:: SOUTH AFRICA'S THREATENED CATS

By Gus Mills

The terms endangered, vulnerable and threatened are often used incorrectly. Each has a specific definition and set of criteria laid down by the IUCN (The World Conservation Union) to classify the conservation status of a species. Threatened is an umbrella term referring to those species that are in most need of conservation action and includes species that are classified as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable, depending on the severity of their status.

There are 36 species of wild cat in the world. The most threatened species is the Critically Endangered Iberian lynx, from the Iberian Peninsula. Africa contains 9 species. Fortunately none are Endangered, but four; lion, cheetah, African golden cat and black footed cat are vulnerable. Of the remaining species, the sand cat is Near Threatened, but the leopard, caracal, serval and African wild cat are classified as Least Concern. Lion, leopard, cheetah, caracal, serval, African wild cat and black-footed cat all occur in South Africa.

Although its overall status is Vulnerable, in West and Central Africa the lion is Endangered. The largest populations occur in East and South Africa. In South Africa the most important lion populations are in the Kruger National Park with a population of over 2 000, and one of the largest wild populations left in Africa, and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, which contains a population of about 500 individuals. The remaining South African lions are distributed in small fenced reserves where management is difficult and controversial. Cheetahs too are mainly confined to East and Southern Africa. Kruger has about 200 cheetahs as does the Kgalagadi. Like the lion there are also a number of cheetahs in small fenced reserves which present similar management problems to those experienced with lion. A potential solution is the formation of conservancies where small reserves can be expanded through dropping fences and cooperation between land owners.

Outside protected areas lion and cheetah are likely to come into conflict with people through predation on livestock and farmed game. Therefore large protected areas are critical for their long-term conservation. However, innovative techniques to protect livestock from predation such as the erection of effective kraals and, in the case of cheetahs, the use of guard dogs to protect the livestock help to allow these large carnivores to co-exist with people in some areas provided there is enough wild game to sustain them. However, where game farming is the predominant form of land use the problems are often more severe than with domestic livestock as these animals can’t be herded into kraals at night.

In some counties like Botswana and Tanzaniacarefully applied and sustainable trophy hunting has lead to the maintenance of some lion populations outside of protected areas. In this situation it is critical that local people are able to benefit from the hunting. Not only do these hunting areas provide habitat for large carnivore populations, but they provide shelter for a wide range of other species and habitats.
The black-footed cat is endemic to the South Western part of Africa. Little is known about this, the smallest of Africa’s cats, and its distribution is poorly documented. It is probably more common and widespread than is generally thought to be the case. The caracal is a stock killer and farmers have waged an ineffective war on this species for many years. The serval and the African wild cat should not be seen as problem animals as both feed predominantly on small mammals, especially rodents, and are widespread. The main threat to the wild cat is pollution of the pure bred African wild cat population by cross breeding with feral domestic cats.

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