Lions introduced into Karoo National Park

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

Two male lions from the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park have been released into the Karoo National Park outside Beaufort West.

SA National Park says this brings the total number of feline predators in the Park to nine.

Sanparks Eastern Cape communications manager, Fayroush Ludick, says Niklaas (named after former Kgalagadi Park Manager, and now Karoo National Park Manager Nico van der Walt) and Witwarm (derived from Nico's son, Hano's nickname from when they lived in the Kgalagadi) were released from a lion enclosure in the eastern section of the Park

"Park Management predicts that they will most likely develop their own fixed territories within the Park and defend these territories from the other resident males," she said.

Ludick said "three years ago a small founder population of lion was introduced into Karoo from Addo Elephant National Park outside Port Elizabeth and have settled in well since."

"The group was originally all from Kgalagadi or offspring from the original group of Kgalagadi lions that were introduced to Addo in 2003 . They have settled very well into the Karoo National Park and two cubs were born in November last year," she added.

Meanwhile, Van der Walt says, "The introduction of predators into Karoo National Park forms part of attempts to restore the ecological processes in the Park, specifically to re-establish the process of predation. This will help to control herbivore numbers naturally and decrease the need for capturing and culling, which is in line with SANParks' 'minimum interference' philosophy".