Rationale
(Changed due to New Information)
Kinixys natalensis was considered to be Vulnerable at a Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group Red Listing workshop in 2013 (TTWG 2014), but was listed as Least Concern by Boycott (2014), as published in Bates et al. (2014), based on an earlier 2010 assessment. The species was previously assessed as Near Threatened on the 1996 IUCN Red List. The range of K. natalensis covers a region where habitat destruction and degradation far exceeds national levels in South Africa. Jewitt et al. (2015) reported that in KwaZulu-Natal 46.4% of the habitat was degraded by 2011, with an average annual degradation rate of 1.2% since 1994. The major drivers of habitat loss are agriculture, timber plantations, urban development, and the construction of dams and mines. Although there are no official figures available for land degradation in Swaziland (now eSwatini), much of the species’ habitat outside protected areas has been cleared for sugarcane and citrus production (R.C. Boycott pers. obs.), which is confirmed by degradation maps of Rouget et al. (2004) and Schoeman et al. (2013). These findings also apply to the species’ habitat outside of Kruger National Park in eastern Mpumalanga and southeastern Limpopo. Apart from habitat loss, the indiscriminate use of fire to transform bushveld into grassland for grazing poses a great threat to tortoises. Changes to the habitat are irreversible and expected to continue into the future. An additional problem is that the species’ association with rocky hillsides and outcrops isolate local populations, particularly when the terrain linking their habitats is destroyed. We estimate that 30-40% of the species’ habitat in South Africa and Swaziland (now eSwatini) has been destroyed or degraded over the past 35-40 years (1.5 generations), and that these processes will continue over the next 1.5-generation span, for a total habitat decrease over three generations of approximately 40–50%. As a result, we assess K. natalensis as at least meeting the requirements for a designation of Vulnerable under criterion A4c, based on habitat loss and degradation of ≥30%, although it could reasonably be considered as Endangered under the same criterion if habitat loss and degradation were shown to be ≥50%.
Distribution
The range of Kinixys natalensis in South Africa extends from central KwaZulu-Natal Province near Scottsville northwards through the Weenen Nature Reserve and the Tugela and Pongolo River Basins along the Lebombo Mountains into Mpumalanga and Limpopo Province where observations have been made in the Manyeleti Game Reserve and Hoedpruit (Boycott 2014, TTWG 2017). It occurs in Swaziland (now eSwatini) throughout the Lebombo range (Broadley 1993) and has been reported at Big Bend, Lonhlupheko, and Tshaneni in the eastern Lowveld. The range extends peripherally into southwestern Mozambique along the Lebombo Mountains (Boycott and Bourquin 2000).
Population trend
Trend
No formal studies have yet been done on Kinixys natalensis and little information is available on the size and conservation status of subpopulations and their habitat. No data are available for Mozambique. In Swaziland (now eSwatini), it is listed as Near Threatened (Monadjem et al. 2003) with K. natalensis considered rare in the Mlawula and Mbuluzi nature reserves in the Lebombos. Two limited surveys indicated an estimated density of one K. natalensis per two hectares in the Mlawula/Mbuluzi complex but due to habitat degradation and loss it is unlikely that this density will apply to the rest of the Lebombos (R.C. Boycott pers. obs.). Similar densities for K. natalensis are probably likely in Itala and Weenen game reserves (R.C. Boycott pers. obs.) but due to extensive habitat degradation and loss, it is doubtful if viable populations exist outside reserves.
Threats
The main threats to Kinixys natalensis are habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation due to agriculture, silviculture, dam construction, and urban development (Broadley 1989, Boycott and Bourquin 2000, Branch 2008). The species occupies a small range; thus, any loss in high quality habitat can potentially have a large effect on populations. Habitat over the range of the species was classified as moderately to severely degraded in the 1990s (Hoffman et al. 1999). The degradation has continued and an evaluation of land cover change between 1994 and 2005 showed extensive deterioration in land cover over the region where this species occurs (Schoeman et al. 2013, Jewitt et al. 2015). Habitat transformation has also escalated over the past years in the Lebombo Plateau of Swaziland (now eSwatini), and probably also in South Africa, due to cattle ranchers clearing bush to convert arid savanna into grasslands (Boycott 2001). Such habitat degradation increases the risk of hot fires, which were already a threat through the indiscriminate use of veld fires (Broadley 1989, Boycott and Bourquin 2000). Additional threats include collection for food, cultural purposes, and the pet trade. Although the species is present in protected areas, populations tend to be isolated and fragmented, with low densities.
Uses and trade
Although little evidence exists to support the utilization of this tortoise, compared to data based on other Kinixys species, K. natalensis is likely harvested for the pet trade and for food and ceremonial purposes (Mifsud and Stapleton 2014). Multiple reports of this species in the United State and Japan pet trade are due in part to misidentified K. zombensis or K. spekii during shipping. Based on the CITES trade database, between 1992 and 2008 over 130 had been exported, mostly from Mozambique, with most going to Japan.
Conservation
Kinixys natalensis is included in CITES Appendix II (as Testudinidae spp.) and receives formal protection in Swaziland and South Africa. In the latter, it is protected by provincial nature conservation ordinances and biodiversity laws at a regional level, but the species is not protected at a national level by the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004). The range of the species overlaps (peripherally) several protected areas, including Kruger National Park, Manyeleti Game Reserve, Mbuluzi Nature Reserve, Mlawula Nature Reserve, Ndzindza Nature Reserve, Itala Game Reserve, Pongola Nature Reserve, and Weenen Nature Reserve (Broadley 1989, Boycott and Bourquin 2000, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Biodiversity Database). No formal research has been done on this species. Of greatest importance is that the conservation status of populations and their habitat should be more specifically assessed, as well as the threats faced by populations in different regions. In addition, research projects that focus on the life history traits, reproductive biology and ecology of the species should be initiated.
