IMPORTANT CONCEPTS

To understand the current problem animal situation and to sensibly plan the way forward, it is necessary to be aware of large number of important concepts. I won't even try to cover these concepts in detail within the confines of this web-site. However we will look at some and discuss the most important effects they have on our damage control efforts. Anybody interested in more detail are wellcome to attend a course, or contact me by e-mail.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE AIM THROUGHOUT IS TO LIMIT DAMAGE AND NOT TO KILL ANIMALS!

Damage control on an ongoing bases is a very complex issue. Some of the contributing factors is the learning ability, resilience, agility and resourcefullness of all the animals that gets listed as problem animals. This accolade, though it has its negative side, can only attained by a few species and it is to be expected that an animals that measure up to the title are special animals. These animal were able to withstand the full onslaught from a group of people reknowed for there resourcefulness for centuaries and are still doing well. They are also adaptable to the human modified environment and are able to take over the niches of various other animals when those animals are no longer able to survive in the newly created environmental conditions. Therefore the over simplified views of the Greens and even general public on how to stop the damage does not measure up to reality. We will only be able to reliably deal with these issues after in depth investigation and understanding of this complexity. 

It therefore astounds me when armchair "conservationists" or folks with no biological training or background visiting the Kruger park annually feel that they are qualified to prescribe to professional biologists how biological issuses should be solved. This was realized by Aldo Leopold, long before his death in 1948, when he wrote: "Conservation is paved with good intentions which proved futile, or even dangerous, because they are devoid of critical understanding either of the land, or economic land use."  He also wrote "The urge to comprehend must precede the urge to reform."

Some abuse happens from the landowner's side but the vast majority of landowners are normal, decent people trying to make a living and protecting their life's investment. When real abuse does happen those responsible should be presecuted to the full extent of the law.

THE RIGHT/DUTY TO PROTECT LIVESTOCK

Even as businessman or ordinary salary earner cannot allow their earnings to be eroded in any way, without doing something about it. A person in the agricultural business has the same rights, duties and responsiblities. And duty there is: seeing livestock been torn apart by predators because they have been bred to be docile, and not intervening is unexceptable. I am not going into the justification for production of livestock. This industry is here to stay even though some vegetarians/Vegans wants to tell us otherwise. Therefore protection of livestock has to happen.

One of the purposes of this website is to give guidance into this process. We must not be cruel or apathetic towards the aniamls causing damage, and when we have to kill them it has to be done with compassion. The use of non-lethal methods should always be considered, but with our still imperfect damage control methods this is not always possible.

PERMANENT PREVENTION LEADS TO ERADICATION OF THE PREDATOR 

Practical experience has proven that non lethal preventative measures does not give permanent relief of damage. This can only be achieved by rediculously expenive fortification of the comdity to be protected. The animals invariably will overcome abstacles in time. Therefore the only permanent prevention is by eradication of the offending species. Producers would usually except low damage as long as they have a reliable method by which to lessen or stop the damage. When no reliable way exists to stop damage by an animal the efforts to stop the damage become more severe and abuse may result.

JACKAL CAN NOT BE ERADICATED

As shown under the brief discussion of the history of damage control, jackal can absorb enormous losses to their numbers and still maintain a presence and keep causing damage. The machanism by which this is done has been worked out and is very important in the proper management of the species. The first reaction by which an area that has been cleared of jackal is repopulated is by the young dispersing individuals that quickly settle in open real estate. In this way a cleared farm may have the same numbers, or even higher than before the control, in about a months time. Secondly a more complicated reaction takes place. Once the numbers are depressed below a threshold value, the population react by:

• Younger animals breed. In undesturbed populations very few one and two year old jackal would breed (though jackal are capable of becoming pregnant at 10 monts of age. Only territorial animals breed and the older jackal occupy all the available space. Young animals have to disperse  untill they find an area that is available because of the death of the former resident. When lots of the territorial animals are killed, lots of the young ones settle. This means that a higher proportion of the population would breed  in the next breeding season.
• The average litter size increase form average 4 to average between 7 & 8. 
• Because of more resources available due to the lower number of jackal the survival of the jackal increase.

These three factors work so strongly that simulation models for coyote (the VERY similar cousin of the jackal from America) predict that at 70% reduction per annum, the population would not be eradicated. So, sure, we would be able to eradicate the jackal if we are willing to invest the time and resources, but it will be prohibitively expensive and labour intensive. If we rather except that we will have to keep dealing with this problem, we can properly plan this action over the long term.

NOT ALL JACKAL CATCHES SHEEP

• The concept of prey preference is well known and excepted among larger predators. One lion pride prefers zebra, while another pride would walk through the zebra to get hold of their favoured wildebeest. Te same phenomenon hold true for the jackal. Many live among sheep but never catch any.
• Some jackal prefer to scavenge and others prefer to capture live prey.
• Young, dispersing jackal do not have the confidence or skill to kill livestock. They survive on insects, carrion an plant foods.

When ordinary poisoned bait targets the scavenging sector of the population we are heading in the wrong direction - When pheromonal bait on a coyote getter give us an even chance to get the culprit we are getting there -                  When poison collars kill only damage causing individuals we are making tremendous progress.

THE GREAT MAJORITY OF DAMAGE TO SHEEP COMES FROM TERRITORIAL JACKAL

One of the tragedies of the South African problem animal situation has been the lack of attention and money to do proper applied researchand thereby keep on bettering our control. Therefore we are dependant on research done on similar overseas species and the adapting/converting the findings to our animal & situation. Fortunately there are people with enough practical experience with the animals to make an informed judgement on the similarities. 

One very significant finding of this kind is that at least 90% of damage done come from territorial animals and happen inside the territorium. If those animals are targeted the result is amazing. By killing only a third as many jackal as previously, the results at least equal, or are even better, than blanket control on all jackal in the area, and the interval between damage occurances becomes wider. When this newfound knowledge is applied by someone with the necessary field knowledge to target territorial animals the results is spectacular. For the same amount of work the results overshadow the methods that were used before. However the knowledge and skill of a much hogher standard is needed to apply this trapping program. Some of the reasons for this is briefly discussed below. 

PREDATORS CANNOT EASILY BE TRAPPED INSIDE THEIR TERRITORIES

Automatic cameras installed inside the territories of radio-collard coyotes fail to photograph the residents. This happens because the coyotes know their territories intimately and are acutely aware of any changes or additions inside this area. They would know when and where humans set up stuff and because this usually means danger to them this stuff is simply avoided. The sense of these animals are sharp enough, and can distinguish different components of smells - they can smell the componant of human smell even from under the disguise of rotten bait. Black-backed jackal have been observed avoiding any strange/ new object in their territories - a term have even been coined to describe this phenomenon - neophobia. The definition is the fear of unfamiliar objects in familiar surroundings. 

PREDATOR'S REMARKABLE LEARNING ABILITY

This is particularly true of the predators that are branded as problem animals. Jackal targeted with poison bait to depress their numbers to control rabies quickly learnt to avoid scaneging warthog meat, because that was the most commonly used source of meat for baits. In an area where coyote getters have never been used before jackal showed a 93% avoidance at the third control campaign. They even teach their pups to avoid stuff that they have exprienced as dangerous. Contributing to this learning ability is the fact that jackal forage in pairs. When one gets killed by a new device the other will avoid it at all cost. A captive jackal would not enter a cage trap, baited with fresh chiken meat, even after 8  days of starvation. The role of this aspect on the difficulty of capture of jackal individuals cannot be overstressed in a species know for its wide dietry utilization. Jackal consider numerous items including all kinds of animal, insect and plants as food and when even the prefered item is suspect will revert to other sources. Calling (jackal & prey distress sounds) has taken off as control method and is used by a number of operators as their sole source of income. These people rarely go back to a place that they hunted before, becaue it is well known that within two or three calling sessions the animals also resist this method and do not respond anymore.

SUSCEPTABILITY ON TERRITORIAL BOUNDARIES

The only place where territorial jackal are reasonably vulnerable to control is on their territorial boundaries. They visit this area less and does not know it as intimately as the core areas. If they do not ustilize the food that they get there, the neighbor will take it. So they take chances that won't be taken inside the territorium. 

VARIATION CONTROL METHODS

Because of the leaning ability of these animals it is important to use as wide a variety of control methods as possible. Operators that promote shooting or poison pastes or leghold traps as the method that will solve the problem and then invest heavily in the chosen direction all lack depth to eventually solve problems in the long term. When an animal learns from the death of its partner only a different method will elliminate that animal. Any operator therefore, that wants to actually solve problems must have a variation of methods that they master.

LETHAL OR NON-LETHAL

The Greens often promote non-lethal damge control at all cost. This often does not make sense in practical and biodiverse sense (see FENCE below). We need lots of facts and science and as little emotion as possible to make the best decisions. By over-emphasizing prevention of killing of individual animals the result often cause much more serious interference and problems to whole populations of animals. When conflict exists, it has to be tended to and stopping this process leads to frustration that may lead to even worse action against the animals. When a person knows there is an effective solution to his problem (by a certain species) he will be more tolerant to the presence of individuals that are not causing problems, however when there is no such solution he becomes desperate and will do things that he would not do normally. As an example the American Endangered Species Act prohibits the killing of an endangered species by anybody, under any circumstance - even by nature conservation officials. This caused huge political uproar and prevented the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone and other Parks for decades. The relaxation of that law allowing for the removal of repeat offending wolves was necessary before reintroductions could start. 

Rational screening of all the possible options by knowledgeble people will reveal the best option for each situation. Compassion for the animals has to be part of each decision. When killing is necessary it has to be done quick and without suffering to the animal. Capture, handling, translocation all causes much more stress than the killing will to any animal. Translocating animals and mixing of subspecies, or even ecotypes are extremely damaging to biodiversity and much more harm than good is the result.

Translocating a damage causing individual often only means translocting the problem - and causing more negative feelings towards the species. The worst part is that most pressure comes from people with no biological knowledge.

FENCE - PROs & CONs

As an example the Greens would often demand a "propper fence" that would prevent the problem animal from reaching the commodity that is to be protected. So what does a "propper fence" in terms of prevention of jackal damage mean? Jackalproof fencing span more than 15 000km of the Karroo. And it is not very effective. 

Erecting a new jackalproof fence entails establishing an basic fence. Even if the bottom is diamond mesh this does not jackalproof the fence. The enormous task then start to actually "proof" the fence. All spaces that may allow access to a jackal (and jackal can squeeze through incredibly small spaces) has to be covered. The extra man hours and material needed for this double, or even treble the cost. And then the maintanance starts.

Even the best erected fenced can be breached in a single night by the jackal, porcupine of warthog and thereby negate its eficiency. If not repaired immediately all the cost and sweat will be in vain. Thus a patrolman/repairman (or two or three - depending on the length of the fence) has to be employed. Making it one of the most expensive damage control devices available. We still have to mention that all jackal INSIDE the fenced area has to be killed to make any sense out of the operation. All jackal that ever manage to break in also has to be taken out. The killing thus has not been stopped by the fence. As if this is not enough: A jackal proof fence happens to be proof to most other animals in the same area. All of these animals are cut off from potential breeding partners, food, water, shelter and what ever else. It plays havoc with biodiversity.

The only situation where jackalproof fencing actually has positive attributes is in small lambing/calving camps close to houses, where livestock can get over the most vulnerable peroid of their lives under the watchfull eyes of whomever is tending then.

NEED TO PROFESSIONALIZE ADC

After this deliberation is should be clear that we urgently need to professionalize the ADC workfield in South Africa. The USA, Australia, New Zealand and Europe all have numerous researchers and trained ADC operators that are able to render professional assistance in solving human/animal conflicts. Many of them civil servants rendering a service both to Nature Conservation and to producers. In South Africa these issues are sadly neglected and our biodiversity and our producers are loosing out.