Culling in Marloth Park is inevitable
Culling of animals in the Marloth Park conservancy has been postponed until a veld and grazing assessment has been done.
MARLOTH PARK – A sigh of relief – that is how property owners of the holiday town probably view their success in stopping the planned culling of animals in the wildlife sanctuary.
It seems as though they do realise that they are only postponing the inevitable, as it will have to take place because of the overgrazing and overpopulation of some species.
Their greatest concern with why culling should not take place as scheduled, is that it is breeding season and many animals are either pregnant or weaning. There are large numbers of impala and warthog while the carrying capacity is 150 to 210 for each.
The Marloth Park Property Owners Association (MPPOA), the honorary rangers, Marloth Conservancy, the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) as well as the Nkomazi Local Municipality (NLM) recently met to discuss culling and game management as well as the way forward for the town.
Mr Jan Muller of the MTPA discussed the agency’s role as administrator of the management and welfare of all wildlife.
It is responsible for the issuing of permits for hunting, culling and game movement, and reached an agreement with the MPPOA that no further permits would be issued for 2014 in either of the three segments.
It is only the removal and selective culling of warthog in Marloth Park that would continue and caution would be exercised not to cull any pregnant or weaning warthog.
Hunting in Lionspruit will also be stopped and any request for permits will be discussed before issuing.
The MTPA will manage a practical and workable veld- and game-management plan. Mr Ralf Kalwa of Rengu Environmental Services was commissioned to undertake the management.
The MPPOA will foot the bill.
An intense culling or harvesting of game, says Muller, will start early in April 2015 and will take place only after Kalwa’s assessment of the carrying capacity of the veld.
An educational programme will be launched in Marloth Park this Saturday to address the current veld conditions as well as human impact on the conservancy, and the necessary steps will be highlighted and taken.
The current municipal-service requirements and expectations will be discussed with NLM. This will include by-laws against pets – dogs, cats and birds – in the town, as well as against felling of any trees.
Access control to Marloth will also be enforced and managed.
Mr Vincent Bhiya and the municipal manager, Mr Dan Ngwenya, represented the municipality.
Lionspruit is Marloth’s own game reserve and boasts four of the Big 5, with the exception of elephant.
The rest of the game such as kudu, zebra, giraffe, blue wildebeest, nyala, impala, warthog, ostrich and others aren’t restricted by any fences and roam freely between the units, which are built on 3 000 hectares.
Situated on the bank of the Crocodile River between Malalane and Komatipoort on the N4, Marloth Park is both a wildlife sanctuary and holiday town.
It was established in 1977 and named after the renowned German botanist, Mr Rudolf Marloth, after whom Aloe marlothii was also named.
The spokesman for a group called Saving the Animals of Marloth Park, Ms Lorinda Steenkamp, says it will not proceed with an interdict against the culling for the present, but urges the MTPA authorities to take care of the matter during April, as agreed.
