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Elephant Management: A Scientific Assessment of South Africa
Abstract
As a consequence of the rising number of elephants in protected areas in South Africa, the ecosystems that contain elephants and the people that live adjacent to elephant populations are perceived to be coming under increasing threat. The control of elephant populations by culling has been under a moratorium since the mid-1990s. Attempts to resolve differences of opinion between the authorities responsible for elephant management in the country, private elephant owners, animal rights and biodiversity conservation organisations in South Africa and abroad, and representatives of local communities, have to date not led to a widely agreed future course of action. In 2006, the Minister for Environment Affairs and Tourism convened a Science Round Table to advise on the issue. The Round Table recommended that a Scientific Assessment of Elephant Management be undertaken. This book is the result of that Assessment, undertaken during 2007, on the authority of the Minister. The Assessment is the first activity in a proposed elephant research programme, which aims to reduce the uncertainties regarding the consequences of various elephant management strategies. The Assessment of South African Elephant Management focuses on the interactions between elephants, humans and the ecosystems in which they occur and, in particular, on the possible way elephants could be managed based on their ecology, biology and social significance.
... Large movements are typical for elephants escaping environmental stressors such as drought, limited food or water, and extreme temperatures (Nampindo & Randhir, 2024). As a result, all elephant populations in South Africa are subject to management including fencing, translocation, culling, contraception, or water provisions (Scholes, 2008). Management practices present a conservation paradox: elephants are globally endangered (International Union for Conservation of Nature, 2024), but often locally hyperabundant. ...
... The Nama-Karoo is emblematic of a marginal place for elephants. Elephants are not likely endemic to the Nama-Karoo (Skead, 1980;Scholes, 2008). Historical estimates suggest that up to 1000 years BP, elephants were absent or existed at very low densities as occasional migrants in this area (Boshoff et al., 2002). ...
... Most animals' ranges extend into other biomes due to the Nama-Karoo's volatile nature (Cowling et al., 2004). Despite advising against introducing (Scholes, 2008) elephants, they were translocated to the Nama-Karoo for conservation and ecotourism (Duffy et al., 2002). ...
... A comprehensive assessment of elephant management interventions was published in 2008 as the Assessment of South African Elephant Management (ASAEM) (Scholes and Mennell 2008). However, there has been no comprehensive evaluation of the unintended consequences of different elephant management interventions on ecological systems (Scholes and Mennell 2008;DEA 2014). ...
... A comprehensive assessment of elephant management interventions was published in 2008 as the Assessment of South African Elephant Management (ASAEM) (Scholes and Mennell 2008). However, there has been no comprehensive evaluation of the unintended consequences of different elephant management interventions on ecological systems (Scholes and Mennell 2008;DEA 2014). As already mentioned above, over time, elephant impacts can transform a landscape dominated by large trees into one dominated by thicket areas (Owen-Smith et al. 2006), which could have serious negative consequences for the rest of biodiversity (Skarpe et al. 2004). ...
... We conducted a systematic literature review of published and grey literature on the use of these methods, and their effectiveness (positive outcome) and demographic consequences (whether positive or negative), as well as their indirect effects and unintended consequences. Since a previous comprehensive assessment was published in Mennell 2008), we focused on literature published since 2007. While the review is based around the South African regulations, we hope that our results and conclusions will be more widely applicable, and inform implementation of these interventions across the range states. ...
With elephant numbers increasing in some parts of their range, and related conservation concerns including elephants’ impact on vegetation and human–elephant conflict, management interventions have been used to artificially reduce elephant numbers, to stabilize populations locally and regionally, or to affect their spatial distribution. Interventions may have environmental, demographic, or social impacts, often unintended. We evaluated elephant management interventions, including both direct (contraception, vasectomy, translocation, hunting, culling) and indirect interventions (fencing, range expansion, corridors, water provision, and fire management). The study draws on evidence from across the range of African and Asian elephants, but with a focus on South Africa, through a systematic literature review using Science Direct, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Google from 2007 onwards, i.e. covering the period since the publication of the 2008 Assessment of South African Elephant Management. We focus on the effects of management on elephants, and present information on success of each method, as well as its demographic effects. We also identified unintended consequences of the interventions, such as increased human–elephant conflict, irruptive growth rates, social disruption, inbreeding depression, truncation of migratory routes, excessive vegetation damage, and breakdown in social structure. Culling and trophy hunting had the most unintended consequences, and evoked the most negative sentiments among tourists. There was a large disparity in the research effort directed towards different interventions, and we highlight gaps where additional research is needed. Elephant management can be contentious, with polarized views, and the broader social and economic elements need consideration. Disservices such as human–elephant conflict need to be reduced, and increased attention paid to animal welfare, and the broader expectations of society in this regard. Despite the review not being restricted, our study is informed mainly by research carried out in South Africa, drawing in large part on the base created by the 2008 assessment, as well as the norms and standards for management interventions formalized in South African regulations. Furthermore, the aim of the review was to produce information that could be used to update current approaches to elephant management in South Africa. The review draws on publications outside South Africa where they are available, as knowledge gained elsewhere is crucial for improving management decisions. We believe that our study has wider application for use throughout the African savannah elephant range. Du fait du nombre d’éléphants en augmentation dans certains territoires et des inquiétudes relatives à leur conservation — dont les répercussions sur la végétation et les conflits humains-éléphants — des interventions de gestion ont été mises en place afin de réduire artificiellement les populations et les stabiliser localement et régionalement, ou pour agir sur leur répartition dans ces espaces. Des impacts environnementaux, démographiques ou sociaux, souvent imprévus, peuvent découler de ces opérations. Nous avons évalué ces interventions de gestion, qu’elles soient directes (contraception, vasectomie, transferts, chasse, abattage) ou indirectes (clôtures, agrandissement des aires de répartition, couloirs biologiques, approvisionnement en eau ou gestion des incendies). L’étude s’appuie sur des données provenant de l’ensemble des aires de répartition des éléphants d'Afrique et d'Asie avec un gros plan sur les individus sud-africains, grâce à une analyse systématique de la littérature sur le sujet en utilisant Science Direct, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar et Google à partir de 2007, soit toute la période depuis le 2008 Assessment of South African Elephant Management (Évaluation de la gestion de l’éléphant sud-africain en 2008). Nous avons ciblé les effets immédiats de ces interventions sur les éléphants et nous présentons ici les réussites de chaque méthode, ainsi que leur impact sur la démographie. Nous avons également identifié les conséquences involontaires de ces initiatives, telles que l’augmentation des conflits humains-éléphants, des croissances soudaines de certaines populations, des perturbations sociales, dépression consanguine, routes migratoires tronquées, dommages excessifs dans la végétation et dégradation des structures sociales. L’abattage et la chasse au trophée ont causé les retombées les plus inattendues et ont suscité les sentiments les plus négatifs parmi les touristes. D’importantes disparités ont été constatées dans l’effort de recherche consacré aux différentes interventions et nous soulignons les lacunes lorsque de plus amples informations sont nécessaires. La gestion des éléphants peut être controversée et soulever des points de vue opposés, et les composantes sociales et économiques plus générales doivent être prises en compte. Il convient de réduire les torts causés par les conflits humain-éléphant et d’accorder une plus grande attention au bien-être des animaux et aux attentes de la société à cet égard. Bien que le rapport ne soit pas restrictif, notre étude se base principalement sur les recherches menées en Afrique du Sud, plus précisément sur les éléments rassemblés lors de l’évaluation de 2008, ainsi que sur les normes et critères des interventions de gestion formalisés dans la réglementation sud-africaine. De plus, l’objectif du rapport était de produire des informations pouvant être utilisées pour une nouvelle approche de la gestion de l’éléphant en Afrique du Sud. Le compte-rendu fait appel à certaines publications autres que sud-africaines lorsqu’elles étaient disponibles, car indépendamment de leur origine, les données sont essentielles pour renseigner les décisions dans le domaine de la gestion. Nous considérons que notre étude sera utile dans toutes les aires de répartition de l’éléphant de savane.
... Culling was intended to reduce elephant numbers below a threshold (carrying capacity) that would limit their negative effects on biodiversity Carruthers et al. 2008;Slotow et al. 2008). However, a shift in thinking over the last two decades (see Chapter 1 for a more detailed overview) moved the focus of elephant management to a heterogeneity approach through managing the effects of elephants, rather than managing the number of elephants themselves (Du Toit et al. 2003;Whyte 2004;Scholes and Mennell 2008;Gaylard 2015). Under the heterogeneity approach to management, emphasis is placed on maintaining heterogeneity of elephant space-use, resulting in spatial and temporal refuges of elephant impact, which promotes biodiversity Whyte 2004;Ferreira et al. 2012aFerreira et al. , 2012b. ...
... Owen-Smith et al. 2006;Scholes and Mennell 2008;Gaylard 2015). However, since I could only infer elephant impacts from their movements across the landscape, my next chapter examines whether their heterogeneous landscape-use indeed provides spatio-temporal refuges from the effects of elephants in Liwonde.Chapter 3: Biodiversity consequences of the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of elephant impacts IntroductionDisturbance regimes play a large role in shaping ecosystems through their effects on structural, compositional, and functional diversity(Higgins et al. 2000;Asner et al. 2009). ...
Heterogeneity, the spatio-temporal variation of abiotic and biotic factors, is a key concept that underpins many ecological phenomena and promotes biodiversity. Ecosystem engineers, such as African savanna elephants (hereafter elephant), Loxodonta africana, are organisms capable of affecting heterogeneity through the creation or modification of habitats. Thus, their impacts can have important consequences for ecosystem biodiversity, both positive and negative. Caughley’s “elephant problem” cautions that confined or compressed, growing elephant populations will inevitably lead to a loss of biodiversity. However, a shift in our understanding of elephants suggests that not all elephant impacts lead to negative biodiversity consequences, as long as there is a heterogeneous spread of elephant impacts that allows for spatio-temporal refuges promoting the persistence of both impact-tolerant and impact-intolerant species. To date, little empirical evidence is available in support of managing elephants under this paradigm and few studies are available that infer the consequences of the distribution of elephant impacts on biodiversity. In addition, most studies use parametric statistics that do not account for scale, spatial autocorrelation, or non-stationarity, leading to a misrepresentation of the underlying processes and patterns of drivers of elephant space-use and the consequences of their impacts on biodiversity. Here, I evaluate spatio-temporal patterns and drivers of elephant space-use, and how the distribution of their impacts affects biodiversity through vegetation changes, using a multi-scaled spatial approach, in Liwonde National Park, Malawi. My study demonstrates that elephant space-use in Liwonde is heterogeneous, leading to spatio-temporal variation in the distribution of their impacts, even in a small, fenced reserve. The importance of the drivers of this heterogeneous space-use varied based on the scale of analysis, water was generally important at larger scales while vegetation quality (indexed by NDVI) was more important at smaller scales. When examined using local models, my results suggest that relationships exhibit non-stationarity, what is important in one area of the park is not necessarily important in other areas. The spatio-temporal variation of the inferred impacts of elephants in Liwonde still allowed for spatio-temporal refuges to be created, no clear linear relationship was found between elephant return intervals and woody species structural and functional diversity (indexed by changes in tree cover and changes in annual regrowth using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index as a measure, respectively) throughout the park. My study provides support for adopting the heterogeneity paradigm for managing elephants and demonstrates that not all elephant impacts result in negative vegetation change. I also demonstrate the crucial implications of accounting for scale, non-stationarity, and spatial autocorrelation to evaluate how animals both respond to, and contribute to, environmental heterogeneity.
... The meeting ended with proposals for three possible solutions. These called for (1) a collaborative management initiative, involving foresters and conservation agencies, to be trialled on a small scale; (2) forest companies to lease land from the state, with a portion of the lease fees to be used to control invasions in adjacent protected areas or catchments; and (3) a thorough, participative, scientific assessment, as was done when the South African government was faced with the development of an acceptable policy for managing elephants (Scholes and Mennel, 2008). To be legitimate, such an assessment would need to be initiated and endorsed by the government. ...
The occurrence and continuing spread of wilding pines (genus Pinus) in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR), South Africa, impacts negatively on water resources, threatens the region's rich biodiversity, and increases the damage caused by uncontrolled wildfires. The invasive potential and threat of wilding pines has been regularly reported since the 1940s, leading to the development and implementation of various control strategies. The last substantial review of pine invasions and their management in the CFR (in 2012) recommended several actions, including securing more sustainable funding and adopting alternative control methods. We review the last 12 years of wilding pine research and management in the CFR, and provide updates on spread and impact, government funding, payments for ecosystems services initiatives, and contributions of the South African Forest industry. We note an increase in private funding, specifically to address invasion in priority catchment areas in the Greater Cape Town region, as well as a recent decline in government funding. Steps have also been taken to revive research aimed at biological control of pines originating from the Iberian Peninsula. The forest industry has deployed species with lower fecundity in some parts of the CFR and has also started experimenting with hybrids that could potentially be less invasive. New methods for applying herbicides may prove to be more efficient than currently used methods. We discuss five opportunities for addressing current shortcomings in the management of wilding pines, namely broadening sources of funding to increase sustainability, effectively integrating all available management techniques, accommodating the need for commercial forestry, focussing scarce funds on priority areas, and raising awareness. We stress that failure to contain rampant invasions by wilding pines will have far-reaching consequences for conservation in the CFR.
... Zungu and Slotow's work synthesized research published between 2007 and 2021 that focused on interventions involving the African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), supplementing an earlier elephant management assessment (Scholes and Mennell 2008). They listed beneficial consequences, demographic responses, and unintended consequences for elephants. ...
... Carnivores in these isolated protected areas are prone to inbreeding (Trinkel et al. 2008) and have limited emigration/immigration opportunities (Dolrenry et al. 2014). Thus, these populations may suffer reduced evolutionary potential and demographic stochasticity (Frankham et al. 2002;Miller et al. 2015), unless ongoing monitoring links directly into effective adaptive management strategies (Miller et al. 2013;Scholes and Mennell 2008). In South Africa, like elsewhere in Africa (Woodroffe and Ginsberg 1998), large carnivores are under direct persecution pressure through both legal and illegal harvesting (Swanepoel et al. 2014). ...
Protected areas are becoming increasingly isolated refugia for large carnivores but remain critical for their survival. Spotted hyaenas ( Crocuta crocuta ) are important members of the African large carnivore guild but, like other members of the guild, routinely come into conflict with people because of their large home ranges that are not always confined to protected areas. To effectively conserve spotted hyaena populations, it is paramount to monitor their abundance through reliable and cost-effective techniques. We estimated the density of spotted hyaenas in Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park (HiP), South Africa using camera trap images and a spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) framework between 2013 and 2018. We estimated an average of 18.29 ± 3.27 spotted hyaenas per 100 km ² between 2013 and 2018, with an annual estimated high of 20.83/100 km ² in 2014 and a low of 11.98/100 km ² in 2015. Our results demonstrate that camera trap by-catch data can be used for estimating spotted hyaena densities over time. We believe that given the widespread use and deployment of camera traps across Africa, collaborative efforts to use existing data to improve regional and continental estimates and population trends for spotted hyaenas should be a priority.
... Elephants are considered 'keystone species', defined as important species for ecosystem integrity (Scholes and Mennell, 2008). They are ecosystem engineers that drive ecosystem processes and are capable of changing habitats due to their feeding habits (Scholes et al., 2007). ...
Trees utilised by elephants often undergo a significant amount of damage compared to trees utilised byother browsers. Woody plants play a crucial role in plant community dynamics, species composition, andthe savannah systemâs functioning. As drivers ofecosystems, elephants are capable of transforming habitatsin terms of structure and species composition. In this paper, the damage caused by elephants on differentselected tree species in Venetia-Limpopo Nature Reserve was studied following a field-based approach.Field data collected for trees included the species name, GPS location, tree height class, extent, and type ofdamage resulting from elephant foraging. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was usedto evaluate vegetationâs vigour using Landsat-5 imagery. A Multiple Ring Buffer Tool was used to extractmean NDVI values of buffer rings spread around waterholes at 400-metre intervals. The impact on woodyvegetation along the vegetation gradient, âPiosphereâ, was evaluated. NDVI values extracted for the differentyears indicate that the impact on woody vegetationdegradation along the Piosphere gradient is negligible.There was no statistically significant relationship (Pearson correlation r3= â0.500, P = 0.391), trend or patternbetween the number of damaged trees and the type of damage. Different trees at different height classeswere utilised inconsistently by elephants. The dominant (45%) type of damage was for Broken Main Stem(BMS), with the lowest (1%) damage being for BarkStripping (BS). Overall, there was a statistically significantdifference (Pearson correlation r3= 0.973, P = 0.146) between the number of trees selected by elephants inthe various height classes. Trees between 3 m and 4 mwere the most selected and the impact seemed to bestabilising at these tree heights. Additional studies need to be focused on the recruitment rates of elephantforaged trees in the reserve to prevent local extirpation of these species in the future.
Seeking the support of Minister Dion George (DFFE) and understanding regarding the critical need to implement formal action to control and reduce the continuous increase of overpopulated problem elephants in all parks, bordering ranches, and wild straying populations.
Elephants in the past had been, and currently has the potential of an influential contributor to our nation’s economy, the population has grown from less than 10 000 in 1994 to an estimated more than 48 000.
The present elephant densities destroying S.A.’s environmental well-being at alarming rates contradicting its positive progress towards the global UN 30x30 target. Progressing:
• from 575 000 head of wild animals in 1960 to 19 million in 2007, and increasing;
• from ZAR 10 mil wildlife GDP turnover in 1991 to ZAR 100 mil in 2002 and growing;
• private wildlife covering 17–20.5 mil hectares (14–17%) of South Africa’s land surface in 2015 and 21% in 2022;
• private wildlife with 31 500 jobs created in only three Provinces in 2011, and currently 100 000 nationally;
• South Africa the only country in Africa to inflate growing numbers of all game species over the past 40 years;
• South Africa, as part of the southern African SADC Countries being the only in Africa to inflate growing numbers of elephant over the past 30 years.
Consumptive use, elephant harvesting finds itself on the periphery of mainstream Agro-Sustainable Wildlife Economy, Peoples’ health, and Food security. This lack of recognition hampers its growth and deprives it of the opportunities to contribute more substantially to our nation’s well-being.
Requiring immediate attention is:
• the formal acknowledgement of national elephant harvesting (culling & hunting quotas), and
• the rehabilitation of rapidly declining environmental biodiversity due to escalating uncontrolled elephant population increase since 1994;
both essential to the preservation and well-being of our natural resources and ensuring long-term biodiversity and conservation of all species.
The endless dithering by SANParks Elephant Management Plan and DFFE’s environmental policy:
• Elephant management, rhino horn and trade management, following the High-Level Panel Report (HLP) without recognition to the socio-economic role and functioning of Socio-Economic Ecosystem well-being.
• The draft Biodiversity White Paper (dd 5 May 2023) once again lacks any business model for consumed-use elephant harvesting.
• 94% of Africa’s protected areas are underfunded and economically not sustainable (Nuwer, 2023). DFFE’s intend (White Paper) to force South Africa’s wildlife economy and elephant consumptive use economy into an unproductive protected areas conundrum carries major risk destroying this most valuable GDP asset, risk extinction of many wildlife species, decreasing job-creation, increasing poverty, and diminishing food security. The social and economic impacts of such de-agrarianizing being severely questioned (Tayler, et al. 2020, ToR 3.62-64 & Tor 3.51).
This state of affairs left SUCO-SA & Associates with no alternative to respectfully engage directly with Minister Dion George of DFFE and request an in-person meeting tailored to the following: an 84 pages scientific analysis of the elephant position in South Africa, and including a 372 pages scientific study of the consequence of overpopulated elephant densities.
The global challenges of biodiversity loss and persistent poverty and inequality, which interact and shape each other at the local scale, require new strategies to improve human well-being and conserve biodiversity. In South Africa, inclusive and transformative conservation approaches are gaining support, which is of particular importance given the challenging history of conservation during the colonial and apartheid eras. The Dinokeng Game Reserve was created to conserve biodiversity and combat poverty in adjacent communities. However, human–elephant conflict and community development challenges have led to unproductive conservation trade-offs. We developed a Theory of Change for Living in Harmony that can help policymakers, conservation organisations and local communities to find better solutions. To develop the Theory of Change, we assessed the visions and perspectives towards (elephant) conservation and socio-economic development among both people living inside (owners/direct beneficiaries) and outside (community/indirect beneficiaries) the reserve. The study revealed common ground among stakeholder groups in ranking elephant benefits, as well as a collective acknowledgement of the importance of moral values in conservation decision making. However, the benefits of living within or adjacent to an elephant reserve differed considerably across stakeholder groups. Accordingly, different but not mutually exclusive solutions were suggested, including investments in multi-level good governance, education and capacity building, active community engagement and development, reserve expansion, and promoting the reserve’s integrated conservation model. This Theory of Change aims to support common ground between stakeholders, with critical feedback loops that reduce barriers and enable conditions for coexistence. It promotes conservation strategies that are socially relevant and widely supported, can create mutually beneficial outcomes for elephants, biodiversity, and multiple stakeholders, and can be applied to other species or ecosystems in general, with specific elements being tailored to those circumstances.
Population numbers of Knysna elephants Loxodonta africana africana, after having remained static for more than six decades, dwindled rapidly from an estimated 10 animals in 1970 to a single surviving individual. According to an explanatory model presented, the poor reproductive performance and population decline of the Knysna elephants are attributable to low nutrient/carbon ratios of the diet available to them in the predominantly forest environment to which they were largely confined as a result of residential and agricultural development in the region. The low dietary N/C ratios are postulated to result in low metabolic turnover rates and, therefore, reproductive rates too low to offset mortalities. During 1994 three sub-adult female elephants from the Kruger National Park were translocated to the Knysna forest area (southern Cape, South Africa) in order to supplement the dwindling population. Monitoring of habitat choice and nutritional faecal parameters of both the translocatd and a Knysna cow elephant tend to support the postulates of the explanatory model. The translocated elephants did not remain with the matriarch (Knysna elephant) and progressively chose to rang in more open habitat outside of the Afromontane forest area. Analyses showed that the diet selected by the translocated elephants had higher assimilable N/C ratios than that of the Knysna elephant. The results of the study emphasise the importance of clearly differentiating between sink and source habitat in conservation management.
We review available information on the impact of elephants on the
Subtropical Thickets of the Eastern Cape province as a contribution
to the current debate around biodiversity and the need to manage
elephant populations. This ecologically diverse region historically
supported an abundance of elephants that was incrementally
reduced to a single population limited to the Addo Elephant
National Park (AENP). The results of research on elephant impacts
associated with this population has shown that these animals
influence many ecological processes, and patterns, including soil
features, landscape patchiness and plant biomass and diversity.
Furthermore, elephants influence insect, bird and antelope abundances
and reduce browse availability for black rhinoceros. We
conclude that elephants affect biodiversity at all levels investigated
but that further research is necessary to identify the mechanisms
responsible. Of specific concern is the observation that the AENP
represents the only current example where elephants may be
driving many endemic plants to extinction. This suggests that
managing elephant impacts in Subtropical Thickets, specifically, is
a matter of urgency.
Two major factors are likely to have caused recent elephant population declines: carrying capacity reductions and hunting for ivory. A model is developed to disentangle the effects of these two factors on elephant population dynamics since 1814. The model suggests that carrying capacity reductions were a major cause of elephant population declines in the 19th Century and first half of the 20th Century, but that, since 1950, hunting for ivory has been the cause of an increasingly rapid population decline. These results are extremely robust to changes in parameter values within a reasonable range.
In this article I take my lead from the sentiments expressed by one of my colleagues in South Africa National Parks - a young, black woman who seeks a radical revisioning of archaeology and anthropology in the new South Africa. She wants to see archaeology labour in the service of a newly emergent and more equitable nation, to perform a remedial and therapeutic service that actively counteracts the centuries of colonial oppression and apartheid erasures that have deeply affected the production of the past and thus future possibilities. Given this particular historical conjuncture, archaeology ( like all historical disciplines) is being called upon to do double work, a dual project that seeks to address and redress the past and, through the accounts provided, make possible new understandings of identity in present and future social settings. 1 This dual mandate has been willingly embraced by a younger generation of scholars, yet the deeply political valences of South African archaeology continue to be staunchly avoided by others. To begin, I offer a brief outline of my research in Kruger National Park, followed by a description of two very different field projects based around the archaeological site of Thulamela and the various stakeholders and agendas continually being brought into play. This leads into a discussion of the wider impacts of heritage work in terms of local identities and tensions and suggests that recognition and reparations around such contested landscapes continue to be fraught, despite protean political rhetoric and regime change. Throughout I hope to lay some groundwork for a hybrid practice I refer to as archaeological ethnography - a traversing of two distinct, but necessarily enmeshed subfields.
The bovid fossils from Elandsfontein, south-western Cape Province, South Africa, comprise 7257 individually numbered specimens from 18 species. Taxonomic comparisons with Olduvai Gorge and other African sites and the high percentage of extinct forms imply that the bones accumulated in the earlier part of the Middle Quaternary, probably sometime between 700,000 and 400,000 years ago. By extension, this is also the most likely age for the skull cap of archaicHomo sapiens (‘Saldanha Man’) and for the occasional ‘late’ Acheulean stone artifacts that accompany the animal bones. In keeping with geomorphological observations and other aspects of the fauna, the bovids indicate a relatively grassy and moist environment, apparently during an interglaciation that differed significantly from the Holocene. Geomorphological context, the frequent occurrence of partial skeletons, bone damage, and skeletal part representation suggest that carnivore feeding on carcasses scattered across a Mid-Quaternary land surface was probably the main factor shaping the Elandsfontein bone assemblage. Porcupines may also have played a role, but there is little evidence for human activity. The Elandsfontein assemblage thus provides a useful ‘control’ for comparison with bone accumulations where context, associations, and bone damage indicate that people were heavily involved. For example, there are very few young animals in the otherwise attritional profile of ‘giant’ buffalo from Elandsfontein, probably because carnivores often rapidly and completely consumed young carcasses. This suggests that few young carcasses would be available for human scavenging and thus that archaeological attritional profiles in which young individuals are common probably reflect active human hunting, at least of young animals.
We assessed options for conserving the large- and medium-sized mammals indigenous to the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa, using systematic conservation planning, the first such attempt for an entire ecoregion. The potential distributions and abundances of the 41 extant species for the entire region prior to anthropogenic transformation of habitats were estimated. This was particularly useful as it obviated any reliance on records of occurrence for conservation planning. Areas that had not been transformed through agriculture or other developments were considered available for conservation. The fragments of untransformed habitat were identified as being large enough to support communities at least 25 individuals of the smallest herbivore species. Smaller fragments were not considered suitable for mammal conservation. Transformation and fragmentation had significant impacts on potential populations, and this was asymmetrical across species, being higher for lowland than montane species. The existing reserve system was estimated to effectively conserve only half the mammal species, using the criteria applied here. Two conservation goals were compared; first, either conserving only CFR endemics and threatened species; and second, conserving all the mammals (with some exceptions for marginally occurring species). Options for protected area systems were assessed using C-Plan, a decision support system designed for systematic conservation planning. The irreplaceability of the planning units varied only slightly under the two goals, and the more inclusive goal was used to develop a proposed reserve network in which targets for all the species were achieved. The CFR endemics and threatened species effectively function as umbrella species for the remaining mammals. This study demonstrates that the incorporation into systematic conservation plans of conservation targets adequate for the persistence of populations comprising communities across entire ecoregions is feasible.