Game reserve acts to alleviate drought
Mkhuze Game Reserve in KZN is stepping in to alleviate the impact of the drought after 88 animals died.
|||Durban - Mkhuze Game Reserve management is stepping in to alleviate the impact of the drought after 88 animals died from hunger and thirst in the northern KwaZulu-Natal reserve last month.
A statement, released by iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife, said the animals represented 0.24% of the reserve’s population.
Wildlife photographer, Romano Volker, who visits the reserve regularly, said last weekend that visitors were leaving the park because they couldn’t bear the suffering.
“I was close to tears a couple of times,” he said.
Volker said it was park management’s responsibility to step in and feed the animals. But they say it’s nature pressing the reset button,” he said.
iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority chief executive, Andrew Zaloumis, speaking on behalf of Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife, said drought played an important role in species regulation and the reduction of fuel loads for fire. But, he said, seeing dead and dying animals was distressing.
Some of the measures park management was taking included:
- The refining of game numbers.
- The refurbishment of existing boreholes and sinking of new ones for animals, staff and visitors.
- Water trucking.
Carcasses were part of the natural landscape, Zaloumis said, and, for the most part, would be left for scavengers and predators – including hyena, lion, crocodile and vulture – to feed off.
“In the case of priority rare and endangered species such as rhino, iSimangaliso with Ezemvelo, will step in to assist by rescuing those stuck in mud or relocating animals to better grazing,” Zaloumis said.
During the 2002 to 2009 drought, 22 rhino were relocated from Mkhuze to the eastern shores of Lake St Lucia.
“Nature is harsh, but also incredibly resilient, and conservation must consider the bigger picture, using the lessons of the past together with the knowledge and science of the present,” Zaloumis said.
Support was needed for iSimangaliso’s Rare and Endangered Species fund, Zaloumis said.
To make enquires about donations to the fund, e-mail: debbie@iSimangaliso.com
Daily News
* Use IOL's Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.