South African Adventure

Recently I have been very fortunate to undertake 6 months in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Whilst on this adventure I have witnessed the 'Big 5' in action and for those who do not know the 'Big 5' that's African Lion (Panthera leo), Leopard (Panthera pardus), African Elephant (Loxodonta africana), White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum) (Although Originally it was the Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis)) and African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer). The point of this Blog, is to share some of my best parts of the trip and show some of my photos off. I hope you enjoy reading and I shall try to throw some facts in along the way.

Top 5 Moments: Number 5 A birders paradise:
Undoubtedly one of the many moments for me was the birding aspect. One of my passions is birding and it was amazing to see a huge diversity in another country. Overall in my trip I managed to see over 170 birds. Yet this is a relatively small number considering South Africa has over 500 recorded species. A milestone I personally hit was recording 300 birds in the wild worldwide. For me number 300 turned out to be a Secretary Bird (Saggitarius serpentarius). This bird stalks through the grass looking for prey, once finding it it will use its bare legs to kick the prey until it dies. The bird life in

South Africa is unbelievable rich, due to the differing environments, biomes and weather conditions, it allows birds to fill all kind of ecological niches. It is also a huge hotspot for migratory birds. With all these factors plus plenty of food and nesting habitats its hard to not see why South Africa is perfect for Birding. If your passion is birding I would fully recommend a trip to see how many you can record.


Number 4: Amazing supporting cast:
Granted most people go to Africa to see the 'big 5' but these animals would not be here if it wasn't for all the others that fit into this environment. General game is often over looked but can also provide fascinating behaviour and interesting moments. I was exceptionally lucky to see a wide variety of antelope, smaller carnivores, Zebra, Giraffe and some creatures that are difficult to see such as Aardvark. For me this was part of the trip some days you would only see these creatures and it still made the trip. Especially when you see them interact with members of the same species or other species.

I was lucky to have good rains whilst staying in South Africa, resulting in a baby boom. As you can see from this picture with a new born baby Zebra.











Number 3: A Carnivore Bonanza:
Everybody wants to see predators, who wouldn't. I was so fortunate I had carnivore sightings nearly every day, I got to see a lot of action. Hunting behaviour, feeding behaviour but sometimes just a pride of lions lying around doing nothing. Either way it was amazing to see these creatures in action. One morning I saw a leopard finishing strangling its unsuspecting victim a Bushbuck (Tragelaphus sylvaticus) in this case.
 
One of the highlights was a trip to find Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus). The Latin name means painted wolf.  Anybody who knows wildlife will know that this is one of Africa's rarest mammals. I was fortunate enough to have several sightings with this being one of the best. They are also one of Africa's most successful predators.



Number 2: Dinner time!

Whilst in South Africa I was able to spend a lot of time with a pride of lions. In this time one of the females had cubs, which put the pride at twelve. With all these mouths to feed the lions had to go big. In this case they bought down a male Giraffe. On the morning they killed it we arrived at this grisly scene. The cubs had been feasting and playing in the Giraffe's rib cage. The lions stayed on the kill for a couple of days, but eventually left. After this I was lucky enough to camera trap the kill. In this sighting I recorded Vultures, Hyena and Jackals. Many species benefitted from the Lions bringing down the Giraffe. Its important to find vultures here as they are an endangered species and we had no less than four species which was impressive. Hopefully some work can be done in preserving vultures further down the line.






TOP MOMENT! AN INTERACTION AT 04:30AM!
My top moment of the experience was an early one. We were driving around a river and startled two Hyena, they had treed three leopards who were father and cubs, on their Bushbuck kill. To sit with these animals for a time and experience the behaviour will stay with me forever. Leopard and Hyenas are sworn enemies and to see them interact over the scraps left on the kill was insane.

 Although the pictures are not clear, you can see the male Leopard in the tree with the Bushbuck kill, and below the Hyena trying to sneak closer to get the scraps. The noise from the animals and the intense atmosphere will make this one of my best experiences in the field, potentially for the rest of my life. The trip was amazing and I would do it all again, I saw some amazing wildlife, met some amazing people, who will be a part of my life forever. I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventure, feel free to ask any questons, or if you want I can post more details at a later date.

Invasive Species: Egyptian Goose

          The Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca) is more commonly found round waterholes in the Savannah of Africa. Related to the Shelduck its a fairly common Goose. To see it around the average park pond is becoming an increasingly common phenomenon, however how did they get there and where did they come from. Many people used to have them as a decorative bird for collections. As time has passed these collections have either escaped or been released by the collector. This has allowed the Egyptian Goose to colonise Britain. It was mostly confined to East Anglia because of the amount of wetlands in this part of the country. But in the last few years the Goose has begun to spread out and can now be found in London, Kent and Sussex. These are not the only species to of escaped, there are many more lurking out in the UK.
           It is not the most striking of birds, it is mostly brown with a very distinctive eye patch. One of the main behavioral traits of this invader, is its territorial attitude. Once a suitable pond is found, you should only ever find two geese, a male and his mate. According to the RSPB over 1,000 pairs now nest and reproduce in the UK, and because of this the Egyptian Goose is now recognised as a species that resides in the UK. Whether it is native or not is still debated. They will guard this body of water from any other Egyptian goose and sometimes other birds as well. It can be a problem for more native, passive species.
           There are some positives to having this invader around. For many people there will not really be a chance to see the goose in its native environment. If you want to have a taste of Africa then this goose is perfect for you and in the UK the chance is becoming very high. Another positive can be found in the goose feeding behavior. It is usually a land feeder, cropping plants such as grasses and flowers as it goes. It will also ingest the seeds and as it wanders over the land it is spreading the seeds by defecating out the seeds as it walks over the land. This helps many native plants to colonise new areas for growth.

              These photos were taken in Hampden Park, however in recent weeks it seems the geese have moved on, whether or not they just wintered in the UK and have flown south now back to the native environment we shall never know. They is not evidence that these geese are causing damage to the local environment like so many other introduced species. They have successfully bred and look like they are here to stay. If you come across any on your travels then let me know because I would be interested to know how far they have managed to colonise.

Port Lympe:Review

If you cannot afford to go on safari in Africa and still want to have an authentic, thrilling experience may I suggest Port Lympe Wildlife Park, which is located in Kent near Hythe. I have not visited the Park for nearly twenty years, and I must admit when I returned I was mightily impressed. The Park itself focuses on giving tourists a safari style adventure. With over 100 hectares for the game to wander in, it is by far one of the more spacious wildlife collections you will visit in the UK. Along with that they have a very large selection of carnivores as well as other large animals which are involved in breeding programs to be released back into the wild. No Matter what you think of Zoos, Port Lympe is definitely one of the leaders in wildlife conservation. Many species of animal at the park had been reintroduced back into the wild or put on the conservation program across the world. Successful reintroduction included, European Bison, Lowland Gorilla and Black Rhino. 

Many People know of the plight of the Black and White Rhino's across Africa. Port Lympe has a successful breeding program, I counted several calves with their mothers around the park and they have even reintroduced a couple back to the wild. However its a slow process and making Rhinos takes time. Realistically too many Rhinos are being slaughtered than can be made. In the future it maybe that we only ever see a rhino in a wildlife park like this. Its great that Port Lympe are trying and its amazing to see the magnificent beast. Its distressing to think though that they are slaughtered for their horns which in turn is the same material that a fingernail is made from.

On the main drive on the safari, you enter a very large pen, here there is a huge variety of animals, on a good day you should expect to see: Giraffe, Ostrich, Eland, Lechwe, Mountain and Grevys Zebra, Wildebeest, Defassa Waterbuck and Roan Antelope, They are all thrown in together and can be seen from the trucks. The food stations are located around the road, therefore you may be exceptionally lucky to get up close and personal with some of Africa's big Game. The park can boast having Africa's Largest and Second Largest Antelopes on Site, with Eland and Roan Antelope respectively.

Top Left Roan Antelope, Top Right Giraffe, Bottom Left Eland, Bottom Right Roan Antelope.

Once you have completed the tour of Africa, you can choose to continue on foot through the predator section. Animals Such as: Wild Dog, Cheetah, Pallas Cat, Clouded Leopard, Snow Leopard, Fishing Cat, Scottish Wild Cat, Ocelot, Barbary Lion and Bengal Tiger can be found in this section. However the only slight disappointment is a lot of these animals are quite shy and nocturnal so the actual chance of seeing some of them could be quite slim.

 Top Left Snow Leopard, Top Right Clouded Leopard, Bottom Left Bengal Tiger, Bottom Right Cheetah

The Cat collection is very impressive, with plenty of rare and endangered species benefiting from Port Lympe's work. After Wandering through this section you head up to the primate section and you will also pass the Malyan Tapir. There are many different Primates here including: Diana Monkeys, De Brazza's Monkey, Drills and Langur Speices, with the Lowland Gorillas being the real big attraction at the end. Once completing this part of the zoo you then have all the rhino Paddocks, to wander leisurely around and in these paddocks their are some other wildlife including: Blackbuck, Axis Deer and Red Pandas, which are charismatic and adorable to watch. I would say that all of the animals are pretty well cared for and have quite spacious enclosures. The zoo is set in a quiet peaceful place therefore the animals do not have to deal with any traffic or busy bustle. The price is reasonable and I would recommend heading down to this wildlife park to see the work that is carried out and meet the cast of endearing animals that feature. It is mostly mammal orientated so if you are into Insects, Reptiles, Birds or fish this may not be the place for you. Watch out for my second blog on Port Lympe having a look at the conservation projects at the park.