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Over the last two days, 30 carcasses of roan antelopes were discovered at the Capricorn Rare antelope enclosure in the northern part of the park, around the Mopani camp area. The animals are believed to have died from yet another outbreak of the anthrax disease in the park, like it normally happens from time to time during this time of the year.

“Roan antelopes are some of the rare species in the park and having lost 30 animals will have a very serious impact on the total population which is estimated at about less than 100 animals in the whole park. Rangers are on the ground monitoring the situation and will from time to time report back on their findings” said the KNP’s Head of Department: Public Relations and Communication; Mr William Mabasa.

Anthrax it’s a bacterial fatal disease which is very dangerous to both animals and human beings. People are advised not to touch any carcass found in the park, instead if they see any dead animal, they should report it to the nearest camp.

Issued by:
Public Relations Department, Kruger National Park
SANParks

Enquiries:
William Mabasa
HOD: Public Relations and Communication, Kruger National Park
Tel: 013 735 4363, cell: 082 807 3919
email: william.mabasa@sanparks.org

how very, very sad. Such a horrible death to such a rare and beautiful species.

Very sad news indeed...............

Can anyone explain why the anthrax virus comes about at this time of the year?? and why the roan are the only species that have been affected...?

K4-S, anthrax bacteria will lie dormant but due to the perfect, for them, climate this time of year will come out. It is basically the dry season. And it will affect other species too.

Maybe some scinctific type can give a better explanation.

As soon as the rain comes, it will stabilise again.

Very sad indeed. Remember back in the 90's a huge amount of animals including large numbers of Kudu died due to an anthrax outbreak.

Could it be that Roan are more effected due to the small gene pool?

This is terrible news for a species already struggling in Kruger. How many Roan are there in the Capricorn enclosure? These deaths must represent a very large portion of the individuals in the enclosure.
Is there anythying that can be done to stop the spread to the populations further north in the park?
Lesego, could you please keep us updated on this sad state of events?

Ifubesi, Vultures are one of the biggest spreaders of the disease as they feed on infected carcasses and carry it to a next carcass where scavengers (including lions) eat the infected meat.

Lesego, Maybe a few of the physical signs of the disease can be mentioned to visitors and they can alert rangers of the animals before they die in a remote area and allow the disease to spread.

There were discussions in 2010 about anthrax. Some very interesting facts were mentioned.

Anthrax discussions 2010

Thanks lion queen that 2010 discussion was very informative. Its a shame that it has occured so shortly after the last outbreak. Hopefully they can contain it. Need some rain!!!

Does anyone know how many Roan are in the park?

Also for interest sake is there any place that the KNP game cencus findings are posted?

Unfortunately I have seen Giraffe and Kudu that have died from Anthrax... what surprised me is that predators and scavenges alike did not touch the carcass, it was just left to decompose... found that rather interesting!

Very sad news indeed.

Rainfall is mentioned, so I wonder if the flood's in January played a part?

JDB, it could be that the veld is too full of food and the scavangers are fully fed.



Avon, as far as I recollect, it depends on a lot of factors, to have the osmotic pressure perfect for the spores to "germinate" so the floods could well be a big factor. But I am not a scientist, so maybe some of the guys on the forum that knows the details can share.