The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve covers 7,750 ha and is located at the tip of the Cape Peninsula, 40 km south of Cape Town, South Africa (Figs. 1 and 2). The natural and unnatural history of the reserve has been described by Fraser and McMahon (1994). It can therefore be seen primarily as a historical record on which future descriptions and assessments of the mammalian fauna of the reserve can be based.
On the other hand, the very arguments used by some opponents for the creation of the Reserve (or, at least, a "game reserve") were, ironically, perhaps more authentic. Despite persistent and impassioned pleas that the Reserve's "flora", genus, be prioritized, a variety of large mammals were introduced in the 1940s, '50s and '60s. The springbok, a historical inhabitant of the Karoo, was introduced because it was the emblem of South Africa.
A curious reluctance persisted on the part of the authorities to listen to any contrary advice and criticism regarding the management of the reserve. Promotion of the reserve's natural resident attractions remains necessary, as the image of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve as a "wildlife park" is unfortunately still maintained in some areas. Probably one of the most numerous mammals in the reserve and, being diurnal and generally quite secretive, the easiest to see of the small species.
Their numbers vary from year to year, mainly in response to the age and seral stage of the vegetation. Southern Rights can be seen from both coasts of the reserve, but are much more common and easier to see in False Bay. Of the sixteen Caracals killed in the 1960s in a predator control operation designed to benefit the reserve's antelopes, none contained prey.
These infestations were believed to be common to the remaining herds and caused the species to become extinct on the reserve by 1975. The reserve's carrying capacity is unknown, but unlikely to be so high in an area with very limited natural grass cover. A number of klipspringers were also released into the hills above Simons Town, north of the reserve, in October 2004.
The "herds of antelope" claimed in some quarters to have roamed the area that is now the reserve in the early years of the twentieth century may have referred to this species as it was the only herding or semi-herding antelope , that were present at the time (there are no introduced species, such as the Bontebok, and the Eland are long extinct). An assessment of the status of the species in the reserve and the reasons for its decline here is warranted. It is known that in the nineteenth century cattle from the Cape Town area were seasonally driven to fresh pastures at the Strand in the southeast corner of the Cape Flats.].
Moose are rarely seen by the casual visitor, although hikers may encounter them in the central part of the Reserve towards Sirkelsvlei, in the steep valley on the east coast near Kanon.
Potential additions to the Reserve list
It seems that the animals were not well, and no "ox or cow could live at Cape Point more than a year." One of the main perceived reasons for this was that: "when the first rains fall, a kind of grass appears and as soon as an ox or a cow eats it, it dies" (Cape Argus, 22 July 1938). This apparently convinced John McKellar of Buffelsfontein to switch from cattle to horses (which seemed to flourish) and Struthio camelus ostriches in the 1850s.
The species disappeared from the Peninsula sometime after the arrival of Europeans in 1652, although it was still prominent enough for the southern part of a map of the Peninsula to be labeled "Eland Pasture Quarter" in 1750. Three Eland (one cow and two bulls ) were introduced to the Reserve in 1946 from Groote Schuur Estate in Cape Town, three in 1948 and 12 from Prieska in the Northern Cape in 1962/63. Small numbers are periodically killed to limit the size of the herd, which in 1994 was 59.
Eland tend to lie in dense undergrowth during the day (dense stands of Acacia cyclops were favored before they were cleared) and are active between 4pm and 10am. Eland are browsers and about 50% of their diet in the Reserve consisted of acacia cyclops and A saligna (Maltby 1979). Therefore, their numbers can decrease, their health deteriorates and more pressure can be exerted on the natural vegetation with the necessary removal of this foreign vegetation.
The sharp-eyed observer (most likely a seabird or angler) has the chance to add a cetacean to the list: the likes of Longfin Pilot Whale Globicephala melaena and Pygmy Killer Whale Feresa attenuata can also be expected to turn up before both occurred elsewhere along the Peninsula's coast, although rarely. On a larger scale, Sperm Whale Physeter macrocephalus, which once accounted for around half of the catch of South Africa's whaling industry and is consequently very rare today, may make an appearance before the population recovers. About the only new seal that has a realistic chance of showing up is Crabeater Lobodon carcinophagus, an Antarctic species that was once recorded on a False Bay beach.
The Weddell Seal Leptonynchotes weddelli has the most southerly distribution of any mammal having strayed beyond the ice pack to Uruguay and Marion Island in the southern Indian Ocean, but has yet to be recorded further north. Although a reserve record of this or the Crabeater is not at all beyond the realm of possibility, with four seals already on the reserve list, perhaps more than anywhere else in Africa, we can't complain if another species takes a long time. in the future.
Acknowledgements
Observations on the feeding ecology of Pelea cap-reolus (Gray Fox) in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. Reptiles and Amphibians of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, South Western Cape, South Africa. Foods of red-winged starlings and the dispersal potential of acacia cyclops birds in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve.
Preliminary report on the moose Taurotragus oryx in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. An autecological study of a Muridae: Praomys verreauxii in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve and nearby surroundings. Observations on the nesting site and nesting behavior of the Black Oystercatcher Haematopus moquini in the Cape Peninsula.
Report on a visit to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve [to assess predator control]. An overview of rodents occurring in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, with particular emphasis on habitat and vegetation types. Behavioral and isotopic ecology of chacma sea baboons (Papio ursinus) in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.
Factors affecting the distribution and availability of baboons and other primates in the Cape Province. The history and effects of alien plant control in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. Stomach contents of forty-five predatory mammals collected in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve.
Conservation importance assessment and management of the terrestrial vegetation of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve as an aid to development and management planning. Population density of large herbivores in the fynbos of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. A preliminary study on the Bontebok Damaliscus pygarus in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve.
An analysis of flowering plants and ferns in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. Bontebok's status and health aspect with special reference to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve.
Biodiversity Observations
