Rhino poaching

22 September 2010 (daily sun)

TWO veterinarians, one of their wives and a game farmer and his wife were among nine people arrested by cops on suspicion of rhino poaching.
The two vets, who were well-known in Modimolle and owned an animal clinic and a wildlife organisation, were allegedly involved in catching and transporting game.
They were arrested in early- morning raids on Monday atModimolle, Polokwane and Musina and will appear in the Musina Magistrates Court today to face charges relating to breaching regulations governing the protection of wildlife.
More than 200 rhinos have been killed in South Africa so far this year to supply a demand from the Far East for powdered rhino horn which stupid old men believe increases their sexual potency.
Colonel Vishnu Naidoo told Daily Sun that the nine were believed to be part of a rhino poaching ring responsible for killing hundreds of rhino.
Naidoo said: “These arrests were the result of a joint operation by the Hawks, SA National Parks, the National Prosecuting Authority and aviation authorities and no further arrests have been made as yet.”
Spokesman for rhino conservation agency Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce (Traffic), Tom Milliken, said: “This was not happening years ago,” he said, adding that the rise in rhino poaching was due to the growing Asian presence in Africa.”
Tomorrow marks the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) first “Make a noise for rhino day”.
Apart from blowing vuvuzelas and tooting car hooters on that day the WWF encourages people to make donations at www.wwf.org.za, which would be used to buy anti-poaching equipment for guards, including binoculars, radios, night-vision gear, body armour and tracking devices. – SAPA

Bush baby

By Liezel Holmes, Head Ranger, Kapama River Lodge, on September 14th, 2010
On safari we always tend to look at the bigger animals and miss the smaller ones.
On our way back to the lodge last night, we drove down the road and saw a set of red eyes reflecting in the light, we drove up to a knob thorn and there it was, a Bush Baby.

The bush baby is one of the smallest primates, about the size of a squirrel. Despite its size, it is exceptionally vocal, producing loud, shrill cries surprisingly like those of a human baby. The plaintive cries and “cute” appearance may account for the name “bush baby.”

As we watched the bush baby travelling through the trees in literal leaps and bounds. In mid-flight it tucked its arms and legs close to the body and as it lands, brings them forward, grabbing a branch with its hands and feet. In a series of leaps a bush baby can easily cover 10 yards in seconds. The tail (longer than the length of the head and body) powers the leaps made to catch prey, escape from enemies or get around obstacles. The bush baby’s other methods of locomotion are kangaroo like hops or simply walking or running on four legs, it vanished into the bush to start catching prey and going on doing its business , so next time you are on safari always look out for the smaller animals, you never know what you will find around the next corner.

Story by: Roan Ravenhill-Ranger Kapama River Lodge

photo by awesomeanimals.tripod.com

Lions vs Giraffe Calf

By Tim, Head Ranger, Kapama Lodge, on September 19th, 2010
On yesterday evening’s safari, we were at one of the waterholes close to the lodge, watching a group of old male Buffalo lying about doing what they are best at, when we noticed a large group of vultures in the trees, a few hundred meters away from where we were! Which is a good sign of predator activity?

So one of the other rangers and I went to investigate!

We searched the area, and, with the help of our knowledgeable trackers, we came across the pride of lions eating a giraffe calf!

The giraffe couldn’t have been more than a month old!
Fantastic for the lions but a shame for the poor giraffe!

The female giraffe keeps a small distance from its young, most of the time, for its protection as predators would see her before the calf. This is also a downfall, when the lions discover the calf!

Now that our young lions are getting bigger, now at an age of roughly 15months, we expect the pride to be catching more of the larger species on a regular basis, to feed all the hungry mouths!

After a brilliant safari we returned to the lodge, where we were chorused by the male lion, roaring, to display his territory to the other males in the surrounding areas, while we ate dinner under the night sky!

Yet another fantastic day in the African bush on Kapama Game Reserve

kapama game reserve

Interaction

By Liezel Holmes, Head Ranger, Kapama River Lodge, on July 5th, 2010
The events that unfolded on game drive this morning were truly incredible. It had rained last night and so the tracks left by the animals in the previous evening/early morning were very clear. We first found a big male rhino who was alone and mowing the grass around our honeymoon platform! After leaving him we drove to one of our dams and found a small herd of buffalo having a drink. We then went to the area where one of our male lions was last seen to try and relocate him. When we got to the area we found tracks for a number of lions and followed them round in circles!! Eventually we were rewarded when we found a young male lion in the bush close to the road. As we approached we could see that he was quite stressed and he was making contact calls to try and find his mother and sister. At only 1 year old he is unable to hunt for himself and still relies on his mother to provide food for him. He is unusually large for his age and as we had seen tracks for the dominant male in that pride we came to the conclusion that the older male had probably chased him away. After a while we left him to see if we could find his mother and sister in the area close by. 15 minutes later we found them and as we followed them it became clear that they were trying to find the young male. As they got closer to his position they picked up some speed and ran through the bush. Unfortunately we were unable to keep up and temporarily lost their visual. We decided to go back to the young male lion and when we got there we were delighted to discover that the young family had been happily reunited! The three of them walked slowly through the bush and we waited for them on the road for a good photo opportunity. Suddenly they stopped and all looked in one direction. From that direction we could hear alarm calls of impalas. So we drove slowly around to where they were looking and crossing the road in front of us was an older female lion….followed by her sister….and bringing up the rear was a beautiful adult male lion. What a treat!! They walked into the bush directly towards where the other 3 were standing and after some commotion the three younger lions came running at high speed out of the bush as fast as they could. The older lions were chasing them! The young lions got away fast and we watched as the older lions walked around slowly trying to pick up on their scent. After a while they gave up and went into the river – probably to sleep for the rest of the day! We were all so excited to see the two groups of lions interacting with each other and recounted the story all the way back to the lodge. A truly surprising and exciting morning all round!

By: Sarah Sangster- Kapama River Lodge Ranger