The impact of elephant and other browsers may be magnified when they are restricted within small, fenced reserves. These reserves are becoming commonplace in southern Africa. The composition and structure of the woody vegetation of a portion of the 30 000 ha Ithala Game Reserve, South Africa, was monitored annually from 1992 to 2000. Woody species described a continuum from those that declined in abundance and were threatened with extirpation (e.g. Aloe marlothii, Acacia davyi ), through those that remained