WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA for the Month of February, Two Thousand and Seventeen
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Photo by Nick du Plessis WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of February, Two Thousand and Seventeen Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 22°C (71°F) For the period: 78 mm Sunrise: 05H46 Average maximum: 33°C (91°F) For the year to date: 200 mm Sunset: 18H22 Minimum recorded: 18°C (64°F) Maximum recorded: 39°C (102°F) February is normally the month that we receive our highest monthly rainfall and this last month we did receive a fair amount. Towards the end of the month we started receiving warnings, from the weather department, that we were going to receive a lot of rain as Cyclone “Dineo” was just passing by Madagascar and was fast approaching the Mozambique coastline. Since Singita Lebombo is situated approximately 160 kilometres from the Indian Ocean (and the Mozambique Channel) we were fully expecting to get a downpour. The South African National Parks were getting ready to deal with any emergencies that could possibly occur as a result of the cyclone. Fortunately, as the cyclone hit the mainland of Mozambique it lost a lot of strength and was downgraded to “tropical low pressure cell”. This meant that, although we did receive some rain, we did not receive anything like what we were expecting. In fact, most of the precipitation was in the form of drizzle and light rain. This has done wonders for the bush. The grass and vegetation has grown tremendously and the bush is looking thick and the grass is tall and in full seed. Areas that were completely bare and sandy a few months back are green and lush. It is very pretty. As a result of the increase in the amount of grass many of the grazers that moved away during the dry period have returned and the general game has been awesome, with many zebras and wildebeest in the concession. This month has also been phenomenal in terms of the diversity of birdlife that we have seen, with at least 194 species recorded. Our wildlife review for the month is as follows: Buffalos We have seen buffalos almost daily. The three main herds that we have been viewing have been fairly large, numbering over one hundred individuals, and with all the lush grass to feed off it is possible that we may now see even bigger herds. With all this grazing material in the concession it is possible that these herds may join up! During the drier, leaner months, they tend to break up into smaller herds just to ensure there is enough feed available, but in more favourable conditions they prefer to be in herds as large as possible (with the idea of safety in numbers). Photo by Sean Bissett On a few occasions these herds have been pressurized by the Shishangaan male lions, who have trailed a herd in hope of a potential meal, pushing them as far south as Ndlovu Lookout. This is only a few hundred meters away from the lodge. Ndlovu Lookout is much further south than where we usually look for buffalos, which tend to be seen more regularly in the far northern sections of our concession. Elephants The elephant viewing has been fantastic this month and, fortunately for us, they have been a lot more prevalent than what were used to in past Marula seasons. We say this is because our concession has very few Marula trees (Sclerocarya birrea) and the fruit of these trees is highly sought after by elephants when they are ripe. Unfortunately, this fruit was made infamous for the wrong reasons; it was believed that animals, elephants in particular, commonly get intoxicated by consuming these fermenting fruits. This misconception came about after a movie, depicted numerous animals, including elephants that consume marula fruits and supposedly became intoxicated as a result. Due to the large size of an elephant and because food passes through the gut of an elephant fairly quickly it is highly unlikely that an elephant could become inebriated from feeding on marula fruit. In fact, the digestive system of an elephant does not facilitate the fermentation of fruit within the body of the elephant. It was supposedly later discovered that the animals in the movie were in fact drugged in order to appear drunk. Elephants are, however, very important in the dispersal of marula seed since the fruit often passes through the gut of an elephant completely intact. It is also believed that this passage through the gut of the elephant stimulates germination of the seed (due to the heat within the stomach) which is further facilitated by the fact that the seed is deposited in a pile of compost! Photo by Barry Peiser Many people will tell you that elephants are bulk feeders and that they eat un-discretionally as much as they can, of whatever they can. Elephants are, however, extremely fussy about what they prefer to eat and it makes sense (imagine trying to control and maintain your body weight when you weigh as much as an elephant does, just by feeding off vegetation). This is why Marula fruit is so sought after. Marula fruit contain four times as much Vitamin C as an orange and the pulp contains citric and malic acids, as well as sugar, which are all vital to keep animals as large as this going. Furthermore, it is known that a single Marula tree can yield as much 1 000 kg or even 70 000 individual fruits in a single season! Normally, at this time of the year we do not have as many sightings of elephants as we have this last month. Usually when the Marula trees come into fruit many of the elephants move to other areas within the Kruger Park where these trees are more common, particularly to the west of the park where the granitic soils favour the growth of these trees. This month we had a total of 150 recorded sightings of elephants. In comparison, last February we only had 80 recorded elephant sightings. Another interesting thing that we have noticed with regards to the elephant viewing this last month is the large number of bull elephants (particularly musth bull elephants) that have been seen in the area. Musth is a physical and hormonal condition that male elephants periodically enter where their testosterone levels increase dramatically (supposedly up to 60 times the normal levels). Bull elephants that are in musth characteristically exude a moist secretion from temporal glands (glands on the side of the face) and leak a green, strong-smelling liquid from their genitals. Bull elephants in musth often exhibit aggressive behaviour. Musth is therefore synonymous with an increase in male steroids. Bull elephants that are in prime condition are thought to voluntarily bring themselves into musth in order to compete with other males for mating rights. It is possible that the large swathes of green grass have attracted the herds into the area and therefore the bull elephants have followed the females. The guides here have also considered that in the past few years the condition of the veld has not been particularly favourable for breeding and that now that there is more grass in the area the females are physically in a better condition and therefore are possibly coming into oestrous, which is attracting large numbers of musth bulls. Photo by Barry Peiser Spotted hyenas The cubs at the Nyokeng Den have now gotten to an age where they are not restricted to the densite and we are no longer seeing them as regularly. Although this is a testament to the females who have managed to raise the cubs it also means that we are not having as regular sightings of these charismatic animals. The den along the H6 public road is still active and many guests are still treated to good, close sightings of the hyenas when we travel to or from the airstrip. One morning when we went to the airstrip we noticed a young wildebeest calf that had been killed by a male leopard and had been placed up in a large Marula tree. The next morning we headed out early back towards the airstrip with the hopes of seeing the leopard. When we arrived there we discovered that the carcass had fallen out of the tree and was being devoured by two hyenas. Photo by Brian Rode Lions We, once again, had amazing sightings of lions this last month. All in all we had 62 recorded sightings of these large cats during February. Lions were seen almost every day. Fortunately for us, due to the long grass the lions have been walking on the roads a fair bit. The majority of the sightings this month have been of the Shishangaan Pride. It appears that the two portions have joined up again. After the big fight that occurred last month between the Smaller Portion of the Shish Pride and the Southern Males we assumed that two of the sub-adults had been killed by the larger adult males. This month, however, we came across the two missing sub-adults. They were seen in the area between the S41 and Dumbana Pools a few times. Unfortunately, over the course of the month we saw these two lions a few times and they were literally getting thinner and thinner each time we saw them. Without the rest of the pride (who had moved much further north and west away from where the conflict had occurred), and because of their age and inexperience in hunting for themselves, they were obviously not feeding and towards the end of the month they were looking anorexic.