Baobabs and elephants in Kruger National Park: nowhere to hide

Baobab size class distributions were surveyed in the Limpopo National Park (LNP), Mozambique, and the Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa. There are very few elephants in the LNP and the baobab population there had a reverse J-shaped size class distribution with many small baobabs. In contrast, the elephant-impacted baobab population of KNP displayed a mono-modal size-class distribution, with a lack in recruitment. Within KNP, elephant impact (percentage bark stripped up to the height of 3 m) decreased with increasing rockiness and slope steepness. We interpret this to suggest that steep rocky slopes are inaccessible to elephants and therefore these sites may act as a refuge for baobabs. In such inaccessible areas, the baobab population has a similar size-class distribution to that of the populations in the LNP. However, these baobab refugia are restricted in the northern KNP landscape and are therefore probably not large enough to sustain a viable baobab population.