Seven impalas die due to lack of food in Marloth Park
In two days, seven impalas were found either dead or on the brink of death in Marloth Park. Those that had not died already were euthanised.
A post by the Marloth Wildlife Fund on Facebook did the rounds on August 14, showing one of the impalas that had been found. The photo was accompanied by the results of a post-mortem.
According to Dr Peet Venter, who is associated with the Marloth Wildlife Fund, the post-mortem indicated that the impala ewe showed advanced wasting syndrome or cachexia.
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Furthermore, other than five small lungworm lesions, the internal organs were normal. Venter said these lesions were not abnormal to find in impalas and in general, a large percentage of these antelopes presented with this upon death.
The report continued, “There were no fat reserves. The hard fat in the abdomen, around the heart and the kidneys and even the fat inside the kidneys, had been utilised to supply energy to keep her normal body functions going.
“There was severe muscle wasting as she had to break down her own protein to keep her blood protein stable.
“In the end her body reserves were depleted, and the little food that is available is not sufficient for her daily required energy needs.”
This resulted in a total negative energy balance, sudden weakness, no muscle strength, collapse and then a slow death over a period of six to 24 hours due to malnutrition.
Venter is currently unaware of any other such cases in Marloth Park and said predicting future cases would be difficult.
“It will depend on the first rain. If it takes too long, we will enter a critical stage and more and more animals will die.”
He confirmed again that these impalas’ worrying state is due to the lack of adequate food available in the park.
The animals’ suffering continues in the midst of the ongoing legal battle surrounding the ownership of the wildlife in Marloth Park. The community is split.
Some support the Marloth Park Ratepayers’ Association in its bid to assert ownership of Marloth’s parklands and wild animals. Others support the Marloth Park Property Owners’ Association’s view that the state owns the animals and must consult property owners with regard to cooperative management of the animals and the environment.
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After a webinar held in July, there was a consensus that the culling of a large number of wildlife is likely the only option that would give Marloth’s ecosystem a fighting chance.
The process of how it will take place has been the issue. In the interest of the wildlife, all the organisations have now agreed not to hinder the municipality in the current required game off-take and this process will commence in due course.
