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Turning Traps into Hope: Poacher’s Snares Repurposed for Conservation

By John Davies

Across much of Africa, snaring of wildlife is on the rise, driven by a combination of poverty, bushmeat demand, and organized wildlife crime. With economic hardships pushing more people toward illegal hunting for sustenance or profit, snares have become the weapon of choice—they are cheap, easy to set, and devastatingly effective. However, they do not discriminate, often trapping unintended species, including elephants, lions, and wild dogs. Many animals suffer prolonged, agonising deaths, while those that survive can be left with severe injuries that compromise their ability to hunt or evade predators.

In a significant step toward protecting South Africa’s wildlife, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) recently removed 3.5 tons of wire snares from a protected area in the Lowveld region of South Africa, forming a critical buffer zone along Kruger National Park’s western boundary. These snares had been stockpiled over the last five years and had been removed during routine patrols by reserve anti-poaching teams.

Instead of being discarded, the snares have been given a second life through a partnership with Down2theWire, a local initiative that transforms confiscated poaching materials into handcrafted jewellery. This innovative project not only raises awareness about the devastating effects of snaring, but also provides funding for conservation efforts generated through the sale of jewellery and other products made from snares. Profits from the jewellery sales will be reinvested into anti-poaching initiatives, supporting rangers, education programs, and community-driven conservation efforts.

This initiative underscores the importance of sustainable solutions in wildlife conservation, proving that even the most destructive tools can be reshaped into symbols of resilience and protection.

As wildlife crime continues to challenge conservationists, creative collaborations like this offer a beacon of hope. Consumers can now play a direct role in the fight against poaching—one bracelet at a time.

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Plant poaching: An underestimated threat to biodiversity

By Esther Matthew

Roadblocks for illegally traded wildlife products

Succulent poaching has shown a marked increase in South Africa in recent years. Many of these plants will literally bring you to your knees due to their tiny size. But, once you see the details on them, you are immediately transported to world that many people often walk over without noticing.

Unfortunately, poachers have taken note of this, which has resulted in an incredible increase in the illegal harvesting of these unique plants over the last five years, with approximately half a million plants poached in a year. This is a significant problem, with some plant species already pushed to extinction in the wild.

For the EWT Conservation Canine Unit and the Drylands Conservation Programme the solution to most conservation problems is getting nosy, and with that we mean using scent detection dogs to assist us in our conservation work, and in sniffing out any plants being smuggled. Dogs have an remarkable scent ability and are able even find a drop of odour in a waterbody the size two Olympic swimming pools! Keeping that in mind, our two programmes teamed up in 2023 and to train the first three scent detection dogs to help combat the succulent plant poaching problem. In joint operations, our efforts were aimed at screening vehicles at roadblocks and parcels at courier companies. In the first 2 months of working with these dogs we were able to assist the local law enforcement officials supported with four cases, resulting in nine arrests. So, it turns out being nosy is not always a bad thing, and it can even help save our endemic plants.

Thanks to the Dertour Foundation, Endangered Ink and Tourvest, we can continue the work with our dogs to help combat the poaching problem for not only plants but also a variety of other wildlife contraband

Roadblock with Police

Counting Lions: EWT Surveys Decline in Kruger’s Northern Pride

By Marnus Roodbol

Juvenile Lion – KNP. Image by M Roodbol

The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA), which includes Kruger National Park, in South Africa, and Limpopo National Park, in Mozambique, is one of the last ten Lion strongholds in Africa. While these strongholds occur in formally protected areas and contain a stable or increasing population, indications are that the lion population in the northern reaches of the Kruger National Park are declining because of targeted poisonings and poaching.

In partnership with SANParks and the Lion Recovery Fund, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) has been monitoring lions across the landscape to understand their movements, habitat use and what measures are needed to alleviate threats to the iconic species.

From 17 September to 1 December 2023, a team from the EWT conducted a lion population survey in the Nxanatseni north region of the Kruger National Park. Spanning 5162 square kilometres, the area spanned the Pafuri, Vlakteplaas, Punda Maria, Shangoni, Woodlands and Shingwedzi sections of the Park.

Two field protocols – search encounter and camera traps – were used to collect data. These were designed to obtain high quality photographs that the team could zoom into and be able to individually identify lions through their unique whisker spots. All photographs taken of lions were inspected to try and identify individuals roaming the area.

Because it is not feasible to find every lion in the landscape, methods were used enabling the team to estimate the number of lions based on a sample of that population. To do this, advanced spatial capture-recapture models that are widely used for large carnivores globally were used. Due to the fact that lions less than one year old tend to suffer high mortality, they were excluded from the analysis.

Results

The EWT team drove 10,006 km and deployed camera traps for 2,684 trap nights over the survey period. Using the combined dataset, it was estimated that there were 105 lions in Nxanatseni North.

Our survey represents the fifth estimate of lions in the Nxanatseni North region of Kruger: In 2005, a call-up survey estimated 283 lions; a 2008 call-up survey with reduced sampling estimated 75 lions; the 2005 survey was replicated in 2015 and estimated a population of 119 lions and in 2023, the estimate was 122 lions. The EWT’s estimate of 105 lions is similar to the latter two surveys.

All were conducted in the same region and are estimates of lions over the age of one year. This represents a possible 63% decline over the 18 years separating the surveys. The precise reasons for this have not been investigated, but anecdotal evidence suggests that there has been an increase in targeted poaching of lions, coupled with increased levels of general bushmeat poaching.

Our results show that lion density is lowest in the Pafuri and Punda Maria sections, areas that are thought to suffer from relatively high levels of snaring, poisoning, and general poaching.

The results also provide a clear signal that distance to water is an important factor explaining the variation in lion density across the landscape. Lion density was highest close to water. In recent times, artificial waterholes have been switched off in Kruger National Park, and this will likely have had an impact on lion numbers in the Nxanatseni North region, which has a semi-arid climate. Worth noting is that while lions are not dependent on water, their primary prey species typically are.

Conservation approaches typically encompass a range of approaches aimed at safeguarding their habitats, mitigating human-lion conflicts, combating poaching and illicit wildlife trade, and fostering harmonious coexistence between lions and local communities.

Identifying trends in lion numbers and demographics remains crucial for their conservation, as is investigating the factors that drive those trends.

We recommend that future conservation efforts are coupled with regular population monitoring in this region to inform conservation actions and assess their effectiveness, taking an adaptive management approach.

** The EWT would like to thank SA National Parks for permission of carry out the survey, AHA Hotels and Lodges for their logistical support and the Lion Recovery Fund for their generous support.

2024 closed with the longest and shortest cheetah relocations of the year

By Olivia Sievert

The Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Cheetah Range Expansion Project closed out 2024 with three relocations of four cheetahs as part of our ongoing efforts to manage the southern Africa Cheetah Metapopulation. And, they were the shortest and longest relocations of the year!

While most of our relocations are within regional or provincial clusters, long-distance moves are occasionally necessary to maintain genetic integrity or promote healthy population demographics. This was the case with our recent relocation of a female cheetah from Amakhala Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape to Babanango Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal. This incredible journey covered over 1,140 km, approximately 14 hours of travel for the Cheetah. To ensure the success of this relocation, I covered a roundtrip distance of 2,672 km taking me across six provinces over just three days!

After spending a month acclimatising in the boma, this female cheetah was released into the wider reserve just after the festive season and, we are happy to report that she is doing well.

Babanango Game Reserve, a 20,000 ha landscape undergoing a significant rewilding effort as part of a community agreement conservation project, has made tremendous strides in recent years. Following the reintroduction of two male and two female cheetahs in 2021-2022, the reserve is eager to continue growing its cheetah population and positively contribute to the conservation of species. The addition of this female will strengthen the population, which welcomed five cubs towards the end of the year.

However, to finish off the year we also undertook our shortest relocations. These two “cluster-based” relocations were less than 100 km of travel each. This highlights the importance of our work, enabling dispersal between protected areas that are otherwise isolated from each other, surrounded by a sea of anthropogenically altered landscapes. The two relocations in question took place from Manyoni Game Reserve, one of our long-standing partners in Cheetah conservation.

In recent years, Manyoni’s Cheetah population has flourished, with approximately 11 breeding adults currently thriving on the reserve. But, this success brings with it numerous challenges, including managing genetic diversity, ensuring sufficient prey availability, and preventing sub-adult dispersal beyond the reserve boundaries. To address these challenges in 2024, we worked closely with Manyoni’s Management Team and Wildlife ACT, who assist with monitoring the Cheetah on the reserve, to identify suitable individuals for removal. As such, three dispersing sub-adults were identified as having a high risk of inbreeding and were earmarked for removal.

Searching for new homes for Cheetahs is one of the hardest parts of the relocation process. It involves finding a reserve that ideally has similar habitats, predator dynamics, and unrelated Cheetahs to promote genetic diversity. Fortunately, Manyoni’s cheetahs carry unique genetics, offering an opportunity to strengthen KwaZulu-Natal’s cheetah population.

Partnering with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and Wildlife ACT, two ideal reserves were identified to receive these animals: Mkuze Valley Wilderness and Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.

Amakhala to Babanango

Mkuze Valley Wilderness

As part of our ongoing efforts to revitalise non-breeding Cheetah populations within South Africa’s Cheetah Metapopulation, we have been collaborating with Mkuze Valley Wilderness on an exciting restoration project. This 14,000 ha reserve comprises two protected areas: Mkuze Falls Game Reserve, which initially reintroduced Cheetahs in 1998, but has seen almost no breeding success in 25 years, and Ven Africa, a former cattle farm now transformed into a pristine Cheetah habitat through an ambitious rewilding project.

When we began the Cheetah restoration work with Mkuze Valley Wilderness in early 2024, only one male Cheetah roamed the reserve. Since then, we’ve introduced a second male, who has adapted remarkably well, and at the end of the year we were able to introduce one of the three Cheetahs that was earmarked for translocation from Manyoni Game Reserve – a two-year-old female now named Naledi. As with the vast majority of Cheetah translocations Naledi was temporarily held in a boma to allow her to acclimatise to her new surrounding and cut her homing instinct to Manyoni. Over the festive season she was released into the reserve and is doing extremely well in her new home – hunting primarily duiker and young wildebeest!

Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP)

As one of the largest reserves within South Africa’s Cheetah Metapopulation, this 96,000 ha protected area also hosts one of the Metapopulation’s largest population of Cheetah– roughly 20 breeding adults.

As part of the overall species management in the park the Cheetah are closely monitored to understand the dominant genetic lineages allowing us to adaptively manage the population by relocating individuals at high risk of inbreeding off the property or choosing to bring in new genetics strategically. At present the vast majority of males on the property are singletons. As such, it was decided that the best course of action for the population was to introduce a strong coalition of new genetic lineage to the reserve to ensure more genetically unique breeding opportunities.

We were delighted to finally make this happen at the end of the year when we introduced two of the three Cheetah from Manyoni – a coalition of brothers that are completely unrelated to any Cheetah in the HiP. The males have since been released into the larger reserve and are doing very well.

This relocation highlights the power of collaboration in conservation. The effort brought together Manyoni Game Reserve, EWT, Wildlife ACT, and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, ensuring every decision was backed by the best available data.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Manyoni Game Reserve for the donation of these Cheetah through the EWT’s Cheetah Range Expansion Project and to all our partners for their roles in planning, capturing, and relocating these Cheetahs. Together, we are securing a brighter future for southern Africa’s Cheetah populations.

** The EWT would like to thank Metrofibre and Ford Wildlife Foundation for making this work possible by funding our Cheetah Range Expansion Project.

Renewed Hope for an iconic Butterfly, the Wolkberg Zulu

By Eleanor Momberg

Make Wolkberg Zulu (Alaena margaritacea) butterfly perching on a tussock stem at its type locality. Image provided by the Lepidopterists’ Society of SA.

A century since its discovery by Margaret Kenway while out walking with her father in 1925, a butterfly on the brink of extinction, the Wolkberg Zulu, will now be protected by law.

Thanks to landowner, Gustav van Veijeren, and in collaboration with the Lepidopterists’ Society of Africa (LSA) and the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), a conservation servitude has been registered on the farm in Limpopo where the Critically Endangered Wolkberg Zulu butterfly (Alaena margaritacea) occurs. Work to establish the servitude was funded by Rand Merchant Bank.

The servitude, a form of Biodiversity Stewardship, is the first its kind to be established for the protection of a threatened butterfly species in South Africa.

”There are few countries in the world with as many threatened and endemic species as South Africa and it is this amazing diversity of life that makes the job of conservationists here so very exciting and challenging, said Ian Little of the EWT. “The formal protection of these unique and isolated habitats for these incredible species are the building blocks towards securing our natural heritage and the life-giving ecosystem services that are provided by these intact landscapes. We are proud to be the custodians of our unique and beautiful wildlife assets”.

The Wolkberg Zulu occurs on only two tiny sites at high altitudes on the slopes of the Wolkberg mountain range in Limpopo. This tiny butterfly, which is no more than 26 mm in size, intriguingly feeds on hard rock lichens that are almost impossible to separate from the rock.

The idea of the conservation servitude was initiated by the Lepidopterists’ Society’s Dr Dave Edge in 2021. After three years of hard work and patience, the Haenertsburg Wolkberg Zulu Conservation Servitude Committee spearheaded by Etienne Terblanche, who is also the LSA Custodian of Rare and Endangered Lepidoptera, worked closely with the landowner and the LSA to see the protective measurement through. The process was guided by a team from the EWT, who also funded the crucial legal support for the registration.

The COREL project, which focuses on Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) has been running since 2011.

“It is the landowner, Gustav van Veijeren, to whom we are most grateful for this hopeful development,” Terblanche said.

He added that the declaration of the conservation servitude creates a much better chance for future generations to enjoy and research this courageous little creature and its patch of critically endangered vegetation known as Woodbush Granite Grassland.

“We are over the moon,” he added, “and we hope that more landowners will follow in Gustav’s pioneering and big-hearted footsteps.”

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