World-famous Baobab tree splits

A third of the trunk of the world-famous Sunland ‘Big Baobab’ in Modjadjiskloof, Limpopo province, crashed to the ground last week, Letaba Herald says.

Heather van Heerden, owner of Sunland Farm, said: “I heard a thundering crack and I knew what had happened.”

According to Van Heerden, sources say the main cause of the tree’s split and collapse is its age – it’s dated at over 1 100 years old. The owners, Heather and Doug van Heerden, intend to leave the trunk section exactly where it fell.

In 2009, a team from Babes-Bolyai University of Romania estimated the age of the Sunland Baobab to be about 6 000 years. Due to its location, the lack of documentation on the area, and the varying growth speeds of baobabs, the size–age relation cannot be used for estimating accurately the age of African baobabs.

For large trees without a continuous sequence of growth rings in their trunk, such as the African baobab (Adansonia digitata L), the only accurate method for age determination is radiocarbon dating. The Big Baobab’s more recent history could be estimated at more than 1 700 years old with radiocarbon dating.

Sunland’s Baobab is 22m high and 47m in circumference. It is still “the record holder for the species”, according to the SA Dendrological Society. In 1993, the Van Heerdens cleared out the hollow centre of the tree and found evidence of both the Khoisan and the Voortrekkers. They made a pub inside the trunk and 60 people can fit into it. – Caxton News Service