The killing fields

You expect a bit of violence and mayhem in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. You’d be daft to think otherwise, given the numbers of lions, leopards, hyenas and cheetahs who live there, preying on the herbivores lined up in the dry riverbeds or across the red dunes as if they were on some kind of ‘predator menu’. What you don’t expect is to see so many kills on the tar road between Upington and the turnoff to the park at Molopo Lodge.

It’s a stretch of about 170km and we counted a total of 37 dead animals there this morning, mostly bat-eared foxes and owls, but with a smattering (excuse the pun) of genets, hares, jackal, and small buck, even a striped polecat. Assuming that these kills happened over a period of about a week – some were fresher than others – that translates to a potential 148 animals in a month or 1 776 in a year. That’s pretty darn shocking.

I suspect a lot of the blame for the slaughter can be laid at the door of large trucks speeding to get to their destination, but if you’re visiting the park, please pay attention to signboards along this death-trap road, warning you to slow down to prevent collisions with wildlife, especially at night. Blinded and disorientated by vehicle headlights, the animals freeze and can’t move out of danger. If you do hit an animal, move the carcass off the road to prevent scavenging birds and animals from becoming secondary victims. ​

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