KNP IN PERSPECTIVE (PART TWO)

[Lisbeth]

(KNP IN PERSPECTIVE (PART ONE)

Kruger Park is up against the ropes )
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KNP IN PERSPECTIVE (PART TWO)

Beyond its exceptional beauty, Kruger National Park is on the ropes and hurting

By Helena Kriel and Don Pinnock | 22.01.2022

Kruger National park has a major rhino-poaching crisis, but that’s just one of its problems.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Crags of ancient rock and twisting rivers, thousand-year-old trees and a rug of bushveld the size of Israel… It’s been part of South Africa’s DNA for generations. And a way of life.
Load the car, strap the kids into the back seat and head for the Lowveld, where the roads kick dust, thorn trees tangle and the bush smells of animals and earth.

Finally, you’re through the gates: Crocodile Bridge, Orpen or, further north, to where elephants congregate: Punda Maria, Pafuri. The morning blisters but it’s okay, because you’re in Kruger and there could be lions round the corner.

But just beyond the fence it’s a different story. Adolescents cluster over a cooking pot in a dismal room with no windows. Both parents are recently dead, maybe from Covid-19 or Aids, and none have jobs. For the desperate youngsters, a zebra is not a moment of black-andwhite dazzle, something to photograph; it’s the possibility of something to eat.
When they look through the fence at the animals inside, they see sustenance. There are impala and bushbuck to snare, duiker to trap. But first prize is rhinos with horns that will bring enough money to feed a family all year.

More than two million poor people live up against the park’s border. In Bushbuck Ridge, youth unemployment stands at a staggering 60%. With empty bellies, their days are often about survival. Many are from Mozambique on the other side of Kruger.

On both sides of the border, there are those who feel the park is land stolen from their forebears during apartheid for exclusive white hunting and leisure. Park outreach programmes notwithstanding, 73% of surrounding community residents have never been inside Kruger. Without any interest or loyalty, the youths are ready for something, anything.

So, when poachers roll in in their expensive new 4x4s and money to spend on dishing out food or rent, how could they not be seen as heroes?

International crime syndicates are targeting the park with up to seven poaching groups operating daily. In seven years from 2014, there were 19,154 logged poacher incursions, an average of 2,736 a year.

You’d think that would demand greater ranger presence, but there are currently 82 unfilled ranger posts and poorly paid rangers are being lured by syndicate cash. Organised crime syndicates are able to coax information from some staff for tip-off money.

Poaching is only part of the park’s problems, however. The Kruger’s operational budget has been cut by 66%, the Covid pandemic has culled tourist bookings and rhino numbers continue to drop.
For now, the dyke is holding – but it’s not clear for how long the park’s beleaguered management can keep back the flood.

In a discussion with Our Burning Planet, Dr Luthando Dziba, SANParks head of conservation services, and Gareth Coleman, Kruger’s managing executive, outlined what it will take to keep the sprawling park afloat. They are frank, they’re focused and they’re tired – 2021 had been a long, hard year.

Beneath the successes – and they are there – a disturbing picture begins to emerge with a lot of unknowns. Plainly put: the Kruger National Park is in trouble. “If we were to start conservation in the park today, we’d do it entirely differently,” says Coleman, who’s been employed to try to turn the Kruger around.

“Kruger exists within South Africa and what happens in the park is a microcosm of what happens in the country. I’ve been doing this for 18 months, which is why I have black rings under my eyes,” he half jokes.

The number of rhinos poached is below 250 (from more than 800 a few years ago). In part, this is attributable to the interventions SANParks has put in place, but also because there are fewer and fewer rhinos to poach.

Despite Kruger having the most advanced anti-poaching mechanisms in the world, the rhino population continues to decline.

“We’re doing everything we can,” Dziba says, “but, from a resource point of view, we’re overstretched; we don’t have the resources… t gives us sleepless nights.”
“Rangers are doing the best they can under very difficult circumstances,” Coleman adds. These include the fact that rangers are poorly paid and there’s no career path.

“With not enough rangers, fatigue sets in and rotation systems are not long enough to give rangers time to rest,” Dziba says.

The notion that the public feel Kruger is doing nothing to curb poaching disturbs Coleman: “If anything preoccupies us, it’s the fight against rhino poaching on the one hand and the deficit of morale and trust amongst employees on the other. This is partly as a result of our successes with enforcement actions. Just climbing over a fence and going to find a rhino is much more difficult now. So the strategy is moving to [an insider] seeing a rhino, giving the coordinates, and then there’s money in a bank account.”

Another huge problem is revenue. Kruger, together with Table Mountain National Park and a few other parks like Addo, are the cash cows for SANParks that help to fund other parks. In the 2019/20 financial year, SANParks generated a surplus of more than R290-million. But, by the end of 2020/21, it registered a loss of more than R92-million, despite cutting expenses by nearly R125-million and having received an additional grant from the government. In 2021/22, it was even worse. SANParks is already registering a deficit of more than R280-million.

“This year, the government is simply not in a position to assist SANParks with additional grant funding due to pressures on the fiscus,” says Dziba. “We had hoped for a bumper festive season to close the funding shortfall. However, the picture changed with the discovery of the new Covid-19 variant and the closure of borders.”

Kruger clearly requires a major rescue plan. The beginnings of one are starting to take shape. was given sight of Coleman’s internal turnaround plan – still provisional – that takes a hard look at the problems that need solving.

The effect of the pandemic on tourism, it says, has been devastating on the operating environment for SANParks and Kruger, and the park’s management are caught in a cycle of crisis management to “keep the lights on”. At worst, some are throwing in the towel, ducking compliance, avoiding making decisions or making private plans.

Delays and cumbersome processes, says the report, have seriously impacted the park’s ability to operate and have affected performance and employee morale, leading to high levels of employee disengagement.

It notes that the ways SANParks is going about maintenance are expensive and not able to meet demand. There are no management plans to deal with existing infrastructure and facilities. This is compounded by a number of camp maintenance teams that do not have the correct balance of skills, as well as a lack of building materials and supplies because of supply-chain failures.

Kruger, it says, needs a holistic plan to upgrade accommodation and infrastructure throughout the park and “to build sustainable living spaces with a very strong greening component”. Without this, it says, SANParks will struggle to access third-party funding.

At root, there are inadequate financial resources to effect change and to secure buyin and support from employees and stakeholders. This, says the report, has forced a rethink on the longer-term sustainability of revenue from a single sector (tourism) and on plans going forward.

Then there’s the matter of exclusion. Kruger became South Africa’s first national park in 1926. Its inhabitants, the Tsonga people, were evicted.

“We’re dealing with that legacy,” Coleman notes. “The problem of excluding people from land and the poverty that has arisen from that.” A century later, there are communities surrounding the park who still see it as an oppressive and exclusionary entity. This feeds into a narrative that legitimises poaching on “stolen” land.

“How can we ensure communities feel a sense of ownership of Kruger and the rhinos?” Dziba asks.

In a committed venture, Coleman travelled to meet 600 small businesses, some of whom are angry. “How do we turn the economy of Kruger outward so we can ensure the people who are closest to the park can begin to benefit?” he asks. “How can we put rhinos under the protection of communities?”

All the problems Kruger faces are exacerbated by distrust among employees fuelled by previous integrity testing that was badly managed. There was no follow-up. An integrity test minus consequences is useless and poaching, says Coleman, is devastating workplace trust. Relationships between people who have lived and worked in the same environment for decades have broken down.

“My view is very clear,” Coleman says. “We need to improve and implement integrity testing. Parliament has been informed that Kruger is targeting a July 2022 implementation date, but this is dependent on funds. There’s also a process of consultation with unions that needs to be concluded.”

It’s about the creatures

The heart of Kruger’s mandate is to preserve its bushveld biodiversity and all the creatures within it. One species, in particular, is at a tipping point. The park’s 2019/20 annual report lists the rhino population at 3,592; this year’s report put it at 2,809. That’s 783 fewer rhinos. Only 250 deaths are poaching related, but the mortality numbers are dire.

What happened to the rest is an open question. When questioned in Parliament, Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said counting was not an exact science and talked about count confidence levels, observer bias, sampling error and drought, but 533 “missing” rhinos is hard to swallow.

At this rate, the world’s greatest rhino population could go locally extinct in as few as three years. It means Kruger would no longer be a Big Five game reserve. The consequences of that are chilling for the park’s international reputation.

SANParks is exploring private/public partnerships around rhinos and there are discussions with the Wilderness Foundation to find land to create sanctuaries away from poaching danger zones.
Kruger has also embarked on a massive, ongoing dehorning exercise at tremendous cost. This might stem the tide of poaching. But, because poachers operate at night, the lack of a horn is not easy to see.

With the scourge of poaching sweeping SA – 24 rhinos were poached, mostly on private land, over 24 hours in December – many owners are running out of personal funds to look after their animals.

“There’s a concern there will be disinvestment in rhino,” Dziba says. “We will then have to assist some of the private owners who say it is too costly to look after rhino. This is on our minds now.”

How are the elephants faring? Much better, although there’s been some poaching. When culling ceased in 2000, there were about 7,000. The annual report now lists elephants at 31,527.

“We need to consider what the options are for a growing elephant population,” Dziba tells us. “It’s a good problem for a change! We’re looking where we can increase suitable habitat for elephants in the country. We also need to look at sharing our success with African elephant range states…”

The lion population has increased by 12%. When measured against the decline by 66% in central and west Africa, that’s something to be pleased about. But, in the northern sector of the park, some lions have been found poisoned, which could signal the beginning of an uptick in lion poaching.

Where to from here?

To summarise: Kruger Park has critical revenue problems, tourist revenues have crashed, international criminal networks are targeting its rhinos, there aren’t enough rangers so job fatigue is inevitable, and ranger pay is insufficient, which has made “dropbox” tipoffs tempting.

There are over two million poor people just outside the park’s fences. Although many support its proximity, there are also those with no sense of ownership and for whom the animals the park is tasked to protect are simply food.

Before us are two men passionate about conservation who face a mammoth task of conserving some of Africa’s iconic species with dwindling resources. But they also face socioeconomic challenges that the broader community has to deal with: poverty, poor service delivery and transnational crime. It’s simply not sustainable. In fact, it’s outside their mandate.

Until Covid lockdowns, Kruger was one of the most profitable national parks in the world. It attracted in excess of one million visitors a year. It cannot be allowed to fail. What it needs, for a start, are: sufficient funds to operate efficiently, internationally sourced if necessary, to finance operations and to upgrade infrastructure to remain competitive in the tourism industry;

SANParks to be more open to new funding, developmental, business and conservation models; enough trained rangers to do the job; private-sector partners; growing collaboration with neighbours and their clients; the end of international demand for rhino horn and ivory; an end to finger-pointing between interest groups, be they visitors, the private sector, communities, conservation lobby groups or the government; and collective responsibility taken to find sustainable solutions that work and to mobilise a large amount of concern and goodwill towards the park.

The world’s greatest rhino population could go locally extinct in as few as three years. It means Kruger would no longer be a Big Five game reserve

Visiting Kruger Park is a magical, unforgettable immersion in the African wilderness. For the city-weary exhausted by phones, stress and social-media chatter, the park is an ancient, timeless place where we are reminded of the legacy Earth offers us. This is how it’s been for millions of years in South Africa’s Lowveld. What will it take to keep it this way?

[Lisbeth]

Gareth Coleman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-coleman-0597622/

Informazioni

An accomplished public infrastructure, regional & local economic development, private sector, small business, quality and governance strategist with over 36 years professional and programme management experience 24 of which have been in senior management positions. He has been a key expert and Team Leader on a number of international donor funded assignments.

Gareth’s career has focused on developing policy and strategy and building the business systems and organisational capacity required for the delivery of these policies and strategies. This has been across a range of industries in both the public and private sectors, in South Africa and globally. He is a Professionally Registered Planner with SACPLAN, a Chartered Quality Professional and a Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute of Southern Africa.

He has a cumulative 15 years of experience as the Chief Operating Officer of a private company and Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director of successful organisations responsible for pioneering public-private sector partnerships in economic development and the built environment. For over 22 years of his career he has managed and participated in Boards of private companies, not for profit companies and public entities as both Executive and Non-Executive Director.

No experience whatsoever with conservation, wildlife etc.

[Richprins]

This article makes me happy in that it at least confirms some things we have been worried about for years, such as the poor rhino census, staff poaching, and questionable SANParks finances.

But it is WRONG and infuriating on so many levels!!!

I shall dissect it later.

[Lisbeth]

Good! because it cost me €2.00 to copy it

[Richprins]

Lis!

[Richprins]

My replies are in red:

Kruger National park has a major rhino-poaching crisis, but that’s just one of its problems.

By Helena Kriel and Don Pinnock | 22.01.2022

Crags of ancient rock and twisting rivers, thousand-year-old trees and a rug of bushveld the size of Israel… It’s been part of South Africa’s DNA for generations. And a way of life.
Load the car, strap the kids into the back seat and head for the Lowveld, where the roads kick dust, thorn trees tangle and the bush smells of animals and earth.

Finally, you’re through the gates: Crocodile Bridge, Orpen or, further north, to where elephants congregate: Punda Maria, Pafuri. The morning blisters but it’s okay, because you’re in Kruger and there could be lions round the corner.

But just beyond the fence it’s a different story. Adolescents cluster over a cooking pot in a dismal room with no windows. Both parents are recently dead, maybe from Covid-19 or Aids, and none have jobs. For the desperate youngsters, a zebra is not a moment of black-andwhite dazzle, something to photograph; it’s the possibility of something to eat.
When they look through the fence at the animals inside, they see sustenance. There are impala and bushbuck to snare, duiker to trap. But first prize is rhinos with horns that will bring enough money to feed a family all year. This is a very sweeping and condescending statement. All are aware that poaching is a crime. All are also aware that Kruger provides a steady source of income via tourism and jobs. This is why the communities target the entrance roads in protests, either for their various political reasons, or to protest that the jobs in Kruger go to those outside the Lowveld. Subsistence poaching has been there since the park's origin over 100 years ago.

More than two million poor people live up against the park’s border. In Bushbuck Ridge, youth unemployment stands at a staggering 60%. With empty bellies, their days are often about survival. Many are from Mozambique on the other side of Kruger. This is indeed a tragedy, but of the Government's making, and also a long-standing issue over many decades.

On both sides of the border, there are those who feel the park is land stolen from their forebears during apartheid for exclusive white hunting and leisure. Park outreach programmes notwithstanding, 73% of surrounding community residents have never been inside Kruger. Without any interest or loyalty, the youths are ready for something, anything. Quite the contrary. Aside from a few political figures most residents have little interest in Kruger, or knowledge thereof. They do not think it is stolen land at all, rather government land. Once again, they are aware of tourism job creation, which is wildly more important to them. This is just the Apartheid card being played in a preamble to somehow justifying the mess that is Kruger, or frankly to justify criminality.

So, when poachers roll in in their expensive new 4x4s and money to spend on dishing out food or rent, how could they not be seen as heroes? Easily. They are known to be lawbreakers, not heroes. It is an oft-repeated mantra that crime can be soft-soaped because poor people are dazzled by its proceeds. By far the vast majority of community members are themselves victims of regular crime, and seek to earn an honest living. A tiny few steal, and they certainly don't stop stealing once their tummies are full. They want to show off, having learned from the highest in Government.

International crime syndicates are targeting the park with up to seven poaching groups operating daily. In seven years from 2014, there were 19,154 logged poacher incursions, an average of 2,736 a year.

You’d think that would demand greater ranger presence, but there are currently 82 unfilled ranger posts and poorly paid rangers are being lured by syndicate cash. Organised crime syndicates are able to coax information from some staff for tip-off money. Rangers are NOT poorly-paid!! They receive commensurate civil-service salaries with many perks including medical, housing and pension benefits. It is hogwash to even remotely try and minimise the sheer greed and opportunism displayed by the rangers and staff involved, some of them senior officials who are actually upper-middle class. It is gluttony, nothing more, nothing less.

Poaching is only part of the park’s problems, however. The Kruger’s operational budget has been cut by 66%, the Covid pandemic has culled tourist bookings and rhino numbers continue to drop.
For now, the dyke is holding – but it’s not clear for how long the park’s beleaguered management can keep back the flood. What flood? All that has changed is the loss of income over 1.5 fiancial years. The crisis was in the making long before Covid tourism lockdowns, so one may as well leave that out.

In a discussion with Our Burning Planet, Dr Luthando Dziba, SANParks head of conservation services, and Gareth Coleman, Kruger’s managing executive, outlined what it will take to keep the sprawling park afloat. They are frank, they’re focused and they’re tired – 2021 had been a long, hard year.

Beneath the successes – and they are there – a disturbing picture begins to emerge with a lot of unknowns. Plainly put: the Kruger National Park is in trouble. “If we were to start conservation in the park today, we’d do it entirely differently,” says Coleman, who’s been employed to try to turn the Kruger around.

“Kruger exists within South Africa and what happens in the park is a microcosm of what happens in the country. I’ve been doing this for 18 months, which is why I have black rings under my eyes,” he half jokes. Exactly what we have been saying. There is corruption and theft in Kruger just like any other government entity in SA.

The number of rhinos poached is below 250 (from more than 800 a few years ago). In part, this is attributable to the interventions SANParks has put in place, but also because there are fewer and fewer rhinos to poach.

Despite Kruger having the most advanced anti-poaching mechanisms in the world, the rhino population continues to decline.

“We’re doing everything we can,” Dziba says, “but, from a resource point of view, we’re overstretched; we don’t have the resources… t gives us sleepless nights.”
“Rangers are doing the best they can under very difficult circumstances,” Coleman adds. These include the fact that rangers are poorly paid and there’s no career path. I don't think the last sentence is Coleman's words. Rangers know exactly what their salaries and career paths are before applying, and tens of thousands of honest young men nearby would give anything for their jobs.

“With not enough rangers, fatigue sets in and rotation systems are not long enough to give rangers time to rest,” Dziba says. There will never be enough rangers if they have to contend with poaching by their own staff.

The notion that the public feel Kruger is doing nothing to curb poaching disturbs Coleman: “If anything preoccupies us, it’s the fight against rhino poaching on the one hand and the deficit of morale and trust amongst employees on the other. This is partly as a result of our successes with enforcement actions. Just climbing over a fence and going to find a rhino is much more difficult now. So the strategy is moving to [an insider] seeing a rhino, giving the coordinates, and then there’s money in a bank account.” In other words the rangers are doing a good job, actually, and their own colleagues are the problem. Mozambique insurgents are very limited these days.

Another huge problem is revenue. Kruger, together with Table Mountain National Park and a few other parks like Addo, are the cash cows for SANParks that help to fund other parks. In the 2019/20 financial year, SANParks generated a surplus of more than R290-million. But, by the end of 2020/21, it registered a loss of more than R92-million, despite cutting expenses by nearly R125-million and having received an additional grant from the government. In 2021/22, it was even worse. SANParks is already registering a deficit of more than R280-million. SANParks finances have always been nebulous, but as said, there have been huge surpluses in the prvious decades. These translated into reserves that should have been sufficient to cover the losses. It is also refreshing that they admit Government does indeed give lavish annual grants to SANParks, as opposed to the oft-quoted mantra that SANParks must pay its own way. The truth is that tourism numbers had been steadily declining before Covid, which is due to overpricing and poor maintenance. Given the amount of state money stolen via government fraud during Covid in 2020, and that Kruger is a "microcosm of SA", I would go through the financial statements using an independent agency.

“This year, the government is simply not in a position to assist SANParks with additional grant funding due to pressures on the fiscus,” says Dziba. “We had hoped for a bumper festive season to close the funding shortfall. However, the picture changed with the discovery of the new Covid-19 variant and the closure of borders.” Welcome to the rest of South Africa as far as tightening the belt goes. Follow government's lead and reduce the bloated wage bill within SANParks, which accounts for the lion's share of its budget. For example, the "magnificent seven" top employees in the organisation each earn nearly R2 million per annum, including perks and bonuses. The days of lavish 10%+ annual increases, as demanded by the unions to which all staff belong, have rendered the organisation fiancially unviable.


Kruger clearly requires a major rescue plan. I think Kruger requires a change of SA Government, that is all that will help. The beginnings of one are starting to take shape. was given sight of Coleman’s internal turnaround plan – still provisional – that takes a hard look at the problems that need solving.

The effect of the pandemic on tourism, it says, has been devastating on the operating environment for SANParks and Kruger, and the park’s management are caught in a cycle of crisis management to “keep the lights on”. At worst, some are throwing in the towel, ducking compliance, avoiding making decisions or making private plans. This is of concern. But it began before Covid and has more to do with worthy uncorruptable and hardworking professional staff becoming disillusioned by the lack of consequences for the lazy and criminal staff, who in fact rally against them should they take a stand. The race card is employed in this regard, as happened to the previous Kruger COO. So be it if those staff who cannot make it don't survive, but until the useless employees are sacked nothing will change. It is a carbon copy of Eskom, for example.

Delays and cumbersome processes, says the report, have seriously impacted the park’s ability to operate and have affected performance and employee morale, leading to high levels of employee disengagement.

It notes that the ways SANParks is going about maintenance are expensive and not able to meet demand. The maintenance system is specifically designed to encourage large projects and tenders where patronage and corruption can thrive, in my opinion. This is common in state entities.There are no management plans to deal with existing infrastructure and facilities. This is compounded by a number of camp maintenance teams that do not have the correct balance of skills, What skills are required other than getting off their arses and inspecting units? I have dealt with dozens of them and they are all intelligent and move astonishingly effectively when prodded. as well as a lack of building materials and supplies because of supply-chain failures. Now that we get to the nitty-gritty causes, Covid and Apartheid are mercifully not excuses anymore. "Supply-chain failures" is code for corruption.

Kruger, it says, needs a holistic plan to upgrade accommodation and infrastructure throughout the park and “to build sustainable living spaces with a very strong greening component”. Please God no. It was proven decades ago that Kruger could be maintained with existing resources and manpower, and money is not a problem and will increase should SIMPLE MAINTENANCE and hard work be the order of the day, not grandiose schemes. A team of Honorary rangers regularly whip a camp into shape over the course of a few days, why can paid staff not do it? Without this, it says, SANParks will struggle to access third-party funding. Rubbish. Stop chasing money and false promises of bailouts, and as stated take a hard look at internal processes and staff evaluation and dismissals for non-performance, otherwise the money will continue to be "wasted".

At root, there are inadequate financial resources to effect change and to secure buyin and support from employees and stakeholders. Nonsense. Private lodges and B&Bs easily compete with Kruger, with far fewer resources and staff. Kruger has immense advantages regarding no mortgages, existing utility infrastructure, existing maintenance equipment, government support etc that should make finances a doddle, especially given the truly exorbitant accommodation costs.This, says the report, has forced a rethink on the longer-term sustainability of revenue from a single sector (tourism) and on plans going forward. I don't know what this ominous statement means, but kindly tell us, Mr Report? Are you going to build more hotels or concessions, or sell parts of Kruger? This is just a knee-jerk reaction, now again effectively using Covid as some sort of excuse for a disastrous new venture while the current problem is fixable. They simply don't want to confront the problem individuals, nor trim the wage bill.

Then there’s the matter of exclusion. Kruger became South Africa’s first national park in 1926. Its inhabitants, the Tsonga people, were evicted. This is also often exaggerated. Kruger was 90% empty when proclaimed. Some were evicted, some were allowed to stay and live out their days, most were transplanted to alternative areas. This included Vendas and Swazis.

“We’re dealing with that legacy,” Coleman notes. “The problem of excluding people from land and the poverty that has arisen from that.” A century later, there are communities surrounding the park who still see it as an oppressive and exclusionary entity. This feeds into a narrative that legitimises poaching on “stolen” land. As stated earlier, this is a cop-out and represents a tiny fraction of neighbours. Communities are interested in jobs and services, and don't give two hoots about the history, in my experience. The political spectre has been raised for 20 years now, and little of it has actually emerged as truth. But if that is really the case, it is a political problem and our dear Government would surely have deproclaimed Kruger by now? Why didn't they? Why has there never been a single protest by the communities demanding the deproclamation of Kruger? In fact a number of land claims have been "settled" all around Kruger, with some SANParks officials and community leaders emerging very rich men afterwards. It is a red herring that is tiresome, false, and condescending.

“How can we ensure communities feel a sense of ownership of Kruger and the rhinos?” Dziba asks. Not your problem. Just enforce the law and revitalise the Park, and economic spinoffs will make the communities very happy. They don't need more politicians telling them what to think, and you should stop playing politics.

In a committed venture, Coleman travelled to meet 600 small businesses, some of whom are angry. “How do we turn the economy of Kruger outward so we can ensure the people who are closest to the park can begin to benefit?” he asks. “How can we put rhinos under the protection of communities?” It is impossible to equate small businesses and economic problems with the greed-driven poaching scourge. Rhinos would be poached in the middle of Sandton if there was such a conglomeration of corrupt custodians there.

All the problems Kruger faces are exacerbated by distrust among employees fuelled by previous integrity testing that was badly managed. There was no follow-up. An integrity test minus consequences is useless and poaching, says Coleman, is devastating workplace trust. Relationships between people who have lived and worked in the same environment for decades have broken down. Thank you for at last being honest, Mr Coleman. This is the nub of the problem, the general lack of consequences for crime amongst staff. This comes straight from the top in South Africa, and can only be solved by strong leadership right from the top, supported by relentless legal action.

“My view is very clear,” Coleman says. “We need to improve and implement integrity testing. Parliament has been informed that Kruger is targeting a July 2022 implementation date, but this is dependent on funds. There’s also a process of consultation with unions that needs to be concluded.” Good luck. Your predecessor was sunk by criminal staff with a racial agenda, strongly supported by the equally corrupt unions who hold political influence. Politics have ultimately proved to be the downfall of Kruger, not Covid, Apartheid or poaching.

It’s about the creatures

The heart of Kruger’s mandate is to preserve its bushveld biodiversity and all the creatures within it. One species, in particular, is at a tipping point. The park’s 2019/20 annual report lists the rhino population at 3,592; this year’s report put it at 2,809. That’s 783 fewer rhinos. Only 250 deaths are poaching related, but the mortality numbers are dire.

What happened to the rest is an open question. When questioned in Parliament, Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said counting was not an exact science and talked about count confidence levels, observer bias, sampling error and drought, but 533 “missing” rhinos is hard to swallow. It is not hard to swallow, and makes perfect sense if you have been following over the years that Kruger has no idea of how many rhino it has, wildly estimating numbers left and right, without doing a proper aerial census. 15 years now!

At this rate, the world’s greatest rhino population could go locally extinct in as few as three years. It means Kruger would no longer be a Big Five game reserve. The consequences of that are chilling for the park’s international reputation.

SANParks is exploring private/public partnerships around rhinos and there are discussions with the Wilderness Foundation to find land to create sanctuaries away from poaching danger zones.
Kruger has also embarked on a massive, ongoing dehorning exercise at tremendous cost. This might stem the tide of poaching. But, because poachers operate at night, the lack of a horn is not easy to see. No it won't help. They kill for the stump, or shoot first and look later, in the dark, or kill a dehorned one so they don't waste time on it again.

With the scourge of poaching sweeping SA – 24 rhinos were poached, mostly on private land, over 24 hours in December – many owners are running out of personal funds to look after their animals.

“There’s a concern there will be disinvestment in rhino,” Dziba says. “We will then have to assist some of the private owners who say it is too costly to look after rhino. This is on our minds now.” You have enough problems, just stick to your own please. Private owners make a plan. It would be death to unleash any state workers on private stocks.

How are the elephants faring? Much better, although there’s been some poaching. When culling ceased in 2000, there were about 7,000. The annual report now lists elephants at 31,527.

“We need to consider what the options are for a growing elephant population,” Dziba tells us. “It’s a good problem for a change! We’re looking where we can increase suitable habitat for elephants in the country. We also need to look at sharing our success with African elephant range states…” No, it is a horrific problem and you have no idea how many elephant there are either. They will destroy what is left of Kruger once politicians are finished with it.

The lion population has increased by 12%. When measured against the decline by 66% in central and west Africa, that’s something to be pleased about. But, in the northern sector of the park, some lions have been found poisoned, which could signal the beginning of an uptick in lion poaching.

Where to from here?

To summarise: Kruger Park has critical revenue problems, tourist revenues have crashed, international criminal networks are targeting its rhinos, there aren’t enough rangers so job fatigue is inevitable, and ranger pay is insufficient, which has made “dropbox” tipoffs tempting.

There are over two million poor people just outside the park’s fences. Although many support its proximity, there are also those with no sense of ownership and for whom the animals the park is tasked to protect are simply food.

Before us are two men passionate about conservation who face a mammoth task of conserving some of Africa’s iconic species with dwindling resources. But they also face socioeconomic challenges that the broader community has to deal with: poverty, poor service delivery and transnational crime. It’s simply not sustainable. In fact, it’s outside their mandate. Thank you for agreeing with what we have been saying for years! There are lavishly-funded Government Departments tasked with dealing with the socio-economic ills of the communities, who are welcome to vote them out of power, incidentally. It is not Kruger's problem, and in fact Kruger does a great deal already in providing an economic and employment inflow to the region.

Until Covid lockdowns, Kruger was one of the most profitable national parks in the world. It attracted in excess of one million visitors a year. It cannot be allowed to fail. What it needs, for a start, are: sufficient funds to operate efficiently, internationally sourced if necessary, to finance operations and to upgrade infrastructure to remain competitive in the tourism industry; No, it needs a decriminalised and performance-oriented staff and supply chain system, that is all thank you. Not more money to steal. In fact there is no rule that says it even needs to make a profit, as it is a conservation area.

SANParks to be more open to new funding, Why? Things should normalise. developmental, business and conservation models; enough trained rangers to do the job; private-sector partners The private sector already contribute, and have their own problems; growing collaboration with neighbours and their clients; the end of international demand for rhino horn and ivory; an end to finger-pointing between interest groups, be they visitors, the private sector, communities, conservation lobby groups or the government We need more finger-pointing and less cheerleading; and collective responsibility taken to find sustainable solutions that work and to mobilise a large amount of concern and goodwill towards the park. There is more than enough concern and goodwill. the public is not the problem, the staff at SANParks are the problem.

The world’s greatest rhino population could go locally extinct in as few as three years. It means Kruger would no longer be a Big Five game reserve

Visiting Kruger Park is a magical, unforgettable immersion in the African wilderness. For the city-weary exhausted by phones, stress and social-media chatter, the park is an ancient, timeless place where we are reminded of the legacy Earth offers us. This is how it’s been for millions of years in South Africa’s Lowveld. What will it take to keep it this way?

[Lisbeth]

Excellent review/ evaluation/critic of the article ( as far as I can judge not being an insider of Kruger).

I presume that the article is based on the "SANParks Annual Report 2020/2021". https://www.africawild-forum.com/viewto ... 03#p551103

Coleman travelled to meet 600 small businesses

They cannot all be dependent on the Kruger visitors and then it is their business not that of Kruger. All businesses have suffered due to the Covid 19.

“If we were to start conservation in the park today, we’d do it entirely differently,” says Coleman, who’s been employed to try to turn the Kruger around.

I wonder how? It worked fine until not that many years ago I don't think that conservation would be the main core.

[Richprins]

Lis!

The solutions offered are a bit mysterious...

[Mel]

I finally found the time to read that intimidatingly long article too.

Excellent points, you made their, RP. Thanks for that!

Shouldn't we try to get more publicity for your counter arguments somehow...

[Richprins]

Sent along to media!