16 Apr 2014

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP) is a large wildlife preserve and conservation area that is home to a variety of animals that include aggressive predators such as lions, cheetahs, hyenas, and leopards.

Visitors to the park can also view hunted animals or herbivores such as the wildebeest, springbok, gemsbok, eland and red hartebeest, as well as bird species.

Most of the hunted animals prefer to live among short savannas, in dry river beds, or open land because in that way they can spot a predator a long distance and dash for cover. 

Mr Basimane Mokara, a Wildlife Officer in the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, says animals, especially antelopes, tend to avoid tall grass as it will hinder them to see predators from a distance; the animals also can’t run fast through tall grass 

Mr Mokara, who is stationed at the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, said antelopes prefer open habitat where they can detect the most common predators in the park such as leopards, cheetahs, hyenas and lions from far away. 

“Predators have adaptations to catch, kill, and eat their prey, and, in turn, the prey have special adaptations to avoid being eaten too,” he said.

Some animals such as lions and leopards can however get closer to their prey by moving quietly, staying low to the ground and hiding in the vegetation, and when they are close enough they would ambush the prey, he said.    

The wildlife officer said, for the animals to avoid being eaten, they employ effective strategies to avoid detection and attacks by predators through intimidation, fighting back, fleeing and deception. 

He said some animals live in large groups and can intimidate a predator by simultaneously mobbing it, driving it away before it can attack.  

He added that a prey that is approached by a predator may also flee to escape.

Mr Mokara said some herbivores such as the wildebeest and gemsbok defend themselves by using their horns to stab and hoofs to kick and hurt their predators.

“Predators are not always successful when they hunt,” he said.

The Trans-Frontier Park comprises a series of exceptionally large pans, around which most of the antelopes prefer to hang as a security measure against predators. 

Mr Mokara said three of the largest pans lie along the area’s main road and these are Bosobogolo, Mpayathutlwa and Mabuasehube.  

Others like Leshologago, Khiding and the fossil valley complex called Monamodi, are linked to the larger pans by sand tracts, he said.

Each pan is different and the floor of Mabuasehube pan is bare clay that is rich in salts, and this attracts animals that come to lick the surface, deriving essential minerals from doing so.

He said the floor of Bosobogolo pan is a bit limited, shrubby grassland, which antelopes frequent to graze, accompanied, of course, by the prowling predators.

He said all of the major predators can be seen at Mabuasehube, including the lion, cheetah, leopard, brown hyena, bat-eared fox, lynx, and silver fox. 

Small mammals like the Cape fox, aardwolf and black footed cat can be seen at the pans in the evening, he added. Ends