Page "Addo Elephant National Park" Paragraph 7

Two major environmental issues facing the AENP: extinction and overpopulation, which are both interrelated.

Since the AENP ’ s original mission was to reintroduce certain mega-herbivores ( like the African Elephant and Black Rhinoceros ), primary ecological efforts were made to preserve mammalian species.

However, by overlooking the other contributors to this environmental chain, certain plant species have been subjected to overgrazing and trampling, mostly by the elephants of the park.

This overgrazing and trampling not only destroys much of the plant life, but also forces it to adapt its physiology to stimuli that are not inherent to its evolutionary progress.

Some biologists argue that it is not herbivorization alone that is threatening the flora, but a number of other ecological factors including zoochory and nutrient cycling.

Up to 77 species of South African endemic plant species have been listed as “ vulnerable to elephant browsing .”