Hi again,
Herewith, some snippets from various sources.
We have the Gameranger website up and have updated the information on it. Again I appeal to you to send me items to distribute to our members for both the Cleft Stick and to be posted on the web site. If we can make it interesting more people will look at it and we will become a better known association. It is your magazine and website, so ensure it gets the news that you would like to see in it.
Please let me have any changes to your physical address, phone no. or e-mail address to keep the database up to date.
Thanks to all of you who have made the effort. Please will any of you who know of members who do not get this “electric” Cleft~Stick, & have access to e-mail, pass their address along to me.
GRAA HUNT IN THE FREE STATE
Hi All,
Please contact Snowy and indicate if you would be interested to sell tickets, etc. For those who are not informed; it is about fund raising for GRAA, so please support!
Arrie
Can you please let me know how many book/s of raffle tickets you will be able to sell? The tickets are being printed and will be ready by the end of the week. Closing date for the raffle will be 6 May.2005
snowy.botha@clover.co.za
Please contact Snowy if you are able to help by selling tickets for this fundraiser.
GRAA COMMENT ON: DRAFT NORMS AND STANDARDS
RELATING TO THE MANAGEMENT OF LARGE PREDATORS.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft regulations for the hunting of large predators.
At the outset, I must emphasise that the Game Rangers Association of Africa strongly supports ethical sport hunting as a form of land use, and this is borne out by the fact that resolution RECWCC3.093 “Application of the IUCN Sustainable Use policy to sustainable consumptive use of wildlife and recreational hunting in southern Africa”. submitted by South Africa and adopted by the IUCN Congress in Bangkok was proposed and drafted by the GRAA representative on the National IUCN Committee. We make this point in order that you will appreciate that our opposition to the proposal does not come from an emotional anti-hunting standpoint, but from a mature organization with a large number of members that have experience in lion hunting and management that has a balanced approach to the conservation of Africa’s wildlife.
We feel that the draft is a useful start, but regret that it is a very late reaction to a long-standing call that the “canned hunting” industry is cleaned up. The consequences of this protracted delay is that there are now some two thousand lions being held in captivity, most of them destined for the canned hunting business.
DEAT has only addressed large African predators, yet it is still possible to hunt tigers, jaguars and polar bears in South Africa. What about these?
Page 1: We agree that all captive breeding operations of large predators must be registered in terms of Section 59(f) of NEMA.
Our comment: The interpretation and enforcement of this act by the respective provinces is critical. We are sure that you will be as aware, as we are, of the great differences in capacity between provincial conservation departments to carry out their mandates. Regrettably, this capacity is declining rather than improving and it will become more difficult to plug any loopholes that will exist.
1. SCHEDULE
DEFINITIONS
We agree with all except
:
“Wild.”
We would like to see the following first bullet included;
Wild is a large predator
And
“Canned Hunting”. In the second to last bullet:
We believe that “scent, feeding and bait” should be deleted. In a free ranging situation, large carnivores such as lion and leopard have traditionally been shot over bait. The shooting of a wild leopard or lion over bait has never been classed as “unsporting” or canned. In fact, unless one is in the Kalahari, it is virtually impossible to hunt a leopard by tracking. We have a provision here is that NO baits should be placed within 2 km of the boundary of any protected area, including private nature reserve. (This is to address the present problem of Professional Hunters attracting lions out of the Kruger National Park and large private reserves in the Lowveld)
PART II (second document)
LISTING OF SPECIES
1. (1) We believe that wild dog should be classed as a vulnerable species in terms of section 56(1) (c).
2. MANAGEMENT OF LARGE PREDATORS
First bullet. The statement “acceptably re-established in the wild” is vague and leaves a loophole that will be exploited in any legal action that may arise where this is contested. What is “acceptably? “…this will differ from person to person.
We recommend that DEAT specify that the re-establishment of large predators is ONLY done with the introduction of wild animals, born to free-ranging parents that live in free-ranging wild populations. It is a FACT that no re-introduction of captive bred lions into the wild has been successful. (George Adamson was only able to re-introduce his lions in Kenya by killing the resident wild lions… a fact not well known). The projects that claim to be re-introducing captive bred lion or leopard to the wild are usually a smoke screen for extracting donor money from the gullible public, or making a film around a false theme, (such as the recent film shown on Discovery Channel on tigers in the Free State) or with some other commercial purpose in mind.
Second bullet:
Our concern about the capacity of some of the Provincial Conservation bodies has been stated above, and we restate it now. The fact that we have this problem today is to an extent because of these internal problems. We are also concerned about the possible influence that politicians may have on the judgement of provincial conservation agencies, particularly where there is the likelihood that canned hunting operators can influence political decisions. If these decisions are to be left to the Provinces, there still must be the safeguards of a public participation process and a final stamp of approval from DEAT head office.
3. HUNTING OF WILD AND MANAGED WILD INDIGENOUS LARGE PREDATORS
Second bullet.
The definition of “human-imprinted predators” needs to be classified. It will be a loophole that someone will exploit if this is not done.
Third bullet.
We wish to see “Born to free-ranging parents” included in the definition of wild.
Sixth bullet.
We think that banning the hunting of truly wild free-ranging lion and leopard over baits in impractical and not necessary. All baits smell, so scent should also be removed.
Seventh bullet.
The question of hunting leopard with dogs needs to be critically reviewed. While it may be regarded by some as unsporting, it is no less unsporting that shooting over bait.
Cougar in the USA have always been hunted using hounds and the populations in range states are healthy and stable.
The advantages of hunting leopard with hounds are (a) that one can be more selective and only shoot males as opposed to shooting over bait where females are often taken; and (b) no animals are lost through wounding.
NOTE: As the success rate of hunting leopards with hounds if much higher than shooting over bait. It places greater responsibility on the provinces and DEAT in setting accurate quotas based on empirical knowledge and in monitoring the success of hunting.
Ninth bullet.
Most leopards that are shot on baits in South Africa are shot after dark with the use of a spotlight. The same is true for a proportion of the free ranging lions that are shot. How are you going to police this? It is going to be impossible to have a member of the provincial staff sit in every leopard blind in the country. While we tend to agree with this proposed point, we see it as being almost impossible to enforce.
Tenth bullet.
We agree with this bullet and feel that DEAT should act as a catalyst in helping improve the management of leopard outside protected areas. As mentioned above, if hunting with hounds reduces the number of females that are shot, this is to the benefit of the leopard population. The key issue now is to set realistic quotas based on empirical information on numbers.
4 KEEPING AND BREEDING OF LARGE CAPTIVE PREDATORS
We agree with all points but note that:
Third bullet: We believe that there is no evidence to show that any “rehabilitation” objective “is justified for any large predator, except perhaps in the case of Wild dog.
“Rehabilitation” should be deleted.
Note: Some of our members are aware of a project where “so called” white lions are being bred, purportedly for conservation. This excuse is being used to attract donor funding from the public. On the same property, at a separate location, normal colour lions are being bred for sale to canned hunting industry.
In bona fide private nature reserves, where large carnivores can be re-introduced, there are adequate sources of truly wild animals available to stock such areas. There is no need to embark on yet another an unproven exercise of rehabilitating captive bred animals to the wild. It is recommended that DEAT ensure that all re-introductions of wild large carnivores are only done with wild animals from suitable gene pools.
5. HUNTING OF CAPTIVE LARGE PREDATORS
Second bullet: We stand by our view that no is no evidence that any captive bred large carnivores have been successfully rehabilitated in Southern Africa. The term re-habilitated is too loose and animals must be second generation animals borne to wild parents from free-ranging populations.
6 CONTROL OF DAMAGE CAUSED BY LARGE PREDATORS
Second bullet
We believe that a workable solutions need to enable competent landowners to take appropriate action as swiftly as possible.
7 IMPORT, EXPORT AND TRANSPORTATION OF LARGE PREDATORS
We believe that it is not necessary to import any captive bred large African predators into South Africa for any reason whatsoever and that this should be prohibited. Lions have been imported from Europe and taken to Kapama where free-ranging lions that are part of the KNP/ Lowveld gene pool occur. This exposes the largest population in SA to risk of genetic pollution and possible transfer of disease or parasites.
SUMMARY OF THE GRAA VIEW
Sincerely
Timothy V. Snow
Africa Chairman, Game Rangers Association of Africa
International Ranger Federation Executive Committee - Africa representative
Telefax +27(0)33 2677171
Mobile +27(0)82 4634104
A snippet from the Southern Cape
Since August 2002, nature conservator Elton le Roux and field rangers from Gamkaberg, Swartberg, Outeniquas, Goukamma and Keurbooms has observed (838), photographed (249) and collected genetic samples (145) of 1232 herps records on the Outeniqua, Gamkaberg, Goukamma and Swartberg provincial reserves. Using these methods (i.e. photographs and tail clips), it is not necessary to kill and bottle each and every animal you see. This comprises 70 species made up of 16 amphibians and 54 reptiles. Genetic samples are sent to Stellenbosch and Qua Qua Universities for analysis. According to previous surveys, approximately 87 species of herps are known to occur in the Gouritz Region, thus there is still a lot of surveying to be done on our protected areas and work will continue especially on high points and inaccessible areas on reserves.
MEDIA RELEASE - 11 March 2005
KAROO NATIONAL PARK - Celebrating 25 years of excellence
The Karoo National Park in Beaufort West celebrated 25 years of existence with the opening of the long-awaited educational interpretive centre today.
The Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Rejoice Mabudafhasi officially opened the interpretive centre. Set in an old farm building inside the park, the centre will offer visitors and learners information on the fauna and flora as well as the ecological and cultural history of the park. It also boasts a resource room where learners will be able to do research as part of the park's environmental education programme.
Speaking during the function to celebrate the park's milestone, South African National Parks Chief Operating Officer Sydney Soundy paid tribute to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism for supporting the park in its endeavours to contribute to the socio-economic and educational well-being of the people of the Central Karoo.
Soundy further spoke of the importance of the interpretive centre for furthering conservation and cultural awareness education in the Central Karoo region.
"Conservation bodies are embracing the transformation of our society as part of the new South Africa and an opportunity exists in the interpretive centre to portray this to a broader audience. Conservation transformation now incorporates social as well as economic principles in the governance of parks.
"The broader context of 'environment' is not limited to the bio-physical aspects but it is extended to the social and the economic ones as well. Environmental education is now not only restricted to finding the balance in nature but is more concerned with the interrelationships and impacts that are created between these three dynamics" said Soundy.
Proclaimed on 7 September 1979, the Karoo National Park was officially opened on 12 September 1979. The creation of the park followed a donation of 7 209 ha of land by the Beaufort West Town Council and a further purchase of land by the South African Nature Foundation.
Said Park Manager Norman Johnson: "Through a progressive land acquisition strategy, the park has expanded to its current size of 88 000 ha from its initial 20 000 ha. However, this is still not enough to re-introduce lions, cheetahs and wild dogs that once roamed these plains"
Johnson added that the lions were needed to naturally control the antelope numbers. He added that the park was set to protect a representative area of the Nama Karoo as part of South Africa's natural heritage.
The Karoo National Park is a treasure house of knowledge - it is one of the world's most interesting arid zones. It is considered to be one of the wonders of the world and provide many opportunities for visitors to acquaint themselves with the natural environment of the Great Karoo.
"The park serves as a reservoir for indigenous and endemic species and visitors are encouraged to experience and to learn to love the Great Karoo, its fauna, flora, scenic diversity and its essential wilderness" he said.
Among the key focus areas of the interpretive centre will be:
Ends
Issued by: Lulama Luti: Manager: Media & PR, Tel: (012) 426-5203 or 082-905-4645
Enquiries: Wanda Mkutshulwa: Head Communications, Tel: (012) 426-5201 or 082-908-2692
Dam THREATENS Kruger GORGE FROM THE KRUGER PARK TIMES
The small village of Massingir, about 330km north east of Maputo, is slowly shedding her rural leathers and garbing herself in urban feathers. The driving force behind the new electricity supply, more buildings, upgrade of the local clinic, school, even the waste disposal system and road network can be traced to the rehabilitation of the Massingir Dam. This is not perceived as good news all round.
The project has been met with diverse responses ranging from resistance to gratification, on both sides of the border.
In Mozambique, the government obtained an US$80million loan from the African Development Bank and assigned ARA-Sul (Administraco Regional de Aguas do Sul) as Executing Agent, under the chairmanship of the National Directorate of Water (DNA), to co-ordinate the rehabilitation of the dam and Xai-Xai smallholder agricultural project downstream.
DNA appointed the Project Implementation Unit (PIMU) to manage the various rehabilitation activities of the project. PIMU comprises two Component Implementation Units (CIUs) for the dam and the irrigation activities.
The Olifants River Forum, comprising stakeholders such as the Lepelle Water Board, the Kruger National Park, Palabora Mining Company, Sasol, Foskor, Eskom and other corporations with a stake in the river maintain serious concerns about the ecological impacts the dam will have on the river and its unique habitats, because of the scale of construction that is being undertaken.
The rehabilitation could lead to the destruction of sections of an 8km gorge that has no parallels elsewhere in South Africa. Though the South African and Mozambican governments seem well aware of these effects on the Olifants River gorge in the Kruger National Park, no interventions are apparently planned to prevent the destruction of this pristine and one-of-a-kind wilderness area.
The matter has been raised by conservation organisations like the Olifants River Forum, as well as at a workshop that was initiated by the Kruger National Park and held in Letaba last year, but there seems to have been a lack of coordination at the various sectoral levels that should have ensured consultation and consequent implementation of measures that would have prevented an ecological disaster to a national asset – Kruger National Park.
The upper sections of the Massingir dam, the second largest in Mozambique, is about 4km downstream from the eastern border of the Kruger National Park (KNP). It was built in the early 70s, in terms of an agreement between South Africa and Portugal, prior to South Africa’s current environmental and water laws, to ensure irrigation to the Lower Limpopo Valley in Mozambique and to possibly supply hydro-electrical power.
The Mozambican civil war hampered the final completion of the dam, notably the installation of the sluice gates. These are now being repaired and will be installed as part of the rehabilitation process. Rehabilitation also entails restoring the dam wall to enable the dam to carry its full reservoir of 2 800 million cubic metres.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
The process around the initial Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Rehabilitation of the dam is confusing. It appears Kjell Essel of Norplan did an EIA for the Mozambican ministry of Industry and Energy and African Development Bank in 1993. Though the Kruger National Park is a primary interested and affected party, it was never consulted and neither has a copy of the EIA ever been made available to the Park for comments.
The Department of Water Affairs (DWAF) told the Kruger Park Times it could not trace the EIA either. Themba Khumalo, spokesperson, said a professional service provider has been appointed to do a further EIA at this time. “They would also make the terms of reference available to South Africa but it is still awaited,” says Khumalo.
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism told the Kruger Park Times that it “shares a view that the rehabilitation of the Massingir Dam has a potential to cause ecological impacts on the Olifants River gorge in Kruger. This matter has been raised at the Joint Management Board and Ministerial meetings of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park initiative. In these meetings, Mozambique undertook to conduct an environmental impact assessment. Further consultations are underway regarding this matter to ensure that impacts on the KNP are mitigated.”
MITIGATION MEASURES
According to Dr Freek Venter, Head of Conservation Services in the KNP, there is no mitigation that could be done to save the Olifants River gorge.
“The dam will cause massive sedimentation in the gorge and even possibly as high as the Olifants Wilderness Trails camp, but there is no information available because no proper study has been undertaken. The sedimentation will destroy the deep pool-rapid ecosystem in the lower Olifants and Letaba rivers.”
”Once lost this national treasure cannot be regained. It will be lost for ever,” says Venter.
It is unclear how Dwaf hopes to mitigate the impacts as the rehabilitation is currently ongoing without specified intervention to ensure the gorge will not be destroyed.
On the Mozambican side, PIMU contracted specialists to identify, propose and implement mitigating measurements. These include fauna and flora, ecosystems, land issues, maintenance of watercourses and environmental mitigating measures during construction.
Marcus Wishart from Australia, has been doing different Environmental Impact studies on the dam and river on behalf of IMPACTO, a private company in Mozambique.
Douw Swanepoel, a crocodile expert, has been contracted by PIMU for baseline monitoring of wildlife in the Massingir area.
The wildlife assessment project comprises three basic phases – a census during the first year, correlation and verification during the second year and to monitor the impact of the dam when it is full during the last phase.
The rehabilitation will be finalised in October 2006 when the dam will be filled.
FLOODS AND FILLING THE DAM
In their newsletter a year ago the Olifants River Forum stated its concern that when the Massingir dam is full, and it rises an additional 10m, the dammed water will push back into the gorge section of the KNP. During floods the water will push even further up the gorge, depositing silt. The inflow area of dams is where sediment is dropped when water flow reduces speed.
Two major floods of the Olifants River in 1996 and 2000 filled up deep pools in the lower third of the gorge with sand. What was previously a single, narrow channel with a large, slow flowing water body and deep pools, inhabited by large populations of fish and hippopotami, has been changed into a shallow, sandy stream.
The Massingir dam has already slowed water in the Olifants River in Kruger down, especially during floods, increasing the siltation of the gorge.
This has resulted in increased siltation within the lower third of the gorge. Almost all the deep pools in the lower part of the gorge were filled with sand, so much so that they have disappeared completely. It is now feared that the rest of the gorge and further upstream in the Olifants and Letaba rivers will be destroyed.
When the dam overflows, it is likely to back up the water even more, as the water rises above the crest of the dam wall. This will deposit sediment even further upstream than occurs when the dam is only partially full.
A build-up of siltation has already occurred in the upper reaches of the Massingir Dam itself where sediment has been deposited in a fan-like delta as a result of the flow rates decreasing due to the dammed up water. It can be expected that this process will continue.
According to the Olifants River Forum one mitigation option that was proposed is to operate the dam at a lower level than normal for several years to allow smaller floods to remove the sediment from the gorge. Unfortunately, due to the restricted release from outlet valves in most older dams, it is not possible to manage dams so that they have lower levels during extreme flood events.
CROCODILE POPULATION
The gorge section of the Olifants River differs completely from the rest of the 100km of river and all other gorges in South Africa. It has a deep, single thread, pool-rapid structure and is well known for its deep clear pools and prolific crocodile populations.
According to Swanepoel the initial indication show the major impacts will be on the fish, crocodile and hippopotamus populations in the river, and specifically, the gorge.
The fish population in the river has already been severely depleted with the number of dams (2500) in the river.
Crocodiles are prehistoric animals and “are some of the most adaptive species on earth,” says Swanepoel. He believes, as the dam fills the upper 1,5km of the gorge, the crocodiles will do one of three things.
“They will either stay in the remaining 3,5km of the gorge, or move upstream or into the Massingir Dam.”
He does not think it is likely the animals will move upstream due to the general condition of the river and believes it probable that they will move on towards the dam.
These studies are ongoing.
POSITION(s) AVAILABLE
VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
Intern - Communications, Programme on Protected Areas
Location: IUCN Headquarters, Gland, Switzerland
Reporting to: Head of Programme on Protected Areas (PPA)
Available: end July 2005
This position is ideally suited to a young graduate or professional, who seeks to gain further experience at the international level in relation to protected areas. This will be a 12-month internship, subject to review after six months, and will be based in Gland, Switzerland.
SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES
The PPA Intern - Communications will assist the Head, PPA, to coordinate and implement the PPA Communication Strategy, with particular emphasis on follow-up from the Vth World Parks Congress. Specific tasks will be as follows:
REQUIREMENTS:
APPLICATIONS
Interested candidates should send their letter of application and updated CV, in English, including names/contact details for three referees, including one recent employer, to reach the address below by 31 March 2005:
Human Resources Officer , Human Resources Management Group , IUCN - The World Conservation Union, 28 rue Mauverney - 1196 Gland, Switzerland
E-mail: jobapplications@iucn.org Fax: +4122 999 0339; www.iucn.org
For additional information, please refer to the Guidelines covering the Internship Programme at IUCN Headquarters. Guidelines are available at the following url:
http://www.iucn.org/themes/wcpa/wcpa/jobs/interguideline.pdf.
Tailpiece-
Words to Live by. Thanks to Phil Jornlin
"AIM TOWARDS THE ENEMY." - Instruction printed on US Army Rocket Launcher
"WHEN THE PIN IS PULLED, MR. GRENADE IS NOT OUR FRIEND." - US Marine Corps
"CLUSTER BOMBING FROM B-52s IS VERY, VERY ACCURATE. THE BOMBS ARE GUARANTEED TO ALWAYS HIT THE GROUND." - USAF Ammo Troop
"IF THE ENEMY IS IN RANGE, SO ARE YOU." - US Army Infantry Journal
"A SLIPPING GEAR COULD LET YOUR M203 GRENADE LAUNCHER FIRE WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT. THAT WOULD MAKE YOU QUITE UNPOPULAR IN WHAT'S LEFT OF YOUR UNIT." - US Army's Magazine of Preventive Maintenance
"IT IS GENERALLY INADVISABLE TO EJECT DIRECTLY OVER THE AREA YOU'VE JUST BOMBED." - US Air Force manual
"TRY TO LOOK UNIMPORTANT; THE ENEMY MAY BE LOW ON AMMO." - US Army Infantry Journal
"TRACERS WORK BOTH WAYS." - US Army Ordnance
"FIVE-SECOND FUSES ONLY LAST THREE SECONDS." - US Army Infantry Journal
"BRAVERY IS BEING THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS YOU'RE AFRAID." – David Hackworth
"IF YOUR ATTACK IS GOING TOO WELL, YOU'RE WALKING INTO AN AMBUSH." - US Army Infantry Journal
"NO COMBAT-READY UNIT HAS EVER PASSED INSPECTION." - Joe Gay
"ANY SHIP CAN BE A MINESWEEPER . . ONCE." – Anon
"NEVER TELL THE PLATOON SERGEANT YOU HAVE NOTHING TO DO." – Unknown Marine Recruit
"DON'T DRAW FIRE; IT IRRITATES THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU." - US Army Infantry Journal
"IF YOU SEE A BOMB TECHNICIAN RUNNING, TRY TO KEEP UP WITH HIM." - USAF Ammo Troop
Matter of Fact
This is an electronic newsletter of the Game Rangers' Association of Africa. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Association, nor of the Editor. This is intended to be an exchange of news snips, ideas and communication between members. Newsletter content may be copied and re-distributed without authorisation. Correspondence should be addressed to the Editor at dyunnie@xsinet.co.za