Your neighbours are wild – tips to live in a biosphere
If you live in the Kogelberg Biosphere, chances are you’ve had a first-hand encounter in your home, garden or community space with some more unusual members of our wonderful wildlife.
Not everyone around the world, or even South Africa, is that fortunate. But not everyone lives in a biosphere, let alone one that is teeming with wildlife quite like the Kogelberg.
If you do have mammals, reptiles and birds moving through your property, then there are a number of things you can do to ensure you live in harmony with nature and live a sustainable lifestyle. (These tips were first featured in Sustainable development & living, brought out by the Kogelberg Biosphere and Overstrand Municipality, as well as Your place in the Kogelberg by Tim Attwell).
Above (from iNaturalist.com): @jennyparsons – Cape Grysbok (Raphicerus melanotis), @peterlupton – Cape Spurfowl (Pternistis capensis), @james_murray – Cape Lappet (Eutricha capensis)
- Respect wild animals and always keep your distance, do not approach them, and do not remove them from their environment.
- Tortoises are a good example of animals to treat with care and to try not to move if it’s not essential. Tortoises urinate as a means of defence. But this depletes their limited water resources, so it’s best to rather leave them as far as possible. If they are in danger on a road, pick them up with great care – by placing your hands under the shell, holding the animal very close to the ground and moving it quickly out of harm’s way.
- Snakes form a key link in the food chain as both predator and prey. Do not kill snakes. If you find a snake in your garden or home, call a local snake catcher to remove snakes. Here’s a list of local snake catchers.
- Porcupines are attracted by bulbous plants such as arum lilies. Do not plant these types of plants and secure the property with a fence if you do not want porcupines in the garden. They run backwards or sideways into opponents as a defence mechanism. But they are not seen that often given that they’re active at night.
- Genet, mongeese, rock hyrax (dassies) and birds may enter roofs that are not properly secured. Seal your entry points to reduce the likelihood of these animals making a family home in your roof.
- Even bats sometimes make a home in a roof. But bats are an effective biological insecticide and control many agricultural pests. Some populations of bats in an area can consume around 500kg of insects in one night; so they are a handy companion to manage insect numbers, especially in wetland areas.
- Baboons frequent the area, and it is important that these animals are not attracted into the urban area by resident’s fruit trees and irresponsible waste management (please use baboon-proof bins, which have a latch, strap, padlock or a clip which these clever animals cannot open).
- Human food is not healthy for wild animals as they have specialised diets and can become malnourished or die if fed the wrong foods.
- Animals also cannot distinguish food from wrappers or foil and can get sick eating these items.
- Animals that are accustomed to humans often lose their fear of people and can become aggressive if approached. Residents who put food out for wildlife – even birdfeeders – attract baboons to their property. Feeding baboons is a prohibited and punishable offence.
- Feeding wild animals can lead to them being at risk of being knocked over on the roads or attacked by domestic pets.
- Attracting wild animals to the urban area removes them from their ecological role in nature. For example, feeding birds domestic seed stops them from pollinating or dispersing seeds in the natural environment.
Above (from iNaturalist.com): @thelittleolivefarm – Common Garden Orbweb Spider (Argiope australis), @cecileroux – Southern Rock Agama (Agama atra),
@k_hunter93 – Cape Chacma Baboon (Papio ursinus ssp. ursinus)
How the Kogelberg rescues wild animals
If you do find injured or displaced wild animals in need of care, get in touch with our Kogelberg Biosphere Wildlife Rescue & Training Centre. This centre is situated just outside Betty’s Bay. Here we help rehabilitate animals, in order to release them back into the wild once they have recovered.
You can also get involved in protecting our region’s wildlife. Become a volunteer at our rescue centre, or donate much-needed goods and funding, which is used for meals and transport of injured animals, as well as to pay vet’s bills.
Additional source: The Overberg Explorer; A joint project of the Overberg community
Above (from iNaturalist.com): @leeboyd – Cape Reed Snake (Amplorhinus multimaculatus), @jovantonder – Red-veined Dropwing (Trithemis arteriosa), @camdejong – Olive Woodpecker (Dendropicos griseocephalus)
Above (from iNaturalist.com): @lradrat – Cape Canary (Serinus canicollis), @iandavies – Cape Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis ssp. capensis), @wneser – Fynbos Burrowing Scorpion (Opistophthalmus macer)
Donate
We are a not-for-profit company and a public benefit organisation. All funds raised therefore go to meeting our motto: Nature for Life.
We can provide 18A tax exemption certificates to donors.
For more information, contact admin@kogelbergbiosphere.org.za
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