African Wildlife & Environment Issue 83

ECO HERO

ecology of this species. But Sollie’s studies of rare antelopes were not limited to Roan. He also conducted extensive research into both Sable Antelope and Tsessebe, which resulted in peer reviewed papers in various scientific journals. An illustrious career An illustrious career followed. In April 1971 he was transferred to the Research Department in Skukuza as ‘Senior Research Officer’ and a week after the family’s arrival, his son (Dusty) was born. In April 1974 he was promoted to the position of ‘Head Research Officer’, and in April 1976 was promoted to ‘Head: Scientific Services’. In April 1987 he was given the appointment as ‘Executive Director’ (Park Warden) of the Kruger National Park in which he served with great distinction. But paradoxically, he was suddenly and unexpectedly “retired” from that position on 31 July 1994 (see below). Salomon was a visionary conservationist and was the driving force behind the development of many new projects aimed at monitoring environmental change in the KNP. In 1972 he underwent flying training to personally conduct extensive aerial censusing of all the Park’s large herbivore populations. In the meantime, the Park had acquired a new Cessna 206 for this purpose (Salomon named this aircraft ‘Maggie’ after his daughter Magdaleen).The methods for conducting these censuses using this aircraft were developed in 1975/76. Gradually the area censused annually was increased until by 1977 the whole of the KNP was covered except for the mountainous areas in the extreme north and south. Finally, from 1982, these areas were also included, giving total coverage of the entire KNP. These were a massive annual undertaking requiring a team of six dedicated observers spanning a three and a half month period during the dry season. These surveys (called Ecological Aerial Surveys or EAS) were standardised to a high degree, and the resulting excellent data set collected over the years allowed a fundamental interpretation of the functioning of KNP’s ecosystems, which had until then been sketchy and speculative. This was particularly true for understanding various species’ population fluctuations in response to environmental variables, which formed the basis of many future research projects. It also contributed

Sollie as a young man

Salomon presenting a long-service award to Louis Olivier

56 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 83 (2023)