Herding game by bike

Posted on by admin

Table of contents

to travel

Herding game by bike

Herding game by bike
Meet elephants

Dieter Lobkarn

12/13/1996

Elephants don’t like motorbikes, so I don’t wear a helmet. I have to hear them trumpet so I know when it’s time to run away, ”replied Bryan Havemann in South Africa’s Kruger Park when asked about his missing head protection. On the other hand, the BMW driver is better protected than the average F 650 driver in another respect: with a rifle across the front over the crossbar. However, you will look in vain for the bracket in the official BMW spare parts list. Even with South African dealers, but the 36-year-old ranger only rarely needs the weapon for self-defense, as he laughingly defends. The real reason sounds less adventurous. The sad fact is that irresponsible tourists often ignore the speed limit in the park, hit animals and injure them. He then has to shoot them. The enthusiastic motorcyclist patrols the northern part of the South African National Park, which is as extensive as all of Belgium. The fact that nature in Kruger Park did not suffer the same fate as the surrounding landscapes is thanks to the man whose name it bears: Paul Oom Kruger, former President of the South African Republic. It was he, Elke and I found out from Bryan at the evening campfire in the camp, who a century ago suggested to the Volksraad that part of the country should be cut off from settlement. A completely unpopular view for the time. White farmers believed that any reasonably fertile land had to be used economically. It took the President a lot of time and effort to achieve his goal. In the Transvaal Lowveld, the Wildtuin Gouvernement, later called Sabie Game Reserve, was established on March 26, 1898. “If I can’t protect this small area in the Lowveld, then our grandchildren will never know what a kudu, an eland or a lion look like,” Kroger noted farsightedly in his notes at the time. The actual National Park Act was only 28 Adopted in parliament on May 31, 1926 years after Kruger ‘s death. The Sabie Game Reserve became the Kruger National Park. After the USA, which started with Yellowstone in Wyoming in 1872, the idea of ​​withdrawing certain areas from human use and creating an ecological reserve had now also gained a foothold on the Black Continent. Bryan knows that the park faces similar problems today as it did when it was founded. After the democratic change in South Africa, the blacks who have been oppressed for centuries want to see the results of the new politics at last. Again it is important to create an ecological awareness in people. However, this time it will be even more difficult. Thousands of black people live on the outskirts of the park. The land is burned out, the people have no water and little to eat. There is practically nothing in the tree and shrub-free landscape beyond the park boundaries, whereas in the park there is everything you need to live: meat, firewood and water. For them it is incomprehensible that whites pay money to look at animals. National parks, above all the Kruger Park, only have a future in Africa if it is possible to make it clear to the black majority that it is important to protect certain ecosystems protect. Not an easy task when you consider that nobody who lives outside the park in the former homeland Gazankulu can afford the 30 rand entrance fee. Another problem is the financing of the park staff. People like Bryan, who have enormous responsibility as area rangers, receive the equivalent of around 400 marks a month. And that after five years of university studies and ten years of work in the park. It is almost impossible to feed a family on it. “I’m allowed to shoot an antelope here for self-sufficiency. But when we’re in Johannesburg, I couldn’t even take my wife out to dinner. We’ll live with my parents. ”Bryan is an absolute idealist. He loves the bush, its fauna and flora. “Someone must feel responsible here. And at some point the pay will get better too. ”And he immediately starts talking about the advantages of his job. “Who has such a home route for motorcycling?” Otherwise there is a strict ban on motorcycling in the entire park. Because of the wildlife, it is considered too dangerous. “The tourists always get big eyes when they see me.” And how do the animals, the lions, elephants and buffalo react? Doesn’t the red BMW look like a torero cape to you? Bryan waves it away with a laugh. “A common prejudice. All animals see only black and white, only birds and monkeys can see colors. So khaki color would not be necessary if birds and primates did not warn the other animals of the dangers. When they see my red bike, they immediately emit their warning sounds. ”The motorcycle patrols, initially intended as a test, have proven themselves so well that the park administration wants to equip other employees with bikes. There are enough motorcycle rangers out there, and many have already been to Bryan’s place to sit. Here, too, the problem is the financing. What a high-profile opportunity for motorcycle manufacturers to demonstrate their closeness to nature, but Bryan’s job isn’t just about riding a motorcycle and answering tourist questions. Again and again he and his black rangers have to hunt down poachers. “The machine is an irreplaceable helper. I can still get through the undergrowth with her, where the SUV has already got stuck. I post the rangers at an agreed location by radio and then drive the poachers into their arms with the machine. “This part of Bryan’s job is called anti-poaching work. Again and again they catch the predators, discover and destroy their excruciatingly killing traps. It doesn’t always happen peacefully. The animal killers invading from neighboring Mozambique often fiercely resist arrest. In the neighboring country, which has been shattered by the longstanding civil war, the Russian AK 47 assault rifle is available on the black market for a six-pack of beer. The contract killers then use these automatic weapons to mow down rhinos and elephants in order to get at their horns and ivory. “If we arrest someone, they’ll usually be deported and come back across the border at some point.” A vicious circle. In the evening, when Bryan sits with his wife and daughter in front of the blazing campfire, these “everyday” problems take a back seat. He visibly enjoys the noises of the bush, his “stereo”, myriads of cicadas, distant lion roars, the hoarse laughter of the hyenas. He doesn’t want to swap his thousand-star hotel with anyone.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *