Know Your Nature #5 - Bontebok 🦌
Exploring South Africa's National Parks
Believed to be the first African animal saved from human-caused extinction, the Bontebok’s journey back from the brink of extinction is a dramatic conservation success story.
Hello, and welcome to the fifth episode of Know Your Nature - A newsletter released every Sunday by ReWild Africa exploring the National Parks of South Africa (and beyond). Know Your Nature aims to showcase off-the-beaten-track parts of Southern Africa, and to encourage the support of our natural heritage #PreservationBeforeRestoration.
Bontebok National Park 🦌
The Bluebuck was declared extinct in 1799 - being the first large African mammal to go extinct in modern times - and the Bontebok seemed destined to be the second. As Dutch settlers saw it the Bontebok were considered competition for farmland and livestock. They shot huge numbers of mammals without restraint or mercy.
Salvation came in an unlikely form: The Bontebok was saved because it can’t jump. Dutch farmer Alexander van der Bijl built a fence to enclose the last known living 17 Bontebok on his farm, and, fortunately the Bontebok were unable to escape. (The ability to jump would have been a leap into extinction!)
The Bontebok received a stroke of luck, but its future was far from secure. In 1931, the few remaining Bontebok were transferred to a newly established national park, established to save the species and appropriately named the “Bontebok National Park”.
The population grew slowly, but the habitat was still not quite right for the Bontebok. Sadly, in the 1960s, about half of the Park’s population died due to worm infestations, copper deficiency and other maladies.By 1969, there were 800 Bontebok in the world whereas today the population hovers between 2,500 and 3,000. That hardly makes it an abundant species, but its future is considered secure.
The Bontebok’s journey back from the brink of extinction is one of the most dramatic turnarounds for a large mammal, ever.
Want to learn more? Watch on.
⚡️ Uniqueness of the Park
Located in the Breede River valley, the Bontebok National Park is South Africa's smallest National Park. It was established to protect the rare Bontebok antelope, but today is the home to other small antelope including the Rhebok, Springbok, Grysbok, and Duiker. The Bontebok National Park has a lot to offer: swim or paddle in the famous Breede River to soak off the midday heat. The Park is home to around 200 bird species including the Blue Crane, Spur-Winged Goose, Secretary Bird and Southern Black Korhaan. Red Hartebeest, Grey Rhebok and the threatened Cape Mountain Zebra can be spotted during the day, and at night the nocturnal Caracal, Bat-eared Fox, Cape Fox and Aardwolf are sometimes seen by those lucky few. The Park is also home to the Mongoose and the Cape Clawless Otter who inhabit the Breede River and surrounds.
🔎 How to spot the differences between the Bontebok and the Blesbok
Blesbok are typically lighter brown in colour. They have a brown patch which divides the white blaze on their faces. The Bontebok is, however, darker brown with flanks, head and upper legs that are almost purple-black plum in colour.
☄️ Stopping the Wave of Ecological Lose
Nestled among the Breede, the Bontebok National Park stands as a stellar example of how we can turn the tide of ecological collapse. Starting from where we are and aiming to save just one species from extinction does so much for the wild world. An interesting thought here is the amount of leverage gained by saving a species that is less well known or holds little to no support. By standing to save a species many have never heard about, your effort has far greater leverage, meaning that your impact is much much greater (thinking in systems).
📚 An Educational Idea - Learn to Save a Species 101
So, how can ReWild help people leverage their effort to ecological restoration in ways that enable them to make more impact?
We believe answer hasn’t yet been discovered, and could be explored collectively through practical courses and a vibrant online community - linking individuals and organisations to share information and knowledge on how to go about saving species.
Aiming to ensure all participants have the practical know-how to create their own unique project, each project would focus on the lessor known species. This would be to specifically increase the chances of an unsupported species survival, and exponentially increase the participants impact.
The overarching idea is to build a mostly asynchronous course that uses peer to peer learning and is not dependent on any one teacher in particular. Built on 3 major sections: The Fundamentals of Ecology, Systems Thinking, and Applied Design Thinking. As a project based course, each learner would be encouraged to build a community around their chosen local endangered species. The aim is to leverage off the 'network effect' as individuals within the community become more engaged. Additionally, understanding leverage and how a student can best use her or his time is an important skill which has been purposefully built into the course's approach.
The above is a brief background to an online educational course we have been conceptualising for the past few months and we are rather excited by the potential it holds! It may be the beginning of an answer ReWild can provide to that recurring question - how do we solve for ecological restoration.
If you are interested in hearing more about the course (or joining a beta group), you can reach out directly Alistair on alistair@rewild.tv, and we’ll share more details on the progress made so far.
We highly recommend adding the Bontebok National Park to your bucket list!
A big thank you to Drive South Africa, SAN Parks and SA Tourism for making this project a reality. Please consider supporting the park and / or sharing this article with a loved one #sharetheadventure
Watch on and wild regards,
Elvi the Elephant
#PreservationBeforeRestoration #LocalisLekker