African Wildlife Environment Issue 75 FINAL

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

To burn or not to burn? The straw deserts of the DRAKENSBERG

After an easy five km hike we stop at Pillar Cave in the Southern Drakensberg for a breather. Over the last decade I’ve done this walk perhaps a dozen times. It’s always been a sure bet for seeing Eland, but sightings have got fewer over the years. This time we didn’t see even fresh Eland sign. We saw few other wild animals too. I ponder the scene. Veld fires go by here infrequently now. The place hasn’t been burnt in years. The mountain sides are clothed in old grown-out grass. In this dystrophic landscape the scarce nutrients are locked up in moribund grass, unavailable to insects, birds, rodents, antelopes and others. This is a straw desert. It needs frequent veld fires to cycle the nutrients. I think back…

Article and photos: Dr Mike Mentis

The mountains clothed in grown-out old grass, as viewed from Pillar Cave

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