GRAAFF-REINET NEWS — The Winterhoek area near the Valley of Desolation section of the Camdeboo National Park is a spot of peace and tranquillity.
Teeming with wildlife, the area is also a must-visit for the tall bitter aloes (Aloe ferox) dotted along the rocky ridges. Once you take a closer look though, large numbers of these plants lie toppled over, long dead.
While diseases could be the first to blame for the death of these aloes, it is actually not the case at all. Within the park’s borders, the eland population contributes to the demise of the aloes, according to the Camdeboo National Park's former manager Nick de Goede.
“The park’s eland are crazy about aloes,” says de Goede. De Goede says has not noticed ticks on the eland and suspects this is because of the bitterness in the plant. But there are more reasons for them picking this plant as a choice morsel, says Angela Gaylard, SANParks regional ecologist for the Frontier Region.
Eland are ruminants, but their digestive systems do not process fibrous food such as grass very well, especially during winter when grass quality is lower. “Eland require high-quality forage such as fruit, succulent leaves, seed pods and even flowers because of their high metabolic rates,” says Gaylard. “Eland obtain most of their water requirements from the food that they eat. Aloes have high water content.”
However, their taste for this delicacy can cause a lot of damage. Once an animal rids the plant of all its leaves, there is no chance for recovery. “The leaves are used for photosynthesis, where the plant gets the energy for growing and recovery from damage.”
Once the leaves are gone, the plant cannot regenerate itself anymore. Aloes are not known to grow or sprout quickly, so if there are too many eland, plants could disappear from the landscape. De Goede says plants are not affected throughout the park. “Aloe populations are doing well on the eastern side of the park due to the absence of eland in this area.”
Fortunately, not many other browsers in the park nibble on this bitter snack.
Park management will keep an eye on the eland population and move animals if required. A census earlier this year showed a slight decline in their numbers. Almost all antelope numbers in the park declined, which may be an indication of the drought currently in the area. Blesbok is the only species in the park that showed a small increase.
Article: René de Klerk, SANParks Times
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