Page 79 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

FIELD GUIDE  77

Princeps demodocus
The First Wildlife Reserves demodocus, the attractive
By the mid-19th century, hunters had decimated the big Christmas butterfly (also
game. Subspecies like the quagga (a type of zebra) and Cape known as the citrus
lion had become extinct. As towns expanded, people began to swallowtail),
view wildlife as an asset, and in 1889, the Natal Volksraad can be seen
throughout
(people’s council) agreed to est ablish a wildlife South Africa
reserve. In 1894, a strip of land between from September
KwaZulu-Natal and Swaziland became to April. As one of its names
the Pongola Game Reserve, Africa’s first suggests, the species often
conser vation area. In 1898, President occurs in citrus groves.
Paul Kruger signed a proclama tion
establishing the forerunner of a
sanctuary that was later named
Quagga Kruger National Park in his honour. IUCN Red List
Established in 1963, the
International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Red List of Threatened Species
uses a set of criteria to evaluate
the extinction risk of more than
40,000 species and subspecies of
plants and animals globally. Each
taxon evaluated is assigned to
Spotted hyenas are one of one of the following categories:
the most interesting of Africa’s • Extinct (EX) – No indi viduals
predators. Loose family groups known to survive, e.g. bluebuck.
are led by females who, due to • Extinct in the Wild (EW) –
high levels of male hormones, Survives only in captivity or as an
also have male genitalia. introduced population outside
its natural range.
Female impala
• Critically Endangered (CE) –
Nyala cows, usually accompanied Extremely high risk of extinction
by dominant bulls, are often in the imme diate future, e.g.
spotted in the woodlands of black rhino.
northern KwaZulu-Natal. • Endangered (EN) – Very high
Vervet monkeys usually avoid risk of extinction within the
arid habitats. foreseeable future, e.g. African
wild dog.
Waterholes dry out rapidly in the • Vulnerable (VU) – Sig nificant
summer heat, and the animals medium-term risk of extinction,
suffer much hardship.
e.g. lion.
Oxpeckers and kudu provide an • Least Concern (LC) – No
example of the symbiosis that has significant risk of extinction at
evolved between different animals present, e.g. impala.
under the harsh African conditions. • Data Deficient (DD) –
The birds free the antelopes of Insufficient information available
parasites, and also act as an alarm for assessment.
system at waterholes.

Buffaloes are the most abundant Leopards are shy Elephants live in tight-knit family
of the Big Five and occur in large cats that are largely groups led by a matriarch. The bulls
herds. Old bulls become loners and nocturnal and often remain solitary, or may band
may be extremely dangerous. rest on tree branches. together to form bachelor herds.

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