K H U T S E G A M E R E S E R V E B O T S W A N A : P R E S E R V I N G T H E K A L A H A R I E C O S Y S T E M

JEFFREY L. DAWSON & THOMAS M, BUTYNSKI*

Department o f Wildlife and National Parks, P.O. Box 131, Gaborone, Botswana

A B S T R A C T

The central and southwestern Kalahari of Botswana is an area o f about 250,000 square kilometres o f semi-arid sandy plains, over which large herds o f migratory hartebeest, wildebeest, springbok and gemsbok still range in a relatively natural ecosystem. A bout one-third o f the area has been preserved in three game reserves and one national park. The most accessible is Khutse Game Reserve, a typical area of pans and dry savanna, located on the eastern edge of the migration system. The habitats, wildlife and general ecology o f Khutse are discussed lts management will be orientated towards preserving its essential wilderness character, both for ecological and educational purposes.

INTRODUCTION

Khutse Game Reserve, located in the eastern portion of the Kalahari 'Desert' of Botswana, comprises 2440 km 2 of typical Kalahari habitats and wildlife. Although it is remote and largely undeveloped, its position as the nearest wildlife area to Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, gives it increasing importance and popularity as the most accessible reserve for viewing the Kalahari ecosystem.

The central and south-western Kalahari of Botswana is probably one of the largest relatively undisturbed ecosystems in Africa. It is characterised by a vast fiat and gently undulating plain of sand, covered in open shrub and tree savannas. Its semi-arid climate, virtual absence of surface water and fragile vegetation have made the area inimical to human settlement; population is sparse and most inhabitants live at subsistence level, with hunting, gathering of plant foods and pastoralism as the main activities. Wildlife is heavily utilised but remains fairly abundant; the most important animals are several species of migratory antelope.

*Present address: Department o f Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.

147 Biol. Conserv. (7) (1975)-- © Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1975 Printed in Great Britain

148 JEFFREY L. DAWSON, THOMAS M. BUTYNSKI

The movements of the animals, combined with the relatively similar conditions throughout the region, link the 250,000 km 2 of the Kalahari as one ecosystem. Four large conservation areas preserve the two ends of the migration system, and some of the more important wildlife habitats. These are: Gemsbok National Park (c. 25,000 km 2) contiguous with the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park of South Africa, Mabuasehube Game Reserve (c. 1800km2), also in the south-western Kalahari, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (52,000 km2), the largest reserve in the world, and Khutse Game Reserve (Fig. 1). For a description of these areas, see Campbell (1973).

Khutse Game Reserve is located in the central Kweneng District, about 220 km north-west of Gaborone, on the Tropic of Capricorn. It is bounded on the north by the much larger Central Kalahari Game Reserve and on the east, south and west by controlled hunting areas. The reserve is located on Bakwena tribal land, and administered by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks in consultation with the Kweneng Regional Wildlife Management Advisory Board. Khutse was gazetted as a reserve in 1971 but opened to the public a year earlier.

The environment of Khutse is dominated by the same sandy plain which characterises the Kalahari and covers 85% of Botswana. There are no outcrops of bedrock and no permanent surface water within the reserve. The monotony of the landscape is broken only by scattered pans (Fig. 2)---circular or elliptical depressions with a mineralised and clay soil, and by occasional sand-choked valleys--fossil remnants of ancient drainage systems.

HABITATS AND WILDLIFE

As shown by Parris & Child (1973), pans are essential wildlife habitats and in fact are the centres of life in the Kalahari. Large herbivores visit pans to lick salt, graze on nutritious pan grasses, and drink the mineralised water which is sometimes available during the October-March rainy season. Large carnivores are attracted by the concentration of prey, and smaller animals by the availability of insects or open conditions. Pans are the primary habitat for several species, especially springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis), bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis), ground squirrel (Xerus inauris), and springhare (Pedetes capensis). Birds are most abundant and varied in these habitats.

The 50- 60 pans in Khutse are open areas, covered in short grasses or with a dried mud centre. Two pans are particularly outstanding because of their size (about 2½ × 1 km) and importance to wildlife. Khutse pan is typical of grassed pans. Its cover of short grass, including Sporobolus ioclados, Eragrostis devoxii, and Panicum coloraturn, is heavily cropped by wildlife. Haere are two small depressions dug by Bushmen, which hold water for some time after rain. The pan is surrounded by a ring of thick scrub, including Acacia mellifera, A. giraffae,

KHUTSE GAME RESERVE, BOTSWANA 149

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Fig. 1. Location and map of Khutse Game Reserve.

Fig. 2. A typical grassed pan during the dry season. Grass cover in Sporobolus ioclados. Photo: Tom Butynski.

150 JEFFREY L. DAWSON, THOMAS M. BUTYNSKI

Catophractes alexanderi and other species. Parts of the pan have a thin sprinkling of low karroid bushes, and there are several 'islands' of A. mellifera and other small trees. Khutse Pan is the centre for a herd of about 300 springbok, and ground squirrel colonies are particularly abundant on its surface.

Fig. 3. Most of the Khutse Game Reserve is classified as open mixed-shrub savanna. Dominant shrubs shown are Ochna pulchra and Terminalia sericea. Photo: Tom Butynski.

Moreswe Pan is typical of pans with a bare centre; the relatively impervious mud holds water and forms a shallow lake after heavy rains. The short heavily cropped grasses form a ring around the edge. There is a stabilised dune on the western side of the pan, formed by sand particles blown off the pan. Many animals are attracted to Moreswe, and gemsbok (Oryx gazella), and ostrich (Struthio camelus) are particularly common.

Most of Khutse (96%) consists of dry savannas (Fig. 3). A limited number of tree and bush species are arranged in a variety of associations, creating a mosaic of vegetation types ranging from grassland to open savanna to shrubland and closed savanna. The variations are probably due to minor soil differences but periodic droughts, fire, and animal use all play some role in succession. The major tree species are Lonchocarpus nelsii, Terminalia sericea, Acacia giraffae and Boscia albitrunca. They are all deciduous and seldom exceed 5 m in height. The most important bushes include four species of Grewia, Bauhinia macrantha and Dichrostachys cinerea. Grasses include Stipagrostis uniplumis, Eragrostis spp.,

KHUTSE GAME RESERVE, BOTSWANA 151

Aristida meridionalis and Schmidtia pappophoroides. Slightly rolling duneland areas have a shrub forest with Ochnapulchra, Burkea africana, in addition to the other savanna species.

Khutse has a richer vegetation than its rainfall alone might indicate because the fine textured sandy soil holds water in the upper layers where it is accessible to plants. A couple of features of the vegetation also help to improve the productivity of the area. Both tsamma (Citrillus lanatus)and gemsbok (C. naudinianus)melons occur, and are used by many animals and man as a water supply during the dry season. Large water-bearing roots and tubers are common, and several antelope species make use of them.

The resident wildlife of Khutse is fairly sparse but concentrations of animals may occur during migrations. Red hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), and blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) pass through the reserve during their migrations but do not normally breed there. Gemsbok, springbok and kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) are resident throughout the year. There is a wide range of predators, including lion (Panthera leo), leopard (P. pardus), wild dog (Lycaon pictus), the rare and endangered cheetah (Acinonyxjubatus)and brown hyaena (Hyaena brunnea). Other characteristic animals are steenbok (Raphicerus campestris), common duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia), bat-eared fox, black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas), wildcat (Felis libyca), and springhare. More than 160 species of birds have been recorded in the reserve, despite the limited range of habitats.

MAN'S IMPACT ON KHUTSE

Man's influence on the environment of Khutse has been slight. The area is inhabited by a few bands of Bushmen. They form an inherent and harmonious part of the Kalahari ecosystem and are allowed to continue their traditional hunting and food gathering within the reserve. Parts of Khutse have been used as seasonal stock grazing area by Kgalagadi villagers in the past and some small areas have been used for crops at one time or another, but the effects are not noticeable.

Elsewhere in the Kalahari there has been pronounced degradation of areas used by man (Fig. 4). Like most semi-arid areas, the Kalahari is easily abused through over-grazing and misuse of fire. The road to Khutse passes through several villages and the contrasts between these areas and the wilderness of Khutse are obvious to many visitors.

The environment of Khutse may have been affected indirectly through several changes occurring in the Kalahari. Migration routes have been disrupted through fencing and other human activities, settlement of pans and valleys has removed some of the best wildlife habitats, and seasonal migrants from eastern Botswana have been eliminated. The southern and eastern boundaries of Khutse now more or

152 JEFFREY L. DAWSON, THOMAS M. BUTYNSKI

less coincide with the general limits of Kalahari wildlife (Fig. l), and most hunting in this area takes place near the Khutse boundary. Some of these changes are documented by Campbell & Child (1971) and Parris & Child (1973).

Fig. 4. Those portions of the Kalahari inhabited by pastoral man tend to be seriously degraded as a result of over-grazing and too frequent burning. Photo: Don Halloran.

MANAGEMENT POLICY

Khutse is mostly wilderness and development is at present limited to c. 100 km of game-viewing tracks and a game scout camp. All parties of visitors must be entirely self-sufficient; there is no food, water or petrol available in the reserve. Despite this and the rather lengthy journey needed to reach Khutse, the reserve is growing rapidly in popularity as a place for a "wilderness experience' and as the most available area for seeing the Kalahari ecosystem.

It is important that the wildness of Khutse be maintained, both for ecological and educational reasons. As the remainder of the Kalahari comes under increasing pressure from man, Khutse and the other Kalahari reserves will have an increasingly important role in the preservation of Kalahari wildlife and habitat.

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REFERENCES

CAMPBELL, A. C. & CHILD, G. (1971). The impact of Man on his environment in Botswana. Botswana Notes and Records, 3, 91 - 110.

CAMPBELL, A. C. (1973). The National Parks and Reserve System in Botswana. Biol. Conserv., 5, 7- 14. PARRIS, R. & CHILD, G. (1973). The importance of pans to wildlife in the Kalahari and the effects of

human sett lement on these areas. J. S. Aft. Wildl. Mgmt Ass., 3, 1-8.