While on the issue of impala and crocodiles, covered in the earlier entry, I jump my post queue to show you what we observed in Mana Pools National Park last week. The Impalas had a serious dilemma! Luckily for them, they could drink from the small channels while the crocodiles could only watch and wish!
The events described were observed at Masuma Dam in the Hwange National Park. The dam is about 120m by 100m and it has a roughly oval shape. Water is continuously pumped to the dam from a nearby borehole making it an essential water source for the animal population in the surrounding area.
The time of the observations -13 to 16 October 2014- correspond to the end of the dry season. Elephants, Greater Kudus, Waterbucks, Impalas, Zebras and Warthogs were regular visitors, together with large flocks of Guinea Fowls and Vultures, to name the most frequent and common. We also counted 16 Hippos and six Crocodiles.
The preferred drinking place was a small bay located towards the Southern part of the dam (seen on the left of the picture above, at the back where some Impalas can also be seen). Most antelopes drank from there, particularly the Impalas that would come throughout the day in herds of various sizes. The figure below shows a typical drinking scene in that bay.
A herd of Impalas drinking at the dam.
As soon as a herd started to drink, usually one of the Crocodiles would swim towards them. They did so in full view of the antelopes and stopped at about 1 to 1.5 metres from them.
A crocodile slowly approaching the drinking Impalas.
On seeing this the impala would withdraw from the water’s edge for a short time but gradually calm down and return to the water’s edge to resume their drinking. The crocodile would remain immobile for a few minutes and then slowly submerge and, eventually, disappear completely.
The Crocodile starts to sink.
The Crocodile is barely visible now and about to disappear.
What followed next was really unpredictable. With the Crocodile (we assume that there is only one!) submerged the Impalas would continue to drink, although very fretfully. Most of the time, the Impalas will get their fill and move off without incident. However, approximately two or three times in a morning a sudden swirl in the water will be the only thing that preceded a violent attack by a Crocodile by lounging itself at the Impalas, moving its head sideways while biting in an attempt at catching one.
The Impalas’ first reaction at seeing the water starting to move.
As soon as the impala saw the water movement preceding the attack, they scattered in all directions, including jumping into the water in order to avoid the Crocodile.
The Crocodile attack is taking place, the Impalas scatter in all directions, including into the water becoming very vulnerable.
The Impalas escaped the attack this time, including the male inside the water.
The most common outcome was that the crocodile(s) failed and went back to the water empty-jawed.
The Crocodile returns to the water after the failed attack.
On two occasions, however, animals were caught. We witnessed one kill while the other one took place just before our arrival and saw the Crocodile swimming with the dead antelope. The Impala we saw was a young animal and it was caught from a foreleg. After a short struggle it was quickly drowned.
A Crocodile swims away carrying the Impala.
The Crocodile holding the impala after drowning it.
During the time we were at the dam, the Crocodiles caught two Impalas out of eight attacks witnessed.
There was also an extremely interesting follow-up to the kills but for that you will need to wait for a while!!!
OK, there it is. It was the best camouflage trick I have seen. It seems that the said “beast”, an insect as it has six legs… covers itself with debris through some mechanism that I imagine it to be like an insect version of Velcro although it could also be a sticky secretion on its body where the debris gets glued! Nature surprises us all the time with large and small things!!!
I have also discovered that it is very difficult to know what it is as -I am sure- it changes according to the surroundings! However, I will continue looking for it and keep you informed.
The Bushsnob
Back from Hwange and Mana Pools National Parks where several interesting things happened that I will tell about in future posts. As we returned only yesterday afternoon, to gain time, I post this picture for you to find the creature. Not surprisingly my wife found it while packing up our tent in Mana Pools!
I took the picture in the bush by placing a handful of debris from the area it was found in a plastic box with the beast itself and then I let it go. When looking at it with friends yesterday evening, we had difficulties finding it but it is there, lurking somewhere!
Good luck and I will “reveal” it tomorrow. No prizes for the finders yet (until this blog attracts sufficient publicity that I start making money!!! Then it will be a different story…).
The Bushsnob
Dear followers,
I tried to post a last entry today but there was no power in Harare.
We are off to Hwange National Park where we will camp for 7 nights at Shumba Camp. We will keep notes and observations to be shared with you, together with the usual bad pictures.
See you!
The Bushsnob
While staying at Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary in Swaziland in June 2012, we came across something oddly called a Wildlife “Interpretorium” and Training Centre. It was a nicely set up combination of animal exhibits with good working space for training purposes. I am sure that it is put to good use in educating the youngsters in Swaziland. Two things came to my attention there. The first was a bull buffalo skull of normal size but that has a perfectly developed boss[1] but totally lacking the actual horns (Fig. 1, bottom skull). Its apparent perfect symmetry suggests that it was a freakish genetic mishap and not the result of trauma or wear and tear. I imagine this to be a rare occurrence but that is only speculation. Clearly it was an adult male buffalo but we will never know if this malformation had any impact on its life, particularly regarding its sparring and fights with other bulls with the aim of reproduction.
A normal buffalo skull above and the malformation below. (Picture: Leonor Fernandez)
What I do know is that next to this exhibit there was a much more dramatic one showing what can happen when normally developed horns are locked (Fig.2). Clearly the two fully developed kudu bulls were engaged in a serious quarrel when the accident happened. According to the notice that accompanies the two skulls, their horns’ whacking could be heard from the camp for quite a while until it suddenly stopped. Only a couple of days later it became clear of what had taken place when their carcasses were found. Their horns had become inextricably jammed and their heads were twisted in such a way that their bodies, pointing in the same direction became parallel to each other. No one can live long in such a situation and, unable to separate, the stress, fatigue and lack of water rapidly put an end to their lives in what we can only imagine was a rather protracted agony. One can only hope that such magnificent animals had a chance to pass on their genes before this incident took their lives at their prime.
The display showing the locked kudu horns. (Picture; Leonor Fernandez)
The kudu incident brought to mind a finding we came across in the Nairobi National Park, Kenya in the 80’s. While on a game drive in that magnificent park, our attention was caught by a couple of lionesses on a small hill and we went there to have a look. From the distance, it was clear that they were feeding on a large animal. At close quarters we could see that they were busy with a buffalo carcass that, when we got closer, became two buffaloes and, like the kudu in Swaziland, they had locked their horns (Fig. 3). In this case, however, they were facing each other.
The buffalo with locked horns in Nairobi National Park. The back of a lioness is visible over the one on the left.
Considering the shape of buffalo horns it is difficult to imagine that they can be locked but these two bulls managed it and ended their lives as a consequence. The knoll where the carcasses lay appeared ploughed, no doubt because of the titanic struggle that took place prior to their deaths. How they died will remain another mystery of nature but I would not be surprised that their violent confrontation attracted the lions and they may have had something to do with its ending.
I am sure that this is one risk that the “hornless” freak displayed at the Wildlife “Interpretorium” and Training Centre of Mlilwane did not face.
[1] An adult bull’s horns are fused at the base and this continuous bone structure is known as the “boss”.
Looking for pictures of Giant Eagle Owls to illustrate the earlier post I found one I did not remember having! As usual it is bad! It was taken on film in a hurry and later scanned to an electronic file. It shows a raucous confrontation we witnessed while living at Bedele, Ethiopia in 1989. We recorded the event and only recently we published it in SCOPUS.
The scan of the original article included explains what happened and it save me from re-writing it! Please note that the publication is reproduced with the kind permission of SCOPUS. (For easier reading, click on the pages and then again).
A tree like any other?
I have already praised my wife’s eyesight in the post “Green eyes in the wild” and showed you the two pictures of the hiding lioness at Tsavo East National Park in Kenya.
This example of my wife’s superb eyesight took place at the Kruger National Park during our recent trip (see Kruger National Park Report).
One early morning, while staying at Letaba Rest Camp, we were driving along the Letaba river looking for leopards and -as is normally the case- not finding any. Suddenly, my wife said “Stop, go back, go back!” so I did while she prepared herself to have a closer look with her binoculars. “What do you see there?” she asked me, thinking that I have her eyes! “Nothing” I replied, then added “where?”. “Use your binoculars”. “Do you see that large tree?” “Of course I see it” was my reply.
After a while I could see the general area!
I must add that my binoculars are more powerful than hers, and I looked and saw a tiny red dot on one of the branches. “I see a kind of flower, is that it?” I ask. “It is not a flower, look at it again” she replied and I did.
It looked like a bit of meat as it had a pink centre and some brownish hairs. I moved the car a bit to get a different angle and then I could see the whole picture: the pink meat had been either a hare or a squirrel (maybe a rat). “Oh yes, I see it now!” I exclaimed “Do you think a leopard left it there?”
After further car maneuver the red spot became visible!
“No” she said, “There is a bird there as well, move the car back” I did and then I really saw the whole picture! Perching on top of the animal remains -hidden from me until I moved the car- there was a bird with pink eyelids that could only be a Giant Eagle owl (Bubo lacteus) perched on a branch and holding its kill!
More car maneuvers and finally I could see the owl!
The owl is described as being up to 66 cm tall and I still had difficulties spotting it. I did take rather poor pictures that I present to you but believe me, I could drive past one hundred times and never see it!
There is a great advantage in having a wife with such keen eyesight while looking for game on safari. However, there is a drawback. As my children and I know very well, it is difficult to hide from those eyes!
My wife found a “leaf” stuck on the fluorescent tube in the kitchen that flew off, flashing its orange-red under parts, when she tried to remove it.
I collected dry leaves from the garden and put the moth on them for the picture. I think it is a Red Tail moth (Hypopyra capensis). It is a rather common moth. Its larvae feed on Albizia spp. trees.
I am sure you all spotted it! In fact I realized, after I released it, that I had put it in the centre of the picture (not very clever!).
This creature was spotted in our Harare garden. Can you see it? A close-up follows tomorrow.
A Bushsnob out of Africa 