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MABULA GUIDES NEWS for AUGUST 2016 Compiled By: Isaiah Banda – Head Guide

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MABULA GUIDES NEWS for AUGUST 2016 Compiled By: Isaiah Banda – Head Guide MABULA GUIDES NEWS FOR AUGUST 2016 Compiled by: Isaiah Banda – Head Guide Standing up to about 5.8 meters, the giraffe is, without doubt the world’s tallest animal. When wounded or hurt in some other way great teardrops run from the animal’s beautiful eyes. Probably one of the most silent of animals, fewer people have ever heard a giraffe utter any sound. Attacked by lions, giraffe viciously defends itself by rearing and striking out at its enemy with its forelegs or by kicking out, in almost any direction, with its most powerful hind-legs which are able to kill a big male lion with a single blow. It is no lie that 2016 is a drier year than most, and as we come to the end of our winter months the bush is thin and dull. Truth be told; the resilience of nature proves itself in these trying conditions as we have not witnessed the desolation one prepares for with an imminent drought. Sure, the land is dry and most of the trees are bare, but that is what the Bushveld winter is all about. A new beauty of the bush emerges with dusty flatlands, sandy crests and intricately cracked wallows. Plains like Modjadji plains and whole owner’s plains are currently covered with dust and waiting for the first rain to come pouring down to clear away the dust of windy August. Mvubu dam of the southern side of Mabula Private Game Reserve Mvubu dam has never been so low on the last ten years, you can now view elephants drinking water without shadows of trees and grass. Even guests can now take selfies with elephant bull on the background. The absence of summer thundershowers brings a fear of bleak emptiness and windswept terrain, but then suddenly Wild Pear trees begin flowering. These pure white flowers soften the landscape as they engulf most of the Dombeya-covered surroundings, the bushveld takes on a wonder of delicate beauty unique to August/September. Plants life on Mabula Game Reserve The flowers found on a wild pear tree. These trees are just coming into bloom, bringing with them an unexpected splash of white colour. There is one further development at this time of year which breaks the expected dullness and shines of winter colour; it is an otherwise unnoticed medium sized tree with a very well-timed superb red flower. The Coral Tree. Erythrina lysistemon (Coral tree) in full blossom around the main lodge These clumps of phenomenally pretty flowers add the most intense colour to the winter’s end and can really draw anyone’s eye! The new and sweetly scented flowers provide a welcomed food source for browsers who have been slowly restricted to drying up leaves of other trees and shrubs. The undisputed ruler of the animal’s kingdom ~ Panthera Leo The African lion. Panther Leo is a powerful predator, unafraid and tenacious, and a beast never to be underestimated. It is exceptionally intelligent and cunning, and its well-developed senses and fighting spirit make it a predator to be treated with the outmost caution. Lions are smelly animals, not only because they are carnivorous but also because of their habit of rolling in dung, trying to camouflage their own natural scent, so that when they out hunting other animals cannot pick up their scent easily. Both male and female can roar, the roar of a male lion is of a deeper tone and maybe a little louder and the female. Although most lions cannot be identified by their roaring, some individuals have characteristic calls. This noble predator ~ the largest carnivore in Africa, super hunter, graceful cat and undisputed ruler of the animal kingdom ~ has rightfully been designated ‘The King of Beasts’. For the bush dwellers in lion country it is very important to distinguish between, and to understand the meaning of the lion’s extensive vocabulary of roars, snarls, moans, growls and grunts. It is of particular importance to recognize the sound made by feeding lions and especially, to know when lions are mating or have cubs with them. These are circumstances in which it is wise to stay at a safe distance. When actively hunting in relatively open terrain, different members of the pride may depend on contact, however at night or in thick bushes, a soft grunt emitted sporadically, helps lions to co-ordinate their movements. Facing the snarling predator about to charge, its long claws viciously ripping the earth, its tail whipping, its fiery eyes burning into yours in an experience never to be forgotten. One blow from a lion’s huge paw can smash the hindleg of a zebra. And with brutal force it breaks a neck of a wildebeest. The prince of nature on Mabula Game Reserve ~ Prince Cheetah The Cheetah, Prince of Nature, is the greatest runner of the African plains. Born blind and helpless, the young are very vulnerable for the first days ~ even falling prey to the long-clawed birds of the skies. But once grown, the cheetah outruns all other animals on earth. Perched on an earthmound, its great amber, an eye scanning the vastness of the African plains which gives the cheetah to selects its victim. With determined strides and its eyes fixed on its prey, it advances, lengthening its pace and the explodes in full force and at an unbelievable speed. Hunter and hunted become one in a cloud of dust, holding its prey by the throat, waiting for the last tremor of life to settle with dust, most beautiful of all cats. The wild Ox of Mabula ~ Taurotragus Oryx (Common Eland) The Eland. Largest of all African antelopes, the eland is docile by nature, yet it is one of the most alert and fleetest of foot of the bigger game. Sensing trouble they sneak away, frequently turning abruptly in a new direction and then running at a fast trot, rapidly stretching the distance between themselves and the danger. Elands are not depended on water; they have special fondness for succulent plants and for new growth. Using their horns, large branches are broken down by the older bulls and cows to get to the fresh and tender shoots, domesticated eland yield superb milk and meat, but this wild ox of Africa will never bow its head to the yoke and it will run wild forever with the beast of the African savanna. The warrior king ~ has finally arrived on Mabula ~ Warrior sable has finally arrived ~ Hippotragus Niger (Sable Antelope) Noblest, bravest, most graceful of its kind, grandest of antelope, warrior king, without a rival among the antelope, sable antelopes were recently introduced on Mabula private game reserve. Sable antelope ~ an animal which for grace and beauty surpasses all others created by the Good Lord ~ this is how a guide would describe the sable antelope. When brought to bay, this dauntless fighter becomes a veritable demon, with fiery eyes, mane erect and sabre horns flashing, even king lion at times has to bend the knee. The bull, jet black in colour, has horns longer and heavier than those of the cows. The latter vary in colour from one region to another. Some are pitch black, others more of a chestnut fawn, like the newly born. All the guides at Mabula are excited to have Sables on the reserve, and it makes a great competition as to who will find them first during the safari drive, considering the fact that we have only four on a 10 000ha reserve. The super animal of Mabula ~ Loxodonta Africana ~ African Elephant African Elephants ~ they are super animals ~ not only on account of their gigantic size, but especially for their extraordinary intelligence and remarkable ways of living and doing things. Elephant’s dedication in supporting wounded or ill-fated mates on their tusks, trying to help them away from danger, is unheard of in other animals. Stories of elephant cows carrying their dead babies around for days, and legends of elephant graveyards add to the mystique of this… the greatest animal on earth. Standing 400 centimetres at the shoulder, and even more, and even weighing up to six tons, an elephant can easily outdistance any human athlete when charging at 45 kilometres per hour, few trees are high enough and strong enough to provide safety, and you, running disparately down the steep riverbank, remember they too can negotiate steep places, by sitting down and sliding on their haunches. At about 70 years of age ~ the last cheek-teeth worn and shed ~ the last page in the diary of the ‘Giant of the Jungle’ is reached… and to the dusty earth of Africa it so much loved, it retuneth. Racehorse of the African savanna ~ Damaliscus lunatus (Tsessebe) Standing about 120 centimetres at its muscular shoulders, its silhouette slightly sloping backwards to meet its slim hindquarters, the tsessebe can be justifiably be called the chestnut racehorse of the African savanna. Not necessarily the most beautiful animal, but definitely the fastest antelope of South Africa, it prefers the tree dotted grassveld where it lives in close-knit family group, but occasionally congregations of up to hundred animals or more. Standing like, a statue on an earthmound with ears erect and head held high, the territorial leader bull keeps a close watch on his harem. Dropping on his knees and ripping the damp earth with its horns forms part of the tsessebe bull’s display to frighten off any possible challengers. Tsessebe is very vulnerable, frequently bounding off a short distance to stop and look back inquisitively. The Connochaetes taurinus (Blue Wildebeest) on Mabula Africa can never be Africa without its wildebeest, witnessing their annual migrations in the wild parts of Africa.
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