Marloth Park Management Plan. - Nkomazi Local Municipality

Recommendations

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Recommendation: Impala is a suitable buffer species in areas where leopards are still found, and losses of more expensive animals need to be reduced. Stocking density should not exceed 12 animals per 100 ha of suitable habitat. On Marloth Park, the availability of sufficient browse below the maximum browsing height of 1.5 m is a consideration, limiting the number of animals that can be sustained. Futhermore, these antelope exhibit preference for degraded areas such as found in the Dichrostachys cinerea – Tragus berteronianus Low bushland plant community. Based on the September 2005 game count, the impala numbers currently stocked on Marloth Park exceeds the maximum recommended density. Eland Tragelaphus oryx Pallas 1766 Historic distribution: Sweet and mixed bushveld, mountain or sour bushveld, fynbos, succulent karoo, Nama karoo, bushmanland, thicket, lowveld, mopane veld, Kalahari and grassland on the central highveld, on mountains and the escarpment and in the southeastern foothills. Habitat requirement: Mesic to open arid savannas Space requirements: Eland have ranges bigger than 200 km 2 . The minimum recommended ranch size is 3000 ha Food preference: The most important trees utilised by eland are Acacia species, Albizia harveyi, Colophospermum mopane, Combretum apiculatum, Grewia species, Sclerocarya birrea, Terminalia sericea species and Ximenia caffra. Grasses are preferred in the wet season. Preferred grass species are Chloris virgata, Schmidtia pappophoroides and Urochloa mosambicensis. Aristida species are utilised only seldom. Water requirements: 23 l/day, not water dependent Minimum viable group size: 20 individuals Sex ratio: 8 to 12 cows per bull in the wild Recommendation: Although eland historically did occur in this area, introduction is hampered by property size limitations and the amount of available browse. Current reintroduction is thus not recommended, but this option can again be considered if habitat manipulation is applied or in the event that the area is enlarged. Kudu Tragelaphus strepsiceros Pallas 1766 Historic distribution: Sweet and mixed bushveld, mountain or sour bushveld, thicket, lowveld, mopane veld, Kalahari and grassland on the central highveld and in the southeastern foothills. Habitat requirement: Open to dense savannas, broken and rocky terrain. © Ecological Associates/ Marloth Park 69
Space requirements: Kudu have ranges of 90 to 600 ha size. Animal densities should not exceed 3 to 4 animals per 100 ha of suitable habitat. Food preference: Kudu are browsers and eat many plants avoided by other browsers. Preferred tree species include Acacia tortilis, Acacia nigrescens and Combretum hereroense early in the growth season, and Dichrostachys cinerea and Combretum apiculatum later in the dry season. Water requirements: 7 to 9 l/day, water dependent Minimum viable group size: Seven individuals Sex ratio: In the wild the male to female ratio is 1:2. A sex ration of 1:4 is recommended for a wildlife ranch Recommendation: The habitat on Marloth Park is considered most suitable for kudu, and according to the September 2005 game count, at least 33 animals occur on the property. Density limitations are four individuals per 100 ha of suitable habitat, however, browse availability is currently a further limitation as much of the browse is above the maximum browse height of 2 m. Nyala Tragelaphus angasii Gray 1849 Historic distribution: Lowveld and mopane veld. Habitat requirement: Dense shrubs to thickets, riparian thickets, forests and floodplains. Space requirements: Nyala have a natural range of 65 to 390 ha. Food preference: Nyala are predominantly browsers. However, in summer they mainly feed on grass. Preferred tree species are Ziziphus mucronata, Adansonia digitata and Acacia species. Water requirements: 3.5 l/day, not water dependent Minimum viable group size: 12 to 15 individuals Sex ratio: In wildlife areas the male to female ratio is 1:2. Recommendation: The Nyala is not endemic to the Marloth Park region; however, a number of individuals can be found in the Kruger National Park. The nyala competes directly with bushbuck for food and habitat resources, and in less dense vegetation such as on Marloth Park, seems to out compete the latter. They are aggressive and drive even large antelope such as waterbuck out of their habitat. The introduction of nyala is not recommended. © Ecological Associates/ Marloth Park 70
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Ecological Associates Environmental
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THE ASSESSMENT OF AVAILABLE BROWSE
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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Location
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LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1: A li
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Three different scenarios are analy
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Ecosystems disturbed by clearing op
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INTRODUCTION Although only a few ve
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Figure 1: Location of the Marloth P
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GEOMORPHOLOGY Looking down from the
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Figure 4: Geology of the Marloth Pa
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Tonalitic granite and gneiss A sect
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Figure 6: Soil depth of the Marloth
Page 25 and 26: Figure 7: Land Types of the Marloth
Page 27 and 28: Figure 8: Land use in the Marloth P
Page 29 and 30: A 610.1 B 104.0 C 7.4 D 19.9 E 39.8
Page 31 and 32: INTRODUCTION VEGETATION CLASSIFICAT
Page 33 and 34: METHOD For an initial and broad sca
Page 35 and 36: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Analysis and
Page 37 and 38: The dominant grass species are broa
Page 39 and 40: The characteristic tree species are
Page 41 and 42: VELD CONDITION ASSESSMENT AND THE C
Page 43 and 44: Degradation gradients are models th
Page 45 and 46: The nearest grass species to each s
Page 47 and 48: Calculation of grazing capacity The
Page 49 and 50: Table 2: Contribution of ecological
Page 51 and 52: Table 3: Grazing capacities for the
Page 53 and 54: THE ASSESSMENT OF AVAILABLE BROWSE
Page 55 and 56: X Y D1 Y Dimensional measurements:
Page 57 and 58: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The browsing
Page 59 and 60: Table 6: Browsing capacities for th
Page 61 and 62: INTRODUCTION ESTIMATION OF HERBACEO
Page 63 and 64: The resulting Large Stock Units are
Page 65 and 66: INTRODUCTION GAME MANAGEMENT ON MAR
Page 67 and 68: STOCKING RATES Current stocking The
Page 69 and 70: Table 10: The current stocking dens
Page 71 and 72: Recommendations on stocking rates C
Page 73 and 74: High selectivity grazers Blue wilde
Page 75: Waterbuck Kobus ellipsiprymnus Ogil
Page 79 and 80: Recommendation: The range requireme
Page 81 and 82: Food preference: Steenbok utilise A
Page 83 and 84: Table 12: The potential stocking de
Page 85 and 86: Table 14: The potential stocking de
Page 87 and 88: Table 15: The recommended stocking
Page 89 and 90: The proteins may be less available
Page 91 and 92: When urea is incorporated into a ph
Page 93 and 94: Recommended intake for game is 150
Page 95 and 96: Ticks The main parasite of concern
Page 97 and 98: Figure 12: Sketch of Cyphostemma /C
Page 99 and 100: NOXIOUS AND INVASIVE WEEDS An invas
Page 101 and 102: Management plans need to be reviewe
Page 103 and 104: Ricinus communis, Solanum sisymbrii
Page 105 and 106: Although soil treatment with chemic
Page 107 and 108: Planning errors must be expected, a
Page 109 and 110: To further reduce grazing pressure
Page 111 and 112: Lightning induced fires can also ca
Page 113 and 114: TIME OF BURNING Least damage is cau
Page 115 and 116: A low intensity fire will be achiev
Page 117 and 118: Recommendations for Marloth Park Ma
Page 119 and 120: Surface erosion will reduce water i
Page 121 and 122: Several different types of waterhol
Page 123 and 124: Stones Ground level Reinforced conc
Page 125 and 126: For safety reasons these requiremen
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Adaptive management Applying adapti
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Figure 15: Location of the monitori
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Appendix 1 (Continue) A list of tre
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Appendix 2 (Continue) A list of gra
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Appendix 3 (Continue) A list of for
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Appendix 3 (Continue) A list of for
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Appendix 4: Alien invaders found on
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Appendix 5: Frequency occurrence of
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Appendix 6: Photographs of each veg
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Appendix 6: Photographs of each veg
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Marloth Park Management Plan. - Nkomazi Local Municipality

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