Dr Danny Govender

Dr Danny Govender

General Manager: Sustainable Development and Management, Savanna Research Unit

Location: Skukuza, Kruger National Park

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +27 (0)13 735 4240

Education

Research Focus and Interest

I joined SANParks as a clinical veterinarian in 2005 in the Veterinary Wildlife Services Department where my primary role was providing veterinary support for translocations, animal treatments, breeding programmes, and disease monitoring and management. In 2008, I transferred to the Scientific Services Department and took up the position as Disease Ecologist, where I coordinated and conducted research into animal and human diseases. I also became especially interested in understanding freshwater threats, both from disease and pollution, in order to minimize our impact on our natural world, and find innovative ways in which we can use resources responsibly.

In 2017, I took over the position of General manager: Savanna and Grassland Research Unit. It’s a role I find myself constantly learning and growing into. Being at the coal-face of managing globally iconic protected areas with diverse stakeholders, definitely comes with a need for agility and adaptability in managing and balancing the varied needs of its diverse users.

Publications

Journal Articles

Munhenga, G., Brooke, B.D., Spillings, B., Essop, L., Hunt, R.H., Midzi, S., Govender, D., Braack, L. and Koekemoer, L.L. (Submitted). Sterile Insect Technique Feasibility Study in northern Kruger National Park, South Africa: Field study site selection, species abundance and monthly distribution of anopheline mosquitoes. Malaria Journal.

Osthoff, G., Hugo, A., Govender, D., Huchzermeyer, F., Bouwman, H. (In press). Comparison of the lipid composition of three adipose tissue types of male and female wild Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus). Journal of Herpetology.

Ferreira, S.M., Govender, D. and Herbst, M. (2013). Conservation implications of Kalahari lion population dynamics. African Journal of Ecology 51(1): 176-179.

Huchzermeyer, K.D.A, Osthoff, G., Hugo, A. and Govender, D. (2013). Comparison of the lipid properties of healthy and pansteatitis-affected African sharptooth catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell), and the role of diet in pansteatitis outbreaks in the Olifants River in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Journal of Fish Diseases 36(11): 897-909.

La Grange, L.J., Govender, D. and Mukaratirwa, S. (2013). The occurrence of Trichinella zimbabwensis in naturally infected wild crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) from the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Journal of Helminthology 87(1): 91-6. DOI:10.1017/S0022149X12000089.

Lane, E.P., Huchzermeyer, K.D., Govender, D., Bengis, R.G., Buss, P.E., Hofmeyr, M., Myburgh, J.G., Steyl, J.C.A., Pienaar, D.J. and Kotze, A. (2013). Pansteatitis of unknown etiology associated with large-scale nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) mortality in Kruger National Park, South Africa: Pathologic findings. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 44(4): 899-910.

Woodborne, S., Huchzermeyer, K.D.A., Govender, D., Pienaar, D.J., Hall, G., Myburgh, J.G., Deacon, A.R., Venter, J. and Lübcker, N. (2012). Ecosystem change and the Olifants River crocodile mass mortality events. Ecosphere 3(10): Art 87, 17 pages.

Govender D., Oosthuizen, M.C. and Penzhorn, B.L. (2011). Piroplasm parasites of white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum) in the Kruger National Park, and their relation to anaemia. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association 82(1): 36-40. Erratum in: Journal of the South African Veterinary Association 82(2): 133. [Oosthuisen, M.C. corrected to Oosthuizen, M.C.].

Huchzermeyer, K.D., Govender, D., Pienaar D.J. and Deacon, A.R. (2011). Steatitis in wild sharptooth catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell), in the Olifants and lower Letaba Rivers in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Journal of Fish Diseases 34(7): 489-98. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2761.2011.01267.x

Munhenga, G., Brooke, B.D., Chirwa, T.F., Hunt, R.H., Coetzee, M., Govender, D. and Koekemoer, L.L. (2011). Evaluating the potential of the sterile insect technique for malaria control: Relative fitness and mating compatibility between laboratory colonized and a wild population of Anopheles arabiensis from the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Parasites & Vectors 4: 208. DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-4-208.

Masango, M.G., Myburgh, J.G., Labuschagne, L., Govender, D., Bengis, R.G. and Naicker, D. (2010). Assessment of Microcystis bloom toxicity associated with wildlife mortality in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 46(1): 95-102.

Osthoff, G., Hugo, A., Bouwman, H., Buss, P., Govender, D., Joubert, C.C. and Swarts, J.C. (2010). Comparison of the lipid properties of captive, healthy wild, and pansteatitis-affected wild Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A, Molecular & Integrative Physiology 155(1):64-69. DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2009.09.025.

Oberholster, P.J., Myburgh, J.G., Govender, D., Bengis, R. and Botha, A.M. (2009). Identification of toxigenic Microcystis strains after incidents of wild animal mortalities in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 72(4): 1177-1182. DOI:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2008.12.014.

Wenger, S., Boardman, W., Buss, P., Govender, D. and Foggin, C. (2007). The cardiopulmonary effects of etorphine, azaperone, detomidine, and butorphanol in field-anesthetized white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum). Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 38(3): 380-387.

Reports and Brochures

Hofmeyr, M., Govender, D., van Wilgen, N.J., de Klerk-Lorist, L., Zimmerman, D., Bengis, L., Solano Fernàndez, S., Buss, P., Michael, A., Lane, E., Burroughs, R. and McGeoch, M.A. (2012). SANParks Global Environmental Change Assessment: Disease Summary Report. Scientific Report number 08/2012, South African National Parks, Skukuza.

Govender, D. and Hofmeyr, M. (2011). South African National Parks Biodiversity Monitoring Programme: Disease monitoring. Scientific Report 06/2011. South African National Parks, Skukuza.