WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA SABI SAND, SOUTH AFRICA469uj5355hpj1cwksq2n1n1a-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/u… · WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA SABI SAND, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of

WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA SABI SAND, SOUTH AFRICA

For the month of October, Two Thousand and Seventeen Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 18˚C (64˚F) For the month: 22.4 mm Sunrise: 05:40 Average maximum : 31˚C (88˚F) From Aug 2017 to date: 48.4 mm Sunset: 17:55 Minimum recorded: 12˚C (54˚F) Maximum recorded: 41˚C (106˚F) The October month welcomes the green, the grass, the leaves and flowers as they all start to bud after the first rain received. The smell in the air is incredible - the fresh clean, invigorating freshness of pure wilderness! The early mornings are starting earlier, with the greatest benefit of watching the sun rising on the horizon. It has to be one the best ways to start your day… Here's an overview of the month's sightings: Lions The Mhangene pride has been on the move in various directions around the Sabi Sand, but during the last month, more so in the west of the reserve. A recent sighting revealed an unknown pride that we have never recorded before. The pride consisted of 13 lions and originated from the north-eastern sections of the reserve. They have been sighted twice, north of the river, and we hope to see this pride moving into the area more frequently, as the northern section of Singita is a vast area quite often not occupied by any of the lions regularly being viewed in the area.

Elephants Elephants are constantly on the move for suitable grazing and browsing conditions. The recent rain has not flushed enough green in the vegetation, which causes the larger mammals to move further and often become sporadic in their movements. With the rain predicted for the next few weeks, we hope to see these large mammals staying in the area for a longer period of time. Buffaloes Small groups of bulls are encountered in the south of the reserve, and also in certain areas to the north of the Sand River. The largest group recorded for this month was about 400 buffalo moving in the general direction of Castleton Dam. With the Mhangene pride lying in the shade within close vicinity of the area, and looking hungry on that day, some potentially violent interaction was predicted. Leopards It was harrowing to watch the Schotia female leopard constantly calling out for her cub. At the end of last month the young female cub was killed by the Mhangene pride. Without any indication of finding the remains, the mother returned to the area where the last scent of her offspring was the strongest. A week after the incident, we watched her hoist an impala carcass and return back to the site, still uncertain of the cub’s whereabouts. Within a few days of that sighting, the female was mating with the Nyelethi male for several days. We are hoping that in the next three months we can report some good news. A few new leopards have made an appearance this month in our sightings. The Khokovela female was also viewed mating with the Nyelethi male within a very short time of him finishing his session with the Schotia female. This presents a clear indication that the young female leopard is looking to establish herself within an already leopard-rich area, as we have viewed her on a few occasions this month, even as she scouted around the lodges one afternoon. Hyenas There has been one den-site that has proven to be extremely productive this year, as we have counted numerous litters being born at the location, all to the delight of the guests watching the little black cubs emerge from the old termite mounds. Wild dogs The beta female has been moving with the rest of the pack and the alpha female’s litter now hunts with the adults. On one occasion this month, we were fortunate to have three different packs of wild dogs being reported within the same morning game drive. Such an occurrence is always a highlight for guides, trackers and guests. Birds The total bird count for the month of October was 214 (211 in September). Specials for the month included the return of both Levaillants and Diedericks cuckoo, violet-backed starling, plus a mocking cliff chat. Beautiful views of African quail-finch were had too. Some of October’s highlights

The green continues to flourish throughout the reserve. The Mhangene pride never cease to amaze us with their antics. The young sub-adult lions are still very playful and often the interest of climbing a tree can initiate interest from the rest of the pride and before you know it, there is a tree full of lions. Sausage trees are relatively easy to climb and the lions clambered up for a view.

Interactive behaviour like this can be entertaining to watch, and it proved just that during the morning game drive.

Lions will rarely use elevated points to look for potential prey. Climbing up fallen trees or logs will more often be a cause of interesting and playful behaviour.

Soon the first trees that start budding leafy material will be the sjambok pod trees (Cassia abbreviata) and shortly after that the marula trees (Sclerocarya birrea) and bushwillows (Combretum sp).

The Schotia female leopard has been extremely active. With the recent loss of her female cub, the female leopard has mourned for several weeks. The good news is that recently she has been viewed mating on several occasions with the Nyelethi male leopard.

Applying Newton’s laws without knowing them Article by Leon van Wyk Those of us who studied physics at school would have been introduced to Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727), surely the owner one of the greatest human brains of all time. We were taught about Newton’s laws of motion and Newton’s laws of gravity. We learned these laws off by heart, parrot fashion, and we learnt to understand them. Legend has it that Isaac Newton, as a youngster, witnessed an apple falling from a tree while he was sitting in the shade of this tree. Whether or not the apple actually landed on his head is immaterial. The event is said to have got him thinking, and he pondered the cause of the apple falling from the tree. While his laws in the written form might seem complicated, a simple analysis of them might make them seem common sense. Perhaps I should rather say that once explained, the laws make perfect sense. Yet it did require something of a genius to come up with these laws in the first place. Even for those of us who were not good at science at school, and who might not be able to quote any of Newton’s laws, we show an understanding of them all the time. We know that if a glass is placed on a table, it is likely to stay there, unless some force is applied to the glass to make it move. This force could be a hand pushing the glass, or lifting it. The force could also be a sudden gust of wind, which might blow the glass off the table. Without necessarily knowing the words of the laws of gravity, we do know that if the glass moves past the edge of the table top under the force of the wind, it is likely to fall to the ground or floor. This shows that we understand the basics of two of Newton’s laws. Firstly, an object remains in its state of rest unless acted upon by a force to change that state of rest. Secondly, there is a gravitational pull between any two objects. This could apply to the glass and the table, the table and the floor, or the glass and the floor. Are we humans super-intelligent, just because we come up with these laws of science? Are we superior to other animals, because we can write down and memorise these laws? Or do many animals also have an understanding of the laws of physics, particularly gravity?

I think there is evidence for us to see every time we go on a game drive, that animals are at least applying the laws of gravity. Here are some examples to consider: When an impala runs and leaps into the air, that impala knows that it is not going to remain airborne for more than just a moment. It knows that it will make contact with the Earth. Obviously it does not know or think about laws of gravity, but it applies these laws. Without having an academic mind, the impala still demonstrates an understanding of gravity. A hyena lying at the base of a tree in which a leopard is feeding on its kill, demonstrates that it knows that scraps of the carcass, or better still, the whole carcass, could fall to the ground. Why would a hyena be more alert and interested in the carcass in the tree while the leopard is actually feeding on the carcass, or shifting it, than while the leopard is sleeping? The answer is that hyena is showing an understanding of one of Newton’s laws, the one that states that an object is going to stay in its stable state and position, unless acted upon by a force to change that state. The hyena, in hoping that some food may fall to the ground, demonstrates that it shows an understanding of the practical application of the laws of gravity. We may question this. Perhaps it is more accurate to state that the hyena, through past experience, knows that what is out of reach in the tree, could at any time fall to the ground. Similarly, antelopes such as nyala, bushbuck, impala and duiker will spend a lot of time directly below sausage trees (Kigelia africana) in the spring, when these trees are flowering. The large maroon-coloured flowers (which incidentally are pollinated by fruit bats) are very palatable for these antelope. The mature flowers fall to the ground, where they are then picked up and eaten by the various antelope waiting below the tree. These antelope also look up into the branches of the tree from time to time, clearly indicating that they understand that the flowers that are still in the tree, could fall down to the ground at any time. These antelope will also often be found directly beneath monkeys or baboons which may be feeding on the ripe fruits of a jackalberry tree (Diospyros mespiliformes), knowing that (due to gravity) pieces of these fruits are likely to fall to the ground. Elephants go a little further in applying an understanding of Newton’s laws. These gentle pachyderms love to eat the fruits of marula (Sclerocarya birrea) and torchwood (Ballanites maughamii) trees, which eventually fall to the ground, under the force of gravity. To speed up this process, mature elephants will often push their heads firmly against the trunks of these trees, and give the whole tree a good shake. The desired result is a number of fruits falling to the ground. The elephant then picks up the fruits one by one, or sometimes two or three at a time, delicately in its trunk, and tosses them into its mouth. Think of a leopard leaping from rock to rock across a stream. The leopard is a good judge of distance and effort required to propel itself the required distance through the air, before gravity brings it down to land exactly as it wanted to, on the next rock. Sometimes an animal might make a slight error in judgement, but for the most part they get it right! While I am certainly not suggesting that any of these animals think too carefully about gravity and the various other forces which come into play in their everyday lives, it is quite fun to contemplate that they are applying a learned or inherited understanding of the basic principles of physics. They don’t think about it all the time, but then neither do we. Isaac Newton was different. He wanted to know why, and he was able to explain why! Leopard conflict Article by Renain Venter On a recent afternoon game drive we suddenly stumbled upon a male leopard with a seductive female that seemed keen on mating with him. Trying everything she could to entice him to mate, it almost seemed as if there was something in the air drawing this male’s attention so far away that the female almost seemed non-existent to him. With the most “in your face” advertisement it seemed as if he was not at all interested in her, but instead the lingering scent… While following the curious

scent, female in tow, we remembered that another female leopard (Hlabankunzi female) and her cub had made a bushbuck kill about half a mile away. It must be this scent that he was interested in (the food, not the female). Anticipating this, we decided to go ahead of the pair towards the two leopards feeding on the carcass. We noticed the courting female was marking her territory with some spray urination and some ground scraping; it almost seemed like a direct challenge towards the Hlabankunzi female.

Amid all the confusion and sudden interactions, the male leopard stole the kill for himself from the Hlabankunzi female and her cub (which is his offspring). The female that decided to mark her territory very close to the Hlabankunzi female had moved off and was lying in the grass watching the commotion. Out of a little shrub popped the head of the Hlabankunzi female who had just had her kill stolen by the male. She walked over to where the other female had marked her territory and marked directly over it. Now it seemed as if things were getting serious. Never having seen this sort of conflict I didn’t understand how this would turn out. Drooling, both females started scraping the ground and hissing at one another. Squaring off, they tensely both started walking parallel to each other in a direction away from the male and the kill. The gap between them was getting smaller and smaller, almost as if they were trying to size each other up from a sideways perspective. Closing in, suddenly the slow walk turns into a jog and in split seconds both female leopards are in the air, claws latched onto one another and making the most horrific noises you could imagine! I never thought that these animals could punish each other like that! It was merely seconds and both were back on their feet and it seemed as if the hierarchy had been established very quickly. One leopard sitting and one standing, this must be the outcome. When an animal is submissive they will lower themselves from their opponent and this seemed to diffuse the situation. Both females walked off in opposite directions. There was still a dust lingering in the air and it seemed as if everything was back to normal. It was scary to think such conflict is sorted out in seconds and everyone continues their lives with their new scars and memories. This sort of conflict doesn’t occur often at all. Both animals are still alive and doing well, the territory sizes and boundaries have just been adjusted.

Is it still a time of plenty? Article by Leon van Wyk Mother Nature has a way of making things work. We witness and experience conditions and cycles that fluctuate, and we wonder at the balance that is maintained. As we approach a new summer, we remember only too well the severe droughts of the summers of 2014/2015 and 2015/2016. Mercifully, the summer of 2016/2017 was one of above average rainfall, and this resulted in a time of plenty, which is still gloriously evident. This does not necessarily mean that the drought is over. Indeed, the level of the Sand River at the time of writing this article is rather low, and the overall dry condition of the veld suggests that the water table could do with further replenishing. We hope that we can look forward to a good rainy season. What has impressed us all is the extent to which the vegetation “bounced back” when the good rains came last summer, after the long drought. The ability of the veld to recover from major setbacks is nothing short of mind-boggling. A little over a year ago, the landscape looked barren, and there was very little grass for the large herbivores to graze. For the first time in my career, I witnessed zebras (which are bulk grazers) browsing from trees. Buffaloes are also generally considered to be bulk grazers, but they regularly also browse when there is a shortage of good grass. During the big drought, they did plenty of browsing, but were unable to gain sufficient volume of nutrients, and their condition declined. Many succumbed to lions and even hyenas, and some even died directly of drought-related stresses. Yet when the rains came and the plains were again miraculously covered with green grass, the survivors steadily regained condition. It would be an exaggeration to say that they were quickly plump again, but it was definitely impressive how well and how fast they bounced back.

Several months ago I wrote an article entitled “A time of plenty!” which appeared in the Wildlife Journal for February 2017. Now that we have gone through almost a full dry season since then, it is interesting to reassess the status. Is it still a time of plenty? One of the major changes in animal life that I have noticed in the last several months, is a major increase in small rodent numbers. Whether they are rats, mice or gerbils, it is currently common to see a total of twenty or thirty of them scurry across the road during the post-dusk part of the evening drive. Rodents

breed very quickly, and it is clear that when there was a good recovery in the grass cover after last summer’s good early rains, the rodents made great use of the improved conditions and abundant food in the form of grass seeds. If one goes on a short walk, even during a morning coffee break, one can see a good number of pathways created by the various rodents, as well as some obvious holes that they have dug. Directly linked to the increased number of rodents, we are noticing a similar increase in the numbers of sightings of their main predators, such as owls and other raptors. Black-shouldered kites, in particular, are evident in greater numbers this year than I can ever remember in previous years of guiding in this area. There certainly does seem to be plentiful food for all types of animals at present, and this will be boosted by the promising start that we have had to the rainy season. The balance is always a delicate one, however, and temporary drastic increases in numbers of certain species are indeed just that… temporary! There is currently cause for optimism that we are about to have a good summer. Time will tell. Looking back on the dry months that followed the good rains that broke the lengthy drought, and considering the current good condition of the vegetation, the primary consumers and the secondary consumers, I would give a cautious “thumbs-up”. It is still a time of relative plenty. Nature is not wasteful, and the cycling of nutrients and energy will continue to ebb and flow. I still stand firmly by my claim that the ability of both plant and animal life to recover from setbacks is quite remarkable.

Photographs on location by Ross Couper and Renain Venter Singita Ebony and Boulders Lodge

Sabi Sand South Africa

Thirty-first of October 2017