Drought, overgrazing cause deaths of 80 elephants in North West reserve since August

Plans are under way to euthanase starving elephants in the Madikwe Game Reserve in North West on the border with Botswana.  

Pieter Nel, an ecologist at the North West Parks and Tourism Board, said its database showed that 80 elephants had died from starvation since August.

The drought and the uncontrolled growth of the elephant population were the main drivers of deaths in Madikwe, said the Madikwe Futures Company, a nonprofit contracted in to assist the parks and tourism board.

A longer-term plan for the next four months also involves the potential culling of some of the estimated 1 600 elephants in the reserve.

Nel said protocols were in place for identifying starving animals in bad shape. “As the field guides and the rangers go along, the animals are identified and then we’ve got a set of criteria that we’re going to use to determine whether an elephant needs to be put down or not.”

He said that at the instruction of the minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment, a task team had been formed to deal with the situation at Madikwe and the Pilanesberg National Park in the short and long terms.

Managing the increase in the elephant population is difficult “because in terms of park expansion and translocation, there’s very limited options”, Nel said. “One of the issues that we may have to consider is culling.”

Having too many elephants in a reserve harms the entire ecosystem, Nel said. “I think Madikwe has shown what can happen if you pass that threshold.”

He noted that earlier in the year there were no signs of any stress among the elephants. “Then in August and September things escalated and we had these mortalities. It shows you that there’s a very fine balance and the moment you pass that threshold, everything collapses.”

Madikwe’s management said elephant deaths had increased exponentially since August, and “with an estimated 1600 elephants on the reserve, the situation is dire and urgent”.

The wildlife protection unit of the National Council of SPCAs visited the reserve and described the situation as a “wildlife tragedy”.

The NSPCA said its team observed signs of overgrazing and poor veld management. “Outside Madikwe’s fence line is an abundance of nutritional vegetation, a stark comparison to what Madikwe has to offer the animals within the confines of the reserve.”

“This is not ‘nature’ or ‘nature’s way’ as this is a man-made disaster, with years of inaction addressing the overpopulation and lack of vegetation, and increasing bush encroachment,” said NSPCA wildlife protection unit manager and chief inspector Douglas Wolhuter.

The NSPCA team encountered an elephant calf in such a weakened state that it was unable to move from the presence of humans. The calf was euthanised. 

During another inspection on 3 December, two more elephants were euthanised by the NSPCA’s veterinarian. A flight over the reserve showed more dead animals, including a giraffe lying in water. Two white rhinos in poor condition were also seen, it said.

“It is a travesty that this reserve cannot ensure the welfare and well-being of the animals,” said Wolhuter, adding that the reserve management “observed the suffering unfold before them and did nothing”.

Nel said it was expected that there would be ecological impacts from Madikwe’s elephants because there have never been elephants in or around the areas bordering the reserve. 

“Obviously, we drastically need to reduce the numbers to bring us back to a situation where the system can properly recover and we can have those big trees, all of those things, coming back,” he said.

He pointed out that there had been a conscious decision to use non-lethal methods of managing the elephant population, but “we have to admit it didn’t yield the desired results”. 

“There were real opportunities of expanding the park, there were some opportunities for translocation, which unfortunately never materialised and that brought us to the situation where we are now here. Now, we will have to look at other ways, including lethal options.”

He said the necessary documents had been completed and were on their way to the minister. “We’ll see how the process unfolds.”

The game reserve was created 30 years ago as a partnership between the government, private sector and local communities. The parks and tourism board manages the reserve and its conservation work. The lodge owners and the Madikwe Futures Company are not responsible for managing the elephant population. 

For the local communities, the reserve sustains more than 1 000 jobs.

The Madikwe Futures Company, which is contracted to assist with anti-poaching, roadwork, bush-clearing and community projects, said the reserve’s vegetation, like the vegetation of other reserves in Southern Africa, has been put under pressure by a growing elephant overpopulation. 

“Especially with the current drought, other reserves with elephants, including reserves in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Malawi and Zimbabwe, are in a similar situation,” said Hector Magome, the director of the Madikwe Futures Company. 

In recent weeks, Madikwe has received some rain and the vegetation is growing again, but “we are still waiting for substantial rains,” Magome said. “Despite the harsh conditions, nearly all wildlife, including elephants, are surviving … but that still does not resolve the underlying problem.”

Koos Potgieter, the managing director of the Madikwe Futures Company and a lodge owner, said: “This is the first time in the 30 years of the reserve’s existence that this has happened. It is a tipping point and urgent intervention is needed. However, we are extremely concerned that the way the issue is positioned in the press is too broadly condemning and will destroy the good that Madikwe has done and continues to do.”

Southern Africa faces a problem of too many elephants, he said. “Everybody is looking for an answer to this problem not [only] at the Madikwe level … This is a thing that has to be addressed and talked about” in Southern Africa and all the way to East Africa. 

“Everybody is finding little ways of trying to deal with the [elephant] population growth and there’s no clear answer except the one which is emotionally very charged.”