelandse toerisme en die plaaslike bevolking aangrensend aan die park. Die KNP sou ook finansiële verliese en verlies aan internasionale aansien ly.

“Ek het nie ʼn probleem daarmee as mense eksperimenteer nie, maar dan moet dit herroep word as sake skeefloop. Daar was ʼn hipotese toegepas, duidelik met ernstige tekortkominge en sonder enige kontroles,” sê Joubert.

Maroela Media sal eersdaags ʼn repliek van SANParke publiseer oor hoekom hulle eerder ʼn meer progressiewe benadering volg

Glad others are also concerned!

Elephant numbers in Kruger "out of control"

23 April 2022
Du Preez de Villiers
Maroela Media

Struggle between emotion and pragmatism is currently taking place in the Kruger National Park (KNP) due to ʼn excess of elephants and experts warn the park's biodiversity is being eroded. According to conservationists, elephant numbers are completely out of control and this park is very close to the point where it can no longer be saved.

Game Industry South Africa (WRSA) is currently putting pressure on KNP to urgently start thinning elephants again. They have also repeatedly confronted Environment Minister Barbara Creecy, but not much notice is taken of them.

The organization is of the opinion that the problem arose when the KNP stopped thinning elephants more than a decade ago because the numbers of the elephant population would supposedly be controlled naturally.

According to dr. Salomon Joubert, who was the park chief until 1994, there are about 40 000 elephants in the park today and the numbers will have to be reduced to between 4 000 and 5 000 to give the vegetation a chance to recover, before the animals are allowed again. can be to increase to the designated 7,000.

Deon Furstenburg, WRSA's scientific adviser, is also concerned about the increase in elephant numbers. "In the 1980s, 58% of the section between Onder ‑ Sabie to Crocodile Bridge was covered with trees and vegetation and in 2019 it stood at 3%. Then there were 20,000 elephants in the park, today there are more than 30,000.

"We must remember that virtually all other fauna and flora will be destroyed if the elephants' numbers increase so dramatically. I have already seen how one bull knocked down more than 50 trees in one night, ”he says.

Gerhard Heyneke, chairman of the WRSA, says he also has a strong suspicion that the decrease in rhino numbers is not only due to poaching. "The abundance of elephants unnerves the rhinos and then they cannot reproduce at their full potential."

He says at present everyone is so caught up in fighting rhino poaching that the elephant crisis has been completely forgotten.
According to Furstenburg, it could take up to 50 years to restore the KNP to its former glory, if it can ever be reversed.

"The culling of elephants as before can create an incredible amount of work and alleviate the food shortage outside the game reserve," he says.

Because elephants do not have natural predators and there are not many diseases that control their numbers, according to experts, their numbers increase uncontrollably by 6.5% if they are not managed.

"As soon as a person starts to intervene, he must intervene continuously," says Furstenburg. "We must remember that the culling of game is a dead normal, healthy management practice."

According to Ralf Kalwa, a former ranger in the KNP, intensive air censuses of elephants and buffaloes were undertaken in the KNP in earlier years, to keep pace with population trends. "The censuses were undertaken during August and September to coincide with the dry season. With the increase in the elephant population, extensive vegetation surveys were also done in the 1960s to determine their impact. From these surveys it was determined that a carrying capacity of 6,000 could be maintained. This total was later increased to 7,000. " This meant that the annual culling rate would have to be around 500 to 600 elephants.

During the air censuses, as well as from rangers' reports, areas for thinning were identified. The thinning was carried out by a ranger shooting each animal in a breeding herd from a helicopter with a stun arrow, after which the ground team moved in. As soon as the last elephant fell, all the animals were given a final gunshot. "The whole process was completed within an hour and it worked like an oiled machine," says Kalwa.

"We also received news groups like the BBC that filmed everything - nothing was hidden."

Press to reform

Joubert says the whole approach to elephant management has changed in the meantime.

"By the beginning of the 1990s, pressure from the ranks of animal rights activists and certain non-governmental organizations against the culling of elephants began to increase sharply. This led to the introduction of a moratorium on the elimination of elephants, which began in 1995. "

This was a major blow to the Kruger National Park, as it was seen as the beginning of an increasing impact on the vegetation and the cutting off of a source of income for the park.

Kalwa further says that the capture and transport of elephants was accelerated by the moratorium, which led to the sale of complete breeding herds to other conservation agencies.

"Attempts to establish 1,000 elephants in the Mozambican side of the transboundary park were not effective, however, as the vast majority found their way to the KNP again. Disruption by the local population apparently also played a role in this.

"Contraceptives were also experimented with to curb population growth, but this caused the cows to push the bulls away, which made the latter aggressive.

"Our task at the time was to protect biodiversity. For us, an elephant and a marula tree are the same when it comes to conservation, ”says Kalwa. "I do not know a single ranger who gets up in the morning and looks forward to shooting elephants. It had been our job. ”

In 2008, the so-called landscape approach was introduced, on the assumption that elephants are not censored in large reserves, such as the KNP, the KNP is large enough to sustain much larger populations and the annual growth would decrease from the 6.5% that under thinning was the case and the population would be self-regulating. The latter would be realized by deaths among small calves and old cows, especially during droughts and the longer distances they would have to travel between grazing areas and water.

The thinning of elephants was consequently stopped completely.

Joubert criticized this new policy at the time in several unpublished writings. In 2010, he warned that the new direction posed an extremely high risk and could develop into an irreversible situation. He also pointed out that there is no problem with experimentation, if it takes place under control and corrections can be made if necessary. These warnings fell on deaf ears.

However, based on information about the elephant population figures received from Skukuza, it became clear early on that the elephant population was not self-regulating. The population's growth rate was still at 6.5% and no drought-related deaths among young or old animals have ever been recorded during the last four exceptional droughts in the park.

Joubert then already pointed out that, if the elephant population increases to 50,000 or more, it will have serious consequences for the biodiversity of the park, as well as for domestic and foreign tourism and the local population adjacent to the park. The KNP would also suffer financial losses and loss of international prestige.

"I do not have a problem with it when people experiment, but then it has to be recalled if things go awry. A hypothesis was applied, clearly with serious shortcomings and without any controls, ”says Joubert.

Maroela Media will soon publish a reply from SANParks on why they prefer a more progressive approach

Sanparks is too busy with other things. They should actually improve the mandate of protecting the national heritage; all seem to be focused on generating income from things unrelated to conservation.

If the information provided by Joubert is correct then we are long past the point of no return.

For now, put aside the difficulty of getting agreement to culling and the legal challenges that will arise.

There are 40 000 elephant in KNP. Think of this as two groups - a maximum capacity group (MCG) of 5 000 and an over capacity group (OCG) of 35 000.

To maintain the MCG, 325 elephants need to be culled each year. This is 6.5 family groups where a family group consists of about 50 elephants including associated bulls to keep the population balance. At a 6.5% growth rate the population will double every 11 years. Working backwards, it seems that the infrastructure when culling was taking place would have been appropriate to remove this number of elephants.

Just to maintain the OCG, 2 275 elephants (45.5 family groups) need to be culled each year. To eliminate the OCG over 10 years, 78 family groups need to be removed each year. Considering tenders, BEE, meat off take, infrastructure, logistics and the need to close off areas of KNP from tourists when culling is taking place, culling on this scale is simply not workable.

I don't know what the answer is. The equivalent of 50 breeding herds is being added each year. We haven't got a workable solution and the end of KNP as we know it can't be far off if Joubert is correct.

It is simply common sense. Obviously they do not listen to the experts and as Graham's numbers show it is getting too late. Maybe some can be moved to Mozambique It will probably be necessary to put up a strong fence in order to avoid that they return. How are the elephant numbers in Moz?

Very concise, graham!

Have passed your thoughts on to Dr Joubert.

Lis, as the article says moz ellies mostly move back to Kruger, otherwise they are full as far as the transfrontier park is concerned due to water restrictions.

I think culling is workable on an industrial scale, utilising the public partnerships that SANParks are so in love with.

I just wish that SANParks will do something! waiting does not resolve the situation