This rainy season, above-normal rains largely induced by tropical cyclone Eloise, have lashed most parts of southern Africa bringing much relief but also massive destruction in certain areas resulting in concern to wildlife, and conservation and tourism operators. The current rainy season has seen Southern Africa experiencing storms, Eloise and Chalane, among the most destructive being tropical cyclones. After the tropical cyclone, Eloise hit some parts of Mozambique like Beira at speeds of 160km per hour, South Africa was also hard hit with the government declaring a national disaster. Cyclones are synonymous with torrents and cause disturbances to wildlife, some of them good or bad, depending on geographical area. Experts also say that tropical cyclones are good for giving new life to flora, in cases where rainfall patterns are usually critical. Trans-located wooden fragments also help to give young plants nutritional sources and foundations to grow quickly. Cyclones are also responsible for reforming the ecosystem’s appearance or outlook. The bad is when there is a lot of uprooting of masses of trees though this may be limited to specific areas, resulting in massive soil movement that results in gullies. In some very extreme cases, cyclones cause unusual migration of species like birds from one far geographical area to another, where their long-term survival could be threatened as they may find it hard to adapt. Navashni Govender, Senior Manager: Conservation, Kruger National Park said: “Indeed the recent rains received did provide excellent relief from the recent effects of the drought that…
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