The iSimangaliso Park Rare, Threatened and Endemic
Species project.
By Xander Combrinck & Scotty Kyle, Regional
Resource Use Ecologist, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife
The iSimangaliso WetlandPark Threatened Species Project is an Ezemvelo
KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife special project, supported by the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and
Wildlands Conservation Trust. Initiated in 2003, the overall objective was to promote the
conservation of the rare, threatened and endemic species of the Park. It produces information
on their presence, distribution and management, focussing on the less charismatic groups such as
smaller mammals, reptiles, beetles, orchids and cycads. This is achieved through an analysis
of existing information as well as field surveys with the assistance of international
volunteers.
Due to the size of the Park it was decided to
conduct baseline surveys targeting 14 sample survey sites representative of the broad habitat
diversity of the Park. In 2006, an Atlas approach was piloted in uMkhuze. The main
advantage of this type of approach is equal effort during the surveys, which then provides
information on the relative abundance of species, in addition to data on presence and spatial
distribution.
As a result of the cryptic nature and nocturnal
habits of many of the priority species, live trapping and active searches during the day and night
are conducted. Trap stations consist of pitfall traps combined with plastic drift fences,
funnel and rodent traps. Active searches are conducted once all trap stations are in position,
searching under logs, rocks and other suitable habitats and refugia, as well as in the top layer of
the soil for ground dwelling fauna. Road cruises, bat and amphibian surveys are conducted at
night.
The majority of specimens are identified in the
field then released but a small proportion require further investigation by a taxonomic expert for
identification and they are deposited at a museum.
New records for the province of KwaZulu-Natal include the rufous hairy bat, desert pigmy
mouse, Thomas’ pygmy mouse, bicoloured musk shrew and two-striped shovel-snout
snake. Confirmed new records for the iSimangaliso WetlandPark include the least dwarf shrew, tiny musk shrew,
Namakwa rock mouse, bald ibis, floodplain water snake, striped harlequin snake, delalande’s beaked
blind snake, holub’s sandveld lizard, six fruit chafer and four epiphytic orchid species. One of
the main reasons the Park was proclaimed a World Heritage Site was its very high biodiversity. This
project removed 14 species erroneously included in the Park species lists but has added over 150
new species.
During the past two years, the project has facilitated an MSc
research study on the Gaboon Adder (Bitis gabonica), one of the flagship snake species of the Park. The main foci of the
research were radio telemetry, movement patterns, habitat use and thermal strategies. In
conjunction with distribution information and molecular work, ecological data from this study will
provide practical management recommendations and an accurate description of the conservation status
of the Gaboon Adder in
South Africa
.
Part of the mission of the iSimangaliso WetlandPark is managing and protecting the ecosystems and
biodiversity according to the stringent standards of the South African government and UNESCO’s
World Heritage Commission. During the past five years the Threatened Species Project has
played a unique role in working towards that goal by providing management with improved tools to
identify and care for the most vital components of the Park biodiversity.
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