Walk on wild side to shadow endangered species

Dalton Jackson via Wikimedia Commons

Rangers have a dark sense of humour

I was reminded of the time we were at Phinda private game reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal and a uniformed man carrying a knobkierie escorted us on foot to our chalet. "What happens if a lion leaps out of the bush and tries to eat us?" my wife asked, not unreasonably. "I hit him with my stick," the man replied, while we quickly increased our pace, and darted inside, leaving him to his gory fate.

Rangers have a dark sense of humour. Our guide on a drive-walk to view San rock paintings at Mountain Zebra National Park, Dan Van de Vyver, greets us cheerily and goes through the drill. "First thing, hands off the vehicle as we're going along, don't slap the branches along the way. Next thing is loud noises, just don't shout. And no standing up. If you don't believe me, jump up and see what happens. You're on your own."

Mountain Zebra National Park

Mountain Zebra is 10km from Cradock in the Eastern Cape. It is distinctive for its combination of many species of game, big and small, most notably the beast after which it is named, and its spectacular vistas. Its beauty brings to mind the Serengeti with its vast plains of grassland.

When you enter the park, look right for a trio of striking koppies, Salpeterkop, Middelberg and Spekboomberg. The latter pair is outside of the park, Salpeterkop within. The summit was a lookout post for British soldiers during the Boer War and a draughts-board is engraved on a rock with the names of long dead officers who used mirrors to send coded moves to other lookouts. Salpeterkop also has sites of etchings of hunters, antelope and a white rhino, discovered in 2012 and 2013.

Look left for a graveyard marked by rocks in honour of unknown people long dead. It is known that the graves precede the establishment of the park in 1937 and it is thought they were soldiers, but whether Boer or Brit is not known.

Saving the Cape mountain zebra

The park's proclamation was for the sole reason of trying to save the Cape mountain zebra of which there were fewer than 100 left in SA. A local farmer donated some mountain zebra but there was scant success at first with the mares dying, leaving only stallions. Another farmer donated 11 zebra, which became the founding herd in the then 1,700ha park.

Here's the joy of the story: a recent count in the park put the number of Cape mountain zebra at just less than 1,200, but there are many more. Over the years, some have been moved to other parks in SA. There are two other populations that are not a part of this success story - two herds in a reserve in the Little Karoo - but most of the species that you see elsewhere will have come from the venture that this park was created for.

Mountain Zebra has grown from those 1,700ha to about 6,000ha and on, in the '90s, to the 28,000ha it is today.

What early travellers saw here

But just the ethos today is not to protect one species but to reintroduce all the species that would have occurred here in the past, poring through old travel records to see what early travellers saw here.

And this is where the cheetah story comes in. In 2007, four cheetah were introduced - two males and two females. By 2010 there were 30, some of which have been caught and relocated to other reserves. Bear in mind that the cheetah is an endangered species, and there is cause for much pride and joy. As for lion, there are two males now, "and we're going to get females when we can", says Taplin.

But there is much more game to see here, from vervet monkeys and chacma baboons to aardwolf, brown hyena (re-introduced in 2008 and doing well), bat-eared fox, caracal, black-footed cat, Cape clawless otter, honey badger, striped polecat, black rhinoceros, eland, kudu, red hartebeest and more.

When you're high on the Rooiplaat plateau, much of what you see is beyond the park's boundaries all the way to Graaff-Reinet. A plan to create a corridor between here and Camdeboo is nearing fruition, the object being to establish a protected environment and many of the farmers in the proposed corridor have signed up.

Fanie Vervet and his cousin Vinny pays a visit

Inside the park there are 4x4 trails, picnic sites, hikers' huts that have been upgraded into mountain cottages, and the main camp with its 20 well-fitted family cottages with large fireplaces and braai patios, where you may well encounter an unexpected visitor. Doornhoek, an 1837 homestead, was burnt out a few years ago and its resurrection is nearing completion.

During our visit to see the San rock paintings of eland and cheetah, we'd been assured there was no likelihood of encountering any wildlife while braaiing that evening. Later, I set the fire outside and went inside, through the little lounge into the kitchen, and looked down to see two cheeky little eyes in a furry face, as Fanie Vervet and his cousin Vinny dashed out, having scoped out the kitchen for food. They then climbed onto a fence outside and sat staring at us quizzically.

And your close encounter shifts your mind to the early afternoon when you were in a cave, scrutinising paintings of eland and cheetah, and a shaman, and you imagined a family there, hundreds of years ago, a fire crackling on the rocks beneath your feet, and a human being long dead, sketching the animals in his mind. You nod respect to the ancient artist.

Source: Business Day