Apart from private game reserves, the SANParks have now got into the act of reintroducing large predators to many of their conservation areas. These include Lion into Karoo, Addo and Mountain Zebra national parks. Numbers are small and will have to remain so but new genetic flow will have to be maintained.  What purpose do these reintroductions serve?  It certainly will do little for overall conservation of the species, especially Lion, Cheetah and Spotted Hyaena

It is argued that these large predators will help keep game populations in check but how do you prevent them taking rarer species?  Simply put you cannot!  When Lion were reintroduced in Madikwe they took a fancy to the Sable, a threatened species in South Africa.  Certainly, the authorities can say we are doing our best not to cull surplus game but doing it the natural way by reintroducing predators.

Although contraception is being used to prevent large predator population explosions these have long term implications for the very health of these predators.

We think the real reason for reintroducing them is to attract more tourists who are looking for the Big Five experience, in areas outside the malaria zone!  But there is nothing wrong with this, or is there?