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I stopped over at the Karoo National Park on the way up from Cape Town to see South Africa vs France in Bloem. What an awesome 3 days it was in total. Anyway speaking to the gate guard (unless there was a misunderstanding), I was informed that the lions were there and that they are being kept in a boma.

Regarding the fence, well I can jump over it. What is important though is that if for some reason a lion were to get caught inside the camp, at least escape would not be a problem so a small chance it would become cornered and agressive.

I certainly will not be walking around on dark nights next time I am up there though!

Probably not very high . We went on a drive and saw some gemsbok and tsessebe and zebra , but not many . I think those lions are going to have to work very hard for their food . Cannot see how a couple of Kruger lions would be able to survive there , and that is probably why they will be introducing " lean and mean " guy originally from the Kalahari ( ex-Addo ) .

There will be 8 lions translocated to Karoo NP - four adults and four cubs. Our policy is going to be to have a very conservative lion carrying capacity and to monitor the effect of lions on the prey population. We will manage the lion population at between 12 and 15 lions until we have evidence that we can carry more lions.



I think most visitors don't realise what big populations of antelope we have in Karoo NP as the Park is so big (almost 90 000ha). To give you an idea, our most recent game census indicated about 1 500 gemsbok, 1 200 red hartebeest, 700 kudu, 500 ostrich and 300 eland.

I wonder if Addo can assist with the numbers of springbok too. I heard the following from one of the local Honorary Rangers:

SANParks had some springbok "harvested" in the park. These antelope were "harvested" in a "unscientific" way - meaning that numbers between males and females were not taken into consideration when this action took place. This led to an totally unbalanced situation and breeding was impacted very negatively. For this reason the decision to release cheetah in the park was postponed as springbok will be the cheetah's most common prey. SANParks had to "import" springbok at a very high cost to try and bring the balance between males and females into a more acceptable ratio in order to breed successfully again.

I visited Karoo for the fourty second time a fortnight ago. I have a "relationship" with this park since 1990. It is obvious how springbok numbers decreased over the past 2 years.

Is this the reason for rather bringing in lions as their prey species are more abundant than that of the cheetah? I'm just wondering.

I will not say I am against the introduction of lions to the park. But I am also not in favour of this decision. In my opinion a lot of the "free character" of the park is gonna be lost once the lions are released.

And for all those visitors who may be inclined to get out of their vehicles , just remember who may be lurking in the fynbos

Megan

Any news on progress made in this regard ?

An update will be much appreciated.

Lennie

The comments about springbok harvesting are not accurate. Although there was scientifically-based culling of springbok in the past, there has been no culling of springbok since 2006. The Park area was enlarged from 30 000 to almost 90 000 hectares. This meant that springbok spread out and formed smaller herds which made them more vulnerable to jackal predation. SANParks started introducing springbok into the Park in 2008 to increase the population and hopefully increase herd sizes. About 3 000 springbok have been introduced.

There have always been plans to bring in both lions and cheetah. The introduction of lions is happening first because their prey sepcies are already at levels which can support a lion population. We first had to stabilise the springbok population (which will be the cheetah's preferred prey) before introducing cheetah. This will happen within the next two-three years.



The lion introduction will probably take place in late October or early November (after they have been resident in the boma for a while to acclimatise to the Park). No specific dates have been set yet due to various logistics that need to fall into place.

Hi Megan

1stly - I was just wondering if the Karoo NP would consider to re-introduce Blesbok into the park. The Blesbok may also contribute to the prey species of the Cheetah that will be introduced later.

Here is the story of J.G. Fraser (1849) recording the Blesbok among the native wildlife of the Beaufort West district.

"One unforgettable day in 1849 the people of the little Karoo village of Beaufort West heard a roar in the red dawn as if a strong wind was blowing before a thunderstorm. Then, according to J.G. Fraser who recorded the event, they could hardly believe their ears when the sound of the wind changed into the trampling of tens of thousands of hooves on the red earth. But they saw right before their eyes in the dusty streets the flow of a horned flood of all kinds of game, black wildebeest, blesbok, quaggas, eland and springbok, mostly springbok, tens of thousands of them."

2ndly - I'm really excited about the growing wildlife populations within the Karoo NP, but I was just wondering if you can please tell us the population sizes of the Cape Mountain Zebra, "Quagga's", and Black Wildebeest in the Park.

I'm looking forward to your reply!!

Blessings!!

Does anyone know which Addo lions are in the boma at Karoo?

Hi Emily,

I am sure Megan will give you all the answers when she gets to it. If I remember her previous statements somewhere in an Addo thread on lions correctly, then it goes like this:Nossob and Bitterbal, Megan and Kamqua, 4 cubs.
I phoned Karoo Park about 2 weeks ago and the lady at reception didn't know about any lions in any bomas at Karoo NP yet... Maybe they will be there by now?
Exciting news!

God bless,

Friedrich von Hörsten

Hi All

We will be at the Karoo National Park on Thursday and I will ty and find out any new info on the Lions.

We will also be doing the 4 x 4 route and overnighting in the Mountain Chalet - will give feed back on this also.

Hi Bushveld Boy!!

Very interesting this! Especially considering in the 90's when I was at Karoo National Park on one of my visits I was told that they were getting rid of the Black Wildebeest because they were not naturally found in the area. I used to see about 20 Wildebeest a trip but of late I havent seen any...wondering if they are still around??

But these old historical records are fascinating and one thinks that more research should be done in establishing which species occurred in the area.

Hi,

Has anybody seen the lions at the Karoo National Park lately?

I'm going there in December and would really like to see them.

Thanks,

Samantha

I would also be very interested to know when the lions are likely to arrive at Karoo Nat Pk??Perhaps we can be advised by management as to when the lions could be expected in the park??

Hi All

Spoke to the ladies at the Reception and they say that the Lions will arrive this week and go into a Boma (they are not sure for how long).

We also stayed at the Bisweni Hut for a night after doing the 4 x 4 route and it is vey nice indeed - stars were amazing (no light pollution). Will try and find the time to do a trip report.