Rhodes University PhD student Thula Dlamini submitted a paper on it at a conference on Wednesday, the Herald Online reported.

The paper suggests that springbok farming could be a viable option to reverse the impact that sheep farming had caused.

It says for hundreds of years, domestic livestock grazing had negatively affected the biodiversity of ecological niche areas in the Karoo by the eating of selective plant species, according to the publication.

The constant grazing had interfered with the diversity of species, and technologies like windmills and wire fencing had also contributed to the Karoo’s environmental destruction.

Dlamini’s research comes at a time when many Karoo farmers believe fracking will destroy the area and turn it into a barren wasteland.