PERSONAL BEST sparking THE passionKruger National Park TEXT KEITH BARNES WHEREAS SOME people go to mosques, temples or churches to find salvation, others have an alternative spiritual home. Mine is the Kruger National Park. I feel as though I was baptised there, married there and, if it were permitted, I would have my ashes scattered in the place. It is where my essence belongs and I would not be surprised to find that many fellow South African wildlife enthusiasts feel the same way. y Kruger journey began their behaviour. Although both back in 1983, some- my Roberts and Newman’s were where on the outskirts well thumbed, my bible was Peter ofM Roodepoort. Eleven years old Steyn’s Birds of Prey of Southern and sporting pastel pink jeans and Africa. I devoured that book and a perm, I had just broken up with have crystal-clear memories of the my first girlfriend. One Sunday, plates, lovingly illustrated to make while I was moping around the those magnificent raptors come Walter Sisulu National Botanical alive for readers. Those images Garden, a pair of silhouettes ap- also caused a young boy newly ob- peared ominously in the sky. The sessed with raptors to dream of the ALBERT FRONEMAN (2) dark giants circled and performed place where he might see the im- I pleaded with my parents to take above jasdg ajd jas a striking fly-by and all I could see mense Martial Eagle, unbelievable me to Kruger. They duly obliged dja sjda jd jas djhag were a bright yellow cere, glisten- Bateleur and leviathan Lappet- and the trip fired a passion and an sdjag jsdgajdjadgs ing eye and bold white patterning faced Vulture. Those dreams all led awakening that burn to this day. jhag sdjag jsdg ajdg on the wings and back. to the same place: Kruger. On that six-day trip I was like a jasd jha sdja jsdg ajdg I was smitten. My first true love Until that time, ‘other birds’ had child discovering that Santa was jads jg asjda jsdg was a pair of Verreaux’s Eagles and been a handy distraction while I real. Many of my first encounters that first girlfriend was quickly was watching the Verreaux’s Eagles, with the most magnificent of Af- opposite jasdg ajd forgotten. Most of the winter holi- but they were no longer asides and rica’s raptors occurred on that visit, jas dja sjda jd jas days during my early high-school I became as interested in sunbirds but I also suddenly realised that djhag sdjag jsdgajd- years were spent perched above the as in goshawks. After I matriculat- there were many equally spectacu- jadgs jhag sdjag jsdg birds’ eyrie, taking notes and mak- ed and before heading to the Fitz- lar birds, like the hideously beauti- ajdg jasd jha sdja jsdg ing pencil sketches of the eagles Patrick Institute at the University ful Southern Ground-Hornbill, the ajdg jads jg asjda jsdg and their chicks, their prey and of Cape Town to study ornithology, stoic Kori Bustard and the bizarre > 40 AFRICAN BIRDLIFE MARCH/APRIL 2016 PERSONAL BEST 41 Saddle-billed Stork. And some of the park or the bigger picture of the have been sent scrambling for a species that appear and vanish, the smaller birds were just as ab- issues it faced. I just revelled in my bird book after seeing their first only using Kruger temporarily. It sorbing: a Yellow-billed Oxpecker exploration. At the time, I regard- Lilac-breasted Roller swoop down became apparent that Kruger was on a white rhinoceros; flocks of ed Kruger as a giant sanctuary of from a branch to catch a cricket in only one piece in a larger jigsaw helmet-shrikes snapping and click- epic proportions, impregnable and front of their car. That kaleidoscope puzzle. It was in a matrix requiring ing away; and the deep, mournful everlasting. As far as I was con- of electric blues, browns and pinks management and, even then, for hoot of a Grey-headed Bush-shrike cerned, the people in charge were turns them into birders instantly. many species we were doing an im- jasdg ajd jas dja sjda in the camps. All these are experi- going to be able to protect it and all Indeed, a significant number of perfect job. It was like watching an jd jas djhag sdjag jsd- ences etched into my memory. its inhabitants forever. Such a sweet southern Africa’s birders have had ageing parent and for the first time gajdjadgs jhag sdjag Kruger delivered a journey of thing is naivety! However, there is a spark moment in the park and it realising that they are vulnerable, jsdg ajdg jasd jha sdja discovery and, like most kids and also a beautiful innocence in na- has changed their lives for the bet- not superhuman. jsdg ajdg jads jg asjda first-time visitors, I didn’t really ivety and it has its place. More than ter. Even pre-existing birders are jsdg ajgs dja think too much about the status of a few dedicated big-cat watchers blown away by what they find on t was only after the Red Data their first visits. The place leaves Book was published in 2000 its mark on almost everyone. It is that some of the realities of a game changer. And the naivety conservationI in South Africa hit of that pure discovery that only a home the hardest. Having sum- place like Kruger can offer needs marised the issues, I thought that to be enjoyed for what it is: an as we were now aware of these awakening. situations we would change policy and protect the affected species, went away overawed and de- improving their status. But that is termined to make a career simply not the way it works. The of ornithology and bird con- machinations of policy change Iservation. I completed an MSc in are slow and often flawed. Many poaching is bad, it is possibly just jasdg ajd jas dja sjda A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER Conservation Biology at the Fitz- of Kruger’s large terrestrial birds the beginning. It is likely to spread OF SOUTHERN AFRICA’s jd jas djhag sdjag jsd- titute and then took a job at UCT’s and raptors, particularly the vul- to elephants, lions and vultures gajdjadgs jhag sdjag Animal Demography Unit, where tures, continue to decline. Most BIRDERS HAVE HAD if nothing is done to address the jsdg ajdg jasd jha sdja my task was coordinating and species are worse off in 2016 than A SPARK MOMENT IN situation. Also, the fact that the jsdg ajdg jads jg asjda compiling the first IBA directory they were when assessed in 2000. THE PARK AND IT HAS elephant population is beyond the jsdg ajgs dja and updating the Red Data Book In addition, the park is at war park’s carrying capacity is a real for BirdLife South Africa. with rhino poachers and, under- CHANGED THEIR LIVES threat to many birds and other ani- It was during this time that wide- standably, all efforts are directed FOR THE BETTER mals in Kruger. Elephants impact eyed innocence morphed into real- at stopping this scourge. Unfortu- significantly on woodland and ism. I soon learned that there are nately, however, this also means year old led to a career in conser- change it profoundly, especially the serious landscape issues that threat- that other species that are in trou- vation and birds that still allows riverine ecosystems. Disturbance en many species both within and ble are neglected out of tempor- him to wake up every day with an by tourists and electrocution on beyond Kruger, and that the park ary necessity. ‘I can’t believe I do this for a liv- powerlines is a serious issue for alone is not enough to safeguard But it is not all doom and gloom. ing’ feeling. André gets to spend many large birds of prey. But fortu- many ecosystems and species. Be- While the park authorities are an amazing amount of time in the nately key trouble areas have been ing able to attend several meetings currently occupied with fighting park, working on the many species identified and we are in the process in and around the park allowed poaching, it has fallen to external of threatened birds of prey, as well of mitigating these. me to continue my love affair, but non-governmental organisations as on Southern Ground-Hornbills. ‘Birds that use rivers, especially I saw the sanctuary with differ- (NGOs) to step in and work on However, his enthusiasm is also large ones such as the Olifants, are ent eyes. The issues were complex specialised groups of organisms, in tempered by the reality of what he heavily affected by pollution and and needed considerable research, partnership with the park. When it does and the serious threats fac- the reduced quality and quantity understanding and management. comes to birds, it is mostly BirdLife ing his favourite subjects. Without of water, which are often caused However, the majesty of the place South Africa and the Endangered dedicated conservationists like by activities upstream, outside the still inspired newcomer and old- Wildlife Trust (EWT) that come to him, there would be no solutions park.’ Work with authorities to im- hand alike. A late-season flush of the fore and assist with the conser- to these problems. And, of course, prove these situations is ongoing, rain and greenery had me marvel- vation work for birds. these problems evolve and each but determining issues regarding ling at aggregations of Montagu’s André Botha, EWT’s Birds of year new and different issues arise, the water rights of Kruger versus and Pallid harriers, birds that face Prey Programme Manager since and it is up to André and his ilk to those of the adjacent industrialised perilous hazards on their journeys 2004, has a story similar to mine.