Warthog Post December 2017

December | 12

December 2017

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From the editors desk Last Month’s Top Shot Winner Facebook Cover Shot Winner Volunteer Encounters Ranger’s Report

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Community Focus

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Photography Reflections Photography Focus

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Research Update Research Focus

Axelle Lot Photography Volunteer,
 Belgium When joining the team here at Dumela lodge at the beginning of the year, there was the undeniable excitement of being surrounded by nature and to finally live and breathe photography. However, the cherry on top of this already extraordinary cake was the people I knew I would be joining, having volunteered last year; there was already the sense of re-joining a family and it was one of the main reasons I so quickly decided to pack up my life in the UK. None of those people, however, inspired and influenced me as much as the photography manager, Tim Feherty.

Being able to work with Tim on the photography project all year has not only been a professional high for me, but also a personal one. He was a mentor, a colleague and a good friend from the day I returned to the project and his support and enthusiasm for everything photography and wildlife was endless.

Beyond being a fantastic photographer, he was also an exceptional teacher; parting every bit of information and knowledge he possibly could to anyone wanting to learn and push themselves.

Tim now joins the ranks of those who left their impact on us, as he heads off back home to Northern Ireland and none of us could be more thankful for the time, knowledge and friendship he gave everyone here at African Impact. I will be taking over and running the photography project in the new year and I aim to do everything in my power to do Tim proud and to carry on with what he created; to infuse others with a passion for creative photography and to use those skills as an agent for conservation.

Samuel Cox Photography Coordinator England Subscribe by mailing: warthogpost@africanimpact.com 
 to keep yourself updated with the latest news!

Cover shot: Julie Lovegrove. Photography Coordinator. England

African Impact has made an impact: My experience as a research volunteer.

The Oxpecker

After spending 2 weeks on a safari holiday in Zambia in 2016 I was fixated with returning to Africa to see the amazing animals in their natural habitat again but this time I wanted to make a difference - I wanted to help the beautiful & endangered species in some way. I didn’t know exactly how I could do it & to what extent I could help but I now know I definitely made the right decision & chose the right experience. Being a research volunteer at African Impact has fulfilled my wish & more.

It has educated me on the plight of some of the most impressive animals on our planet - through supporting on research counts, data inputting, understanding how, what seems like such a small amount of work, makes a big difference to the greater good; supporting major organizations like Elephants Alive & Lion Alert and listening to presentations on related subjects.

The moving & haunting presentation on Rhino poaching makes you wonder how it has been allowed to get to this stage & the Trophic Cascade presentation totally proved to me that every day is a school day!

Being with African Impact has also introduced me to some amazing people from across the globe: The research team who are so passionate about what they do; a passion which is infectious. The motivation they have for the work they do is incredible & inspiring.

Oxpeckers are endemic to the savanna of SubSaharan Africa.

Both the English and scientific names arise from their habit of perching on large mammals such as cattle, zebras, impalas,or rhinoceroses, and e a t i n g t i c k s , s m a l l insects, botfly larvae, and other parasites.

The Community Manager, who strives to help the local community better themselves, from local school children to the young unemployed.

Elephant Herds

The fundraising intern who works to find new ways to raise money for the projects that make a difference, in a country where money is limited.

The guides who educate you through their day to day job, teaching you about the animals, their behaviours, sounds, tracks & even taking you to poo school! It is absolutely fascinating & the feeling of privilege you have when you first see a Rhino and a leopard is indescribable & takes your breath away.

The fellow volunteers – I have met some wonderful people who I hope to stay in touch with for years to come. Together they have all made my stay one I will remember. I have done so much in my short time here; from reading with local school children, being surrounded by an elephant herd (a dream come true), cleaning out a tortoise enclosure, going on a snare sweep to sleeping in the bush surrounded by god knows what!

African Impact involves you in every aspect of the work they do & make you feel part of the family from day one. At no point did I feel like I was just any old volunteer – I felt I was helping make an impact in Africa which is exactly what I wanted.

I would urge anyone to get involved…..

Sally Kenyon Research Volunteer Scotland

Elephants enjoy a fairly unique family structure in terms of the role of the bull and the cow. In the herd, the female elephant takes the lead. The bulls play a largely functional role, that of increasing the elephant population in his territory. Males stay with their mother and her herd for about 8 years, although this could be up to 17 years. They remain more emotionally distant however than the young female elephants, who prefer to take the lead in events like birthing and childcare.

Choosing Community

Q&A with: Taelo Why did you join Sasekile Gardens? Because I don’t have money to study

What is your favourite part about gardening?

Watering the garden

What is your favourite crop to grow? Beetroots What will you do with the harvests? I want to sell it to shops One thing you have learnt from the project? I learnt to water the garden properly Photo credit: Till Juncker

When thinking about volunteering in Africa the first thing that came to mind were the animals. The thrill of seeing a black rhino up close, or seeing a herd of elephants (both achieved within my first week) was really enticing. But, after doing some research, the African Impact website opened my eyes to the possibility of working with the local community.

I was hesitant, how much would a volunteer actually get involved in with community? I imagined I would be sat at the back of a classroom tidying supplies or filing paperwork, I never would have thought three days after my arrival I would be standing with a group of 10 to 13-year olds, singing a song about photosynthesis to the rest of the class!

Looking over our schedules at the beginning of the week and I noticed taking part in community meant missing out on drives in the reserves. ‘Please don’t miss a Lion sighting’ I caught myself thinking, our research colleagues bundled into the open-top jeep as we headed out to reading club.

Any worries about missing out soon vanished as we walked into the classroom. Seeing how excited the children were to meet new volunteers and to have their chance to read with us was amazing, they actually wanted us to be there. Being able to work directly with the children, helping each one with their own reading issue gave me instant gratification.

The Greater Kruger region of South Africa experiences severe unemployment, with 15-24 year olds making up 70% of all those unemployed in Mpumalanga. The cycle of poor education, poverty and health issues create an environment in which communities struggle to escape.

Even if the youth in the area receive an education they are often without the skills to be able to get jobs and create a stable income. This further contributes to the unemployment in the area and an increase in poverty levels. Our goal is to equip young adults to theoretically and practically apply their skills to a career and identify and establish entrepreneurial opportunities. We will create a community garden to help local community members sustain themselves and their families and increase income generation.

To help out, visit www.happyafricafoundation.o rg/ donate

Sasekile gardens, the community garden project, showed me how the charity has made an actual difference to the lives of the gardeners and how it is helping shape their future. It was good to do something different and get my hands dirty in the garden, helping to weed and to harvest. It’s great that African Impact buy some of the produce, and even better that we get to eat the veg at dinner time!

I work in recruitment and have seen thousands of CVs. Knowing that the Sasekile Gardeners would soon be ready to look for the next step in their careers we offered to help them put CVs together. I didn’t think my experience in recruitment would be of any value out here but all the volunteers have had something they can give that seems small but makes a big impact.

While I could not be enjoying the research side of my volunteer experience more, I am loving making my impact and happy I chose community.

Alice Tuxford.

Combo Volunteer England

May we introduce The African Impact Foundation!

A new name, but the same goal – having a long-lasting positive impact in the lives of individuals, families and communities all over Africa! On November 28, the Happy Africa Foundation officially became the African Impact Foundation. The Foundation has been established in 2008 by the volunteering organisation African Impact in order to responsibly manage all the generous donations received from the volunteers. It provides a crucial financial support for many African Impact projects all over Africa. This is ensuring the sustainability and long-lasting impact of the projects in the areas they are operated. Without the financial support by the foundation, the projects could only come as far as the active work of the volunteers can reach. However, the name “the Happy Africa Foundation” has always caused confusion as it was difficult for most people to see the connection between the foundation and the volunteering organisation. Now with the changed name, it can be seen much clearer that the Foundation is part of African Impact, which is also very important for potential donors to have trust in the reliability and intentions of the Foundation. Certainly, not only the name has gotten a new polish, but also the logo has been improved creating a unified presence of African Impact and its Foundation. We couldn’t be happier about the great accomplishments that have been achieved already through the Happy Africa Foundation and we are going to continue our hard work to make a positive and long-lasting impact, now as the African Impact Foundation.

Melanie Frauenlob, AIF Intern, Austria

Backgrounds It’s good to be back!

Exposure Compensation: An overcast and grey sky has its advantages.

Shooting from a low angle so you have nothing but sky as your background? can result in a great high key image.

You’ll need to increase the exposure when taking the shot or the result will be far too dark or even a silhouette.

Three years ago I was the photography coordinator at the previous base for the project in Kwa Zulu Natal, and the following year I came here to Dumela Lodge for 3 months to work as the photography assistant. Now I’m back as coordinator until just before Christmas and once again I’m loving my time with African Impact. Some of the staff I worked with previously are still here, and within a day of arriving I slotted straight back in and felt at home again. The staff here are extremely dedicated and hard working, come from all over the world, and everyone gets on really well.

The main reason that I love coming here however is for the African wildlife, and on my first trip to Klaserie I wasn’t disappointed. Two leopard sightings within an hour of each other, a couple of lionesses, a gorgeous little bushbaby that bounced around like a rubber ball in front of us, a rhino mother and calf, dozens of zebra, giraffe and various antelope, beautiful sunsets, and my favourite bird, the lilac breasted roller. My personal aim whilst I’m here is to capture birds in flight, which I’ve never successfully managed to achieve before.

I’m here for just under 8 weeks, so practice hopefully makes perfect and I’m reasonably pleased with the two on the right here and the gorgeous colour dragonfly. :)

Julie Lovegrove Photography Coordinator England

How long?

GETTING MICRO WITH MACRO I have chosen macro photography as the subject of my article as South Africa is not only home to the Big 5, but also houses thousands of insects, flora, fauna, amphibians and more that can be the subject of quite spectacular close-ups. Take as many opportunities as you can to go on bush walks and seek out the smaller things that can offer just as much of a unique photo as the larger animals.

Macro photography is great for bringing out all the little details and is defined usually as making something small seem really big – this is a wide definition so play with it!

Whilst macro lenses are not strictly necessary for this kind of photography (I have seen some amazing photos here with a standard 70-200mm lens), they can be very handy when trying to get that close up you want. The most important thing to remember is that your subjects are small and can be fast, so your camera settings need to reflect that. I have always started off with a larger F stop; F8 upwards usually does the trick- to ensure that I have got as much of my subject in focus whilst still keeping the background blurred. If the subject moves quite quickly, keep an eye on shutter speed (1/1000 might be a good starting point) and remember that this in turn affects your ISO and how much light you will need to let in.

Male lions usually live for between 10 to 12 years in the wild, but females can live up to the age of 14 or 15. In captivity lions have been known to live for 20 to 25 years.

This is because they are kept in a cage or an enclosure and don’t face any of the dangers that wild lions do.

Animal of the Month: Zebra.

TIPS FOR MACRO: Be patient – insects will not wait for you to take that perfect photo. You need to stand back, keep an eye on your subject and, in the case of ones with wings, wait patiently for them to settle. Remember, more often than not dragonflies will return to the place that they just occupied so keep still!

Get down to their level – not many people want to see a photo of the top of a frog’s head. Get down low and get your subject at eye level for perspective or really sink down lower and make it look mighty and powerful above you. Don’t be afraid to get your clothes dirty in the process, it is all part of the fun!

A Zebra’s stripy coat is thought to disperse more than 70% of incoming heat, preventing the animal from overheating in the African sun.

A zebra’s stripy coat is thought to Zebras are very fast-moving animals, and can reach speeds disperse of up to 65 kmph when galloping. This is just fast more enough than to outpace 70 predators such as lions. per cent of Foals can run with the herd within a few hours of birth. incoming heat, preventing

Don’t just focus on the insects – on our bush walks, we came across some incredible sights and most of them were not moving. Never pass over a beautiful flower, an interesting bark pattern on a tree or a wonderfully located string of thorns in favour of hopelessly chasing a flying beetle. As long as the photo has that wow factor, it doesn’t matter the subject!

Emily Thompson-Golding.

Volunteer Photographer

Photography Volunteer

The

Metering Most modern DSLR cameras have a built-in light meter.

This allows your camera to analyse the scene and optimise the exposure of the photo. It uses the readings it obtains to decide how bright or dark to make the image.

Rather than allowing the camera to average out a scene, if you choose spot metering it will make the most important part of the image stand out.

ISO 800 f/8 1/640

I had always been interested in photos and photography - from looking through old family albums to browsing online at National Geographic images. I was always in awe of how a photograph could capture a moment of joy or sorrow, convey a message or simply tell a story and I wanted to be able to do the same.

When I was deciding which project I wanted to do, I knew that I wanted to do volunteer and pair it with photography. African Impact had such a balanced program that I immediately signed up but then the doubts quickly started coming - Would I be able to do this, What volunteering would I actually be doing, How much of a difference could one person actually make.

When I arrived at Dumela Lodge, I was greeted by friendly faces and I knew that I had made the right decision. After a weeks intensive workshop with my camera and learning about what all the different setting meant, practising and getting to grips with them, I felt overwhelmed but had to keep looking at the bigger picture. I was here to try and make a difference.

Photography Volunteer

The

Using Backlight When the sun shines through something, it creates a beautifully backlit scene.

Using backlighting when taking a photograph can result in a much more dramatic and pleasing image than having the sun behind you and illuminating something from the front.

The image above is of a community spider’s nest.

I thought that most, if not all, of the photography would be focused on the big 5 - after all, it is one of the things that South Africa is best know for. I was really pleased to discover that this wasn't the case.

We focused on developing a variety of different skills, including astrophotography, macro and motion. Whilst being out of a game drive searching for the big 5 or magnificent 7 is amazing, there is so much going on around you that I was just as happy on my hands and knees trying to get that great shot of an ant working away, or capturing a rapture in flight, or being in a local school documenting the kids developments - all of which have their difficulties and rewards at the end.

Studying a subject though my view finder, I get so absorbed that nothing else matters in that moment. The moments that I have captured not only tell my personal story, but more importantly, are also used to raise awareness of the plights of the wildlife, habitats, people and communities living in this area. They are also used to assist the research team in their work documenting the movements, lives and numbers of wildlife in the surrounding areas. After all, a picture can say a thousand words.

Michelle Holder Volunteer Photographer

Research Focus: Tracks and signs When you volunteer in a project like the Big 5 Conservation programme put in place by African Impact, you do it for one main reason; the unique opportunity to see the Big 5 – and other animals - in their natural habitat.

Indeed, most of the time spent on a game drive consists in searching for animals. Unfortunately, you often end up playing hide and seek with them, and one thing that I can tell you is that they are good at hiding.

I discovered during my stay here that they are other ways to observe these exceptional animals. Although I had already heard about camera traps, tracks and signs, I never would have thought that it could be so exciting.

Learning to recognise the tracks or the scent marking of a lion, leopard, wild dog or a hyena is actually fun.

African Impact started to record tracks not so long ago when they realised the amount of information it could bring to their database. Today, we record tracks and signs like scat or scent markings in Buffaloland (Hyena, Lion, Leopard and Jackals) and in Leadwood (Leopard, Hyena, Lion, Jackals and Wild Dogs). The data collected gives us a better idea of the animal’s movement and enables us to locate them easier during our game drives. It is incredible all the information you can get from a simple footprint. After a week however, I am only able to tell the difference between herbivores and carnivores. We are counting on our guides and research staff to help us on that one. But the fun part (which is also a bit tricky) is to tell when the animal has walked down that road. The freshness can go from within 24 hours to more than a week. You can then imagine all the tracks that can be seen on a single road and the difficulty to spot the one you want.

Motion Blur ‘The motion’ in Motion Blur refers to the movement made by the camera, and typically this involves setting a slow shutter speed, and spanning the camera to follow an animal whilst it is moving.

The aim is to get the animal sharp, and the background blurred. The difficulty is that the speed of the animal is erratic and it’s very much a c a s e o f t r i a l a n d e r r o r.

Another technique that produces abstract images is to sweep the camera up or down on some trees.

To p r o p e r l y u n d e r s t a n d population densities and distributions of leopards we must conduct camera trap surveys, record spoor and signs of predator presence.

Ultimately, this focused research is vital to the development of sustainable conservation solutions that will protect the future of this iconic apex predator.

Sign up for regular giving or a one – off donation below to help support the protection and better understanding of leopards in Southern Africa.

The second part of the work is to go through all the data. In the project work office, we have created a map which gives us a great visual of the animal’s patterns. It allows us to identify the corridors usually taken by specific species.

Thanks to this map we can focus the research drives in defined areas that are more active.

THE PROBLEM OF As you probably know, African Impact loves its leopards and for RHINO them, we push the POACHING research even further. Not only do we

record the tracks but we also measure them. The measurement of the tracks brings us supplementary information which can be used to identify the individual.

Thanks to this we are now able to tell in Buffaloland the most probable area where you will be able to spot FBL1 (our adult female). Funny fact about leopards, their scent marking smells like popcorn. You have to experience it once to believe it.

And all these efforts pay! This week we managed to have a visual of FB01 and one of its cubs! Amazing experience!

https://www.globalgiving.org/ projects/leopard-research/

Natacha Lescart.

Research Volunteer, Belgium

Interesting Facts: The Baboon Spider

Not so elusive any more… Over a month ago it was reported that there was a leopard with cubs on Buffaloland. After this initial information the research team was ecstatic, hoping that this would be new cubs of our resident female Ncila Wo Lea, FBL1. And indeed it is! We finally have confirmation that she does have another set of cubs which she is denning on Buffaloland.

Baboon spiders get their name, due to their hairy appearance and the black pads on its "feet" resembling the pads on baboon feet.

The baboon spider can live for up to two years without eating anything!

The most dramatic feature of these spiders is their black fangs that can exceed 6 mm in length.

Way back in May we had our first evidence that FBL1 was possibly mating again as we captured MBL5 and a FBL1 both on the camera traps within a short time of each other. After this time we had multiple drives where male tracks and female tracks seemed to be following each other. From this point on we crossed our fingers and hoped that in a few short months we would be able to observe the next stage in the leopard’s life history.

Last month we heard that there had been a sighting of cubs in the area and we couldn’t be more excited about the possibility that these would be the cubs of Ncila. From then on our drives were heightened with endless excitement as volunteers and staff alike worked to track and locate this elusive animal.

During one of these drives the research team managed to find tracks of both a female and an infant leopard which was our first evidence that this sighting was correct about these female and cubs.

Leopard Facts Just a few weeks later we captured Ncila crossing our camera traps, walking back and forth, almost like coming and going from a den site. This was the initial information which led us to hope that the mother was Ncila, and we just needed visual confirmation of both mother and cubs to seal the deal.

Leopards are astoundingly strong. They are pound for pound the strongest of the big cats. One reason why leopards sometimes take their prey up in the trees is to ensure lions or hyenas can’t steal them.

Leopards are renowned for their agility. They run up to 58km/h and can leap 6m horizontally and 3m vertically.

They are also very strong swimmers.

We didn’t have to wait long. Within a few weeks, while on our monthly game count, we had the first sighting of Ncila with her new cubs. The young cub was still unsure of the vehicle and didn’t stick around long but our star sat around and gave us a show.

Through the research project we have been able to observe 2 sets of cubs by FBL1, with Mbali and Lanza from last year’s litter, and now her cubs from this year. We hope that now we have had confirmation about Ncila and her new cub we can keep tabs on her mobile den sites and continue to collect valuable data on both mother and young for many years to come.

Taylor Bates, Research Manager USA

Looking Back.

The

My time with African Impact has been one of the most interesting and rewarding stages of my life. Since the day I first arrived here at Dumela Lodge seven months ago – a day which still feels like it only just happened – hardly a day has gone by that did not come with a new experience. During the first two months (April and May) I was still finding my feet here, and, though I found the work both enjoyable and fascinating, it was still a challenge for me to get into the routine here. But as soon as I returned from my first leave cycle in early June, I immediately felt more at home and at ease, and the work began to be a lot more manageable, despite it being the start of busy season.

The big thing that made it so easy for me to adapt, and made the past seven months fly by, has been the amazing friendliness and helpfulness of all of the staff. It has always been difficult for me to get used to a new environment, but everyone here was amazing from day one and helped me to adjust in no time. I will definitely miss all of my new friends and family, from all over the world, whom I’ve come to know well over the past few months.

I’ve been asked several times what my favourite moment of my time here at African Impact was, and, of course, it’s an impossible question for me to answer. Choosing one favourite moment? I’d need a whole Warthog Post to myself just to list them all!

But one thing that really pleased me was how many new animals I was to see, that I had never before seen in the wild. Among them: the black rhino, honey badger, porcupine, white-tailed mongoose, black mamba, civet and my favourite mammal, the aardvark.

Ultimately, I have to say that working with African Impact has been one of the defining times of my life, and I will of course miss being here a lot.The I do plan to return in a year or two, if only to see how much progress has been made on all of the projects that I’ve been a small part of. Since I first arrived here, there have been a lot of positive changes, and I’m sure that the whole project will continue to evolve and change for the better in the years to come.

Bernhard Crafford, Guide South Africa

December | 12

December 2017

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Emily Thompson-Golding Photography Volunteer,
 UK

africanimpactphotography.com