There Was a Time When the Agulhas Region Hosted One of the Largest Concentrations of Wildlife in Africa

Year in the Wild Agulhas National Park There was a time when the Agulhas region hosted one of the largest concentrations of wildlife in Africa. But when humans and their guns arrived, thousands of animals were hunted, some to extinction. Today, with the help of farmers and scientists, Agulhas National Park is starting small and thinking big. By Scott Ramsay. 72 Getaway May 2012 www.getaway.co.za 73 Year in the Wild Aghulas National Park Year in the Wild Agulhas National Park magine driving towards Cape Agulhas, making your way along the national N2 road near Caledon until a herd of a I thousand bontebok blocked your path. Then as you cross the bridge over the Breede River near Swellendam, a family of hippo grunt their disapproval before crashing back into the rooibos-coloured water. Closer to Bredasdorp, the largest town in the area today, a black rhino wanders into view, munching on the aptly named renosterveld and finally, as night arrives and you pull up at the southernmost tip of Africa, a herd of elephant is illumi- nated by the flash of the famous lighthouse. Sound far-fetched? Today, definitely, but in the early 1700s, things were very different. Before people arrived in numbers, the bottom of our continent was home to one of the largest this area used to be known as the Serengeti of the South, concentrations of wildlife in Africa. In 1689, traveller Isaq where huge herds of wild animals were commonly seen.’ Schryver noted that he encountered a herd of at least a It’s something early explorers would have been exposed to thousand bontebok on his journey through this region. – and not always pleasantly. One of the survivors of the first ‘Most of the Cape Overberg, in which Agulhas National recorded shipwreck on the coast was killed by an elephant in Park lies, has been transformed by agriculture,’ park manager 1673. Today, people are still discovering elephant tusks and Ettienne Fourie explained. ‘But from the archives, we know black rhino skulls in the sandy soils, evidence that these animals were once abundant here. As with elsewhere in Africa, however, colonial bloodlust previous pages: The lighthouse at Agulhas was on the first piece of land to be pro- claimed as a national park in 1999. OPPOSITe: Agulhas National Park’s main conser- took its toll. The last hippo in the area was shot at Zeekoei- vation aim is to conserve the southern tip of Africa’s unique fynbos. BeLoW: The vlei in 1898 – it made for easy hunting – and some species wreck of Meisho Maru is just one of hundreds along Africa’s most southerly shores. unique to the region, including the bloubok and quagga, were 74 Getaway May 2012 www.getaway.co.za 75 Year in the Wild Agulhas National Park According to the International Hydrographical Organisation, the Atlantic and Indian oceans officially meet at the longi- tudinal point of Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa. This area falls within the national park and, along with the nearby lighthouse, is the most visited site. aBove: The Agulhas shoreline was once one of the most fertile seas in the world, aBove: The wooden chalets at Agulhas National Park have brilliant views over Early Portuguese navigators named it Cabo das Agulhas no surprise then that Agulhas is a special place. ‘The park before being decimated by uncontrolled fishing and bait collecting. the fynbos and coastline, and are fully equipped for self-catering. (Cape of Needles). In the late 15th century magnetic north has the highest botanical diversity per unit area in the world,’ (indicated by the needle of a compass) and true north co- Ettienne said. ‘It’s vital for the conservation of fynbos in shot to extinction. Both the bontebok and Cape mountain incided. However, in the past few centuries, the magnetic South Africa and the world.’ endangered micro frog, the endangered Cape platanna and zebra were also almost eliminated. variation has changed, so that today magnetic north is As an example, he explained that on the slopes of the western leopard toad, previously thought to exist only on the But it isn’t all gloom. The endemic bontebok made a about 26 degrees west of true north at Cape Agulhas. Soetanysberg, which at 249 metres is the highest point in the Cape peninsula near Cape Town. remarkable comeback with the help of farmers and con- Bartholomeu Diaz was the first European to see the park, there are seven fynbos types in a 90-square-kilometre There are just two freshwater fish species, the Cape kurper servationists. By 1837 only a few small herds remained. southernmost tip of Africa in 1488, although he initially area. Four of these are endangered: limestone proteoid, Elim and Cape galaxias, both of which are near-threatened by the In that year farmer Alexander van Bijl rounded up the thought this honour lay with Cape Point, near Cape Town. asteraceous fynbos (which is unique to Agulhas), restioid introduction of alien fish such as bass. Crucially, however, the last 27 bontebok on Earth and protected them on his farm. He wrongly believed the dramatic promontory on the Cape fynbos and neutral sand proteoid fynbos. Each of these Ratel River in the west of the park is free of aliens. Ninety years later, this remnant population had increased Peninsula was the end of the continent and named present- contains several hundred species of plants. Some species But SanParks isn’t doing it alone. Today, like 200 years ago to just 77 animals. The government came to its senses and in day Cape Agulhas as Ponta de Sao Brendao, after the Irish – such as the wonderfully named bashful sugarbush (Protea when locals saved the bontebok from extinction, farmers are 1931 declared a farm just south of Bredasdorp as Bontebok monk St Brendan, on whose feast day of 16 May he had pudens) – are extremely limited in their distribution, occurring helping to restore the area’s fauna and flora. More than 2 700 National Park (nowadays it’s further north near Swellendam). landed. It was only in 1502 that Cabo de Agulhas first in just one or two places. square kilometres of private land around the 220-square Today, the national parks of Bontebok and Agulhas, and a appeared on a maritime chart. The park is focused on biodiversity and conserves 230 kilometre national park has been committed to sustainable few other provincial nature reserves such as De Hoop, are bird species, including more than 21 000 water birds (about agriculture, of which almost a third is being formally con- responsible for protecting what’s left in the region and for nine per cent of those in the Western Cape), which find served in its natural state. The Nuwejaars Wetlands Special restoring some semblance of the historical abundance. and about 25 kilometres wide – Agulhas protects some of the protection on Soetendalsvlei, the most southerly lake in Management Area is an organisation of 25 landowners in the most endangered parts of the Cape Floral Kingdom. The park the country and one of the largest. Overberg who have title deed restrictions signed against their Starting from scratch began when SanParks purchased several small farms where White pelican, greater flamingo, lesser swamp-warbler properties to ensure conservation principles are followed. Very few large wild mammals are left near the southern this unique fynbos was relatively intact. and little stint are quite common and the coastline is home The Agulhas Biodiversity Initiative is the programme guiding tip of Africa. Although 65 species have been recorded in The Agulhas region, which includes the park and farmland, to the near-threatened damara tern and African black oyster- the region’s development. Agulhas, these are mostly rodents and small carnivores has about 2 500 species of plants, roughly 300 of which are catcher. Significant populations of blue crane and Stanley’s Wild animals have been reintroduced and sustainable such as honey badgers. But fynbos was the real reason found nowhere else on Earth. Thirty-two species are threat- bustard – both vulnerable – occur on the inland plains. harvesting of wild fynbos brings income to local communities. for the park’s proclamation in 1998. ened with extinction. In some places, the concentration of Numerous vleis, estuaries, rivers and wetlands are home to Dirk Human from Black Oystercatcher Wines – the chairman of Despite its relatively small size – just 72 kilometres long endemic plants is unparalleled anywhere in the world. It’s at least 18 species of frogs and toads, including the critically the co-operative – now has 15 disease-free buffalo on his farm 76 Getaway May 2012 www.getaway.co.za 77 Year in the Wild Agulhas National Park and the first calf to be born in Agulhas for more than 200 years was welcomed last year. The variety of wildlife in the region includes bontebok, hartebeest and eland. ‘We’ve also reintroduced hippo, last seen here some 150 years ago,’ Dirk explained. ‘We’re slowly moving towards bringing back the natural systems as they existed in previous centuries.’ Saviours of the south Organisations such as Unesco are lauding the partnership between farmers and conservationists as a model for elsewhere in the world, but who would have thought humankind owed its very existence to the biodiversity of the Agulhas region? A new international scientific study suggests that the Agulhas Plain was the last place on Earth where our modern ancestors were able to survive the most recent ice age, between 120 000 and 190 000 years ago. When temperatures started dropping, there may have been about 10 000 human individuals on Earth, but after a huge freeze there was a massive decline in population numbers.

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