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- The birth
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- Wildlife management and research
- In retrospect
Wildlife Management and Research
When the old Sabie Game Re serve was proclaimed in 1898, all that it contained were the scattered remnants of large animal herds which had once roamed this bushveld Eden. For nearly half a century they had been harassed and slaughtered by increasing numbers of white hunters armed with rifles, and the diminishing herds were further eroded by the snares, traps and spears of tribesmen living in the area. Then, almost as a spiteful after thought, Nature dealt a calamitous and near-disastrous blow. A massive outbreak of rinderpest swept through the Lowveld in 1896, leaving in its wake untold thousands of bloated corpses. Except for a few stragglers, the entire buffalo population had been wiped out. With this epidemic too, and for reasons unknown, the hated tsetse fly disappeared into the depths of Portuguese East Africa.
Stevenson-Hamilton arrived in 1902 to find the reserve severely depleted of animals. To help the herds of antelope regain a foothold and struggle along the road to abundance, he declared war on all predatory mammals. Lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild-dogs, even reptiles and predatory birds did not escape the bullets of the warden and his staff. Slowly, but noticeably, the herds of herbivores began increasing, until they had a better chance of survival. This was the beginning of a policy of wildlife management designed to ensure the continuation of all animal and plant species within the reserve. Man had originally stepped in to decimate the animal herds; now it was up to man to re store that balance which had existed prior to his arrival. The more one learns about James Stevenson-Hamilton, the more convinced one becomes that this was an exceptional man. Besides a deep interest in wildlife, he had no qualifications for his job of game management and conservation. Yet his every action created unique precedents — most of which are still followed today.
In 1905 he visited Inhambane, in Portuguese East Africa, to obtain eland which he hoped would serve as a breeding herd to re-establish the now non-existent herds of the Sabie and Shingwedzi reserves. He returned with a young bull and a female calf, which were kept in a pen at Sabie Bridge (Skukuxa) where they eventually increased to a herd of ten. But while Stevenson-Hamilton was on active service in Europe during World War I, all aspects of conservation, management and administration in the reserve declined, the herd of eland was also neglected and all died. The first attempt at re-establishing a disappeared species had failed.
Stevenson-Hamilton appears to have had a three-pronged strategy to ensure the survival of the wildlife in his care. Firstly, an unremitting battle to apprehend poachers and reduce poaching. Secondly, a roughly monitored program to reduce the number of carnivores, particularly lions, so that herbivores could regain some semblance of their previous abundance. But his third task, self-imposed, was his greatest. This was a long drawn-out political struggle to keep the un-spoilt wilderness from the hungry clutches of the farming companies — and it brought to light his tenacity, ingenuity and formidable debating powers. The period 1910 to 1923 nearly saw the downfall of the Sabie Game Reserve and it is extremely unlikely that the Kruger National Park of today would exist but for his efforts.
Though the proclamation of the Kruger National Park led to a slight easing of financial pressures, resources were still limited, and it was only when money became more readily available that Stevenson- Hamilton could add a fourth dimension to his management strategy:
to spread and stabilize over wider areas the supply of water available to the animals. During the dry winter they had always congested around a few permanent waterholes and along the major rivers, which often led to severe over-grazing and trampling of the nearby veld. If he could supply watering-points in other areas, the animals would become spread more evenly and the veld would suffer less.
A novel idea, and intended for a large area, this would involve substantial sums of money to which Stevenson-Hamilton had no ordinary access. Again he spread the word, ably presented the benefit of his scheme, and people became convinced of the logic of his concept. Friends organized fund-raising campaigns, and as money dribbled in Stevenson-Hamilton could make a start. He began sinking boreholes at Pretoriuskop in 1933, and by 1935 14 successful holes had been sunk at various strategic sites, where windmills spread-eagled the holes to pump out the life-giving water. Since that time the water-for- game program has continued and new dams or windmills go up every year.
The constant protection given to the animals allowed the populations of the various species to multiply at an ever-increasing rate, with competition for food and space becoming more and more evident. It also became clear that scientific research was necessary to study the requirements of key species which determined or influenced the survival of other species. Such knowledge could be used for better management of each species and for the ultimate benefit of all the animals and plants.
In 1950 a scientific research section was established and the appointment of Dr T.G. Nel in October that year heralded a new era, one which would lead to a vastly improved and reliable wildlife management policy. Headquarters for this section was established at Skukuza, and in 1951 another biologist was appointed.
One of the research section’s first tasks was to devise and implement an effective burning program. The Park was divided into a series of 400 blocks, each separated by firebreak roads to prevent fire from causing such extensive damage as it had previously. Smaller experimental blocks were established in the various habitat types to monitor on a long-term basis the effect of the various burning regimes. This data has resulted in an effective strategy of burning for the greater area of the Park.
A seemingly simple move, which would eventually have far-reaching effects, was initiated in 1959. The Kruger National Park had as natural boundaries the Crocodile river in the south and the Luvuvhu river in the north. To the east stood the Lebombo mountains, but in numerable passes and valleys allowed the free passage of animals. The western boundary ran through an open plain, with no natural barrier to the animals. During the winter large herds of wildebeest and zebra would migrate from the parched plains to the moist foothills of the Drakensberg in the west, blissfully unaware of the arbitrary line officialdom had designated as the western boundary. Thus animals and poachers alike could move with relative ease across both western and eastern boundaries.
This free movement of game — especially along the western side — presented problems, not only because of the large number of animals being shot on the adjoining farms, but because of increasing insistence by veterinary departments that the wild animals posed a threat to domestic stock by spreading foot-and-mouth disease. In 1959, there fore, work was started to fence the entire western boundary and in 1975 the international border forming the eastern side was also fenced with elephant-resistant cable.
The fencing of the boundaries created an artificial system. Al though very large, the Kruger National Park was not a natural eco logical unit and the traditional winter migration paths were now excluded by the fences. With the animals restricted to a confined area, water had to be supplied, and controlled burning of vegetation exercised to ensure sufficient grazing.
Under such conditions — and with the added factor of indiscriminate protection of all animal species — imbalances were almost certain to occur. And they did. The phenomenal increase in the elephant population exemplifies this. From having been reduced in the Lowveld to a mere handful of survivors around the turn of the century, elephant numbers slowly recovered and increased within the protection of the reserves. In 1946 Colonel Sandenbergh estimated the number of elephants in the entire Kruger Park at between 400 and 500. Using a light aircraft, the first aerial count of the larger mammals in 1959 showed the elephant population had doubled to 986. In the same year fencing began, and elephants could no longer filter off into less dense areas when their population levels became too high. During another aerial count in 1964 it was found that the elephant population had exploded to 2 374. The buffalo population had shown a similar trend.
The incredible rise in numbers of these two species was alarming. The damage they caused to vegetation was becoming increasingly apparent and would eventually threaten their own existence as well as that of other species. After lengthy study and computer analysis, it was eventually decided on November 30th, 1965 that where a species became a threat to itself, other animals and the vegetation, the population should be reduced to a level which could be adequately sup ported by the environment. From 1966, therefore, controlled culling, especially of buffalo and elephant populations, was introduced.
When this practice became public knowledge a veritable hornet’s nest was stirred. Thousands of words were written in newspapers and magazines regarding the so-called ‘slaughter’, raising a spectre of blood-thirsty officials decimating vast herds of elephant and buffalo with little concern for their suffering. Nothing could be further from the truth. Only now, nearly 20 years later, has the public begun to accept that control of animal populations is, in fact, necessary and humane.
By taking into account factors such as the impact of buffalo and elephant on vegetation, and the needs of other species living in close association with the buffalo and elephant in their preferred areas, it was decided to stabilize the elephant population at between 7 000 and 7 500, and the buffalo population at
25 000.
Another program which aroused considerable interest among visitors was the drug-darting of animals for re-location or scientific study. An adapted cross-bow fitted with a special dart filled with an anaesthetizing drug, could be used to temporarily sedate any animal long enough for it to be caged for transportation to other areas or parks, for the treatment of snare-wounds, to be marked with ear-tags and neckbands and released, or merely to obtain blood-samples and measurements. In this way hippopotamuses were drugged and transferred from Kruger Park to the Addo Elephant Park, rhino were re established in the Kruger Park from other areas such as Zululand, and elephant and lion were marked for a study of their migratory patterns.
As well as such team efforts, many excellent and authoritative studies have been made by individual zoologists on the ecology of various animal species such as impala, zebra, lion, elephant, roan ante lope and others. In the botanical field there have been several studies on the flora, including a long-term study on the trees of the Park by Piet van Wyk, present chief of research and information, which resulted in a monumental and lavishly illustrated, two-volume reference work for scientists and laymen.
Extensive veterinary research includes projects on the parasites and diseases of mammals, and a major study on the epidemiology of anthrax. This bacterial disease is prevalent in the northern areas of the Park and occasional epidemics occur, especially during unusually dry seasons. The very rare roan antelope are particularly susceptible to the disease, and anthrax kills large numbers of these and other animals. During the early 1970’s the veterinarian and present assistant chief of research and information, Dr V. de Vos, devised an immunization program which entails annual darting, from a helicopter, each roan antelope with an immunizing drug. A few massive outbreaks of this disease have resulted in the death of hundreds of the Park’s animals in recent years.
At present ten scientific researchers and technical assistants stationed at Skukuza carry out field work throughout the Park. And though often they have come under critical-fire, the continued survival and peaceful co-existence of all the animals and plants in this artificially created ecosystem is largely due to their genuine concern and efforts.
Colonel Sandenbergh, who took over the reins of control from Stevenson-Hamilton, was succeeded by Mr L.B. Steyn (1954-1961), Mr A.M. Brynard (1961-1970) who is now director of all national parks, and finally Dr U. de V. Pienaar, the pioneering biologist who since the 1950’s has expertly nurtured and guided the scientific re search division to its present status as one of the world leaders in the practice of conservation and management of wildlife.
The Kruger today < Wildlife management and research > In retrospect
