Skinny eland hoardes - 02:23 am

25 Feb 2010

It was grey and drizzly again this morning. A great sign for the parched earth. Hopefully the drought is ending. This area is a winter rainfall area so the rains are definitely due to arrive shortly. This soft rain is a perfect start that will soak the earth and create a flush before the heavy storms arrive which could cause a lot of erosion in places where the vegetation has died back.

We went out to see what we could find and didn’t have to go far. After a few kilometers we ran into a group of eland - enormous cow-like antelope and the most commonly depicted animal in African rock art.

Amazingly the antelopes kept coming over the ridge in a never-ending stream. I’ve never seen such a big herd in my life. There were perhaps in the region of 150. The only thing is, they’re extremely thin with ribs and hip bones sticking out dramatically.

Fynbos is notoriously nutrient-poor vegetation so a lot of it needs to be eaten to fuel these giant buck. Being ruminants though, they’re limited in the amount that they can eat. Ruminants are able to extract the majority of nutrients from plants using bacterial action to break down the tough cellulose walls - but it takes time and during tough times, this obviously means that they take strain. Apparently a couple of carcasses of females have been found recently. Grass is full of nutrients but at the moment it’s practically non-existent. The rains though should have an effect pretty soon.
I’m just wondering though if there are a few too many eland here and the carrying capacity has been exceeded. The only predators here are caracals and the small Cape leopards - neither of which are too likely to tackle an animal this size.

If the rains keep coming, this herd should return to good condition. But if it’s a dry year, there may be a few more carcasses to deal with. With fences around parks and totally transformed landscapes surrounding them, there’s nowhere else for these antelope to disperse or find better food in tough times. 

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