SANParks.org Forums

Thanks for that o-dog. Very enlightening. Any background like this especially in the arid regions really interests me.

Really fascinating stuff.

Thanks to all contributors.

Thanks Jannie but please keep them until next year

Well done Jannie and all the people involved!

Ditto that! Well done Jannie and thanks for keeping us in the know!

During our recent visit to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park we came across several Eland carcasses. Does anyone know why so many Eland are dying? Someone said that they were told the Eland come through from Botswana and then drink too much water. Can this be true or is it some kind of disease?

As at 5 Nov the only two waterholes north of Nossob that were dry were Langklaas and Geinab.

From info gleaned in the park it appears that Geinab may be permanently decommissioned as it often gives trouble.Grootkolk is only a few kms away.

There was a lot of drilling taking place in the area during late Oct and early Nov.
Saw the drill rig at Lijiersdraai and Grootkolk.

The only other permanently dry waterhole seen was the Urikaruus one on the Mata Mata road.

Many of the waterholes are sucked dry by the large eland herds still in the area,mainly at dusk and during the niht.
The Auob side in the north still has particularly large herds.
The solar pumps only start pumping again when sufficient sunlight strikes the panels.

It was extremely hot and dry during our three weeks in KTP with no almost no sign of new growth in the riverbeds.
We experienced only one short rainstorm which measured 2mm.
Surprisingly,with the exception of some of the Eland down south,the animals are in very good condition.

The park guys are really pulling out all the stops to ensure the animals are watered.
At KTC the waterhole was damaged and Jan organised for a section of it to be repaired and had water trucked in to fill it as one of the pumps had also been damaged due to the falling water table.

Whilst our stay in Nov 2012, we stayed at Nossob, and drove northbound to the waterholes and found only 1 waterhole had water in it, there was also a notice on the wall outside the reception area that read they had 3 waterholes out of order, when I questioned this and asked the staff at reception what the problem with these waterholes were, I was advised they were awaiting spares, I then queried how long they were waiting for spares for these waterholes I was advised they had already been waiting 3 months. This is a major concern as stated in various quotes the animals are dependant on these waterholes, and it also affects tourism, I could be wrong but sense tells me that if an animal does not find water at a particular waterhole it will migrate and we would not see these animals around again, however we were fortunate enough to find a gang of around 70 Eland drinking water at Kalahari Safari Tent Waterhole. Even Mata Mata apparently had a problem with one of the waterholes and the guards had to manually fill the waterholes (which was not done daily until a visitor went and complained on a daily basis). Maybe they should look at introducing windmills as this will ensure that there is constant water.

welcome to the forum Heather Loubser
like you, I think the windmills was better... for water and in the scenery
I miss this one at Kannaguas

Thanks O-dog for that very interesting and detailed explanation. Sorry, only reading it now!