After
our geology excursion, we headed straight for Addo Elephant National Park. We
were faced with the sight of two elephants skulls when we pulled up to the
gate.
And
when we passed through the gate, we saw a sign that declared “Dung Beetles Have
the Right of Way”. Um… what could that possibly mean?
It
turns out that there is a population of dung beetles in the park. These little
critters run around and roll balls of elephant dung and lay eggs in them. The sign warned drivers against running over the rolls of dung to keep up the population of dung beetles in the park.
But
we didn't come to gape at the adorable creepiness of dung beetles. We stopped
by to learn more about the big guys – the elephants.
Zoologist
Prof. Graham Kerley gave us a history of the park and its native elephants and
we quickly got around to actually seeing the animals. While usually we consider
a large population of elephants to be solely beneficial to their environment,
elephants actually are a threat to plant diversity in the park. Large gathering
of elephants around water holes have started to convert the surrounding bush
into large grassy areas, decreasing the number of plant species that would
flourish near a water source and in the shade of the bush. What can we do about
it? People are not too sure.
And
while you are contemplating that fact, here are some photos of those beautiful
giants.
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