- Gondwana Cañon Park/ News



		News 2006News 23.08.06

Burchell's Zebra back at the Canyon - 23.08.06
Gondwana bought a total of 50 Burchell's zebra and 24 red hartebeest in July and released them in its nature reserves in the Kalahari and at the Fish River Canyon. Furthermore, the annual game count in Gondwana Cañon Park showed that game numbers continue to rise.

Red hartebeest leap into the wild. Photo: Gondwana Cañon Park

25 Burchell’s zebra were released in the park at the Canyon. They arrived in good condition and sauntered from the truck into the wild. Each animal was photographed to form a unique identikit for long-term monitoring and research. Like the fingerprints of people, each zebra has a unique pattern, so can be individually identified. A week later 24 red hartebeest arrived. While they spent time in the boma, park manager Otto von Kaschke and his team determined the gender and age of the animals: 16 adults and 7 calves, 21 females and 2 males. One calf died from a wound sustained through the horn of another animal. Some of the new arrivals were soon seen grazing together with other hartebeest which had been released three years ago. 25 Burchell’s zebra were released in Gondwana Kalahari Park northeast of Mariental.

Gondwana’s game programme aims at reintroducing animal species which used to roam these areas in previous times. It is financed with the income generated by the accommodation facilities and activities available in the four nature reserves of the Gondwana Desert Collection. Progress is continually monitored by the parks’ staff and during annual game counts. At the same time strict attention is paid to the viability of the arid land, and every precaution is taken to stay within the carrying capacity, which changes each year depending on the highly variable rainfall.

Game count at the canyon.
Photo: Gondwana Cañon Park

The game count in Gondwana Cañon Park took place in the middle of August – this time together with representatives of the neighbouring Ai-Ais National Park, representatives from the Ai-Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, the Klein Karas Community and the private Canyon Nature Park on the western side of the Canyon. The numbers of gemsbok, springbok, kudu, steenbok and ostrich have again increased over last year’s figures (see chart).

Diagram: Jo Tagg

The fact that fewer mountain zebra were recorded in the park is explained by the experts as part of the zebra’s nomadic and migratory patterns to optimise food and water resources. After good rains the animals move westwards into the canyons and mountains where plenty of grazing is once again available. As conditions become dryer, the animals move eastwards. Since internal fences as well as the fences alongside the road have mostly been dismantled, game can once again move about unhampered, and start to regain their historic nomadic and migratory patterns. This ability to move in response to changing climatic conditions is one of the most important evolutionary survival strategies of wildlife in arid areas.

Migratory movements can only be effectively re-established, of course, if open landscapes of sufficient size can be secured. This is a goal which the private and national nature reserves in the region have committed to and are actively working towards. The day before the game count, a meeting was held in the Gondwana Cañon Park at which it was agreed to establish the Greater Fish River Canyon Complex Association (GFRCCA). This is the starting point of a nature conservation area which in the not too distant future could extend from the Sperrgebiet to the Klein Karas Mountains and from the tar road between Keetmanshoop and Aus to the Gariep/Orange River on the southern border and across into the Richtersveld in South Africa...

Satellite picture of Gondwana Cañon Park with the standardised routes sketched in.
Source: Jo Tagg


		- For more on the game release in the Gondwana Kalahari Park see - www.gondwana-kalahari-park.com - The full story is also available as Media Release