Page 28 - Irene Farm Village 12 2021

Nature

marula when, in fact, they’d been
deliberately drugged.
There is little doubt that the marulas
along the S3 to Pretoriuskop have all
been killed by elephants. But why
would they pick on a species whose
abundant and highly nutritious berries
they so relish? Why pick on these last
few marulas?
It makes slightly more sense where
mopanes are concerned. Demolishing
these tall trees so that the next
generation of elephants can browse
their leaves at head-height makes
some sort of sense.
But their demolition, their total
destruction of marulas seems so
counter-productive. It makes no sense.
Maybe they pick on marulas along the
S3 because there’s not much else left?
They, and veld fires have, after all,
subdued the growth of other kinds of
tall trees.
And what will be the climax
vegetation? Grassland? Or will it turn
to thornveld, a la Zululand?
Maybe they prefer grassland? Maybe
treeless grassland was the original
landscape. Nobody knows.
A crucial question is: are there
too many elephants? If so, will the
thousands of square kilometres in
Mozambique, relatively recently
added to the park’s conservation area,
help absorb surplus elephants?
I have used up my quota of question
marks and must leave it to readers
to wonder about the evolutionary
implications. Perhaps some bright
young postgraduate will devote his or
her PhD to solving the mystery.

To habitually kill large
trees for a few minutes’
gratification makes no
ecological sense.

Marula trees near Pretoriuskop wrecked by elephants.

26 • Issue 12 2021 • The Villager