Kruger National Park: Be Careful of what We may Lose

[nan]

no... sorry

[All-Nature]

Food for thought!

[Richprins]

RHINO

This is an extremely complex issue, but the one thing most will agree on is that the war on poaching is being lost in Kruger, and numbers have plummeted.

This is not the first time. Around the turn of the 19th century the same thing happened, with the bulk of rhino being wiped out by hunters and the last Lowveld white rhino dying in what was then the Sabie Game Reserve area in 1896, black rhino following in 1940.
Rhino breed very well when undisturbed, and after both species had been reintroduced in the 1960s they flourished, only being restricted by suitable habitat availability and overcrowding in certain areas. It took a few decades, though, before their numbers began increasing exponentially. A total of on average 2500 was counted for both species during the last full aerial censuses around the end of the 20th century, and after that numbers were statistically estimated.

A total of roughly 4650 poached rhino has been found in Kruger in the period 2010-18. Some carcasses remain undiscovered. SANParks admitted in 2017 already that natural increases in rhino numbers were not able to keep up with poaching, so an exponential plunge in numbers has taken place, obviously leading to fewer rhino poached despite the same or higher numbers of poaching incursions. SANParks steadfastly refuse to undertake a detailed large mammal census in Kruger, despite good conditions and adequate funding, or if they have done so they refuse to release the results.
Simultaneously the number of Kruger staff arrested for poaching has increased, including rangers at all levels, SAPS, SANDF and Traffic officials.

The Intensive Protection Zone in southern Kruger, set up at great expense to make protecting a core population easier, has failed and recorded the greatest number of losses, mostly due to the involvement of staff either directly or in cooperation with poaching syndicates.

There is little concern or action from national government, other than lip service to the antipoaching cause. It has been made abundantly clear that government regards wildlife as a sustainable resource to be employed by its voters, as is income generated thereby. National Parks are expected to subscribe to the political agenda of the ruling party of the day. In the same vein, the ruling party makes little or no effort to engage punitively with Mozambique nor China, the two main culprits in the stripping of our national resources, for reasons of political and financial expediency.

POSSIBLE FUTURE SCENARIO

Rhino numbers continue to plummet in Kruger, and especially white rhino steadily become extinct in sections where the ranger and enforcement staff are particularly lax or complicit. Rhino that wander in from neighbouring sections are immediately identified and poached. As demand continues and resources shrink, safe sections and honest rangers are targeted or they are transferred, using allegations of racism by offenders if that is an option. This opens up safe sections to plunder, and the cycle continues. Rhino-free ranger sections begin to engage in elephant poaching.

Meanwhile the crash in rhino numbers becomes plain for all to see, census or no census, and honest staff, already cracking under a decade of emotional and physical strain, simply give up and slowly sit back. They are effectively broken by the stab in the back given to them by their superiors and colleagues. Slowly more and more turn poachers themselves as the economy makes it harder to make ends meet anyway, and it is clear that culpability and punishment are less and less likely, as with other SA parastatal organisations.

Tourists begin to realise that rhino are gone too, and transfer their business to private Big 5 destinations who have been carefully husbanding their rhino for this eventuality. Especially foreign tourists abandon Kruger in favour of other African destinations also offering better value for money regarding accommodation, and greater personal security.

A vicious cycle ensues as a bloated SANParks wage bill needs to be paid at the risk of encouraging yet more staff rebellion, so prices are raised in an even more unrealistic way than at present, leading to more tourists moving away. Government does not have money for bailouts anymore and labour action becomes a more regular occurrence within Kruger itself, with violent incidents and looting increasing exponentially.
Mozambican poachers renew their assault with a vengeance as law-enforcement is swamped, raiding from their own border and from the communities on the western border, who harbour them quite happily as they provide a source of income.

Eventually surviving white rhino in remote areas, especially those without cellphone coverage, simply live out their lives in isolation as mating becomes impossible, eventually vanishing. Black rhino once again last for quite a while longer in the densely-forested areas like the Gomondwane Bush, but they breed slowly and are rarely seen unless by helicopter or drone. They are eventually thinned out coincidentally by passing elephant poachers and also stop breeding.

Rhino poachers have by then long since moved on to targeting private reserves and farms.

[Lisbeth]

IMO if it was not for the tourist income the National parks would have a short life.

Wildlife tourist destinations in other countries are more expensive for foreigners because of the cheap Rand, but at least you get what you pay for.

[Richprins]

And Big-5 is important!

[Lisbeth]

I suppose so.

[Bushcraft]

And Big-5 is important!