Controlling Wildlife Numbers (5-minute Video)

The early managers of Zululand’s wilderness areas discovered that managing wildlife populations in finite regions is complex, especially with growing impoverished, rural communities as neighbors.

They had to be innovative in their approach to the issues, so the concept of adaptive management was born. Adaptive management simply means controlling wildlife populations, especially herbivores and particularly selective grazers, to the extent that the habitat is retained as the primary management objective.

Biodiversity and habitat management are inseparable. Populations of wild animals that use the habitat fluctuate from year to year, depending on drought, rainfall, and the natural variations in habitat.

The officials offered excess wildlife to farming communities free of charge in the hope that the wildlife range would be extended.

Lions were also introduced into some reserves to help keep herbivore numbers down.