Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for
Date of this Version
2013
Citation
Proceedings of the 15th Wildlife Damage Management Conference. (J. B. Armstrong, G. R. Gallagher, Eds). 2013.
Abstract
Prior to 1990, the four provincial governments of South Africa had a variety of programs in place to manage predation by black-backed jackals and caracals through lethal and nonlethal manage-ment in close cooperation with livestock farmers. During the 1990s the official programmes were phased out due to a multitude of factors including lower predation rates. Today, thousands of livestock (primari-ly sheep and goats, but also cattle and wildlife) are lost each day in South Africa due to black-backed jackal and caracal predation. The actual numbers are not known because not all losses are accounted or reported. It also does not account for the scores of cattle and wildlife lost to black-backed jackals and caracals, nor does it include livestock predation from other predators. To address the losses, the major producer organizations including the National Wool Growers’ Association of South Africa, the South Af-rican Mohair Growers’ Association, the Red Meat Producers Organization, and Wildlife Ranching SA formed the Predation Management Forum in 2009. The overall goal of the Predation Management Forum is to address predation by black-backed jackals and caracals by reestablishing a national program to in-clude the national government of South Africa, provincial governments, and producers. Currently, the Predation Management Forum is actively engaging in initiatives to address predation in South Africa to ensure food security, biodiversity, and jobs.