WILDLIFE JOURNAL SINGITA SABI SAND, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of December, Two Thousand and Twenty

Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 21.4˚C (70.52˚F) For the month: 246.4 mm Sunrise: 05:00 Average maximum: 31.8˚C (89.24˚F) For the season to date: 411.35 mm Sunset: 18:41 Minimum recorded: 17˚C (62.6˚F) Maximum recorded: 41˚C (105.8˚F)

Amidst the thunder and torrential downpours, brilliant new life bursts from the bushveld. We have had an incredible month of rain, with our 100 mm rain gauge overflowing at one point. Eruptions of yellows, bright oranges and violets splatter the ground and trees and the ever anticipated marula fruit begin their growth. It’s been an exciting month for game viewing, with many predators taking advantage of the stormy weather to hunt. A successful hunt does however draw the attention of numerous scavengers and the competition between leopards, wild dogs and spotted hyenas continues its saga.

Here’s a Sightings Snapshot for December:

Lions • A wonderful month viewing the Mhangene Pride. Comprising of six females, four cubs and the Othawa male, these lions have been seen throughout the property from the Sand River all the way down to the southern grassland regions.

Youngest member of the Mhangene Pride, photographed by Damin Dallas.

• The Othawa sub-adults made a brief appearance on the western parts of the property, but the pride haven’t been a prominent feature in December.

• One of the most unexpected and exciting finds was locating the Styx and Nkuhuma male lions on a young giraffe calf kill just to the east of the lodges. The males, now at four years old, are each looking in great health. We look forward to watching their progress as they transition from nomadic to territorial.

The Othawa male lion, photographed by Damin Dallas.

Elephants • With the immense amount of rain we’ve had in December, elephant sightings have been plentiful this month. Seen throughout the varying terrain, we have enjoyed some spectacular viewings from big bulls, through to wandering breeding herds. Being water dependant, these large land mammals have lapped up the opportunity to visit new mud wallows, carving the shallow depths and reshaping the wet landscape.

Wild dogs • The Othawa pack were seen at the very start and end of the month, with the latest sighting including an unfortunate event where a lioness killed one of the pups. The pack are now down to 13, comprising of four youngsters and nine adults.

Leopards • The Schotia female’s cub is now a year old and fast approaching his mother’s size. With a very efficient and dedicated parent, this cub has been spoilt with meals this month. Taking advantage of the dramatic bushveld thunderstorms and windy weather, the Schotia female has made some spectacular kills. Unfortunately though, being lambing season, many of these kills have been impala. • The Misava male, a leopard not usually seen on a regular basis, has surprised us with fairly regular viewing throughout the month. One particular sighting saw him kill and hoist an impala at our airstrip, only to drop it minutes later to a few patiently waiting hyena. • Sightings of the Mobeni female have greatly increased this month and we have also seen her cub. The youngster is very shy and always a treat to view, even for just a few seconds. • The Nyeleti male leopard offers consistently great game viewing, patrolling his territory around the lodges. With the rain washing away much of his territorial scent, he has spent much time patrolling, calling and renewing his dominant pheromone.

The Shangwa male leopard, photographed by Gareth Poole. Cheetah • This month began with a couple of sightings of a male cheetah in the south of the reserve. Much of the month has been quiet with this animal, however, in the last few days, he has remerged, as well as a female and two cubs. It is extremely exciting to find these animals and we’re looking forward to their progress in the new year.

Mother and two cubs, photographed by Gareth Poole. Bird List The bird list for December includes seven new bird species, bringing our yearly total to 290. Special bird species include: Dwarf bittern, Eurasian hobby, lesser moorhen and a striped crake.

Above, a dwarf bitten with a foam nest frog, photographed by Paul Josop. The Butterfly Effect Article by Kirsten Tinkler

They say that the small beating of a butterfly’s wings can cause hurricanes on the other side of the world. But what would happen if that beat suddenly stopped? Would chaos unfold? Would life, as we know it carry on? Or would the Butterfly Effect transpire?

The Butterfly Effect can be described as "sensitive dependence on initial conditions", or in other words, the tiniest of actions in a big system will have profound, unexplained and even complex consequences. The idea behind this is known as Chaos Theory, developed by meteorology professor Edward Lorenz in 1963.

In nature, we see these consequences every day, from the eruption of alates in their nuptial flight post the perfect summer rain, to nests made in tree cavities, once holding a branch which an elephant broke off to feed on. Small changes can alter our entire ecosystem and sometimes it’s the smallest of changes that have the biggest impact.

Artwork by Kirsten Tinkler In South Africa there are over 660 species of butterflies, many of which are endemic. Unique members of the order Lepidoptera, we can easily ID these flying insects for their colourful wings which are held together at rest. But there’s more to these colourful creatures than first meets the eye. Microscopic scales cover the butterfly’s wings and it’s these scales that form the structure for the patterns that provide the bright and dull colours used for attraction and deception. The Latin name Lepidoptera actually means scale [Lepido] and wing [pteron]. Delving further into the science of these scales, we’ve learnt that certain colours are not actually made from colourful cells, rather with special pigments which absorb certain wavelengths of light and reflect others. The wavelengths reflected are what gives the butterfly its colour and black absorbs all wavelengths. For example, a butterfly that looks green has scales that soak up the blue and red wavelengths, reflecting green.

These incredibly complex fluttering beauties start off as more basic beasts in the form of a larva (caterpillar). When fully grown and at nearly 3 000 times their original size these creatures begin their journey for change. Finding a branch or leaf to hang up-side-down, they form a protective covering called a chrysalis. Within this delicate structure the caterpillars body effectively breaks down, metamorphizing into a completely new creature – a butterfly. I would imagine an incredibly complicated instruction manual is needed to deliver the precise changes needed to re-make this insect. New complex eyes, a new respiratory system that can handle the rigors of flying and a brand- new heart.

Butterflies have been a symbol for change and transformation for many decades, however very specific climatic and environmental conditions are needed for them to survive. Butterflies are also responsible for many genetic variations in plant species. Travelling across the country (some even migrating out of South Africa) means that nectar collected from various flowers is transmitted far and wide to plant species far away. With the global decline of our bee population, butterflies have become even more key in the collection and delivery of pollen in plants. A decline in butterflies could cause catastrophic effects throughout the ecosystem, rippling through the world.

It’s the choices we make that have an impact on the future. Global warming, pesticides and habitat loss are the biggest threats to butterfly population. But what would happen if butterflies vanished? What if a small change in decision caused a huge chain of events?

Even if you are standing still, change will happen.

Every choice you ever made has led you to right now, reading this. While you exist, every moment matters; those bad choices you made have led you to the best days of your life.

So stay, for the bad choices and for the great ones. Stay. Cause a few hurricanes.

Between science and fairy tales Article by Quentin Swanevelder

For those of you who grew up having read Lewis Carrol’s, “Through the Looking Glass – and What Alice Found There” would have met one of the characters called the Red Queen.

The meaning of the term Hypothesis is (in a simple term) an idea that one can test through experimentation, or a guess rather than a known theory. How the two paragraphs can be used in the same statement, and in Nature for that matter, I will try and explain in a simple manner. The theory was first put forward by a professor Van Valen, and proposed the co-evolution of species in order to survive because of the evolution of a co-existing competing species. This is also sometimes referred to as the intra species battle for survival.

Without boring you with too much science, as promised, I will give an example of this hypothesis between one of the most iconic animals in Africa, the giraffe, and a type of thorn tree. These two species have evolved on a linear timeline in an attempt to outdo each other for survival. If we look back on the evolutionary time scale, we would find the predecessor of the modern giraffe feeding on the predecessor of the thorn tree. The tree, realizing it was constantly under attack started modifying some of its leaves into thorns. To counter this, the giraffe developed a tough leathery mouth. The trees tried to outdo the giraffe again by growing taller in an attempt to be out of reach of the (most probably shorter-necked) giraffe. As we all know giraffes have extremely long necks to reach the tall branches of adult thorn trees. This battle will continue for many thousands of years as these two species try to outfox each other. This was just a simple explanation, but fascinating to witness out in the bush and is something to think of.

This brings me to how the Red Queen falls into all of this, with the words she told Alice. “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place”. The interpretation was that a species had to adapt, or run, in order to stay in the same place to survive.

I hope that this inspires you to look at giraffes and thorn trees more carefully the next time you see them, but also to go and read the wonderful novel that is, “Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There”.

Male giraffe basking the in late evening light, photographed by Damin Dallas. A cooler wetter summer and the impact of burning Article by Joff McCormick

What a pleasant summer it has been so far. The late summer of 2020 brought about cooler temperatures with a larger amount of rainfall. This was something that we all welcomed with opened arms. After receiving large amounts of rain from the start of summer up until now, it has really transitioned the bush from an arid landscape to that of true African beauty, from the wild flowers and birds chirping to the ever-almighty roar of the male lions. The bush really seems to be “alive” and thriving. We are loving the cooler summer as it brings much relief not only for the animals but for the staff and our guests as well. One can just start to imagine the relief that the rain brings for the animals as it brings cooler weather and allows for lush green vegetation to grow. The bush has got this magnificent green blanket layer that really brings out the vibrant green of the grass with a mix of the wild flowers showing their colours. The colours of the bush really do make this a fantastic time of year for photography as everything just seems so beautiful and photogenic. Yes, it does become a bit more of a challenge to find the various species, but what a reward when you do locate an animal and are able to spend time with it surrounded by such beauty.

One big factor that does play a massive role in the bush is burning certain arears. During the period of lockdown in South Africa we had the chance to burn areas that had not been burnt for a number of years. Now burning is important in the bush as it allows for new vegetation to grow as well as helps to thin out the bush when you do not have any natural fires. The great thing for us was that little did we know the rains would start only a few weeks after we had completed the burns. This was a blessing in disguise as it allowed for the environment to bounce back at an exceptional rate. It has allowed for certain areas to be cleared which in turn benefits the various animals.

One animal in particular that has benefited from this is cheetah. They have now got the vast open clearings which not only allows for some great hunting opportunities but also helps them spot a threat from a distance which in turn gives them the opportunity to get out of the area before any contact may occur.

As the Sand River now floods and the rains continue to fall, it brings about some breath-taking scenery and has all of us very excited as to what will come for the year of 2021.

Photographs by Gareth Poole.

December Photo Gallery

Photographed by Gareth Poole.

Photograph by Nick Du Plessis.

Photographed by Gareth Poole.

Photographed by Gareth Poole.

Photographed by Gareth Poole.

Othawa male, photographed by Gareth Poole.