The End of the Game

The End of the Game

Something I am deeply connected to and concerned about. 

I have used photographs taken from the book, The End of the Game, written by one of my favorite artists and authors, Peter Beard.

Since a little girl I have had the privilege of visiting the Kruger National Park. It is a place of peace and beauty, a place where I have learnt an infinite amount and been able to observe African wildlife from a safe and close distance. 

I am here to bring up a topic which has occurred in the past in other parts of Southern Africa and what I am sadly observing here in this special place. A hugely increasing population of elephants. Now, elephants are one of my favorite to see in Kruger, their huge stature, wise eyes and just the incredible feeling you get when being close to them. Unfortunately due to their large population in Kruger, which is ever growing,  it is leading the Eco-system to destruction. Now I don't know much about this topic and invite anyone who has more information to comment it below this post. But what I and other locals are seeing here is elephants eating and killing thousands of trees in Kruger. There are areas where you can drive and 90% of the trees have been pushed over, the bark stripped and are left in the dirt to die. 
As in the book, The End of the Game, this has occurred before and has devastating affects. The land is stripped bare of trees and the ripple effect causes other animals to die of starvation, including the elephants which are usually last to go. The land, once a green haven, bustling with life now turns to dust and skeletons. This is also thought to be reason for the recent deaths of elephants in Botswana.

Elephants have been left to over-populate because it is so difficult to control, culling is devastating, contraceptives are expensive, but there has to be a solution. There are currently around 25 00 - 30 000 elephants in Kruger, which used to be kept at a controlled level of around 14 000 in the 1960's by culling.

I feel it is my duty to make people more aware of this, as I am sure many of you have visited the Kruger and know what a special place it is and how important it is to conserve it. 
 





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