Kruger Park E-times 2

Kruger Park e-Times August 2009 - e2

BioBoundary Keeps Wild Dogs in Unfenced Reserve Crocodile Deaths Continue in Kruger

Forensics Help Fight Ivory Fraudsters

African Village Dogs Are Genetically Much More Diverse than Modern Breeds

photo: Lynette Strauss

Why People Visit Parks? Do the Answers Matter to Management?

Newsclips CITES Says Yes to Shooting of More Elephants The International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has authorised an increase in the number of elephants Mozambique is allowed to kill from 40 to 60 per year. Agriculture minister Soares Nhaca told AIM that he welcomed this increase, since it will make it somewhat easier for the government to manage conflicts between wild life and humans. Elephants in particular can have a devastating impact on crops. Nhaca said the government can now, with CITES approval, shoot problem animals, and because this culling is authorised, the trophies can be legally exported. “The decision also means that we can increase the government’s capacity to train wardens for various parks and wild life reserves”, he added. A further measure taken to try and keep wild life and people apart is to fence elephant migration routes. According to Tourism Minister Fernando Sumbana, work is now under way to build fencing along the elephant migration corridor that leads to the Maputo Special Reserve in the far south of the country. He expected the work to be finished this year. A similar strategy is being tried in the far north of the country, to keep the animals of the Quirimbas National Park out of the fields of local farmers. Here community hunters have been trained to protect people living near the park. Of all the country’s large animals, the one responsible for most human deaths is certainly the crocodile. The government plans to fence off certain river areas, so that people can fetch water there without the risk of a crocodile attack. The strategy also envisages selected shooting of crocodiles, and the collection of crocodile eggs, which can then be incubated in crocodile farms. Allafrica.com

“Why travel motivations and socio-demographics matter in managing a National Park” by authors Melville Saayman and Andrea Saayman is an article, published by Koedoe, which highlights the extent to which socio-demographic and behavioural and motivational indicators influence the spending of tourists to the park. A better understanding of the latter could help marketers and planners to increase the economic impact of a park. The Addo Elephant National Park is one of only a few national parks in the world that offers the Big 7 experience and is therefore one of South Africa’s prime tourism destinations. The park plays an important role in the regional economy and has become a hub for tourism development. Since 2001, surveys have been conducted among tourists to the park and have included a number of socio-demographic, behavioural and motivational questions. In this analysis, 537 questionnaires were used. The methodology used includes factor analysis, cross-sectional regression analysis and pseudo-panel data analysis to determine and compare possible influences on spending. The

research identifies six motives for tourists travelling to the Addo Elephant National Park; these are nature, activities, family and socialisation, escape, attractions and photography. The research found that a combination of socio-demographic and motivational factors influences visitor spending decisions. Added to this, the research confirms that tourist attractions, including national parks, differ from one another and that the variables that influence spending therefore also differ. In order for national parks to fulfil their conservation mandate, they require funding. One of the main sources of income for national parks is tourist spending. This article identifies the socio-demographic and motivational factors that influence tourist spending. Hence, park management can use these results in order to market and create opportunities for tourists to spend more thereby benefiting conservation directly. Url: http://www.koedoe.co.za/index. php/koedoe/index For more information contact, Liezel Grunewald, title operations coordinator, KOEDOE - African Protected Area Conservation and Science.

The Kruger Park e-Times is published regularly to keep you uodated on conservation, science, sustainable development and tourism issues in and around South Africa’s national parks, transfrontier parks and other environmental hotspots. Send your comments and contributions to: [email protected]

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BioBoundary Confines Wild Dogs Craig Jackson The endangered African wild dog was historically distributed throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa, but due to direct persecution and habitat loss, very few viable populations remain. Wild dogs have very large territories that range in size from 350 – 1000km2. In the southern African bushveld, territories in the region of 500 – 600km2 are more common. As a result of these extensive territories, wild dogs occur at low densities. Conserving this wideranging species is thus very difficult, and requires very large protected area. The only self-sustaining and viable wild dog population in South Africa occurs in the Greater Kruger National Park ecosystem. The remainder are scattered across the country in several smaller reserves that are fenced and geographically isolated. As a result, this precludes natural dispersal events (both emigration and immigration) that play a fundamental role in wild dog population dynamics. Consequently, intensive management is required to manage these metapopulations, necessitating periodic translocations to supplement gene pools. This is difficult and not always successful. The Northern Tuli Game Reserve (NTGR) in eastern Botswana is largely unfenced and borders South Africa and Zimbabwe. The reserve is scheduled to form part of the greater Shashe-Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area. Several dispersing wild dogs have been seen in the reserve over the past couple of years. Dispersing animals are usually single-sex groups that leave their natal packs in search of other wild dogs. They form a new pack with dogs of the opposite sex, and in this way mate with unrelated individuals. Since there has not been a resident pack of wild dogs on the NTGR for several decades, dispersing wild

dogs merely move through the NTGR and do not become resident. In November 2007, 18 wild dogs were moved to the NTGR and later released in April 2008. The overall goal of the project was to establish a resident pack on the reserve. Since dispersing dogs still pass through the reserve periodically, it is envisaged that a resident pack will facilitate the formation of new wild dog packs in the

region. Since these would be free ranging packs, they would not necessitate the intensive management associated with South Africa’s meta-populations. This conservation opportunity presents itself as a result of the open ecosystem (no fences). How could one then open the enclosure’s gates and merely expect a pack of wild dogs, capable of travelling hundreds of kilometres, to become resident on the reserve? In natural free-ranging populations, packs have large yet well-defined territories. Boundaries are communicated to neighbours using urine and faecal markings. Dr J.W. “Tico” McNutt, director of the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust (BPCT), first noticed the long-lasting effects of these scent marks in 1996 when four of his ten study packs died after an outbreak of rabies. It took several months before neigh-

bouring packs probed and later filled the territorial voids. This sparked the idea of using scent marks to limit the ranging behaviour of wild dogs. Prior to the release of the pack on the NTGR, scent marks were collected from one of McNutt’s study packs, frozen, and flown down to the reserve. These were strategically placed towards the periphery of the reserve in an attempt to create artificial territories. We refer to this as the BioBoundary: a biologically relevant boundary. This novel experiment has had great success, with the pack still on the reserve more than a year after release. The dogs have successfully raised 12 pups and will shortly have second litter of pups. What makes the achievements even more remarkable is the fact that the relocated pack was removed from Marakele National Park after repeatedly breaking through the perimeter fencing and moving into the neighbouring farming areas. Several dogs were in fact shot on one of these forays. The second part of the BioBoundary experiment is underway at BPCT’s head office in Maun, northern Botswana. A laboratory has been set up and in an attempt to unravel the key volatile odorants found in the scent marks and that are responsible for communicating territoriality. This complex component of the project is headed up by Dr Peter Apps, and the project is still in the early stages of development. Should these compounds be identified, they can be produced synthetically, making the deployment of scent in the field far more feasible. This groundbreaking approach would have great significance for the management of not only wild dogs, but other carnivores and territorial species. photo: Conrad de Rosner

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Newsclips Disease Killing Fish in Zambezi River A deadly disease devastating fish stocks in Africa’s Zambezi River basin and threatening the livelihoods and access to food of millions of rural people could soon reach other parts of the continent, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned. The most affected country is Zambia, covering two-thirds of the basin’s almost 1.4 million square kilometres, with over 2,000 villages and some 7,000 people now at risk of hunger as fish is a major source of income in many rural districts and the cheapest source of protein, said FAO. The disease, called Epizootic Ulcerative Syndrome (EUS), is caused by a fungus forming deep lesions on fish and results in high mortality rates. Although fish infected with EUS do not normally pose a threat to humans, the ugly lacerations render them unmarketable, threatening some 25 million people dependent on agriculture or fishing and fish farming in the Zambezi River basin with serious economic loss. “If not properly contained there is the risk of the disease spreading to other countries surrounding the Zambezi River as well as river systems in the region,” said Rohana Subasinghe, FAO Senior Fishery Resources Officer. Indications are that EUS, which was first confirmed in Africa in 2007, is spreading both upstream and downstream of the Zambezi and risks taking hold in other parts of Africa, FAO said in a news release. Since 2007, FAO has bolstered defenses in the seven Zambezi River basin countries – Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe – against the disease, with measures including basic diagnosis, targeted surveillance and aquatic animal health management. In cooperation with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), FAO is establishing a programme to strengthen institutional and human ability for managing aquatic animal health in the wild in the affected Southern African countries.

Elephants Don’t Always Keep It in the Family In elephant society, nothing is more important than family. From traveling packs of mothers and calves to larger groups that contain aunts and cousins, all segments of the creature’s complex social structure are typically composed of relatives. But what happens when these populations are decimated by humans? Robert Koenig,  ScienceNOW Daily News, reports that new research reveals that elephants sometimes bring in non-kin to keep their social groups viable. The finding is based on a survey of about 400 elephants living in Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve. The elephants are part of a larger population that lost three-quarters of its members to ivory poachers in the 1970s. Today, the group remains vulnerable to illegal killing by nomadic tribes, farmers, and others. Curious about how such devastation has affected the social structure of the Samburu elephants, conservation biologist George Wittemyer of Colorado State University in Fort Collins and colleagues studied the creatures for 5 years. They pinpointed the elephants’ genetic relationships to each other by sequencing DNA from fresh dung samples. The researchers found that when they looked at the largest groupings of elephants in this society--so-called “clan” and “bond” groups--many of the elephants had opened up to include nonrelatives. Wittemyer, whose team reports its findings today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, says the elephants may be willing to accept nonrelatives into their group to ensure they have the critical mass needed to gather food and protect themselves. “The results indicate that the illegal killing of el-

ephants can erode the genetic basis for their social structure but does not necessarily destabilize their social organization.” Coauthor Iain Douglas-Hamilton, an Oxford University zoologist who also directs the Kenya-based Save the Elephants charity, says the research “helps us to understand the extent to which an elephant society is disrupted by ongoing mortality from poaching but can yet adapt and recover.” Still, wildlife biologist Kathleen Gobush, who studied elephant groups as part of the University of Washington’s Center for Conservation Biology, says that mixing with nonrelatives can come with “real longterm costs.” Gobush and colleagues found similar nonkinship elephant groups in a shorter-term study of elephants in Tanzania’s Mikumi National Park, where poachers killed three-quarters of the elephants before the 1989 ban on the ivory trade. In a separate study about to be published, Gobush also found evidence that such mixing causes “significant behavioral differences” between elephant groups of kin in contrast to groups of non-kin. For example, she says, mixed groups showed aggressive behavior at water holes more often than groups composed solely of kin. Other elephant experts say they are intrigued by the findings but would like to see similar studies in other populations. Ecologist Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, studies elephants in Namibia and says that “it would be great to get this kind of data from other disturbed populations to see if the pattern is consistent or just a local phenomenon that could have other explanations.” Source:sciencenow.sciencemag.org

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Crocodile Deaths Continue in the Olifants River The mysterious crocodile killer that prowled the Olifants River at the onset of winter last year in the Kruger National Park has returned. So far this year, rangers and scientists have found close to 30 dead and many other sick crocodiles in the Olifants and Sabie Rivers in the park. Helicopter surveys showed that there are a total of 385 crocodiles in the Olifants Gorge and lower Letaba River. “Our research has shown that these crocodile mortalities are now a recurrent problem that is likely to occur every winter. If mortalities continue at this rate, there will be very few crocodiles in the lower Olifants and Letaba rivers by 2010,” added SANParks’ head of department: scientific services, Danie Pienaar. Following these latest deaths, KNP researchers and rangers call for more collaborative efforts to ensure that South African rivers are clear of pollution. “It is unlikely that management actions which are taken inside the KNP can solve this problem. One would need a much larger and overarching restoration program for the entire Olifants River system, which should focus on issues such as acid mine drainage, agricultural pesticides and fertiliser use, sewerage treatment and industrial and household sources of pollution,” said Pienaar. During May 2008, crocodiles in the Olifants River gorge in the Kruger National Park started dying, with a mortality rate of 20 crocodiles per week reached during June and July. A total of 170 crocodile carcasses had been recorded by late November 2008. Post mortem examinations revealed yelloworange coloured, hardened fat in the tails and abdomen – a condition known as pansteatitis. Researchers analysed water, sediments, fish and crocodile tissue samples for poten-

tial toxins and chemical compounds at laboratories, both locally and around the world, and although many heavy metals, agricultural pesticides, fertilizers, organic waste and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were detected, none were found to be above levels where adverse effects are expected and were therefore not individually responsible for poisoning the crocodiles. An initiative, known as the Consortium for the Restoration of the Olifants Catchment (CROC) was established in order to establish a clear cause-effect relationship and it became increasingly clear that the death of all these crocodiles was symptomatic of serious and growing environmental problems in the Olifants River system. This multi-institutional collaborative research program includes representatives from SANParks, national government departments, including the Department of Water & Environmental Affairs, CSIR, research organisations, universities, independent consultants, NGOs and the Water Research Commission. CROCs research focus centred on further analysis of the water and sediment, fish pathology, water chemistry and algal composition of the river water, the population dynamics of the crocodiles in the Olifants and Letaba river systems, clinical blood parameters of the affected crocodiles in comparison to unaffected crocodiles, invertebrate and fish population dynamics and research into populations of fish-eating birds. Some of the findings have included the fact that invertebrate species numbers have

halved compared to 20 years ago, the river has changed from being a free-flowing river with diverse habitats to a standing water body thanks to the back-flooding caused by the raised Massingir Dam wall in Mozambique, numerous pollutants are present in the water and sediment although the levels of these pollutants are relatively low, toxic blue-green algae (Microcystis spp) and dinoflagellate (Ceratium spp) which cause red-tide in marine environments are present, fish species such as barbell (Clarias gariepinus) show hyperplastic pale gills, liver pathology and some show signs of steatitis in their fat and the fact that crocodiles in the Olifants River already show lower levels of antioxidants than crocodiles found in other water sources. “We will continue to burn all crocodile carcasses that we find as this seems to limit the spread of disease and will also continue our monitoring of the crocodile populations which includes marking crocodiles with VHF down-load transmitters, colourcoded tags and both daytime aerial surveys and night spotlight counts. Long term water quality data, collected as part of DWEA’s national monitoring programs, will be evaluated to facilitate a better understanding of the status quo of the Olifants River. These monitoring programs include the National Toxicity Monitoring Programme, National Chemical Monitoring Programme and the National Eutrophication Monitoring Programme, amongst others,” said Pienaar. Pienaar concluded by saying that the crocodiles dying in the KNP are a clear alarm call that we can not continue to pollute our water sources as we have done for the past several decades. photos: Danie Pienaar and Andrew Deacon

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Newsclips Bird Guides Trained BirdLife South Africa’s Kruger to Canyons Birding Route recently completed the training and assessments of thirteen of its trainee bird guides at Sunbird Lodge in Phalaborwa. All trainees initially underwent a one-month-long training course at Wakkerstroom in Mpumalanga. The week in Phalaborwa started off with a brief two-day theoretical refresher course presented by Antares Field Guide Training Centre. The trainees had time to ask questions and iron out any uncertainties before the examination on Wednesday. The majority of the trainee bird guides on the Kruger to Canyons Bird Route are currently unemployed. With the successful completion of the training course, they will not only attain two accredited guiding unit standards, a level one first aid certificate and a basic guiding kit, but subsequently have the opportunity to apply their new skills in the tourism industry and find a permanent job for the very first time. It is hoped that these trainees will follow in the footsteps of Abel Erasmus Pass based bird guide, Michael Kumako. The pass is a gateway to the central lowveld area and hosts some of the best raptor birding along the Kruger to Canyons Birding Route. The many lay byes near the tunnel also offer an excellent opportunity to scan the surrounding cliffs and forest for special birds. This is Michael’s office from where he has been able to create a sustainable livelihood for himself with some help from, amongst others, the rare Taita Falcons.

African Village Dogs Are Genetically Much More Diverse than Modern Breeds African village dogs are not a mixture of modern breeds but have directly descended from an ancestral pool of indigenous dogs, according to a Cornell-led genetic analysis of hundreds of semi-feral African village dogs. That means that village dogs from most African regions are genetically distinct from non-native breeds and mixed-breed dogs. They also are more genetically diverse because they have not been subjected to strict breeding, which artificially selects genes and narrows breeds’ gene pools.

Dog domestication The study, published online August, 3 2009 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sheds light on the poorly understood history of dog domestication. Future work may help explain the timing and locations of dog domestication and how dogs have adapted to the African environment, human settlements and dietary shifts. “The genes of modern breeds all cluster together in one little group, but the African village dogs we sampled show much greater diversity genetically,” said lead author Adam Boyko, a research associate in the lab of Carlos Bustamante, the paper’s senior author and a professor of biological statistics and computational biology. Field researchers from the University of California-Davis, who are part of the Cornell-based Village Dog Genetic Diversity Project, and others, including local veterinarians, sampled 318 village dogs from seven regions in Egypt, Uganda and Namibia. They also looked at breed dogs, including those reputed to be from Africa, Puerto Rican dogs and mixed-breed dogs from the United States. Researchers and veterinarians also collected photos and information on weight, age, coat color and body measurements and sent blood samples for analysis to the Canine DNA Bank at the Baker Institute for Animal Health, part of Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, which maintains a growing DNA archive of dogs worldwide.

Mosaic of indigenous and non-native mixedbreed dogs Boyko, Bustamante and colleagues used a computer program to track genetic diversity in the samples. They found that the African village dogs are a mosaic of indigenous dogs descended from early migrants to Africa and non-native mixed-breed dogs. Such reputed African breeds as Pharaoh hounds and 
Rhodesian ridgebacks clustered with non-native dogs, suggesting they originated from outside of Africa. A previous study of village dog genetics confirmed that domesticated dogs likely originated from Eurasian wolves some 15,000 to 40,000 years ago, and reported that East Asian village dogs had more genetic diversity than any others sampled for the study, suggesting that dogs were first domesticated in East Asia. But the African village dogs analyzed in this study revealed similar genetic diversity, which raises doubt on the claim that dogs were first domesticated in East Asia. As the group continues to collect samples from worldwide locations, including the Americas, the researchers will explore where modern breeds originated and how much genetic diversity has been lost with the development of modern breeds. The researchers are interested in working with dog owners and local veterinarians to get more DNA samples of dogs from remote corners of the world. For more information: http://villagedogs.canmap.org Co-authors included Heidi Parker and Elaine Ostrander, geneticists at the National Human Genome Research Institute; Rory Todhunter, a professor of clinical sciences in Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine; and Paul Jones, a genetics researcher at the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition in the United Kingdom, among others. The study was funded by Cornell’s Center for Vertebrate Genomics, Department of Clinical Sciences and Baker Institute of Animal Health; the National Institutes of Health; and the National Science Foundation.

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Kruger National Park: newsclips It’s War SA National Parks has declared war on poachers and warns it is going to win the fight. “Poachers must beware because we will seek them out, we will find them and they will be dealt with. This is a war that we plan on winning,” SANParks head David Mabunda told a media briefing at Skukuza in the Kruger National Park (KNP) on Thursday, according to a statement sent to Sapa. Mabunda said the KNP had lost 26 white rhino and one black rhino to poachers since the beginning of this year. The KNP would be using R2m - received from the Parks Development Fund - to increase the number of rangers in SANParks’ flagship reserve. “The funds will be used to employ 57 more rangers, increasing the number of motorbikes, and... [for] purchasing a state of the art crime information management system, all of which will increase visibility on the ground and improve our anti-poaching efforts.” Mabunda welcomed government’s decision to return the army to patrolling the KNP’s eastern boundary, which coincides with South Africa’s national border with Mozambique. “The exit of the military three years ago had created even more pressure on the work of the rangers,” he said. - SAPA

Moving Kruger’s Border so Hunters Can Kill Mike Cadman,  reports in the Sunday Independent  of July 12, that South African National Parks (SANParks) is planning to move a 48km section of the worldrenowned Kruger National Park’s (KNP) western boundary fence to create a new 150km2 contract park specifically to allow trophy hunting. The southern African director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) Jason Bell-Leask said the plan to create a new hunting area is an issue of “grave concern”.”This cannot be disguised as anything but a green light for hunting in the KNP, which makes no ecological, biological, ethical or economic sense,” Bell-Leask said. “Kruger animals will be hunted if this deal, in its current form, proceeds”. Legalised trophy hunting in provincial and private reserves that share unfenced boundaries with

Kruger has intensified in the past year, with two new concessions being opened in the Makuya and Mthimkulu provincial parks in Limpopo.The exclusive Associated Private Nature Reserves (Timbavati, Klaserie, Umbabat and Balule), which are part of the Greater Kruger National Park, were also in 2008/2009 granted their highest ever elephant and buffalo trophy quotas.To create the new hunting area, which lies north of Phalaborwa between the Klein Letaba and Shingwidzi Rivers, SANParks will have to move the existing boundary fence, much of which has recently been upgraded at a cost of R270 000 a kilometre, about 3km to the west.A new fence, which must be able to contain elephant, is likely to cost considerably more to build than the existing fence.

Sanparks Corrects Double Booking 2010 Following a system error in the booking of accommodation for the June / July 2010 period in the Kruger National Park, South African National Parks has managed to make alternative arrangements for accommodating virtually all of the 17 affected customers. The affected customers’ bookings were accepted into the reservation system despite the allocated units having been already committed to a blocked booking arrangement made with MATCH for the accommodation of international customers that will be visiting South Africa during the 2010 World Cup. According to Sydney Soundy, SANParks Chief Operating Officer, the system error was picked up early in the process, which allowed the organization to rectify the situation before it affected more than the 17 customers. “Virtually all 17 affected customers were contacted and offered alternative camping sites within the Kruger National Park, with the exception of the two Gauteng families customers who refused alternative accommodation offered to them, and have instead taken their unhappiness to the media. We still want to find mutually acceptable solutions to these customers as far as are practically possible.”

Kruger Park Land Claims The government is likely to pay as much as R20 billion to settle just 30 land claims for 400 000 hectares of Kruger National

Park land situated in Mpumalanga and Limpopo reports Slindile Khanyile in Business Report. Blessing Mphela, the chief land claims commissioner, described this amount as a conservative estimate, though it is the equivalent that the commission spent on settling 75 400 claims over 10 years. Briefing journalists on July 22, about the progress made so far on the land restitution process, Mphela said the final figure spent on this claim would depend on currency fluctuations and land value at the time of finalisation. The land claims commission was conducting research and a decision was yet to be taken on whether the claim would be settled through financial compensation or returning the land to the claimants, or whether both mechanisms would be applied. “There seems to be a trend that the land value is low when the sale is person to person but much higher when it is person to state. This is speculation at the moment and we are investigating,” said Mphela. No one is opposing the claims involving the Kruger National Park. source: http://www.busrep.co.za/

Archaeological Research at Sabi Bridge Post in KNP An archaeological excursion will again be conducted at one of the outposts of the Steinaecker’s Horse unit in the Kruger National Park (KNP) from 2 - 15 August 2009. This time it will be the site at Sabi Bridge, close to Skukuza. The project is lead by historical archaeologist; Dr. Anton van Vollenhoven and is undertaken by the research department of Archaetnos Archaeologists, of which he is one of the directors. Various students from different universities partake in the excavations every year. The aim of the Archaetnos Research Department is to do archaeological and historical research. The Steinaecker’s Horse project is now running for its twelfth year. The project is not funded by the South African National Parks (SANParks), but they assist in some of the logistical matters relating to the research. The Steinaecker’s Horse project was launched in 1997. The current phase will last until 2010.

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Newsclips Help Monitor Life on Earth Scientists asked people around the world to help compile an internetbased observatory of life on earth as a guide to everything from the impact of climate change on wildlife to pests that can damage crops. “I would hope that ... we might even have millions of people providing data” in the long term, James Edwards, head of the Encyclopaedia of Life (EOL) based at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, told Reuters of the 10-year project. He said scientific organisations were already working to link up thousands of computer databases of animals and plants into a one-stop “virtual observatory” that could be similar to global systems for monitoring the weather or earthquakes. People in many countries already log observations on the internet, ranging from sightings of rare birds in Canada to the dates on which flowers bloom in spring in Australia. The new system, when up and running, would link up the disparate sites. About 400 biology and technology experts from 50 countries met in London from June 1-3 at an “e-Biosphere” conference organised by the EOL to discuss the plans. The EOL is separately trying to describe the world’s species online. “This would be a free system that everyone can access and contribute to,” said Norman MacLeod, keeper of palaeontology at the Natural History Museum in London which is hosting the talks. Edwards said a biodiversity overview could have big economic benefits, for instance an unusual insect found in a garden might be an insect pest brought unwittingly in a grain shipment that could disrupt local agriculture. Among health benefits could be understanding any shifts in the ranges of malaria-carrying mosquitoes linked to global warming, Edwards said, “Within 10 years, scientists say they could have an efficient and effective way of tracking changes over time in the range and abundance of plants and animals as worldwide temperature and precipitation patterns shift,” a statement said. - Reuters

Forensics Help Fight Ivory Fraudsters The forensic technique of carbon dating can now be used to help catch law-breaking ivory dealers. It’s not illegal to buy and sell antique ivory products – as long as the ivory in question dates back to before 1947. As you can imagine, there’s no shortage of people willing to swear their products are over the required age (even deliberately ‘ageing’ the appearance) in order to make a sale. It’s a loophole that has helped maintain the illegal ivory trade. Before now, the only way to estimate the age of animal parts was to employ an expert with a skilled eye, which was not always enough for a successful prosecution. But it’s been discovered that by applying the forensic testing technique of radio carbon dating, we can prove if an ivory product is preor post- the 1947 watershed, and therefore legal or not. The scientific test accurately measures levels of radioactive carbon-14 in the ivory – an element that significantly increased in the environment (and in the cells of all living organisms) when nuclear bomb tests started in the early 1950s. Alarming but true. This means any animal born since 1950 will display the tell-tale high levels of carbon-14 – and would coincidentally prove,

for example, that a piece of ivory dates from after 1947, meaning it’s illegal. This scientific evidence should make it much harder for illegal traders to evade prosecution – and will hopefully help break the illicit poaching and trading cycle. The Forensic Analysis Fund was set up in 2008 to finance forensic techniques needed to investigate and prosecute people for wildlife crime. The fund is financially supported

by WWF, TRACE (the wildlife forensics network), the RSPB and the DEFRA. Without this funding, tests like this wouldn’t be given priority within the limited budgets of the police and customs, and prosecutions wouldn’t be taken forward. WWF’s Eyes and Ears Initiative asks the public to report any suspicious activities, in the UK or abroad, which might be linked to the illegal trade in wildlife. Reports can be made by calling 01483 426111. photo: Jacques Goosen, Sanhu

International Elephant Conservation and Research Symposium The International Elephant Foundation and the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa announced that the International Elephant Conservation and Research Symposium will be held from 27 - 30 January 2010 at Kwalata Game Ranch in South Africa. The symposium will concentrate on the research and conservation needs of captive and wild populations of elephants. We invite researchers from around the world to present conservation projects and research results on human-elephant conflict, population management, health, nutrition, reproduction and behavior.

Call for papers: Please submit your abstracts by 31 October 2009. For more information, please visit the website at www.nzg. ac.za/iecrs

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Land Repossessions Threaten Hundreds of Black Farmers Hundreds of South Africa’s emerging black commercial farmers could face eviction in the next few months because of their inability to service government loans to buy the properties, granted under the land reform programme. In July the state-owned Land Bank, which provides financing and advice to black farmers and is pivotal in addressing racially skewed land ownership, told parliament that more than 350 farms would have to be repossessed if the non-payment of loans continued. The bank said it was losing R100 million (about US$13 million) a month as a consequence of unpaid loans and had repossessed 25 farms in the second half of 2008, of which six were owned by emerging black farmers. A moratorium on repossessions for several years had served only to allow the debts of struggling farmers to mount. The moratorium was lifted in July 2008 when oversight of the Land Bank - mired in financial scandals - was moved from the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs to the finance ministry. However, the Western Cape provincial president of the National African Farmers Union (NAFU), Willy Williams, said the Land Bank and government were as much to blame for the situation as the struggling farmers, because they failed to provide adequate support to the new farmers.   “Our members face many challenges when getting started, and many of these revolve around a lack of expertise in running a modern farm. The state is responsible for providing training in this area, but it does not have the capacity to deliver it on time,” he said.

 Lack of support “There is also an issue around the high cost of land in the Western Cape, because the state does not provide enough money to cover the cost of purchasing the land and the initial working capital needed to run a farm.” Kallie Geslin, 38, and Charles Pietersen, 42, were part of a group of 74 emerging black commercial farmers who secured government and Land Bank loans of R4.6 million (about $600,000) in 2003 to buy a Western Cape wine farm under the land re-

form programme. The men had been brought up on wine farms in the region and said agriculture was “in their veins”, but their dream of operating a successful enterprise was over by 2008, when the Land Bank repossessed their 205 hectare farm near the town of Paarl be-

ble. The farm has now been sold back to a white farmer,” Geslin said. NAFU’s Williams said about 40 percent of the emerging black commercial farmers in the Western Cape were struggling to make ends meet, and many of the ventures were group initiatives, which had been government’s preferred option.   “We find the emerging black farmers who are most successful are involved in the equity scheme - this is where an existing farmer sells a portion of their land to an employee and remains involved in the business, helping with expertise,” he said.

 Small-scale farming the answer

cause of arrears. Although they had practical experience of working the land in their youth, they did not have the technical expertise or management skills necessary to operate a commercial farm. “When we started to work the farm in 2004 we did not have the skills or the working capital to get us through the beginning. We had to sell our first crop to get operating money, but we did not get enough,” Geslin said.   “This caused a lot of infighting in our group, as some people wanted an income from the sale of our crop rather than reinvesting it in the farm - they did not understand we needed to put the money back into the business. Because the ownership of the land was allocated as a share to individuals, everyone had the same rights. This made it very difficult to make the right decisions for the business.” The men said the management skills training “also came very late, and by the time we began training it was too late to save the business - we were already in trou-

Ben Cousins, Director of the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), told IRIN that farmers experiencing difficulties were badly advised by the Land Bank in terms of the size of the loans they should secure. “Profitable farming is not so easy in South Africa, given that arable land and proper water are scarce. The input prices [production costs] have also been rising far more quickly than the output price [sales price] recently, which is increasing the pressure in a market already squeezed by fierce competition,” he said.   “So I think many of these farmers in trouble received bad advice [from the Land Bank and department of agriculture], and were given loans way beyond what they could repay.” Cousins said there was a strong argument that government should make small-scale farmers the primary beneficiaries of their land reform policy because the chances of success were much better.   “Land reform has been a big disaster story because of the high failure rates. Government officials contend that beneficiaries should mostly be emerging black commercial farmers rather than smaller-scale operators, but these can be highly productive,” he said.  “They do not need major bank loans to work, but rather innovative forms of financing that are supported by the NGO sector in terms of advice and expertise.” © IRIN. All rights reserved.

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Anthrax Bacteria Conspire with Viruses to Stay Alive The brute force of Bacillus anthracis, the earthworm could play an important role in ancient scourge that causes anthrax, can the life cycle of the deadly pest. For the first sweep through and overpower a two-ton time, Shuch and Fischetti have now conanimal in under 72 hours. But when it firmed Pasteur’s early hunch. They found isn’t busy claiming livestock and humans that in the gut of the earthworm, B. anthrathroughout the world -- up to 100,000 an- cis infected with a type of virus, known as nually -- it resides ominously in the soil as a a bacteriophage, live longer than virus-free spore waiting for its next victim. Research- bacteria. The gut of the earthworm, they ers at Rockefeller University now reveal that surmised, provides the infected bacteria this deadly bacterium isn’t the only master with a safe niche in which to exist. of its fate. Its survival is directed and shaped The researchers further show that in both by the DNA of bacteria-infecting viruses in the gut of the earthworm and the stark what appears to be an evolutionary contract confines of a Petri dish, viruses can alter written to benefit both parties. the lifestyle of B. anthracis in two principal The research, led by Vincent A. Fischetti, ways. One is associated with the ability to head of the Laboratobuild communiry of Bacterial Pathoties, the state in genesis and Immunol- The secret life of anthrax-causing which bacteria ogy, and Raymond bacteria emerged from a seemingly prefer to live Schuch, a research as- innocuous observation made by in the environsistant professor in the Louis Pasteur more than 100 years ment; the other lab, revamps the way ago. The famous bacteriologist affects the bactescientists think about found that earthworms were associrium’s ability to how pathogens exist ated with anthrax-infected animal produce spores: in the environment in carcasses in the ground and hyround, dormant between outbreaks, pothesized that the earthworm could cells with a thick focusing on the role play an important role in the life cell wall that enviruses play during cycle of the deadly pest. For the first ables them to this dormant stage in time, Shuch and Fischetti have now endure harsh the life cycle. The im- confirmed Pasteur’s early hunch. e nv i ro n m e n t a l plications reach far conditions that and wide, from the sethe rod-shaped quencing of genomes to the recurrent and bacteria cannot. What’s more, they found cyclical nature of disease. that depending on the conditions of the “B. anthracis leads a much more compli- environment, the virus’s DNA manipulates cated life than we had ever known,” says the bacterium’s genome to toggle between Schuch, whose work will appear in the Au- spore production and community building. gust issue of PLoS One. “Small, infecting The relationship appears to result from viruses dramatically alter the survival ca- some sort of evolutionary contract that pabilities of B. anthracis. It is more or less a keeps the interests of bacterium and virus symbiotic relationship in which the interests in balance. Since viruses cannot infect and of both the bacterium and virus are kept in grow in spores, they have an interest in sibalance.” lencing genes that ramp up spore producThe secret life of anthrax-causing bac- tion and in activating genes that help build teria emerged from a seemingly innocuous B. anthracis communities. But when soil observation made by Louis Pasteur more conditions threaten the survival of anthraxthan 100 years ago. The famous bacteri- causing bacteria, spawning a tougher line ologist found that earthworms were associ- of defense to weather the soil’s extreme ated with anthrax-infected animal carcasses conditions benefits both parties. The unin the ground and hypothesized that the veiling of the bacterium’s life cycle opens

up completely new strategies to combat anthrax infection, says Fischetti. This isn’t the first time that Fischetti and Schuch have seen that bacteriophages can affect the survival of B. anthracis. In 2006 they showed that infected anthrax-causing bacteria become more resistant to a natural antibiotic found in the soil. The new studies now go further, showing how these survival capabilities are not just affected by bacteriophages but actually depend on them. Bacteriophages, the researchers found, exert their control via molecules known as sigma factors, which delegate proteins to turn specific host genes on or off. Different viruses encode different sigma factors, so the appearance of different traits depends on which virus infects the bacterium. While the DNA of some bacteriophages gets incorporated into the bacterium’s single chromosome, the DNA of others exists as separate circular entities called episomes. These episomes can either stay inside one bacterium or flit in and out, infecting several bacteria in a matter of hours. The finding has implications for the sequencing of genomes. “What that means is that sequencing the genome may not be enough,” says Fischetti. “There are more than 1,000 known isolates of anthrax and there is little genetic variation between one isolate and the next. So at face value, it is a really boring genome. But what we see here is that the phage DNA, which works together with the anthrax genome, has always been overlooked.” If bacteriophages can govern the fate of bacteria and bacteria affect human health, the transformation of these bacteria may be able to explain the recurrent and cyclical nature of certain diseases. Humans have 10 times more bacteria on them or in them than the number of human cells, explains Fischetti. And there are 10 times more bacteriophages than there are bacteria. “Bacteriophages play a major role in us and what goes on around us in nature,” he says. “I am convinced of that.” This research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

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Trust Dedicates Resources to Plight of African Penguin The African penguin is in danger of becoming extinct. Oil spills, predation by seals, disease and a few other problems have contributed to the situation. But by far the major culprit is food scarcity, say scientists. African penguins have been sliding towards extinction since industrial fishing started around the Cape. The last four years have seen a population crash. BirdLife South African has found someone to champion its cause. Dr Roelof van der Merwe, a trustee of the Charl van der Merwe Trust heeded BirdLife South Africa’s executive director, Mark Anderson, call for someone to become the ‘Species Champion’ for the African Penguin. The request is in line with Birdlife’s ‘Preventing Extinctions’ programme which was developed a few years back, whereby someone could become a ‘Species Champion’, to fund conservation work for an endangered or critically endangered bird species. In the 1920s, despite more than a century of sustained persecution, principally from egg collecting and guano scraping, around 1 million pairs of African penguins Spheniscus demersus bred at Dassen Island, off the West Coast of South Africa. Now the global population is a mere 28,000 pairs. As for Dassen, last year fewer than 6000 pairs nested. That’s half a per cent of the former numbers. Averaged out over 100 years, this collapse represents a loss of 20 thousand birds per year from just one colony, equivalent to 1600 birds a week,

or more than two birds per hour. This phenomenon is not unique to Dassen Island but is an example of the massive reduction in African penguin numbers around our coast. In the past four years, the stocks of sardine and anchovy on the West Coast have collapsed. Stocks along the south coast are doing somewhat better. While fishery managers debate whether it is due to climate change or overfishing, the penguins

and other seabirds that depend on the fish are disappearing. Fishing companies find it inconvenient to close operations in Lamberts Bay and move to Mossel Bay, where the healthier sardine stocks are located; the penguins don’t have that option. Dr Rob Crawford, penguin specialist at Marine and

Coastal Management, explained: “There are no islands along the South Coast where the penguins can move to. They simply cannot follow the fish the way the boats can”. In April, at the 2nd International African Penguin Conference, the latest depressing results were presented, and speaker after speaker reported shrinking populations from their respective islands. Dr Ross Wanless, seabird division manager for BirdLife South Africa, was there. “I was deeply shocked at the state of the penguin population. The results that were presented at the conference were almost unbelievable, but I couldn’t argue with the numbers”. The Charl van der Merwe Trust asked Dr Wanless to identify interventions that would help turn the species’ fortunes around. Through BirdLife South Africa, the trustees will provide a significant amount of funding to fund collaborative projects, focusing initially on fish stocks and food availability. “If good progress is made after two years, the Trust has dedicated itself to providing additional resources,” explained Dr Wanless. “This couldn’t have come at a better time” said Prof Peter Ryan of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute at the University of Cape Town, one of the collaborators. “We are at a critical juncture, with the African Penguin population in apparent free-fall. A Species Champion will provide the resources we need to try and rescue the situation”. Photo: Peter Ryan

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One Million Bird Records

Just two years ago, an exciting project was initiated to map the distribution of birds in Southern Africa using the efforts of keen civil society volunteers. Early on the morning of Monday 29 June, the millionth record was submitted to the project. “Southern Africa’s bird-watchers are making a massive contribution to one of the country’s most important biodiversity research projects”, says Doug Harebottle, from the animal demography unit, University of Cape and manager of the Southern Africa Bird Atlas 2 project (SABAP). Ornithologists and conservationists are tapping into the skills and enthusiasm of Southern Africa’s bird-watchers to collect information about the distribution and relative abundance of its 850 or so bird species. “SABAP2 builds on the success of SA-

BAP1, which was undertaken from 1987 to 1991”, says Doug. “There’s an army of enthusiastic bird-watchers out there, eager to add value to their bird-watching”, he added. Some 554 bird-watchers are dedicated to the project. At about 07h23 on Monday 29 June, the one millionth bird observation was submitted to the project. Professor Les Underhill, Director of the Animal Demography Unit (ADU) at the University of Cape Town which is coordinating the project, said: “The 30th June 2009 was the second anniversary of the project, with 780,000 of the million records being submitted in the past 12 months”. SABAP2 is a partnership between the University of Cape Town’s Animal Demography Unit (ADU), the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), and BirdLife South Africa. The ADU provides the technical skills, SANBI provides the financial resources and BirdLife South Africa’s members are the ‘citizen scientists’ who are in the field collecting the data. SABAP2 uses innovative technologies, where the submission of bird records, the verification of the data, and the subsequent preliminary analyses are all electronic. As a result, the records on the project website (www.sabap2.org) are updated every three hours. This allows the project progress to be monitored and, for example, see how the jigsaw puzzle of pentads (9 x 9 km grid cells) are filled, as atlasers travel to farflung reaches of the country to fulfil their birdwatching passion. So far, 4681 or 27% of the country’s pentads have been atlased at least once. The project’s methods are very simple.

“One essentially completes a list of the birds seen in the pentad over a minimum of two hours, visiting all the different habitats during that time,” said Doug Harebottle. “The listing of the birds in the order in which they were observed allows for a crude estimation of abundance, as common species would generally be recorded first”, he explained. The data are then entered into specially developed software, and submitted to the ADU electronically. Dr Phoebe Barnard at SANBI, chair of the project’s steering committee, says “The project has several aims, with one of the most important being to map over a fine scale the distribution of South Africa’s birds”. “This information will allow us to make comparisons over time, especially to determine climate change effects on bird distributions and to allow for fine-scale conservation planning. A total of 125 of our birds are threatened and listed in the Red Data Book, so it is also important to monitor changes in their distribution and numbers”. We need to know whether their numbers and ranges continue to decline, and whether or not our conservation interventions are effective. “BirdLife South Africa’s members are very involved in this project”, says Mark Anderson, executive director of BirdLife South Africa. “Some of our members have become very passionate about SABAP2 and their contributions to the project and ultimately to bird conservation are invaluable. It would be impossible to employ professional ornithologists to achieve the results of these ‘citizen scientists’. The millionth record was recorded by atlaser Christopher Patton, that of a Whitebacked Vulture, ironically a species predicted to be negatively affected by climate and land-use change.

Lucas Radebe Appointed as 2010 Ambassador Lucas Radebe was introduced by Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk, the Minister of Tourism, as South African Tourism’s 2010 ambassador to the world. Minister van Schalkwyk made the announcement at an event in Sandton on August 13 where he also launched a Brand Messaging Book for Tourism for South Africans. “We are truly privileged that a footballer of Lucas’s stature and a human being of his calibre has agreed to partner with us to grow excitement about our

destination. We look forward to working with him as 2010 approaches to spread the message of the anticipation and optimism sweeping our country. Radebe will work with South African Tourism between now and the end of the tournament to help deliver destination messages and to help grow interest in South Africa globally, not only as host of the FIFA spectacular, but also as an awesome and amazing holiday destination. Radebe is honored, proud and excited to play this role. “Africa has waited a

long, long time for the honour of hosting the world’s biggest sporting spectacular. I am excited at the impending reality of welcoming the world’s greatest footballers to my homeland. I am proud that South Africa will host hundreds of thousands of fans. I am honoured to be associated with South African Tourism and to be given an opportunity to work with them to raise the profile of my country not only as host of the 2010 FIFA World CupT, but also as the greatest holiday destination in the world.”

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Positive Aspects of Elephants ... an Experiment Fred de Boer and Edward Kohi The increasing of elephant populations is a major concern to wildlife managers and ecologists in many protected areas around Africa. There is a perceived threat that the continuous growth of elephant populations could have a detrimental effect to other species in the system. Elephants are bulk feeders, so they need a lot of forage, and sometimes push over, uproot, or ring bark trees. Especially bulls are known to fell trees. Such feeding habits could have negative impacts on the vegetation composition and structure. Indeed, there are several known cases where an increase of elephant density has been linked to the decrease of certain species. Large trees could locally disappear and patches of woodland might be lost if elephant populations continue to grow. For instance, in several studies baobab density is known to decrease with increasing elephant densities, and in Addo National Park, mistletoes and aloes are known to decline in numbers as elephants increase. It is often found that some plant species are preferred whereas other species are not consumed at all. The difference in preference for certain species can often be explained by a different quality of the leaves, such as through differences in the nitrogen content of the leaves. However, some species also have so-called secondary compounds in their leaves, which are a sort of toxic chemicals aimed at deterring animals from consuming them. These are compounds like tannins, which are also found in black tea leaves, responsible for the relatively bitter taste of some tea. The plants produce these compounds to prevent herbivores from eating plant parts. Other plant species, such as mopane and some acacia species seem to be more tolerant of elephant impact, depending on their regeneration potential and their recruitment. Even though elephants can hammer these species and decrease the maximum height, some of these tree species are remarkable resistant and can sustain this impact well. Some scientists even refer to “hedging” when discussing the impact of elephant on mopane, as elephants continuously come back to mopane patches and browse the trees to a certain height and large branches are broken off from the main stems.

It is only recently that some scientists realised that these elephant impacts could also have positive effects for some species. In order to understand the impact elephants have on the system, a large study, known as the Tembo project, is underway in the Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR) and the Kruger National Park to investigate this in more detail. Edward Kohi and Fred the Boer are two of the scientists involved in the project.

first analysis According to our first analysis of fieldwork results we find that elephants indeed change the structure of trees. Tree height is reduced under elephant browsing, as branches are removed, and some trees are pushed over or partly uprooted. However most of these trees continue to grow and produce new leaves, albeit at a lower heights. Hence the forage availability is affected as more leave material becomes available at lower heights that can now be used by elephants and other smaller browsing species like steenbok, impala or kudu. It is not only the forage height that is affected, but also the number of leaves, the regrowth and the quality of the leaves. Mopane, but also other species, are known to resprout rapidly after browsing. In the wet season for instance, the defoliated leaves can sometimes be replaced in two weeks time. The new leaves are often of a better quality than the previously browsed leaves. The nitrogen and phosphorous contents of these new leaves are often higher. These are two nutrients preferred by herbivores. The concentrations of secondary compounds in these leaves are also often lower. So herbivores could indeed benefit from elephant impact, as the forage availability at lower heights and the forage quality is improved. But do they? In an experiment we tested several of these predictions, such as whether the nutrient content increases after defoliation. Indeed this seems to be the case, forage quality increased, especially at lower browsing heights. We also experimentally simulated the impact of elephants, by creating several plots in which we cut back the mopane trees extensively to encourage denser growth, other plots where we pushed over trees and yet other plots were we totally removed all trees.

We were interested whether other herbivores species like the smaller steenbok and duikers are attracted to these patches in comparison with intact control plots. We measured the visits of the other species by dung counts and spoor counts. Preliminary analyses showed that some herbivores species indeed seem to benefit from the better forage availability at lower levels. Impala, Steenbok, and even Kudu reacted strongly and were relatively more abundant on plots which simulated elephant impacts. Even elephants were more frequently recorded in the plots where the branches were cut back compared to the control plots. This is a phenomenon that has also been observed elsewhere. Elephants seem to return to browsed patches and apparently benefit from the different vegetation structure and higher forage quality at these plots. Habitat selection for most herbivores is mainly determined by forage quality and availability, but the risk from predators also plays an important role. Hence, on the clear cuts where we removed all trees, some of the smaller species were more frequently recorded, especially impala. Impala are known to prefer feeding on the transition zone from woodlands to grassland or open areas. Maybe impala benefits from the clear cuts that elephants can create, facilitating the detection of predators? The impact of elephants on other herbivores species yields a complicated picture. Some species certainly seem to benefit, either by more forage provided at lower feeding heights, or forage of a higher quality for other species. Elephants are also able to create clear cut areas where other species can then easier detect predators. The question whether populations of browsing ungulates also grow under an increasing elephant population remains to be answered though. However, that elephants only have negative impacts on the savanna systems by removing large trees is a one-sided vision and we are able to prove that the reality is far more complicated. Elephants have a huge impact on the vegetation and thereby on other species that use this vegetation and we are just at the beginning of unravelling these patterns and processes to understand the role that elephants play as one of the species in these large savanna ecosystems.

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Upload Abstracts to Koedoe Koedoe invites African Universities to submit abstracts of masters and doctoral theses to this journal. Thesis abstracts can be uploaded on this website (www. koedoe.co.za), and linked to the institutional repository (if applicable). Such uploaded abstracts will be indexed by search engines and is also searchable on the site, leading to greater exposure of institutional research. Students, supervisors and/or departmental administrators may upload abstracts, but all abstracts will need verification by the study supervisor before it will be activated. Departments may obtain a code from the thesis abstract administrator of the journal to bypass supervisor verification. Further information needed? Contact administrator, Liezel Grunewald at email: [email protected] or telephone: +27 021 914 5100. Please note that thesis abstracts will not be peer reviewed by this journal and will not qualify for Department of Education subsidy in South Africa. Submit Thesis Abstract here: http:// www.koedoe.co.za/index.php/koedoe/ thesis

Minister Wants Big Seven South Africa will soon be boasting the Big Seven, when the shark and the whale are added to the already well-know Big Five tourist attractions in the country reports Vivian Warby of Bua News. Minister of water and environmental Affairs Buyelwa Sonjica announced this on July 18, when briefing media shortly before her budget vote in Parliament. The minister said this was “a very significant move for tourism as we will become the only country in the world to boast a Big Seven. “We will be marketing these animals sharks and whales - to the whole world. It will have a significant impact on tourism,” she said. She said, on the basis of available science, South Africa has significant numbers of species in the top ocean predators such as the shark and the whale. “On that basis we will add these two species to the Big 5 and then have a resultant Big 7.”

The Amazon River is 11 Million Years Old The Amazon River originated as a transcontinental river around 11 million years ago and took its present shape approximately 2.4 million years ago. These are the most significant results of a study on two boreholes drilled in proximity of the mouth of the Amazon River by Petrobras, the national oil company of Brazil. A team formed by the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) of the University of Amsterdam, the University of Liverpool and Petrobras used this new oceanic record to reconstruct the history of the Amazon River. The study was published in the scientific journal ‘Geology’ in July 2009. Until recently the Amazon Fan, a sediment column of around 10 kilometres in thickness, proved a hard nut to crack, and

Jason Trollip

scientific drilling expeditions such as Ocean Drilling Program could only reach a fraction of it. Recent exploration efforts by Petrobras lifted the veil, and sedimentological and paleontological analysis on samples from two boreholes, one of which 4.5 kilometres below sea floor, now permit an insight into the history of both Amazon River and Fan. Prior to this publication the exact age of the Amazon River was unknown. This research has large implications for our understanding of South American paleogeography and the evolution of aquatic organisms in Amazonia and the Atlantic coast. It is a defining moment as a new ecosystem originates which at the same time forms a geographic divisor.

Social Networking Site for Researchers Aims to Make Academic Papers a Thing of the Past myExperiment, the social networking site for scientists, has set out to challenge traditional ideas of academic publishing as it enters a new phase of funding. The site has just received a further £250,000 funding from the Joint  Information Systems Committee (JISC) as part of the JISC Information Environment programme to improve scholarly communication in contemporary research practice. According to Professor David De Roure at the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science, who has developed the site jointly with Professor Carole Goble at the University of Manchester, researchers will in the future be sharing new forms of “Research Objects” rather than academic publications. Research Objects contain everything needed to understand and reuse a piece of research, including workflows, data, research outputs and provenance information. They provide a systematic and unbiased approach to research, essential when researchers are faced with a deluge of data. ‘We are introducing new approaches to

make research more reproducible, reusable and reliable,’ Professor De Roure said. ‘Research Objects are self-contained pieces of reproducible research which we will share in the future like papers are shared today.’ The myExperiment Enhancement project will integrate myExperiment with the established EPrints research repository in Southampton and Manchester’s new eScholar institutional repository. With its emphasis on social networking, myExperiment provides essential social infrastructure for researchers to discover and share Research Objects and to benefit from multidisciplinary collaborations. ‘We are investigating the collision of Science 2.0 and traditional ideas of repositories,’ said Professor Carole Goble. ‘myExperiment paves the way for the next generation of researchers to do new research using new research methods.’ In its first year, the myExperiment.org website has attracted thousands of users worldwide and established the largest public collection of its kind. http://www.myexperiment.org

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Is Climate Change Affecting Our Birds? Help Us Find Out … Researchers at the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) are calling on our country’s birders to join them in monitoring the impact of climate change on bird migration behaviour in the lowveld and bushveld regions of South Africa. Volunteers will be asked to record the arrival date of some of the more common, easily identifiable migratory birds in their gardens, farms, workplace or in their favourite birding area on a monthly basis. “We are especially looking for dedicated birders who would be willing to record the arrival date of migrant birds over a number of years,” says project manager Nikki Stevens. Citizen scientists have been assisting SAEON’s Ndlovu Node in their bird monitoring project since 2007. Ndlovu, an observation platform responsible for long-term environmental monitoring in South Africa’s savanna biome, plans to keep the programme running indefinitely as it is yielding valuable and much-needed information to detect reductions or expansions of the ranges of certain savanna bird species. “Birders have been playing an invaluable role in adding crucial information to the existing knowledge base,” says Stevens. With almost one degree of warming having occurred over the past century, scientific work shows mounting evidence that birds are being negatively affected by the change. Long-term environmental monitoring has indicated that global climate change has already extended plant growing seasons, changed animal and plant distribution patterns, and altered the annual dates of flowering, breeding, and bird migration. As far as bird migration is concerned, the emerging picture shows that many species that breed in the northern hemisphere have been arriving later than normal in South Africa since the second half of the 20th century. The delayed arrival can result in birds missing important food peaks, which

can have disastrous impacts on bird populations. “Birds are excellent indicators of climate change as they are very sensitive to climate

ganisations involved in gathering information on bird migration two years ago. So, if you are based in a savanna region and are interested in participating in the project - or have already been collecting such information - please contact Dr Dave Thompson on [email protected] or Tel 013 735 3535/ 013 735 3534 to register as a participant. Alternatively, download a registration form from http://ndlovu.saeon. ac.za, email it to [email protected] or fax it to 013 7353544. photo: N Stevens

British Pupils to Star in KNP Filmed Reality TV Show

and weather,” Stevens explains. “They are also very important indicators because large amounts of information on their behaviour and migration patterns have been collected by members of the public, specifically in the northern hemisphere.” In Britain, for example, the arrival dates of certain migratory birds have been recorded by members of the Royal Meteorological Society since 1883. This very important long-term series of observations has generated a wealth of valuable long-term data in the northern hemisphere. It is this information in particular that has shed light on how bird-migration patterns are affected by climate change. Stevens says that there is little long-term data available for Africa. “Global climate change is likely to affect birds here as well, if not already, yet we are still largely unsure of how they are affected,” she explains. It was to help bridge this gap in knowledge that SAEON joined the ranks of or-

Children at a Lincoln school are planning to wow TV executives in a race to become the faces of an exotic new series. Four up-and-coming stars from Yarborough School in Riseholme Road, Lincoln, will be selected from more than 30 of their peers to appear on a brand new CBBC television programme. And to film it, they will be whisked away to South Africa to work as junior game rangers in Kruger National Park. Head of drama Katie Cummins has transformed the school’s drama department since she took up the post in September. “The BBC contacted me only last Friday and it’s because they haven’t worked with any kids from Lincolnshire in a while,” she said. “I thought it would be an exciting opportunity. The students have had to fill in application forms detailing why they would like to go to South Africa. The show, which is set to run for 13 episodes, will see the chosen four join a further four South African children for a month. They will track, care for and live among some of the most beautiful animals on earth. For the full story see: www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk

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About 17 000 Species are Threatened With Extinction A detailed analysis of the well-known IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ shows 869 species are Extinct or Extinct the Wild. This figure rises to 1,159 if the 290 Critically Endangered species tagged as Possibly Extinct are included. Overall, a minimum of 16,928 species are threatened with extinction. Considering that only 2.7 percent of the 1.8 million described species have been analyzed, this number is a gross underestimate, but it does provide a useful snapshot of what is happening to all forms of life on Earth. The IUCN analysis, which is published every four years, comes just before the deadline governments set themselves to evaluate how successful they were in achieving the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss. The IUCN report, Wildlife in a Changing World, shows the 2010 target will not be met. The report analyses 44,838 species on the IUCN Red List and presents results by groups of species, geographical regions, and different habitats, such as marine, freshwater and terrestrial. An increased number of freshwater species have now been assessed, giving a better picture of the dire situation they face. In Europe, for example, 38 percent of all fishes are threatened and 28 percent in Eastern Africa. The high degree of connectivity in freshwater systems, allowing pollution or

invasive species to spread rapidly, and the development of water resources with scant regard for the species that live in them, are behind the high level of threat. In the oceans, the picture is similarly bleak. The report shows that a broad range of marine species are experiencing potentially irreversible loss due to over-fishing, climate change, invasive species, coastal development and pollution. At least 17 percent of the 1,045 shark and ray species, 12.4 percent of groupers and six of the seven marine turtle species are threatened with extinction. Most noticeably, 27 percent of the 845 species of reef building corals are threatened, 20 percent are Near Threatened and there is not enough data for 17 percent to be assessed. Marine birds are much more threatened that terrestrial ones with 27.5 percent in danger of extinction, compared with 11.8 percent of terrestrial birds. The report shows nearly one third of amphibians, more than one in eight birds and nearly a quarter of mammals are threatened with extinction. For some plant groups, such as conifers and cycads, the situation is even more serious, with 28 percent and 52 percent threatened respectively. For all these groups, habitat destruction, through agriculture, logging and development, is the main threat and occurs worldwide. In the case of amphibians, the fungal

disease chytridiomycosis is seriously affecting an increasing number of species, complicating conservation efforts. For birds, the highest number of threatened species is found in Brazil and Indonesia, but the highest proportion of threatened or extinct birds is found on oceanic islands. Invasive species and hunting are the main threats. For mammals, unsustainable hunting is the greatest threat after habitat loss. This is having a major impact in Asia, where deforestation is also occurring at a very rapid rate. Red List Indices make it possible to track trends of extinction risk in groups of species. New indices have been calculated and provide some interesting results. Birds, mammals, amphibians and corals all show a continuing deterioration, with a particularly rapid decline for corals. Red List Indices have also been calculated for amphibian, mammal and bird species used for food and medicine. The results show that bird and mammal species used for food and medicine are much more threatened. The diminishing availability of these resources has an impact on the health and well-being of the people who depend on them directly. To read the full report, Wildlife in a Changing World – an analysis of the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, please click here. http://data.iucn.org/ dbtw-wpd/edocs/RL-2009-001.pdf

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ DID YOU KNOW? • The IUCN Red List has a long established history as the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of plant and animal species. It is based on an objective system of assessing the risk of extinction for a species. Species listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable are collectively described as threatened. The IUCN Red List is not just a register of names and associated threat categories. It is a compendium of in-

formation on the threats to the species, their ecological requirements, where they live, and information on conservation actions that can be used to reduce or prevent extinctions. • Although only 2.7 percent of the world’s 1.8 million described species have been assessed so far, the IUCN Red List provides a useful snapshot of what is happening to species today and highlights the urgent need for conservation action.

• Birds are the best known group with less than one percent of species classified as Data Deficient, meaning that we do not have enough information to say if they are threatened or not. However, for many groups, we cannot say what the situation is for a large proportion of species and many of them could well be threatened: 47 percent of 1,045 species of sharks and rays, 35 percent of marine mammals and 24 percent of amphibians are Data Deficient.

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How Small Farms Could Feed the World

Mike Elected as President Dr. Mike Peel of the ARC-Animal Production Institute (Rangeland Ecology) was elected as President of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa at the 44th Congress of the society held at the UNISA campus in Johannesburg in July. He looks forward to the challenge of taking this vibrant and diverse society which comprises both rangeland and pasture scientists into 2010. Important topics discussed at Congress 44 included: the impact of climate change on the natural resources of southern Africa and the need for a complete re-analysis of the agricultural sector; concerns around the shortage of plant breeders in South Africa; the issue of future payment for ecosystem services; food security; rangelands and mining; the use of pastures in animal production; the burgeoning wildlife industry; and the importance of the emerging farmer sector. Dr. Peel believes that the interconnectedness of ecosystems and the fact that there is often a shortage of personnel in institutions necessitates a networking approach to rangeland and pasture research. He states that ‘the Society is in a strong position to grow and in this regard the mentorship programme of the society should encourage working partnerships between young and established scientists to ensure the future of the discipline in southern Africa’. Dr. Peel who is based in Nelspruit is programme manager of the Rangeland Ecology Programme and also heads up the Savanna Ecosystem Project which he initiated in 1989.

As an African Union summit on agricultural investments opened in Libya, donors and non-profits calledparticipants’ attention to the role smallholder farmers - mostly women - can have in feeding their communities. Agriculture is an overlooked “emergency” that deserves as much attention as the global financial crisis, according to Kate Norgrove with Oxfam UK’s office in Dakar, Senegal. “Nearly US$9 trillion has been injected into the global financial sector since January 2009 verses $4 billion in global ODA [overseas development assistance] to agriculture. That is small change relative to the scale of the problem.” Decades of declining production have pushed more families into hunger and disease, according to Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). AGRA calculated that 18 percent of ODA in 1980 went to agriculture versus four percent in 2006. Small farms bear the brunt of these cuts, according to Oxfam UK. In a recent report, the NGO noted the United States and European Union invested less than $3 per small farm in poor countries from 1986 to 2007. “Half these farmers do not produce enough to feed their families,” Namanga Ngongi, AGRA’s president, said. “Smallscale farmers are not organised and do not have a voice in their government’s agriculture policies.” More than 70 percent of Africans depend on agriculture to live, according to the UN. People across sub-Saharan Africa protested when the prices of agricultural inputs, food and fuel soared in recent years; prices remain unaffordable for many.

Small-scale revolution AGRA’s Ngongi said while he recognised the term “green revolution” recalls memories of failed agricultural investments, “Running away from the word does not solve productivity problems. We cannot tinker around the margins. Africa’s agricultural problems need massive investments - nothing short of a revolution.”Solutions need to be tailored to small-scale producers’ needs, he added. If smaller packages of fertilizers, seeds and tools were available, people who can only afford smaller quantities are more likely to buy.  The readily available packages weighing up to 100kg are impractical for farmers most often women - travelling in precarious transport over long distances on poor roads, Ngongi said. He said farmers are now forced to travel long distances to get seeds and fertilizers because there are not enough small traders in rural areas. “In western Kenya where AGRA has implemented agro-leadership programmes to train traders, farmers are now walking on average four kilometers to buy inputs versus 17 kilometers before.” Cash-strapped governments are unable to back loans to small farms, according to AGRA. “Banks need risk assurance,” Ngongi said, describing a loan-assurance programme in Kenya backed by AGRA and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) that has agreed to loan $50 million to small-scale farmers over three years. © IRIN. All rights reserved.  

Tanzania to Bring in Black Rhinos from South Africa Tanzania expects to import 36 black rhinos from South Africa this year to boost the population of the endangered wildlife species in the country. The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Shamsa Mwangunga, said the government currently does not know the exact number of rhinos still surviving in the country and warned that the species are in increasing danger of being wiped out altogether. Ms Mwangunga said the black rhinos to be imported from South Africa

will comprise equal numbers of males and females (18 each). She said they will initially be sent to one of the country’s many national parks, and later distributed to other national parks. The minister explained that the rhinos will start arriving in Tanzania from South Africa in August. She said South Africa will be donating the animals to Tanzania as a gift in appreciation of the historical bilateral ties between the two countries. THISDAY, Dar es Salaam

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Ranger’s Diary, Skukuza Section, December 1959 Henry Wolhuter, also known as “Kwesi” which refers to ‘morning star’. Good rain fell during the night with a total of 7.5mm. Went out to Tlapa-laMokwena but little rain fell there and there was little extra water in the dam. Went on to Mbyamedi dam and found it to be just under half full. Good rains had fallen in the area from the Mbyamedi plots south. Saw one lone young sable bull. Looked at the control burns. S12 burnt well and little damage due to a hot fire was done. Unfortunately, S15 was a very hot burn, also S16 and S23. The Mtomene and Nhlowa were both running and the Mtomene dam was overflowing, very good rain fell here. Most of the impala that were seen along the Voortrekker Road were rams. A few lambs were seen in the vicinity of the Myamedi causeway. Saw a magnificent specimen of martial eagle at Mbyamedi. The Kompaite windmill was pumping well and there was a wonderful show of Barberton daisies in the vicinity of the ‘gat’. Light rain last night of 3,5 mm. Attended the park sale. Delivered rations and water to Toulon Gate and Masutlu picket. The Sabie river rose overnight considerably. On Mr Labuschagne’s request took a party up to Tshokwane abd back via Mlondozi. On the way back up the Lower Sabie road, picked up one of the ‘hitch hiking’ baboons about three miles out and brought him all the way into the camp before he decided to get off. This ‘hitch hiking’ is now becoming a regular thing amongst several of the larger males. Sent a lorry and gang of staff from the engineering section down to section three to burn block S28. Went over to Pretoriuskop and had a look at all the two year spring burns, which are already looking green. Also looked at some of the erosion work that was done in the section. Saw a very good variety of game in the spring burns. Wildebeest calves were plentiful, these being very early this year. Also saw three cheetah at Sithlabe. Ranger Smit reports that there have been cases of wildebeest calves being killed by the cheetah. Received radio instructions from nature conservation officer to deal with the plague of spotted

backed weavers nesting in the trees in the camp where they are stripping the trees of all their leaves. To destroy the birds with any means at our disposal is almost impossible and I think the most effective method will be to destroy all the nests and hope that this will drive the birds away. Sunday Two people arrested at the station with spion and handed over to the police. Saw three giraffe in the lower portion of the Sabi-Sand river corner, this I think is rather unusual. Quite a number of steenbok are seen along the Lower Sabie road which is not their typical type of veld, it being rather bushy. During the past week the number of impala lambs have increased rapidly, especially along the Lower Sabie. Started the spotted backed weaver campaign; pulling down 520 nests from the trees in the camp. These were mostly old deserted nests and only 40 chicks were found and few eggs. In one nest a small python of about three feet was found. Light drizzle most of the day. Did monthly game count up he Sabie and back via Doispane. The impala seen were mostly rams. Few lambs were counted. Good rains fell during the night in the Doispane-Masahalane area. Continued the weaver operation and destroyed 900 nests with 214 chicks. Arranged to burn up Mbyamedi with assistance from ranger Espach. Met him at Hlambamaduba. Burnt S15 and S14. Both blocks are fairly green and did not burn too well. A heavy storm fell late in the afternoon and put out all the fires. The burning was done with a gang from the engineer’s section. The staff knew very little or nothing about burning, nor did they know the area and several were lost for a few hours and much time and mileage (55 miles) was wasted looking for them. On day occasional leave. Continuing the war on the weavers. Today 180 nests were pulled down from knoppiesdoring trees with 31 chicks. These chicks are of varying ages, some newly hatched and some just ready to fly. The trees that were dealt with on the 7th and 8th are now deserted. As all the nests are either in knoppiesdoring, torchwood or buffalothorn trees,which are all full of thorns, it takes time to get the nests down. One Diedericks cuckoo chick was found in one nest. One woman was arrested at the station with a bottle of spion. Light drizzle in the

morning. Received a radio request to proceed to Satara and give rangers Kloppers and Lorentz a hand with shooting an elephant that they had wounded and which had retreated into very thick bush. Neither of them had had any experience with elephant shooting before. This was a bull that had repeatedly been doing damage in the Satara Camp. Met rangers Kloppers and Lorentz and followed the spoor for about 14 miles to the Mavumbye windmill where it was killed. The day was extremely hot. Arranged for a lorry up from Skukuza to stay over the night and return with the meat. Returned to Skukuza in the evening.

Sunday Received a message from the 06h00 train that there were several buffalo lying dead near Kemps Cottage. Went down and found that nine buffalo had been killed by the train, most probably by the 03h00 train. This was never reported to us. Arranged for all the meat to be brought in. Four of the legs had been removed by someone before we got there and the suspicion was on the 03h00 train staff. The Railway police were contacted but no trace of the meat was found. One woman was arrested being in possession of meat which she had helped herself to and paid five pounds admission of guilt. Extremely hot with emperature at 100 degree F. Again very hot and humidity high. The war on the weavers continued and 167 nests were pulled down, but no eggs or chicks were found. Went to Tlapa-la-Mokwena. A little rain fell in the area and there was a little extra water in the dam. Returned via Maklori. Day of the covenant. Hot, temperature 105 degree Fahrenheit. Pulled down a few nests again, mostly old. Temperature up to 106 degrees Fahrenheit but the humidity is down. Foot and mouth reported in the Numbi-Sabie corner and across the Sabie on Madras. Further nests were removed, but no eggs or chicks were founds. 6mm of rain at night. Days occasional leave. Light drizzle most of the day. In the evening had to go out on Hippopool road to pull car out of mud. Overcast and light drizzle.

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Ranger’s Diary, Skukuza Section, December 1959 continued from page 18

Sunday Accompanied the warden to Tlapa-laMokwena. Spoor of large herd of buffalo crossed Napi road from the direction of the Mbaymedi heading towards Mlalene. Looked at Napi dam and found both adms full. It will be necessary to stone the two spillways as these are likely to erode with heavy rains. During the last few days, weavers have started building again in some of the trees. Today pulled down 154 new and old nests. Went down to Crocodile Bridge. The section received light soaking rains and the grazing looks good. Along the Lebombo flats there are large herds of wildebeest and zebra. Burnt block S14 along the new firebreak from Napi road to Ngwenyene. The grass is very green and burning is very slow. Burnt through the centre of block S14 from west to east. This burnt well at midday, but I do not think it worth the trouble to attempt to burn this block any more. Saw several small flocks of Quela feeding of grass seeds in the Mbyamedi area. The Ngwenyene wa-

terhole is full and there is a fair amount of spoor there. One day occasional leave.

Christmas Day A quiet and orderly day. On patrol to Pretoriuskop saw a herd of nine roan, one was this season’s calf, two last season’s and the remaining adult animals. Also saw a lone sable bull at the Mhlanganene, this being very much east of their normal habitat. General duties.

Sunday Small flock of Quela in my garden. Road patrol – Lower Sabie. Warden’s clerk now on leave till the end of January, which rather ties me down to Skukuza as I the daily three Met recordings to do. Had the field rangers and three camp staff cut down the reeds opposite the restaurant. Light drizzle at night. The weavers have almost deserted the camp now. There remain a few isolated ones

that seem to be nesting, though they do not seem to be doing this in earnest, and I think the trouble is now over for the season. 2272 nests were pulled down, from which over 300 chicks were killed, plus a large number of eggs being destroyed. I should think that in future years the big trees could be saved from being stripped of their leaves by destroying the nests as soon as they start building. The main attraction for buildings in the camp is the easily available supply of food, mainly the porridge from the staff quarters. Staff Christmas feast. General duties. Received an enquiry from Dr Naude as to the position with the weavers. I notified him that there was no need at the moment for any action from his department. Land Rover: 40098 miles Total for month: Ranger duties: 721 miles, other: 201 miles Outside Park: none Private: none Petrol consumption: 18.4 mpg (miles per gallon) Rainfall: 86.8mm Field ranger establishment: 13 Field ranger strength: 12

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Kruger Krazies’ Claim to Shame

These park visitors were seen on the main road from Lower Sabie to Skukuza. When I confronted them, they told me that they wanted to get a closer photo of the Hippo.

Some people.  Regards, Paul van den Berg, Cape Town

These photos of transgressors of Park rules are published in an attempt to assist in restoring basic respect for others and the Park. Entries are sent by visitors, rangers and all people concerned wit the welfare of the Park and its visitors.

Letters * Letters * Letters * Letters Breakdown in Kruger: Great Assistance I am writing to you about our experience and mishap when we had this breakdown in the Kruger Park. At least once a year we visit the Park, and enjoy every minute while driving around, but never had such bad luck. As they always say, there is always a first time for everything.Maybe you like to print that in your news paper, to show other people, what can happen. The problem is getting SPARE PARTS in South Africa. There is an Opel dealer in Nelspruit, but he did not had a oil sump for us. He had to order it from Johannesburg, so to get my husband home, I arranged the spare part in Joburg and travelled myself forward and backward to have the car running again and get my husband home. He would have had to wait at least a week, if not more. The sad part was that while my husband was stuck in Skukuza, he could not even get out and see any animals. But do not worry, we will be back! Thanks for reading my letter, my thanks go as I mentioned in the attachment to the wonderful people in Lower Sabie, the Man-

ager was very helpful, and also the Shangaan Ranger, unfortunately I have forgotten his name, he drove us late back to the Crocodile Gate. The Park has wonderful people working there. Kind Regards, Heidi Hasenkopf

Response from Laura Mukhwevo, customer relations t Kruger National Park We acknowledge receipt of your letter (attached) and email below regarding your recent visit to the KNP. Thank you for taking time to write us such feedback; we deeply regret the mishap you had on the road and for all the inconveniences suffered as a result. It is also wonderful to receive such positive feedback about our staff members; thank you for such comments following your experience of courteous service offering. We are proud to be associated with

staff members who go an extra mile to exceed guests’ expectations and are glad they were there to assist; they are assets in the organization. Your compliment was relayed to all staff concerned so that they can continue to maintain that service standard. It is acknowledgements like these which will spur one to greater excellence and on behalf of KNP Management; please allow me to express my gratitude in a humble way for such recognition. Once again thank you for bringing the matter to our attention; we wish you memorable visits to the KNP.

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Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children, Hidden excitedly, containing laughter. T.S. Eliot

Letters * Letters * Letters * Letters Wonder From Waste While on vacation in the Kruger National Park in May this year, we met Makhadzi Picnic Spot attendant, Josef Krokedil. Josef keeps the picnic spot clean and tends to visitors’ thirst and braai equipment needs. He crafts the most beautiful flowers from all discarded cold drink cans. The place is an oasis and we would like to encourage visitors to stop here for a breather and perhaps, a bite, before further exploring God’s creation. Abraham and Davina Pretorius, Secunda

left: Josef Krodedil, attendant at Makhadzi Picnic Spot

middle: Davina Pretorius at Makhadzi right: The kitchen at Makhadzi

Impressed With Service at Letaba Rest Camp On out recent visit to the Kruger National Park we noticed how helpful and committed the staff at Letaba Rest Camp go about their day to day activities. Their conduct is indeed a proud example to local and international visitors. The Camp is neat with SANPArks staff cleaning and doing maintenance every day. Abraham Pretorius, Secunda

Frank Malubeke and Simon Ndlovu tend to the maintenance at Letaba

Hut attendants, Agnes Chauke and Paulina Nkhwaxu

Pesticide Used by Poachers Please take to heart the severity of the below information and forward this information to as many of your friends and colleagues who work in the farming and pesticide fields. Furadan, a pesticide used in the agricultural industry, is being used by poachers in Africa to poison fish and wildlife. Poachers put the poison in rivers to kill fish and hippo’s. This poison is also being taken up by birds and other predators as well as grazers, all dying as a result. I assume the poison has no or little effect on humans that ingest the meat of the poisoned animals but the poison itself has a profound effect on the animals that eat it. Furadan is manufactured by FMC in the USA but the authorities there have put a ban on its use in the USA and now it’s being dumped in Africa. It has been established that 25 wild dogs have already died in Zim-

babwe as a result of Furadan poisoning. Dereck Joubert of the National Georaphic Society has confirmed that Furadan is being used by fish and wildlife poachers in Botswana and Zambia. It has also been confirmed that the product is being sold in Kenya and Tanzania. It has not been established yet whether Furadan is easily available and being sold here in Zimbabwe or whether our poachers are buying this product across our borders. If anyone has information as to companies here in Zimbabwe that are selling this product please can you provide us with that information so that we can contact those companies to advise them of its misuse. Many Thanks, Dirk Nel, Harare, Zimbabwe

Silas Mukoki ensures tourist services are in place at Letaba

David Molobi, duty manager at Letaba

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Letters * Letters * Letters * Letters Pretoriuskop is Tops

In December 2008 we were residents at Pretoriuskop. One morning we noticed an impala calf on the outside of the camp fence and its mother on the inside. How this happened we do not know. The calf could only have been a few days old.

They were both frantically running up and down alongside the fence. The mother was stamping and snorting continuously. A most upsetting situation. We then went out on a game drive. My husband reassured me that the mother would somehow get to the calf. On returning to the camp at about 14h00 the situation had not changed, but worsened. The calf was laying down weakly and exhausted and the mother was still running up and down against the fence. What do you do? I then said to my husband I am going to reception to report the matter. he was most apprehensive, saying they were camp staff, not game rangers. But I still went. At the reception I was introduced to the camp manager, Margaret JOnes and assistant manager, Philip Mkhabela. On explaining the situation to them, without hesitation they accompanied me to the fence. They then started to herd the impala mother towards the gate. This was easier said than done. They had to herd the mother and make sure the calf move with her. this took about two hours and eventually

calf and mother re-united. We were all so relieved. I have written this note to thank Margaret and Philip for ‘going the extra mile’. Thanks again and keep up the good work. And thank you for caring. Best regards, Rina Bell, Boksburg

Kuduzela Launched for SA Soccer Fans A wind instrument in the shape of a kudu horn, the Kuduzela, has been launched in South Africa and is expected to become synonymous with football in South Africa. Launched by the South African National Parks (SANParks) and First National Bank (FNB) the Kuduzela is a truly African icon, according to the chief executive officer of SANParks, Dr David Mabunda. “Traditionally, in some African communities, the kudu horn has been used as an instrument to call people together for gatherings at the royal house or for a community imbizo but most importantly as a call to battle. Now the Kuduzela will fulfil the same role,” said Dr Mabunda. He said the Kuduzela would be used to call all South Africans, international guests and soccer fans to South Africa for a spectacular 2010 FIFA World Cup. Appropriately it will be calling the “warring parties” to the symbolic battlefield of soccer.

Dr Mabunda said the Kuduzela sounded like a trumpeting elephant. “When there’s action near the goal mouth, you will hear the elephants going really crazy,” he said, adding that describing the atmosphere in a stadium packed with thousands of fans blowing their Kuduzelas would be difficult. A percentage of the manufacturing cost of the Kuduzela will go to a conservation project - Kids in Parks, an environmental education programme which helps learners explore South Africa’s national parks and understand their place in the natural and cultural world. By visiting national parks and engaging in hands-on experiences with the local flora and fauna, school children learn about ecology, natural history and the importance of caring for the natural habitat. Michael Jordaan, chief executive officer of FNB said: “The Kuduzela will not only give visitors a South African experience but

a truly African experience as well. We believe that the Kuduzela will take pride of place in many a South African home, as well as at the centre of many South African future celebrations.” The Kuduzela is produced at the Vereeniging-based Kudu Kudu Manufacturing plant where they manufacture injection moulded vehicle parts. “The downturn in the economy and the subsequent slowdown in vehicle production, led the owners of the plant to look for innovative ways to keep the plant operational and their staff employed. “Through innovation and lateral thinking, a section of the plant was adapted and a new business established to manufacture the Kuduzela, using as much recyclable plastic as possible,” adds Jordaan. He urged South Africans to begin practicing as lip flexibility and lung capacity - in short, a fair amount of technique, where needed to get the right sound. - BuaNews

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Charcoal Profits Fuel War in East Charcoal profits are helping to fuel the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where militia groups and some segments of the national army control the production of and trade in the commodity, say officials. “All the armed groups, including the FDLR [Forces démocratiques pour la liberation du Rwanda], and some individuals in the army are implicated in the traffic of makala [charcoal],” said Emmanuel de Merode, director of Virunga National Park. “Illegal trade in makala generates sale of up to US$30 million per year. A large proportion of this money goes to the armed groups,” said De Merode. Charcoal trade is common in the east. On the roads leading to Goma, North Kivu Province’s main town, lorries and bicycles are often seen stacked with sacks of charcoal sourced from militia strongholds. In Rutshuru territory, the FDLR controls loggers, charcoal burners and sellers, according to trader Solomon Mubake. Traders in North Kivu obtain their charcoal from Rugari in Rutshuru, 35km north of Goma, or Burungu and Kitchanga, 80km and 90km west of Goma, respectively. “The FDLR consider the forest as belonging to them... they have sub-divided it into tracts of about 5km, which three or four FDLR combatants monitor [day and night] when [the FDLR] are not fighting,” said Mubake.

Militia-controlled logging When they do not requisition the loggers, the FDLR imposes monthly taxes of between $5 and $25 per logger. “It’s better to stay in the house without exploiting the charcoal when one is not able to pay the $5... The people are afraid to die as the FDLR have no prisons,” said Mubake. “These days, there is a lot of settling of scores. The FDLR kill those who betray them.” In Masisi territory, charcoal trade is mainly under Congrès national pour la defense du peuple (CNDP) control. Theoretically, the CNDP ceased to be a rebel movement with the integration of its elements into the army in January. But on the ground the reality is different. “There are still checkpoints and barriers [manned] by armed elements who claim to belong to the CNDP and who are also tak-

ing $5 per month in tax and demand money to allow the passage of each sack of charcoal to the market,” said Bimwa Shebatende, a distributor. Villagers who do not obey CNDP rules are chased from their homes. The situation is similar in South Kivu Province where the same armed groups control the charcoal trade. Mathilde Muhindo Mwamini, president of a women’s group, denounced the exploitation of civilians, especially women and children in the charcoal trade, as well as the engagement of army officers. “It [charcoal trade] is one of the activities carried out by the FARDC [Congolese army]. They... sometimes use the civilian population to cut the wood [and] to make the charcoal... but they sell it themselves,” Muhindo said. She said in the past it was the FDLR who exploited the charcoal, having started these activities as refugees.

 Army operations The Congolese army and the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) have since January conducted military operations against the FDLR and other militia in the east aimed at improving civilian security and cutting the militias’ sources of financing. The FDLR is a 6,000-strong armed group that has been a key factor in the instability in the Kivu provinces ever since its founders fled Rwanda in the wake of the 1994 genocide. Some 30 percent of the FDLR’s forces are now Congolese. At least 80,000 people were displaced in June in North Kivu and another 17,000 in neighbouring Orientale Province, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=85222 MONUC says the army’s operation Kimia II has helped oust the FDLR and other armed groups from the mining sites but not from their forest hide-outs. “Kimia II is aimed at recovering the main mining sites. [This] has been done and is being done but there are other sources of income [still available] for the FDLR and the armed groups,” said MONUC military spokesperson, Lt. Col Jean-Paul Dietrich.

 Counting the cost According to De Merode, almost 92 percent of the makala produced in North Kivu

comes from trees harvested in the park. Virunga is a world heritage site notable for its active volcanoes and diverse habitats housing endangered species. So far, 20 percent of the park, about 790,000ha, has been destroyed by illegal wood-cutting and charcoal-burning and at least 120 park rangers have been killed by various armed groups, he said. “For us, it is the ICCN [l’Institut Congolais pour la conservation de la nature] that has paid the price of the armed groups’ presence with [their] blood,” he said. The ICCN manages DRC’s national parks.

 Alternative energy The ICCN is supporting alternative energy sources such as biomass briquettes, which can be made from leaves, tree bark and fruit peelings or other farm waste. The production is low cost due to the abundance of raw materials and the briquettes also provide 70 percent more energy than makala. It is distributing briquette production kits in Rutshuru and to IDP camps with the aim of reducing financing for militias, because the earnings will be collected in the villages and not in the forests where the FDLR are, said De Merode. However, some NGOs are worried: “There are negative consequences to offsetting the charcoal trade,” said Laura Miller of the NGO Mercy Corps. “Briquette presses may be destroyed by the rebels that control the charcoal trade, or community members may be forced to produce or transport charcoal for them.” © IRIN. All rights reserved.

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” Ralph Waldo Emerson 

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Your Thoughts About the 200-bed Luxury Hotel Proposed for Kruger National Park In the previous issue we asked your comments about the proposed 200-bead hotel for the Kruger National Park. This is what you said...

•ThoseI personally think this sucks. up and coming middle class who

are not happy with the current self catering accommodation should either get a life or find alternate holidaying venues. The whole idea of visiting the park is to enjoy the basics in life. Want a five star experience? Go elsewhere. The park is already over commercialized. Regards, Denis

•For Well done on your newsletter. comment on the 200 bed hotel, I be-

lieve that the only reason that SANParks are

doing this is because they are lacking funds to upgrade the camps for 2010, and if they generate more they will spend more! The KNP is an experience that one cannot find anywhere else in the world. To commercialise it any more than it is already, is just going to spoil what one went there for. If visitors want to stay in KNP, let them feel the real experience as that is what is it all about, and if they don’t like that, let them stay in a concession  (which is rubbish anyway and only created for generation of funds) or they can stay at one of the fancy lodges outside the various gates into the KNP. So, no, please DON’T DO IT! Kind regards to you Lorraine & Hermann Hofreiter

• As a Ecotourism operator I am totally

opposed to this idea.  Keep hotels out of the Kruger.  At the moment you have far to many private operators with game viewing vehicles roaming around.  Where were the days when one had to search for hours to see the best wildlife in an unspoiled environment, today - thanks to two way radios the “Park” is over run by these vehicles.   Sorry but we can not support such an idea of a luxury hotel inside the park.  Pieter du Plessis, African Group Director

•

No Hotels In Kruger-Kruger Belongs To The Animals Not To Humans A.M.Pretorius, Secunda

•TonyGoodProudfoot idea. Way to go for future.

Butterfly Enthusiasts Asked to Help The South African Butterfly Assessment is in the process of gathering data on butterfly species distribution. Over and above the inputs given by contributors to the Virtual Museum, digitising specimens from private and museum collections is of great importance. The objectives of the project are: • Build a comprehensive database • Survey all butterfly species in Southern Africa • Map the distribution of butterfly species • Assess the conservation status of each species according to IUCN criteria • Assess threats to butterflies including the identification of priority threats and threatened species Any collector willing to have his collection digitised will be contributing to an important project that is surveying Southern Africa’s butterflies. Your collection is considered valuable and will be handled with care

on site. Correct identification of the butterflies in the collection is not a major requirement but aspects such as date collected and locality is very important. If you are prepared to contribute to the project please contact Ian at the phone numbers 084 722 1988 or 015 793 1482.

kruger park times - 24 - kruger park times