Breeding success on our private nature reserve, UmPhafa, sees first releases of wild animals into new areas of the reserve.

Colchester Zoo’s registered charity Action for the Wild is dedicated to researching and conserving animal species all over the world. One of its main priorities is to manage the UmPhafa Private Nature Reserve in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

When UmPhafa was first established it was divided into two separate farm portions which allowed rangers to easily manage the land. The first portion, known as Gevonden, was allocated as the initial release site for all species. The other portion, Geluk, inhabited wild animals which made their way there by natural means.

Uniquely, the land covers a 1,200 foot gradient from the banks of the Tugela River to the top of mountains and covers a diverse range of ecosystems, including open grassland and bushveldt. Historically, approximately 35 mammalian species inhabited this area, however, due to previous farmland management techniques, many of these native species had disappeared.

Now that the initial populations introduced on to Gevonden have bred successfully, to a point that they are reaching the carrying capacity, rangers have begun with phase 2 of the management plan to stock Geluk with surplus species from Gevonden. This is a big moment for UmPhafa as these are the first releases of wild animals ever to take place on this property and sees the return of many species to the land that have been absent for many years.

Transporting animals from one farm to another is not the easiest of manoeuvres and with limited equipment and funding, options and procedures have to be carefully thought through. After 3 weeks of successful capturing and transporting; 10 giraffe, 6 waterbuck, 45 impala, 10 zebra and 69 blesbok were moved over to Geluk.

Conservation Coordinator, Liam Westall commented ‘From a management perspective it is important that we do not allow our animals to exceed the carrying capacity for the area in order that the habitat does not become degraded, which would reduce its potential for supporting wildlife. This means that more translocation will be necessary in the future.’

The eventual aims of UmPhafa are to release cheetah onto the reserve which will aid in controlling numbers of prey species naturally and this will take place once sufficient levels of animals have been released on to Geluk and the two properties have been opened up together.

To find out more about UmPhafa and to donate to this conservation project please visit www.umphafa.com