Documenting historical faunal change in Lesotho and the adjoining eastern Free State of southern Africa

摘要

Lesotho has been subjected to tremendous biodiversity changes over the last two centuries,udprimarily due to an ever increasing pressure on land settlement and the extraction of Naturaludresources. Lesotho is therefore in the process of preserving biodiversity through the establishmentudof nature reserves. If there are plans to introduce new or reintroduce past species, past biogeographicaludpatterns of fauna need to be established. The aim of this study is to use documentaryudevidence, oral history approaches and archaeological reports to establish relative speciesudoccurrence and timing of species extinctions; and to also establish the general causes of speciesuddisappearance.udDocumentary sources studied were written in English, French and Sesotho between 1833 andud1978. The period after 1978 was studied through the use of oral interviews within several villagesudin Lesotho. Archaeological information reviewed supplied information about fauna in the regionudof Lesotho and eastern Free State during the Holocene. The use of these three methods provides audtimeline for the existence of faunal species from the Holocene to the present in the region.udThe beginning of the 19th Century saw the extinction of several large mammals in Lesotho andudthe eastern Free State. The blue antelope had already become globally extinct during this time.udAccording to documented evidence quagga occurred in the region of Lesotho and the eastern FreeudState until the 1870s, after which it became globally extinct. Lions and hippopotami occurreduduntil the 1870s and 1890s respectively. Most large antelope such as the wildebeest (blue andudblack), red hartebeest and springbok also occurred within the region during the mid and late 19thudCentury after which they disappeared. Eland are still an occasional visitor to the SehlabathebeudNational Park. Smaller antelope such as oribi and klipspringer still occur in some parts of Lesothoudthough in very small numbers. Grey rhebok are, however, still common in the highlands.udBaboons, even though significantly decreased in numbers, still occur in packs in several placesudwithin Lesotho.udApproximately 40 species of mammals, several species of birds and reptiles have been identifiedudas presently existing in Lesotho and the surrounding eastern Free State. There have been reportsudof mammals which are unlikely to occur in Lesotho, both historical and present, and these haveudbeen identified. The causes of species decline have been attributed to increased population growth, which leads toudover-hunting and more importantly to a decrease in the habitat available for wildlife. Most causesudare anthropogenic, caused by increased competition of resources between man and wildlife. Otherudcauses have been in the form of extreme climatic events such as snow and drought.