Kruger Park Times | Older News Items Extracted from Print Edition

Elephants loom large on agenda of ethics conference What does the management of elephants have to do with abortion, cloning, HIV/Aids, stem cell research and the distribution of medicine during disease outbreaks? All of these issues are of ethical concern to South Africans and were all on the agenda at the Ethics Society of South 

Record highs for SA tourism World Tourism Day was celebrated on 27 September 2006. In figures taken from January to April, and compared to the same period last year, the number of foreign visitors to South Africa has increased by377 000 (16 percent). For the first time ever, there have been more than 2.7 million tourists to South Africa in the first four

Two of Kruger’s gates hit by thieves in a week  In the space of one week, two different Kruger National Park (KNP)  entrance gates were targeted by criminals. While little was taken at the Numbi Gate, the Orpen Gate did not fare so well and KNP management has promised to take steps to protect the park’s entrances

Introduction of exit permits when exiting any National Park In South Africa As at the end of October 2006, all guests leaving the Kruger National Park (KNP) must be in possession of a valid exit permit. According to the Sanparks website “These exit permits will be issued on check in at your laststayover camp and it is your responsibility to ensure that the information displayed on the

Tourist Route To The Kruger National Park A “Deathtrap” Tourist route a “deathtrap” One of the major routes to the lowveld and the Kruger National Park is currently a pothole paradise– and that’s not the road to the world famous Bourke’s Luck potholes, but the provincial road that brings tourists to the many

Skukuza provides 818 trees for Arbor Week celebrations Trees nurtured at the Skukuza nursery will soon be spread around the Mpumalanga lowveld and escarpment, after the department of water affairs and forestry (Dwaf) bought 818 indigenous saplings from the nursery for Arbor Week celebrations.

Small increase in wildebeest numbers in Sabi Sands As the increase in numbers does not yet meet the reserve’s goals of boosting the wildebeest numbers to over 500, Sabi Sand ecologist Jonathan Swart says that they will go ahead with plans to reintroduce another 600 wildebeest this year. Since 2003 the Sabi Sand Wildtuin has reintroduced almost 1,800 wildebeest into the

Kruger refines management plan For 10 years the Park has promised to do something about damage causing animals and it has done nothing. Will it do something now? This is one of many comments raised by stakeholders during several meetings hosted by the Kruger National Park (KNP). New legislation calls for conservation agencies like South African National Park (Sanparks)

Transfrontier conservation steps ahead in Mozambique The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is reiterating its commitment to the concept of transfrontier conservation by appointing a technical advisor for the Banhine National Park in Mozambique. From the beginning of September, Errol Pietersen, formerly the warden of the Umbabat Private Nature

Leadership for conservation in Africa launched For the first time in history, African conservation and business leaders have a platform through which they can discuss matters of common interest. This follows the launch at the end of August of the Leadership for Conservation in Africa (LCA) after days of deliberations involving

More than $3 billion for global environmental projects The third assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) was held in Cape Town from August 29-30, 2006. The meeting saw the GEF gets its largest-ever financial boost with US$3.13 billion being received from 32 developed nations to finance environmental projects in developing countries over the next four years.

Wilderness trails to be expanded by foundation One of their first partners in the planned expansion is Alan McSmith, an independent Hoedspruit-based trails operator. The Wilderness Foundation has the three-pointed Erythrina (coral tree) leaf as its logo, depicting its belief in the interlinked relationship between humanity, nature and spiritual things, and their trails ethos reflects this.

One year later, plundered cycad shows signs of life Some of the magnificent cycad plant that was desecrated by plant thieves last July is beginning to make a recovery, and the first green shoots have begun to emerge from one of its stems. Prior to it being brutally hacked to pieces, the exceptional multi-stemmed cycad was probably the last remaining specimen of Encephalartos laevifolius of the Mariepskop

EWT calls for ‘radical rethink’ of water issues Some 2000 people from 140 countries came together to discuss issues of international importance relating to water in this year’s World Water Week held in Stockholm, Sweden from August 20-26, 2006 under the theme of Water, Environment, Livelihoods and Poverty Reduction. In the wake of this, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT)

Top honours for Giriyondo’s official opening The Giriyondo Tourism Acces Facility is95km from the Phalaborwa Gate, and only42km from Letaba Camp. It is 75km from Giriyondo to Massingir, and about 270km from there to the coastal town of Xai-Xai. The border post is positioned relatively far south in the Limpopo National Park, with the Massingir Dam and the Olifants River forming the southern boundary of the LNP.

Heads of state put Giriyondo on the map The Great Limpopo Tran frontier Park (GLTP) Giriyondo Tourism Access Facility opened its gates to the public on December7, 2005. On August 16, 2006, those gateswere temporarily closed for the official opening by presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Armando Guebuzo of Mozambique and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. The access facility links the 1.9 million hectare Kruger National Park (KNP)

New helicopter for Sanparks On August 8, 2006 Sanparks chief executive Dr David The second helicopter will be delivered in December. Sanparks is replacing its two EC120 helicopters with two new AS 350 B3 s/n 4091 helicopters from Eurocopter Southern Africa. The old helicopters have flown more than 3,900 hours over the last six years, and had reached their optimum buy-back value. The new helicopters are more versatile and have advanced capabilities.

Further chance to comment on Kruger’s management plan The Kruger National Park’s management plan has been drafted and stakeholders are invited to view the plan before it is finalised. To give stakeholders a chance to air their views about the plan, three stakeholder engagement meetings at locations strategically situated around the park have been arranged and all stakeholders are invited to attend.

TB INFECTED buffalo found IN FAR NORTH of Kruger However, because not all animals are tested and because the test is not 100 percent accurate, the veterinarians estimated that less than two percent of the buffalo might have BTB. With the new survey, several positive reactions were found from the blood test for BTB, and the animals were relocated and euthanased so that tissue samples could be taken to the laboratory to confirm that the buffalo

Lion killed after making a pig of itself The person resident on the land then shot at the lions. A bullet passed through an 18-20 month old male, who died about 100m away. According to Crispian Barlow, warden of Grietjie Nature Reserve, there is a possibility that the bullet may have harmed one of the other lions. Barlow says that lions had previously killed a cow on the land, and Limpopo environmental affairs officials met

Sanparks Reclaims Domain Names South African National Parks (Sanparks) has reached a settlement regarding the reclaiming of the domain names www.sanparks.co.za and www.sanparks.com, domains formerly controlled by a private tour operator. “In the past”, explains e-commerce manager Nedret Saidova, “in the public’s eye, the private tour operator (with whom the domain name dispute arose) was seen to be “Sanparks”.

Annual census reveals an increase in herbivore numbers The park changed from the total count method to the sampling method in 1998, partly because an enormous number of flying- and man-hours are needed to carry out a total count, but also because weather conditions made it impossible to complete the total count for several years prior to 1998. The distance sampling method works by dividing the park into equally spaced strips.

Corporate SA battle it out at KNP Golf Day More than 150 golfers from corporations all over South Africa met in Skukuza on Thursday, July 27, to battle it out on the fairways of the Skukuza Golf Course for top honours at the second annual Kruger National Park (KNP) Corporate Golf Day. “Golfers from all over South Africa are encouraged to make use of this facility which is certainly open to members of the public,”

GM sorghum project blocked Kenya, the home of the project, presently lacks the policies and legalities that would ensure the security and validity of the experiments. South Africa denied the application because of “biosecurity” issues that need to be dealt with. Apparently, the government is concerned that the project could contaminate local wild sorghum. According to Wambugu,

Great Karoo park gets more land When the new national park was announced environment minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said that they hoped to eventually link the park up with the Mountain Zebra National Park. Camdeboo’s park manager Peter Burdettt said, “The new property is a valuable addition to the park, not only in terms of expanding the conservation area, but also in terms of its aesthetic value as

Donation gives energy boost to CyberTracker programmeThe CyberTracker system was developed for application in conservation by Louis Liebenberg. It is a user-friendly interface for handheld computers (PDAs) that incorporates a GPS to give customised latitude and longitude descriptions. Douw Swanepoel, Olifants section ranger at the time, first recognised the potential of CyberTracker as an ecological data collection

Foot and mouth outbreak near Punda Maria Animals infected with the virus were found on July 31, 2006 in the Matiani village neighbouring Punda Maria during a routine weekly inspection by the state vets. Laboratory tests have since confirmed the exact strain of the virus infecting the cattle. This is the first outbreak of the disease in the Limpopo Province

Kruger’s western boundary fence gets a makeover The new sections of the Kruger National Park’s western fence currently being erected in the northern areas of the park will be very different to the electrical fence that has demarcated the edge of Kruger for decades. Three sections of the western fence are currently being replaced in areas where the elephants have been having a high impact on the electrical fence.

Can Kruger’s lions be in Lydenburg? Mpumalanga Province The residents of Lydenburg and Burgersfort have reason to keep their eyes wide open at night – in the last month there have been several confirmed sightings of lions in the area, and there have been reports of cattle deaths near the Spekboom River. Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency big cat specialist Gerrie Camacho believes that the lions may originally have come from the Kruger National Park (KNP), having travelled along river courses or green corridors to get to Lydenburg.

Crocodile Bridge Robbbery Suspects Arrested at Naas Trust in Tonga  Four suspects were arrested on August 3, 2006 in connection with the robbery that occurred at Crocodile Bridge rest camp on July 11, 2006. A fifth man is still at large, but Captain Ockie Brits, commander of the serious violent crimes unit in the lowveld, says that they are hoping to arrest him in the near future.

Buffalo tested for TB in north of Kruger National Park Observer comments ... Apparently one of the reasons why Male Lion are prone to catching TB from Buffalo more so than the female lioness is their tendency to eat the lungs of infected animals as choice morsels. Since the male uses is power and force to eat first it is the male that generally eats the lungs of the infected carcass.

Cape Parrot Count | South Africa's Only Endemic Parrot Observer comments ... Cape Parrot population numbers have declined significantly over the last 100 years or so. These parrots prefer to live in dendse yellowwood forests areas of KZN (KwaZulu-Natal) and of the Eastern Cape here in South Africa. The Cape Parrots prefer to roost and spend time in the high canopies of the large Yellowood trees out of harm's way.

Wildlife Smugglers Include Diplomats using Immunity Privilege Tony's comments ... I remain amazed at the reports on abuses of Diplomatic privilege. I ask myself the question what is so special about these people that they can get away with so much that is obviously wrong. In the very recent past diplomats involved in severe crime including rape have managed to escape using the "diplomatic immunity" excuse.

Kruger national park Elephant Break-Outs Worsened by Fence Pole Theft Elephants when they break out of the Park become a threat to the local communities and the net result is often that the Elephants have to be shot. In a recent case of break out luckily the elephants were able to be rounded up and driven back into the safety of the Kruger National Park. Unfortunately as this story points out 2 had to be shot. The SAN Parks helicopters are used for a wide

South African Grasslands (GSSA) Congress Pulls Researchers Together I've just come back from Kruger and took an interest in the areas that had been burned during this winter season. Until recently I never gave much thought to the influence of fires on the well being of grassland savannah especially. The grasslands and savannahs are highly complex systems which even today are poorly understood.

Kruger Park Crocodile Bridge Camp Robbery | No New Evidence This small and delightful camp is situated in the Southeastern corner of the Kruger National Park, on the northern bank of the Crocodile River, from which it derives its name. After an early morning game drive, one can retire from the Lowveld heat to a lunch of prawns before coming back for late afternoon game viewing. The game viewing area is known as the ‘Southern Circle’

SANParks Relocation 1200 Mainly Endangered Species to Other National Parks Over the last couple of years Addo Elephant National park in particular has been the recipient of numerous new species that were originally present in the Addo but disappeared for various reasons. The transfers included Lions absent for many many years and also included Kruger National park Bull Elephants to expand the gene pool.

Kruger Park Field Guide Turned Poacher Re-Captured The Rhino population in the Kruger National park has made remarkable recoveries from a situation not too long ago when the Black Rhino was severely threatened and the White Rhino population in the Kruger had dropped to very small numbers. The success of Kruger Park rangers

Another white elephant spotted in Kruger National Park George and Iris van Rensburg were enjoying their regular weekly visit to the Kruger National Park (KNP) on January 27, 2006 when they were “absolutely astounded” to spot pink elephant slightly north of the Nwamanzi lookout near Olifants camp. At first sight, they though that the “pink blob” they were seeing in a herd of about 25 elephants was an impala, but closer

Letaba Elephant Hall closed for renovations in the Kruger National Park The Elephant Hall at Letaba Main Camp in the Kruger National Park (KNP) is in the process of receiving a face-lift and will be closed for the next few weeks. At present, the Letaba Elephant Hall houses the skulls and ivory of six of the original seven of the KNP’s legendary Magnificent Seven elephants, as well as displays on how

Another objection against the De Hoop dam A sixth objection lodged last year against the proposed Olifants River Water Resources Development Project (ORWRDP) has come to light. The National Parks Support Group Trust has also opposed the construction of the De Hoop dam on the last major undammed tributary of the Olifants River calling the project “irresponsible and extremely damaging to the environment and biodiversity.”

Kruger Park News | EWT calls for SEA  The executive director of the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), Dr Nick King, has called on finance minister Trevor Manuel to set aside one billion Rand in the next budget toper form a national environmental assessment that will help guide future develop mentsin South Africa while considering the country’s “rich and unique natural resource base."

Poor breeding seasons for birds a worry for conservationists in the Kruger National Park  THeavy rainfall in Indonesia is thought to have hampered breeding efforts of the critically endangered yellow-crested cockatoo, where a crucial population of 60 birds fledged only one chick last season. Similarly, botfly larvae in Brazil lowered the breeding success of two species of flycatchers.

Lions, cheetahs and wild dogs “most vulnerable” African carnivores  The conservation status of Africa’s 20 largest carnivores has been reviewed in a 200- page document compiled by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), with lions, cheetahs, wild dogs and Ethiopian wolves all making the ‘most vulnerable’ list. All of these carnivores have lost more than 75 percent of their historical home range, with lions having vanished from 82 percent of

Bat hawks nest on artificial platform BUT NO FLEDGLINGS EMERGE  An arrow, some fishing twine, a modified braai grid and a mountaineer have all teamed up to help a pair of rare birds breed in the wild. The bat hawk, a rare bird lusted after by enthusiastic birders, is rarely seen because of its sparse distribution and habit of hunting for bats and small birds at dawn and dusk.It hides during the day in leafy green trees, and appears to have a preference for nesting ing

Phalaborwa Eco-Schools get funding boost  The Palabora Foundation has this year pledged in excess of R67,000 to help the schools meet the challenge of creating a generation dedicated to the environment and sustainable living guidelines. Their funding is in line with the foundation’s goal of supporting the holistic development of disadvantaged people and communities until the communities can support themselves.

Journalist and elephant expert debate the use of game as protein  A journalist for Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper has been roundly criticised by elephant expert Daphne Sheldrick for proposing that Kenya’s starving should be provided with protein by culling the country’s excess buffalo and elephants. Wycliffe Muga, who is known for his prohunting articles, suggested that sport hunters should be allowed into Kenya’s game parks to shoot “the 3,000 surplus buffaloes in the Lake Nakuru National Park and the 400

Sharpen your bird-spotting skills for National Bird Week  In the first week of May every year BirdLife South Africa tries to get as many South Africans as possible from all walks of life aflutter with excitement over the feathered inhabitants of the country, and this year the bird of the year is the helmeted guinea fowl. One of Bird Life’s main aims during National Bird Week is to involve schoolchildren in the fun, and they run a competition where pupils can

Demolition team BLOW UP WIK-EN-WEEG dam  More than 20 tonnes of explosive has been detonated on a single dam by a group of demolition experts trying to help the Kruger National Park (KNP) achieve their goal of removing unnecessary water points in the park. However, the Wik-en-Weeg dam in the far north of the park is still partially standing, but it is expected that about 10 more tonnes of explosive may reduce it to a pile of rubble suitable for rehabilitating old gravel pits.

Limpopo atlas of rare birds being compiled  Dr Derek Engelbrecht of the University of Limpopo is in the process of compiling an atlas of where the ‘big six’ rare birds have been seen and are known to breed in the Limpopo Province, and is hoping for help from members of the public. The big six birds are all readily recognised and include the lappet faced vulture, martial eagle, saddle billed stork, kori bustard, ground hornbill and Pel’s fishing owl.

Kruger Park News | If some lions get their way   Wednesday 27 August 2003 Office bound most of the day... Decided late afternoon to get out into the bush and go camping near the Mphongolo – Phugwane confluence. It was already dark when I found a suitable site. The soil was quite hard and I had to use a solid piece of wood to hammer the tent pegs into the ground. With the tent erected I threw the chunk of wood into a

Yellow tags prove SUCCESSFUL in re-sighting poisoned vultures They say that every cloud has a silver lining, and the wildlife poisoning incident that occurred outside Hoedspruit last October is now providing valuable information on vulture movements and the effectiveness of a new method of tagging birds of prey. About 45 vultures were found scattered around the corpse of a poisoned kudu last October, and of these only 17 could be

Verbally ABUSED motorist WINS court case in the Kruger The motorist who was subjected to verbal abuse by traffic officials on the road between Nelspruit and Hoedspruit was delighted on January 24, 2006 when his R200 speeding fine was overturned in the Bushbuck ridge Magistrate’s Court. The ticket was issued to him last August in the Acornhoek/Casteel area for allegedly doing 74km/hr in a 60 zone

Kruger News - The challenges of wetland rehabilitation in poor societies Imagine being so poor that every morsel of food that crosses your lips has been grown in laboriously hand-tilled fields laid out in the fertile soil close to a small watercourse, and that this land is slowly drying up and there is no more land left to plant crops in. These are the circumstances that a quarter of the people, mostly women and children, find themselves in in the