Welcome,
•A photographic safari through one of Africa’s most renowned Big 5 conservation areas
• Wildlife management and the conservation of the Nile crocodile
• Testing your survival skills and tracking during a wilderness trail
• Community development along the tropical beaches of Mozambique
Week 1 – An introduction to field guiding, Kruger National ParkYour trip starts when you are met by
your facilitator at the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport. From there you will be transferred to the Malelane Gate where we will then cross into the Kruger National Park. The Kruger National Park or KNP is one of the largest conservation areas in Africa and ranks with the finest parks in Africa. The 2 million hectare area (about the size of Belgium) supports unrivalled biodiversity in the form of the following number of species: 147 mammals, 517 birds, 114 reptiles, 34 amphibians, 49 fish and 336 trees. KNP also boast a very healthy population of the Big 5 (elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard) and the largest population of African Wild Dog in Southern Africa. The first week of the course is spent camping in KNP – 3 days at Skukuza and 3 days at Letaba. Our objective here is to see as much wildlife as possible and learn as much about nature as we possibly can. Our daily schedule throughout the course would be as follows: 05:30 Wake up 06:00 Breakfast 06:30 Depart on morning activity 10:00 Class 12:00 Lunch Siesta 15:00 Depart on afternoon activity 20:00 Dinner The theoretical subjects that we study include:
Photography
Astronomy
Geology
Climatology
Ecology
Botany
Arthropods
Fish
Amphibians
Reptiles
Fish
Birds
Mammals
Animal behavior
Habitat management
Wildlife management
Week 2 – Crocodile research, Massingir dam
On day number seven we leave KNP and cross into Mozambique via the Giriyondo border post. The transfer will take us through the Parque Nacional do Limpopo (PNL) to the Massingir dam. After the Mozambique Peace Accord of 1992 the Limpopo National Park became part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a 35,000 km² peace park that links the Limpopo National Park (Mozambique) with the Kruger National Park (South Africa) and the Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe). The removal of fence line between KNP and PNL and the relocation of 5000 head of game has greatly improved the game viewing of this remote park. In the south is the Massingir dam and the town of Massingir which is the administrative headquarters of the park. The Massingir dam was built in the 1970′s but the 16-year civil war that ensued after independence from Portuguese colonialism hampered the completion of the dam, notably the installation of the sluice gates. The Olifants gorge is in the park and, while it is not generally accessible to tourists, it is the world’s largest breeding ground for the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus). Officials expressed their concerns when it was decided to enlarge the Massingir dam by completing the installation of the sluice gates. The higher dam wall and newly installed sluice gates had the following detrimental effects on the Olifant’s gorge:
It caused the river system to change from a free flowing to stagnant ecology
The rapids disappeared and the gorge filled up with sediment
During the winter of 2008 at least 170 dead crocodiles were found in the gorge
Autopsies indicated that all the dead crocodiles suffered from a disease called pansteatitis (Yellow fat disease) which has the following symptoms:
Yellow hardened fat
Lack of energy and severe lethargy
No food in stomachs
As a result crocodiles continue to die in vast numbers during winter as they can not utilize their stored fat. An initiative, known as the Consortium for the Restoration of the Olifants Catchment (CROC) was established in order to research and establish the cause/s of these mortalities. CROCs research focuses on further analysis of the water and sediment, fish pathology, water chemistry and algal composition of the river water, the population dynamics of the crocodiles in the Olifants and Letaba river systems, clinical blood parameters of the affected crocodiles in comparison to unaffected crocodiles, invertebrate and fish population dynamics and research into populations of fish-eating birds. No single cause has been identified to date, but research indicates that the high rate mortalities occur due to a combination of factors:
Most of the Olifants River gorge has been inundated by back-flooding from the recently raised Massingir dam wall in Mozambique. This has changed this section of the river from a free-flowing river with diverse habitats to a standing water body with a lot of silt and sediment deposition, and reduced habitat diversity. This also results in higher nutrient loads, which in turn trigger poisonous algal blooms. Numerous pollutants from acid mine drainage, agricultural pesticides and fertilizer, sewerage treatment and industrial and household sources of pollution are present in the Olifants catchments area
Pansteatitis in crocodiles is usually associated with the consumption of rotten and rancid fish. Fish species such as barbel (Clarias gariepinus) – which is a major crocodile food source – are clearly sick. These fish show hyperplastic (increased number of cells) pale gills, liver pathology and some are excessively fat. This is symptomatic of exposure to toxic agents. Although extensive research has been done in South Africa, urgent research is needed on the Mozambican side of the Olifants River and in the Massingir Dam. During the second week of the course we focus on carrying out crocodile research and monitoring in the Massingir dam. The aim is to gather baseline information on the population dynamics and distribution of crocodiles in the dam as well as the Olifant’s Gorge. This data will be shared with the Mozambican authorities so that a long term management strategy can be implemented to save the crocodiles and their breeding grounds. The research will be conducted in two phases:
Phase 1
Night counts from a boat
Regular night counts to be conducted from a six meter aluminium boat fitted with a 60hp outboard motor. Two 1 million candle power spotlights will be used to spot crocodiles just after sunset. Once a crocodile is spotted the boat would move in closer to estimate the size of the individual. Individuals will be classed into one of six categories according to their estimated body length. When it would not be possible to get an accurate estimation of size, the individual will be classed as unknown.
40cm – 1.4m Small
>1.4m – 2.1m Medium
>2.1m – 4.0m Large
>4.0m Extra large
Unrecorded Unknown
The location of all individuals will be recorded on a hand held GPS. All the above data will then be recorded on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and the techniques described by Magnusson et al (1978) used to attain accurate data pertaining to the:
Population size
Population structure
Population density
The population density would be expressed in biomass (kg) per kilometre of shoreline. The route plan for each count will remain the same and the boat will be driven at a constant speed of 15km/h to ensure consistent and accurate data and cover the 85km shoreline in 6 hours. The crew will consist of seven members – one boat driver, two spotlight operators who would also act as observers an additional observer on either side of the boat and a
Foot patrols along the shoreline during the day
During the foot patrol a 7 man team would walk the complete shoreline of the dam over a period of 7 days walking an average of 12 – 15km per day. During the patrol all crocodile sighting would be recorded as mentioned above – individual size and GPS location. The advantage of doing a foot patrol is that the team can move quietly to specific vantage points and scan the area ahead with binoculars without alarming crocodiles ahead of them. The team will be carrying their camping equipment with them and camp along the shoreline at night. The foot patrols along the shoreline would serve three purposes:
It would be the secondary survey method to the night counts from the boat and used as part of the formula as described by Magnusson et al (1978) to accurately establish population size, structure and density/distribution. To identify preferential basking sites that would later be used for fieldwork during fixed point observation
It would also be used to identify nesting sites and record their location. Continues nest surveys will also allow the research team to estimate the overall length of the breeding female, the distance of the nest to the water, the height of the nest above the water and other environmental factors. Fixed point observation
Once preferential basking sites have been identified during the foot patrols members of the crew (seven persons) would be positioned in strategic location to give them a clear vantage point of these basking sites. The crew members (spotters) would then use powerful binoculars to record all basking crocodiles as mentioned above – size and GPS location. The spotters would also make note of the general health of individual crocodiles based on general observation. As no specimens would be captured, this will only be a preliminary validation of the population health and only severe cases of emaciation, lethargy, external wounds, enlarged tail bases etc. would be recorded to get a very general understanding of the population health. There are three reasons for doing fixed point observation:
The count s*xually mature individuals and so establish what the ratio of the population forms part of the breeding stock. To do controls on the double survey method
To investigate the general health of the population without capturing any individuals
Phase 2 - depending on PRIMARY fieldwork and discussions and permission from DNAC
Capture, tagging and fitting VHF transmitters
As there has been a high level of mortality of crocodiles in the upper regions of the Olifants River due to pansteatitis it would be prudent not to engage in any capturing of specimens as it is unknown what effect it might have on the population. We therefore propose to first due a pilot study on the population as mentioned above. Once a preliminary study has been done we propose to enter in discussions with DNAC to establish what affect capture would have on the population. Should we agree to go ahead with capture it would be done according to the methods described by Chabreck (1965a), Kofron (1989a) and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commision (2003). It is proposed to capture 12 large individuals during the course of the research project for the purpose of:
Anatomical measurements – length and weight
Establishing the s*x of the specimen
Examining the external health of the specimen
To fit a AVM Instrument Company MP2 VHF transmitter on the nuchal scales of the specimen
To tag the specimen on its tail with colour coded ear tags so that they could still be identified should they lose their transmitters. The reason for fitting these specimens with telemetry devices is to monitor their movement in the study area, and to shed more light on dispersal patterns and home ranges. It is also proposed that all smaller (
