Your Help is Needed to Save the Oribi!
KZN Wildlife is a major role-player in the Oribi Working
Group which has been formed to publicise the plight of the Oribi and to enlist the help of the
public to save this highly threatened antelope.
ORIBI CONSERVATION INITIATIVE
Background
During 1981 a postal questionnaire survey of antelope on private land in KZN was conducted. The
results showed that Oribi had disappeared from many farms. Added to this was a considerable
increase in land-use such as afforestation which leads to fragmentation of Oribi habitat. The two
factors together was a cause for concern.
The 86 farms that were surveyed in 1981 were the target of a follow-up survey in 1998 and the
results were alarming. Of the replies received, 51 of the farms had Oribi in 1981. On 31% of these
farms Oribi numbers had decreased, and on 25% the Oribi had
gone extinct since 1981.
This follow-up survey showed an overall downward trend in Oribi numbers on private land, and the
results suggested that this antelope could now be one of South Africa's most threatened.
Current Initiative
As a result of these survey findings an
Oribi
Working Group has been formed. An Oribi Conservation Plan has been drawn up to ensure that
Oribi conservation work is co-ordinated throughout KZN by involving all interested and affected
parties. Press coverage has been good, as has landowner and general public interest.
To date the Oribi survey has been published in
Lammergeyer 46, and a summary in
The Guineafowl (Natal Conservancies Association). Five talks on the Oribi survey and
management of Oribi habitat, have been given to farmers, and an Oribi poster was produced for the
Timberwatch Symposium. An exciting development is that two Oribi Conservancies are in the process
of being formed - one each in the Chelmsford and Underberg areas.
A more extensive Oribi questionnaire survey has now been carried out to determine more precisely
the status and distribution of Oribi throughout KZN. The KZN Wildlife Honorary Officers have put an
amazing amount of effort, as has the company Voermol, into distributing the questionnaires to
farmers. Co-operation from the farmers of KZN has been tremendous and to date about 240 completed
questionnaires have been returned, and more are expected. Results of this survey will be posted on
this site once they have been analysed.
In addition, to increase awareness amongst the farmers in KZN, a Z-folder (glossy pamphlet) has
been designed. Thanks to generous sponsorship from NCT Forestry, publication of this folder is
complete and distribution will commence shortly. The artwork has been commissioned for an
educational Oribi poster which will be distributed to schools around KZN and sponsorship is
urgently required to successfully complete this phase of the Oribi Conservation Plan.
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