Problems facing the African Elephant in Southern Africa

Elephant safari guests take a drinks break

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Contrary to popular belief, elephants are over populated in many parts of southern Africa, especially in Botswana and South Africa. The reasons are many and varied but the long term consequences grave.

The authorities at Kruger National Park for example, believe that the park can only properly sustain 7500 elephants when in fact the reserve actually is home to over 13,500 (2005 estimate). The result of this over population is rapid destruction of their own habitat through the destruction of trees and shrubs. Baobab trees in particular seem to bear the brunt of elephant destruction and the park apparently has very few of this indigenous trees left standing over 7’. And with Africa’s human population rocketing there is huge pressure on land utilization in a man versus wildlife conflict. In the past Kruger authorities resorted to culling (which last happened in 1995) as a way of balancing the elephant population. Nobody wants to see this started again and hopefully alternative ways forward will be found.

Kwa Madwala is a typical example of a well managed game reserve with a small eco system where the Elephant population will soon reach a problematic level. This problem is repeated across many other private and government controlled game reserves in the region.

This is the challenge facing Kwa Madwala Private Game Reserve’s conservation management at present!

Possible Solutions

The following, in brief, are the potential solutions, which have to be carefully investigated, studied and researched before any private or government agency can act. Perhaps a combination of some or all of the following will provide the answer and so help to protect these incredible creatures well into the future.

A – Culling

This is an option which is being touted again by the authorities at Kruger and of course is highly controversial and emotive. It is still terribly sad considering how emotional these family orientated animals are, and then to think that they have to be taken down in this fashion. We very much hope that culling would only be a very last resort should all other avenues prove fruitless.

Happily culling is not an option as far as Kwa Madwala is concerned.

B – Relocation

Most of the smaller eco systems in South Africa, such as the Private Game Reserves, National Game Parks and Game Farms have in the past been stocked via this method. Breeding herds have been relocated from the Kruger National Park or Addo National Park to various other areas in South Africa for eco tourism and conservation purposes. In the future relocation can only account for a relatively small percentage of elephants in over populated areas. It’s simply not that practical to relocate thousands of elephants from one part of the country (and a very big country at that!) to other areas of the country. Given the pressures on land usage it is unlikely that vast new conservation zones will be established in the future for re-settlement from over-stocked areas.

C – Tran-National Parks

The concept of Trans-National Parks is steadily becoming a reality in southern Africa. In the past individual countries put up huge fences to stop animals crossing into neighbouring countries (and often stopping animals from traversing ancient migratory routes). Now it is recognised that by pulling down the fences and allowing animals to move within greater areas reduces pressure on the land and allows animals to travel their traditional migratory routes. Several parks have recently followed this trend. Kruger National Park too has been removing fences along the Mozambique border. In fact, some elephant herds have been relocated from Kruger National Park to conservation areas in Mozambique. Some of which have been successful and others not, as some herds have returned back to their original territory within Kruger again.

C – Contraception / Sterilization

This is a very definite solution to keeping numbers at bay although is quite expensive. Contraception has been tried and tested and is proving to be very effective amongst breeding herds in conservation areas similar to Kwa Madwala.

Professor Richard Fayrer-Hosken, at the University of Georgia in Athens, U.S.A, and colleagues have developed an immuno-contraceptive vaccine which works in a very different way to the more familiar hormone contraceptives. Instead of stopping ovulation, the vaccine makes the elephant's immune system produce antibodies that prevent fertilisation from taking place. The antibodies target the clear, protein coat that surrounds all mammalian eggs called the zona pellucida. This interferes with the sperm's ability to penetrate an egg, making it very difficult for the animal to conceive.

Unfortunately the elephant contraceptive is very expensive to produce and of course does not offer a solution in terms of reducing elephant numbers. It only offers a solution from a point of view of keeping numbers constant.

Plans to introduce contraception for the Kwa Madwala elephants are underway and appears from a private game reserve perspective to offer the best solution to maintaining and controlling herd sizes. Whether or not the huge National Parks such as Kruger will have the budgets to go down this route remain to be seen.

D – More Land

Of course this would provide an immediate fix to over population problems. However, with the human populations exploding in most African countries and the need to feed these people pressure on land usage is becoming intense. Of course buying huge chunks of land for elephants is not a vote winner when desperately poor people need food and water to live on. Prime land is also hugely expensive to say the least. It is estimated that around half of southern Africa elephants live within conservation zones whilst the rest compete with man and other animals for daily subsistence.

For Kwa Madwala a combination of more land combined with the use of a contraceptive system could work well to sustain the entire elephant population at Kwa Madwala well into the future. Currently there are options for the purchase of land adjacent to the Kwa Madwala Private Game Reserve and available to potential buyers.

Private Investor Potential

The management of Kwa Madwala would welcome private investors interested in purchasing adjoining properties with an aim to remove fences and incorporate these pieces of land so as to expand the size of the overall reserve. It would be vital of course that potential buyers share our "vision" and ethics as far as conservation and eco tourism are concerned! Of course becoming a partner in a private game reserve is no small undertaking! For more information on these and other investments opportunities relating to Kwa Madwala please contact: gm@kwamadwala.co.za

E - Conditioning / Domestication / Utilization

Another highly controversial issue which is being debated throughout southern Africa at present, is the use of elephants in activities such as elephant back safaris to paying visitors. In places like Sri Lanka and India, elephants have for hundreds of years been domesticated and put to work. Under CITIES rules it is not permitted to take a wild African elephant to train or domesticate. However, there are many hundreds of African elephants which for various reasons have landed up in animal sanctuaries or elephant orphanages. Once an African elephant has become domesticated it is almost impossible to return it to the wild.

Kwa Madwala is currently in the process of receiving previously orphaned and already domesticated elephants onto the reserve for the purpose of providing elephants back safaris. Our belief is that these elephants are better off being well looked after in a 4000ha game reserve and actively used. Ultimately the orphanages cannot maintain unlimited numbers of elephants and if we at Kwa Madwala can assist in a very small way by accepting a small number of domestic elephants onto our reserve then we have positively contributed to their long term survival.

HISTORY

Up until the 1920’s the Onderburg area encompassing modern day Kwa Madwala was pristine native bushveld with few farms, towns or inhabitants. The topography of the region ranges between mixed grassland and thick bush interspersed by granite kopjies (hills) which are a feature of the area. The nearest settlement to Kwa Madwala is present day Hectorspruit which was originally known as Majejane, taking its name after a local Swazi tribal chief. The Onderburg area is very close to the Swaziland border and most local people are Swazi, who are very close in terms of language and customs to their more southerly neighbour, the Zulus.

In 1985 Jan Grobler bought an 800 hectare section of the farm "Lowhills" and developed it into a very successful cattle ranch through the 1980’s and early 1990’s. He also realised that the natural beauty of the area far exceeded the financial gain of cattle farming and formed a vision for restoring the area to it natural rugged beauty for tourism.

With this in mind Jan started introducing a variety of indigenous animal game species onto the farm. By the early 1990’s healthy populations of impala, bushbuck, nyala and zebra were established on the farm. The old farm house was expanded to accommodate guests and renamed Gazebo Lodge. Along with this transformation he visualized an exciting new potential in firstly hunting and later eco-tourism in this "Kruger Park south area" area. It is through this vision that he created something different and special by developing a magnificent private conservancy with its unique Manyatta Rock Camp. This unique hilltop camp must without a doubt be the true pride of Kwa Madwala and the Kruger Park south area. In 1999 cattle farming was abandoned and the name changed to Kwa Madwala. This truly African name means "the place of the rock", in Swazi and is so much more descriptive of the area with its granite outcrops which reach a height of 513 m a.s.l. at Wilson’s Kop to the south-east of the main lodge.

Today the reserve covers an area of 4000 hectares (approximately 10,000 acres) in the heart of the "Kruger Park south" area with Jan’s daughter, Rentia and husband Conrad managing the reserve. The reserve boasts the "big 5" with healthy numbers of lion and leopard. Recent expansion has taken the 4 star Manyatta Rock Camp to 28 units and a beautiful new dining deck which affords stunning views out across the bush. Jan Groblers original vision is now very well established and the reserve continues to pioneer through the introduction of Microlight aerial safari flights, elephant back safaris and gap year conservation programmes.