29th September 20205th October 2020 by Gondwana Conservation Foundation

Gondwana Conservation Foundation (GCF) has partaken in the National Fynbos Forum

It has been an exciting year for the GCF research team with our ongoing Satyrium muticum monitoring project. This year we were able to replicate our counting method which provided interesting insight into population size and trends. More than 6000 plants were counted on Gondwana game reserve in 2020 easily making it the largest known population of this endangered orchid.

How do we do the counts:

It takes a lot of time, people and enthusiasm to do the estimated counts for the populations. Corridors are demarcated and then explored systematically, recording all the S. muticums we can find. Plants in flower are recorded separately as well as those showing evidence of been eaten (herbivory).

In 2019 we recorded herbivory but never discovered what was eating them. In 2020, with the help of Wildlife and Ecological investments, we initiated a camera trap study to see which herbivores where consuming the orchids as well as any other general disturbance to the populations.

Results show many different animals breaking into our research area regardless of the fence. Buffalo, Sable, Common Duiker, Cape Grysbok and Porcupine were all caught on camera but only one culprit was photographed seeking out and then eating these flowers.

Cape Buffalo

Porcupice

Sable

A particular Grysbok (above) was witnessed taking 7 of the 8 flowers visible to the camera! After analysis of the data collected, management recommendations will be made to ensure best conservation practices in these areas.

We are excited to share the discovery of a THIRD population of this plant on the reserve, discovered by the team whilst mapping Gondwana for IUCN red list species. These plants were not included in the count this season but next year’s results should be very positive. A poster was presented at the Fynbos Forum describing the project and its success which was very well received. More presentations of the conservation work this team does will be shared and we are thankful for the support of all our donors in funding this success story.