Drought – Nature’s lessons in overdrive in Kruger National Park

Abstract

Drought management Drought – Nature’s lessons in overdrive in Kruger National Park “Besides a scarcity of rain, high temperatures have resulted in a lack of fodder for the animals in the Kruger National Park. Both artificial dams and natural and man-made pans have been reduced to mud, while large-scale deaths occurred among animals, such as buffalo and baboons.” While this scene sounds eerily familiar, it is actually a (loosely translated from Afrikaans) exert from the Kruger National Park’s Annual Report of 1991/92. Drought has always been a natural part of the Kruger National Park and runs like a golden thread throughout its 90-year history. While the park’s climate can be described as semi-arid (average annual rainfall for the park is only around 550 mm) this can vary considerably from year to year, and multi-year oscillations have been observed that vary from above average rainfall years (with increased likelihood of floods) to below average rainfall years (with increased likelihood of droughts).

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