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KRUGER PARK TIMES FREE PUBLICATION • Volume 6 Issue 2 • December 2010 • [email protected] Protecting pepper bark trees Help find southern ground hornbill nests More predators destined for smaller reserves INSIDE: GIANTS CAN TRIP TOO | SPOTLIGHT ON RABIES | I CAN FOR CONSERVATION | FIRE RAISES A STORM | THE GREAT WILDERNESS CHOIR | WILD SOCCER photo: Quentin Swanevelder SOLE MANDATE MARLOTH SABIE PARK! HAZYVIEW PARK Ever dreamed of owning a bushveld hide away on a Priv Nat R1,610,000 EXCELLENT BUY: R870 000.00 Res,here is your chance !! Cosy 3 b/r 2 bathroom thatch house Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms 2 Carport 1, Kruger Park Bedroom 3, Bathroom 2, Double Garage on a 9 959sqm stand surrounded by huge indigenous trees Lodge Golf Estate, 10 km from the Kruger National Lovely home on Parkland area. Spacious and neat. , abundance of bird and wildlife , covered stoep with built in Park in exclusive secure estate, fully furnished Lots of Giraffe, Blouwildebees and Kudu. braai , 2 open fireplaces , double lock-up garage and double and equipped free standing chalet with use of all Upstairs loft area with separate bedroom on top of carport , nice walking ditance to the swimming pool and tennis resort amenities. As holiday home or for retirement. double garage. court , lots more. 2 • kruger park times • december 2010 • news snippets Giants can trip too GOVERNMENT CHRIS MAYES The two cows took it upon them- in a small eroded section on the left This definitely took the wind out selves to move us away from the herd. side of the road. of her charge and she moved away PRAISES It was late afternoon in October, After we moved a distance away, the She had, in effect, done a half to join the herd. The second cow the bush still very dry, in the Klaserie two cows commenced with a joint cartwheel taking into account the continued with her charge for about HUNTERS Private Nature Reserve, when we charge, shoulder to shoulder. speed she was moving when her 300m, then she too ran out of steam. came across a breeding herd of We were moving away fairly foot caught. courtesy: Klaserie Chronicle Water and environmental elephant of approximately 20 in- quickly at this stage, as you do when affairs deputy minister, Rejoice dividuals in the vicinity of the two tons are trying to trample you! Mabudafhasi, reiterated her Melambeni dam at Makumu. The cows were charging from commitment to the profes- Initially the elephant were a fair behind us along the road when sional hunting industry of South distance away and quite relaxed. suddenly one elephant dropped Africa during the Professional Once we approached with the from sight, the only evidence being Hunters Association of South vehicle to get a better look, we a cloud of dust. Africa’s (Phasa) 33rd annual con- received the unwanted attention of Once the dust cleared we saw an vention held at the Zulu Nyala two particular cows in the group. elephant rocking and trying to get Country Manor, Fourways, What transpired next was not back on it’s feet. Johannesburg. The conven- something I had witnessed nor heard We went back to investigate the tion took place from 15 – 17 of before about mature elephant and following morning and found that November 2010. certainly took me by surprise. the elephant’s front foot had caught “The hunting industry makes a valuable contribution to the economy of our country and according to a report compiled by the department, based on information provided by the provincial conservation au- thorities, the revenue generated directly through hunting, during 2009, amounts to R650 mil- lion. Your contribution to skills development and job creation within the environmental sector deserves to be mentioned. I urge you to continue with these initia- tives, but to also focus on other initiatives to transform not only the hunting industry, but also the broader wildlife industry,” said Mabudafhasi. Mabudafhasi said that “It is reassuring to know that Phasa does not condone unethical hunting, and that your organi- sation has a code of conduct through which you discipline members who participate in un- acceptable hunting practices.” Phasa, founded in 1978, is a voluntary, non-profit and non- racial association with more Kruger scientist receives international recognition than 1100 members who are bound by its constitution and A core member of the DST-NRF awarded grants of up to R 38 000 globally problematic invasive plant, DNA specimens from Lantana code of conduct. Phasa mem- Centre of Excellence for Invasion (US$5 000) to ten young scientists. is widespread in the upper reaches populations scattered throughout bers pledged their full support Biology (C·I·B) Dr Llewellyn The aim is to encourage young and across the catchment, and thus the catchment. to the organisation’s aim to self Foxcroft was one of ten recipients scientists to carry out interdiscipli- was well suited as the focal species. By finding out which Lantana administer, improve and expand of the 2010 Man and Biosphere nary projects on ecosystems, natural Llewellyn and his colleagues populations are related to each its impact on conservation, Programme Young Scientist resources and biodiversity in keep- hope to discover exactly where the other, they can find the most likely social upliftment, empower- Awards, which are endorsed by ing with the Man and Biosphere Lantana plants trying to invade source sites of the invaders and ment and economic develop- Unesco. He received the award for Programme which focuses on Kruger are coming from. It is focus money and time on combat- ment. Phasa’s annual three-day a project focussing on the dispersal sustainable interaction between assumed that heavily invaded ting the persistent plant in those convention and annual general patterns of invasive alien plants people and their environment. areas in the upper reaches of the areas first, to the benefit of the meeting was attended by 160 along the Sabie River catchment. In early June, Llewellyn’s work Sabie are sending plant pioneers entire catchment. delegates. It is acknowledged Dr Llewellyn Foxcroft is a sci- was recognised in Paris at the 2010 downstream into as the national body in South entist/ecologist currently based in Young Scientist awards, which were the Park, especially Africa for the professional hunt- the Kruger National Park (KNP). announced by the international co- during floods. ing industry and is currently the He is responsible for the invasion ordinating council of Unesco’s Man These upstream largest organisation of its kind ecology research and monitor- and the Biosphere programme. areas are so vast it world-wide. ing programme in South African The main aim of Dr Foxcroft’s is difficult to con- Dr David Mabunda, CEO of National Parks (SANParks). project is to determine the dispersal trol the existing SANParks, stressed that in the His main research interests are in patterns of invasive alien plants Lantana there, but mid 1900’s, wildlife was under alien plant invasions, investigating along river corridors, from which it is also possible extreme threat. Statistics indi- the processes and patterns of inva- suggestions for management may that invaders into cate that South Africa has 60 sion, and the links to management be made. Kruger come from percent more wildlife biomass interventions. The Sabie River catchment cov- other parts of the now than at the turn of the He also has wide ranging interests ers an area of about 7096 km2 and catchment. century. Privately owned land in conservation biology, as well as contains a large number of different In order to pin- devoted to wildlife is roughly the use of strategic adaptive man- land uses and alien plant control point the main three times more than national agement frameworks as a means of programmes. culprits responsi- and provincial parks and the connecting science, management The headwaters of the catchment ble for the spread number of animals on privately and policy. He is the editor of the are approximately 120km from the of this highly owned game farms is approxi- journal Koedoe: African Protected KNP, from where the Sabie River invasive plant, mately twice of that present Area Conservation and Science. flows through the park and into Llewellyn will use in the country’s parks. This is Every year since 1989, the Man Mozambique, therefore providing a genetic analysis a direct impact of responsible, and Biosphere Programme has perfect study site. Lantana camara, a techniques, taking ethical hunting practices and the demand it has created over the past few decades. PRINTING SPONSORED BY SANPARKS Paul Kruger, president of the ZAR, proclaimed the Gouvernement Wildtuin (government game reserve) in 1898. It extended from the Crocodile River in the south to the Sabie River in the north, and from the Logies River (Nsikazi River) in the west to the Mozambique border in the east. conservation concerns kruger park times • december 2010 • 3 HELP find ground hornbill nests DR KATY JOHNSON expanding existing southern ground research is invalu- PHOTO: ANDRE BOTHA hornbill populations”. able. Currently Southern ground hornbills have we have identi- If you venture out for a game drive become endangered in South Africa fied 175 groups early in the morning, you might be for a host of reasons, although most but only 60 nests. lucky enough to hear the haunting commonly through the loss of suit- That means we sounds of southern ground hornbill, able habitat due to urbanisation, are missing over as the male and female duet. agriculture and other forms of 100 nests!” The southern ground hornbill habitat degradation or destruction “ D u r i n g is one of the Kruger Park’s big six as well as the mhuti trade.