Africa Wild

Lowvelder 10 May 2013

Two things concern me here: Firstly, I find it ominous that "game viewing conditions for tourists" is mentioned as a consequence of bush encroachment, once again!

How on earth can this facet possibly enter the minds of scientists trying to ascertain and manipulate a natural phenomenon on such a massive scale? Inconvenience to tourists is not considered when blowing up dams and waterholes, for example, and rightly so!

Secondly, the reference to roan antelope and tsessebe is pointless in this context, indeed there is not much of a bush encroachment problem in their home ranges, hundreds of kilometres away from the scene of this impending firestorm. On the other hand, the blocks set to be blitzed are PRIME wild dog habitat! (Ironically, should the area be firebombed into a grassland after years of trying, plains game will increase, lion will increase, and bye-bye wild dog... )


So if you want to test CO2 hypothyses regarding climate change, fine, but don't throw smoke screens regarding potential benefits around it, if you'll excuse the pun!


I also find the choice of blocks right in the middle of an EXTREMELY busy tourist area questionable, and irresponsible!

There are plenty of overgrown blocks in the Stolznek, Naphe and N'watimhiri areas, well away from tourist traffic. In fact, the only variable that has changed since 2009 is the intended building of the Malelane Luxury Hotel...

Elephant not burnt in controlled fire

A photo by a visitor showing a badly burnt young elephant sparked a debate among members of the Kruge National park Facebook group about controlled fires in the reserve.

15 July 2013


SKUKUZA - The South African National Parks (SANParks) would like to refute claims that a fire which injured a young elephant and possibly a rhino in the Kruger National Park (KNP) recently was part of the controlled fires currently being administered in the park.

This according to Dr Freek Venter, General Manager: Conservation Management in the KNP, who said this, was as a result of a runaway fire that jumped over the border from Mozambique into the KNP. “A south easterly wind created adverse conditions which resulted in a fast moving fire on the day.”

He said the smoke from this type of fire sometimes overcomes animals and confuses them resulting in burns and injuries. “With regards to controlled fires, SANParks has a strict Fire Danger Index guideline, which indicates when it is safe to administer controlled burns and KNP is no exception.”

Venter confirmed that the badly burned elephant had to be put down and investigations are being carried out with regards to the injured rhino. SANParks would like to thank the visitors who notified the authorities about this incident and encourages this kind of reporting.

The photo of the elephant was posted on the Facebook page SANParks -Kruger National Park Group by Kobus Seegers who wrote: "Found this poor burnt Ellie between Lower Sabie and Crocodile bridge in the Kruger National Park. the feet was so badly burnt that it could hardly walk. the trunk was also badly damaged. It was badly burnt in a "controlled" veld-fire. Why don't SANParks remove animals before they burn an area? This was several days after the fire. Even its mother was burnt."


SANParks Media Release: Animal casualty not a result of a controlled fire

That does happen, and has been the case in the past, before firebombing. KNP are certainly careful now after the 2010 debacle...hopefully!

The controlled fires shouldn't really have started on a large scale yet, they normally wait to see what has happened in an uncontrolled fashion until September.

As far as I am aware, a controlled fire has to be a 30/30 fire condition. This means that the temperature must be below 30 degrees centigrade and the wind speed must be below 30Kph.

That leaves basically only July for controlled burns. In August the wind speed generally exceeds 30 and in September the temps regularly reach 30+. The humidity must also be greater than 30%, if one of these conditions are exceeded it is no longer a controlled fire.

Early controlled burns will also serve as a fire break should an uncontrolled fire run through the area.

That was true, but things have changed?

I said "large scale"...saw a few small burns started on my trip this weekend, clearly from the roadside, but not remarkable. Another problem is that old firebreaks have been left to devolve, as part of the new scenario.

Richprins wrote:That was true, but things have changed?

All that has changed is the mindset of the person in charge.

An Afrikaans article today in Lowvelder...and credit to our local paper for following up.

Basically, a lot of uncertainty surrounds the above story, and a lot is lost in communication between the above too.

The tourist who reported the calf insists it was miles away from any recent burn. SP insists there were no controlled burns on that date, ie. the rogue fire date. However, they cannot provide the newspaper with a date of the last controlled burn, this rogue burn, or the euthanisation of the elephant. Nothing from Wildlife Mangement or communications office.

The tourists says "how come SP can say they know of the rogue burn, but only reacted after tourist info regarding the ellie calf and rhino."

Which doesn't quite sum up, but anyway, that is the battle raging elsewhere...

We planned a day trip and to utilize maks of the day we need to now the sit i.r. o. burnt areas . The area I'am talking about is South of the H4 -1 Skukuza/Lower-Sabie
Thanks.

Dup, we just got back and didn't find any badly burned areas in the south. The parts that were burned were already shooting new green grass.