Saving the bontebok from extinction

The bontebok, endemic to the south-western Cape, was hunted to the brink of extinction before the establishment of the Bontebok National Park in 1931. As Mike Burgess writes, some Overberg farming families were actively protecting the species of antelope from as early as the 1830s.

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The trekking of European settlers into the interior after the settlement of the Cape of Good Hope in 1652 was accompanied by the relentless hunting of game that were seen as competition for grazing livestock.

Two antelope species, endemic to the south-western Cape, were particularly badly affected. By the early 1800s, the bluebuck was extinct, and by the 1920s, only 17 bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus) were left.

Ironically, though, it would be descendants of these trekboers who would play a pivotal role in protecting the bontebok and laying the foundation for them to reach present-day numbers of approximately 3,000.

Although now safe from imminent extinction, these striking antelope still face serious challenges arising from population and habitat fragmentation. The bontebok is therefore still listed as 'vulnerable' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.

FARMER CONSERVATION