Geoscience Reference
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lead to the predicted catastrophic desertification of the landscape. Instead they proved to be
typical of a naturally dynamic system that undergoes periodic transitions between woodland
and grassland phases.
From 'command and control' to flux of nature: elephant
Elephant management in South Africa followed a very different trajectory to the story that
had unfolded in Tsavo. Here, intervention rather than laissez-faire was the norm for much of
the twentieth century (Carruthers 1995, du Toit et al. 2003). This approach reflected a staunch
belief in the notion of savannas as balanced or equilibrium systems, and a more utilitarian
approach to conservation, with roots in farming and livestock management. While conserva-
tion in east Africa was very much influenced by the ideals of pristine wilderness and non-
intervention (see Chapter 1), conservation in southern Africa was more strongly associated
with utilization, and to some extent populations of wild animals were managed in a similar
manner to domestic stock (Beinart 2003). Specifically, there was a very strong belief in the
notion of a stable carrying capacity, which should not be exceeded if the condition of vegeta-
tion was to be maintained. Thus, good husbandry demanded a close control of animal num-
bers and this approach was applied to game reserves as much as to sheep and cattle farms. As
a result, culling or harvesting to keep populations within the perceived carrying capacity was
perceived as good management practice for much of the twentieth century.
In the Kruger National Park, suppressing fire, killing of carnivores, and the provision of
artificial water holes were features of an early management approach based on 'command
and control. Over the decades, the problems of trying to keep an inherently dynamic system
in an unnatural state of stability emerged; in the 1990s a full-scale revolution in thinking and
practice occurred, bringing the Kruger and its scientists to the cutting edge of the new, non-
equilibrium ecology, and its application in adaptive ecosystem management (see Chapter 1)
(du Toit et al. 2003).
The Kruger National Park was founded in 1926, following the expansion of Sabie Game
Reserve, established in 1898. Dubbed the 'Yellowstone of the Transvaal, it was comparable in
size to Tsavo at c. 20,000km
2
, and remains the conservation flagship of South Africa. Game
reserves like the Kruger served to provide areas of protection from hunting as well as a separ-
ation of wild and domestic stock, protecting both from the spread of diseases (Carruthers
1995). Killing lions and other 'vermin' was considered good husbandry in the early days of the
Park, because it encouraged favoured game species to flourish. Fire was seen as destructive,
so fire suppression was also thought to be an essential part of good veld management,
although later, regular controlled burns and natural wildfires were implemented (van Wilgen
et al. 2003). Managers worked to keep populations at or within the carrying capacity of the
vegetation, which was assumed to remain constant but in fact varied because differences in
annual rainfall affected the amount of available forage. As wildlife populations recovered from
intensive hunting and rinderpest outbreaks of the nineteenth century, herbivore pressure on
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