mznp

12 August 2015 by Alan

Dinokeng Cheetah Settles in at MZNP

A new female cheetah was released into Mountain Zebra National Park outside Cradock in the Eastern Cape today – introducing new genes into the park in the process.
The four year-old female arrived in the Park from the Dinokeng Game Reserve in Gauteng on Wednesday 15 July. She has been in a boma since, acclimatising to the area before her release. She was also fitted with a tracking collar so that park management can monitor her movements and her interaction with other animals.

“The new cheetah represents a valuable addition to our cheetah population in the Park, as she brings a new mix of genes which will improve genetic health,” said Park Manager, Megan Taplin.

Her introduction is part of the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s (EWT) Cheetah Metapopulation Project. Established in 2011, it is a co-ordinated approach for the management of about 300 cheetah in over 50 reserves across the country. Project co-ordinator, Vincent van der Merwe, says a managed population is a set of geographically isolated populations of the same species that exchange individuals through human-controlled movement. Fenced metapopulations need to be managed to prevent the undesired effects of inbreeding. The project is a collaborative effort between all cheetah reserves in South Africa, co-ordinated by the EWT and funded by National Geographic, St Louis Zoo, Columbus Zoo, Scoville Zoo and generous donations.

“Over the past eight years, Mountain Zebra National Park has been the biggest contributor to the country’s metapopulation, making 24 of their cheetah available. During this time, park management has only requested two cheetah from the project in order to alleviate genetic concerns,” says van der Merwe.

Mountain Zebra National Park first introduced cheetah into the Park in July 2007 – two males and two females. Over the next three years, the Park’s cheetah population rose to 33. To prevent in-breeding, sub-adult cheetah as well as some cheetah females with their cubs were captured and relocated to other reserves across South Africa. The latest release brings to eight the number of cheetah currently in the Park.

Taplin said that the new female would not be contracepted in the hope that any cubs she might produce would be moved to other national parks and game reserves in the future to boost cheetah metapopulation numbers.

Female cheetah have been allowed to breed in the past two years to ensure that any effect of predation by lions – which are known to kill cheetah to reduce competition for prey – is mitigated. “This new female has been able to rear a litter of cubs successfully in the presence of other predators including lion in her previous home, so we hope that she will be able to do so once again in Mountain Zebra National Park,” Taplin continued.

Mountain Zebra National Park will be providing a sub-adult female cheetah to Dinokeng Game Reserve in the next few months, once capture is possible, as part of their ongoing involvement in the EWT cheetah project.

Category: NewsTag: Cheetah, mznp

2 December 2014 by Alan

Accolades for MZNP

Cradock’s Mountain Zebra National Park won the SANParks Chief Executive Award in the category: Best Performing Park at the 10th annual Kudu Awards ceremony in Johannesburg last week (Thursday 27 November). This is the first year the park has won the award, outperforming much larger and better-known parks in the process. South African National Parks …

South African National Parks (SANParks) supported by First National Bank (FNB) and Total South Africa, recognises deserving parks, departments and staff members at the awards evening every year.

The award was bestowed on the park for their performance during the previous financial year: 2013/14. Mountain Zebra National Park achieved excellent performance in all three of SANParks’ core business areas of Conservation, Tourism and People & Conservation over this time. Some of these achievements were:

Conservation

Three lions were successfully introduced, improving the biodiversity of the Park, improving predator-prey dynamics (especially in terms of large herbivores) and restoring a species to its natural habitat after an absence of more than 130 years.
The cheetah population was managed effectively through contraception and monitoring. New cheetah genes were brought into the small population through an effective swop with a reserve in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
Due to regular fence patrols, no breakouts of predators took place. Despite 50km worth of the 72km boundary fence line being inaccessible to vehicles (and hence must be patrolled on foot), fences were checked in entirety once per week.

Tourism

Visitor numbers increased by more than 14% in comparison to the same period the previous year (from 20 529 in 2012/13 to 23 484 in 2013/14).
Unit occupancy showed a 6.6% increase (from 69.9% in 2012/13 to 76.5% in 2013/14).
Camping showed a 4.2% increase (from 45.4% in 2012/13 to 49.6% in 2013/14).
Activities booked showed an increase of 43% with night guided drives and cheetah tracking being the most popular drives.

People & Conservation

A total of 3 354 learners were addressed during environmental education programmes. This represents a 165% improvement on the previous financial year’s achievement (3 354 learners during 2013/14 compared to 2 036 learners during 2012/13).
There was a 185% improvement in the number of people who entered for free during South African National Parks Week (615 in 2013/14 compared to 329 in 2012/13).

A number of other outstanding areas of performance, such in financial management and human resources, also played a role in the awarding of the prize to the park.

Park Manager, Megan Taplin, couldn’t be prouder. “This is a real achievement for every one of the team at Mountain Zebra National Park. I am very proud of the dedicated, friendly and efficient team we have here at the park and this award is a real testament to their ongoing efforts. I hope the Best Performing Park award will also encourage new visitors to the park to join the ranks of those who claim Mountain Zebra is their favourite national park,” she said.

Earlier this year the park won in the same category at the SANParks Regional Awards evening.

Category: NewsTag: megan taplin, mznp

2 December 2014 by Alan

Go for a Karoo Sunset Drive

Guests to Mountain Zebra National Park (MZNP) can now enjoy the spectacular colour display as the Karoo sky changes from day to night on the newly-introduced sunset game drive. Launched on Monday 1 December, it is the only sunset drive offered by any of the national parks in the karoo, and gives visitors a unique …

Guests to Mountain Zebra National Park (MZNP) can now enjoy the spectacular colour display as the Karoo sky changes from day to night on the newly-introduced sunset game drive.

Launched on Monday 1 December, it is the only sunset drive offered by any of the national parks in the karoo, and gives visitors a unique view of the setting sun over the vast Eastern Cape landscape.

The two-hour drive departs from the Reception parking lot at 17:00 daily. At a stop along the way, guests will have the opportunity to get out of the vehicle and enjoy a selection of light snacks (such as South African favourites biltong and dried fruit, nuts and biscuits) and their choice of beverage (soft drink, beer or wine). Guests have the chance of spotting some of the park’s day-time species as well as some of the nocturnal species such as aardwolf and porcupine.

The Park’s ever-popular night drive will remain on offer, but will depart at 19:30, a bit later than the usual time.

A minimum of four and a maximum of nine visitors can go out on a sunset drive. Children need to be at least six years old to participate. The cost of the drive, including snacks and drinks, is R237.35 per adult and R118.68 per child under the age of 12 years (prices valid until October 2015).

Category: NewsTag: karro, mznp, sunset