CKGR gets 500 animals from SAVE

Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday June 5, 2015 16:43

 

The animals consisted of about 400 wildebeests and 100 elands, which were successfully translocated over a range of about 140km from Grassland Safari into CKGR. The relocation was an opportunity to resettle the animals back into the wild.

“The Department of Wildlife and National Parks’ veterinary officers and law enforcement staff were also present to ensure that the animals were captured and transported safely, as well as making sure that they are relocated to the appropriate locations,” stated the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism Public Relations Officer Alice Mmolawa in a press release.

The animals were released in three areas within the CKGR, namely Motopi, Piper Pan and Xade. Explaining the reason behind choosing the different locations, with some being more than 70km apart, she said that this was to avoid congestion and overgrazing in one area.

Mmolawa said spreading the animals around the game reserve would ensure sustainability of the grazing land and the ecosystem.

Mmolawa said the team took off for the CKGR, travelling about 70 km in the sandy road to Xade whereupon on arrival a boma was set up.  The animals were then released into the boma, and allowed to rest for a brief period before it was opened and they were released into the large, open, wild grassland. 

He said there was a solar-powered borehole, pumping water into a nearby watering hole where the animals were watered.

“For the wildlife capture to go well, nature and science had to be in sync. The wind direction and temperature have a big impact on whether capturing is successful or not. On that particular day, they were in sync and enabled capturing, which started in the morning around 7.30am and went on until 11am,” she stated.

Mmolawa added that the owner of Grassland Safari Willie De Graf urged farmers to give back game to the country as they had gotten most of the game from the government.