- From the editors desk - Last Month’s Top Shot Winner - Facebook Cover Shot Winner - Volunteer Encounter
- THAF Update - Community Focus
- Photography Reflections - Photography Focus
- Research Update - Research Focus - Rangers Report
Here you find the new edition of the Warthog Post that we, Manon and Kaat, together with Diana, have made. We are two of the photography volunteers on this month’s project. Manon, 23 years old, is from France, and Kaat is 51 years young from The Netherlands. Our first week we learned a lot about photography and how to take the best shots of wildlife, community and research. After taking the pictures we learned how to edit those in Lightroom. Tim and Diana have been teaching and helping us, always on hand when needed. The pictures we have made can be used to update our photographic database (www.africanimpactphotography.com) and also to show how African Impact works with community and conservation. We are very happy that we could have been a part of this organization for 4 weeks. We hope you will enjoy this new edition of the Warthog Post, and hope it informs and entertains you as much as the projects have us.
Covershot: 9th February 2016 | Impalas at Bateleur’s dam, Klaserie | Diana Beekvelt
On volunteer projects, we usually go through group introductions by saying your name, where you're from, and your occupation. Mine always seems to get an odd reaction: I'm Katie Nelson, I'm from Canada, and I work in CONSTRUCTION as a HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATOR. People look at me all confused and say things like "Wow, how did you get into THAT?" and "So what made you decide to come HERE then?� Well, as a child there was always one thing I loved more than anything: animals. For the longest time I thought I'd be a veterinarian when I grew up, but what I didn't know was that the nearest veterinary school was a whole province away. When the time came, I just couldn't bring myself to move so far from home. Instead, I started a bachelor's degree in general sciences, only fifteen minutes’ drive from my front door. After my first year of study, my dad asked if I wanted a summer job at the water and sewer company that he engineered for: I decided to give it a try. Fast forward to the end of my degree, and I had developed a keen interest in conservation biology and was ready to start a new career. But a familiar problem arose, and the only jobs that I had any interest in were very far from home. In the following years I moved up in the construction world. I started running excavators and
found it both challenging and fun, but I still had the passion for wildlife and conservation in the back of my mind. I started fantasizing about going on an extended holiday doing what I had always dreamed of, and then one night I decided I was going to go for it! I started looking into trips around the world, and the thought of volunteering crossed my mind. When I searched the web I found far more volunteer opportunities in Africa, and I narrowed my choices down to three projects: marine research in the Seychelles, teaching in Cape Town, and wildlife research with African Impact in Limpopo. I was really anxious about travelling halfway around the world alone, and I seriously doubted if I'd be able to go.
Of course in the end I got myself on the plane, and after a month of scuba diving in the Seychelles I was a whole new person. I felt like I was really living for the first time in years, and at the end of a month I was so excited to join the African Impact team. When I arrived at Dumela Lodge I felt right at home, and I spent some of the best times of my life on game drives in the Greater Kruger area. I saw everything from elephants and buffalo to lions and leopards, and I even had the chance to see my favorite animal, the hippo. It's been absolutely the most amazing experience volunteering with African Impact, and I definitely hope to come back in the future.
I’ve always loved nature and the beauty that it holds. As I grew up I knew that I wanted to learn as much as I could about the natural world around me. After school I obtained my degree in Animal science from the University of Pretoria and am currently doing my masters in veterinary science. I am excited to be part of the African Impact team and hope to teach others more about the importance of nature and how it all works together.
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Eight weeks in. It’s been five weeks now since the previous Warthog post regarding community work. Back then we wrote that we were amazed by everything that has happened in only three weeks, imagine what that would mean for now after eight! Well, with more experience I think we have become more realistic. Yes we had a great start and the project is still fantastic, but apparently we were also very lucky that we had such a splendid start. During the past few weeks we have refined and established the education programme and even tried to expand it by setting up a youth club for Friday afternoons, but not without a few struggles.
The idea of the youth club is to create opportunities for learners to develop into responsible teenagers in such a way that they will be better prepared and equipped for their next stage in life. We will provide learners with a safe environment during crucial, unsupervised hours when they are neither in school nor at home. During this time, learners will spend time at school having fun, building character, and finding direction in life. Our goal with the youth club is to raise the learner’s self-esteem and teach them the importance of teambuilding, tolerance, equality and solidarity through team sports, dancing classes, arts and craft and broaden their
worldviews by showing movies. Furthermore a big part of the Youth Club is to have a workshop once every month by people from outside the school on issues like gender equality, (sexual) violence, HIV and drugs and alcohol, health and nutrition and other issues that might arise.
We expected to be able to sell this project really easily to the school, since we were already proud of the curriculum we came up with. And indeed it wasn’t too hard to get the approval to carry out these youth club sessions on Friday afternoons. The only restriction was a teacher had to be present at all times. For the first time we wanted to organise the youth club for the learners of grade 6 and 7, the highest two grades. When we told them on Monday that we were organising something for them on Friday they all got really excited and after a few rounds of voting they decided that the first activity would be to watch a movie. Lazy option you might think, until you realize that only 4 out of 76 learners had ever been to a
movie theatre and most of them don’t have a television at home. The Friday afternoon was a great success. Only downside, since the weekend start on Friday afternoon none of the teachers are really keen to stay a bit longer and therefore the youth club sessions are deferred for now. The upside, of course, is that we have now tried and tested the activity, and the reaction from the kids says it all – it works!
The kids’ energy and happiness strengthens us to do our utmost best to figure out a way to be able to carry out these classes again! We hope that the next warthog post will tell you about how we were able to go back to the school on Friday afternoons again and how the children benefited from it!
An elephant’s thick skin looks tough but it’s actually sensitive and the animal keeps itself free from pests by rolling in mud and flinging dust on itself. This also helps block the harmful UV light rays from the sun.
A camera can only focus its lens at a single point, but there will be an area that stretches in front of and behind this focus point that still appears sharp. It’s not a fixed distance, it changes in size and can be described as either ‘shallow’ or ‘deep’. Sometimes you’ll want to use an extensive depth of field in order to keep everything sharp. Photographing a landscape, where you want detail from the foreground to the horizon. At other times a shallow depth of field is preferable. It enables you to blur background and foreground details, allowing you to direct viewers to the focal point in a picture.
On a beautiful Saturday morning we decided to go to the village, Greenvalley, where we have been working for the last eight weeks. We wanted to experience what the children were doing in their free time when they were in their own environment outside of school. The car dropped us at the start of the road where our beloved school is located. We started walking towards the school and within minutes we heard children calling our names. The children were very surprised to see us during the weekend; they were very enthusiastic showing us where they live and the games they are playing in their free time. We also witnessed children doing domestic work, like grocery shopping and cleaning their houses for their families. By this time, we knew how strong the community vibe was in this area of the world, but experiencing this first hand is one of the most beautiful memories we will carry forever. After being in the community for no more
than 30 minutes we were surrounded by 20 children. They were very eager to explain their family situation and to our surprise they all called each other buti (brother) and sesi (sister). This also showed in their actions, they were taking pride in caring for each other in such a beautiful way. The older ones (7 years old) carry the younger ones (between 1 and 3) around and look after them. One of the older children who was spending time with us, she is around 13, explained that the mother of these younger children had passed away last year and that an aunt had taken them into her house, and with the help of the whole community, is now raising them. Another example of showing their brotherhood is when a boy bought a little bag of chips and came back to us to share this bag with the whole group, without having any complaints or regrets. After having shared his chips with the whole group, the boy
continued to play happily in the sand making figures and building little houses. It is very clear to us that the circumstances and situations in where they live seem to be very hard in our minds but on the other hand they are doing something really good, for them to have such a strong human connection together. We wonder where you find the perfect balance of individualism and community. This experience gave us the feeling that the sum of the individual is definitely greater than the whole. And no matter where you come from or what you look like, the children and community embrace you and considers you as one of them.
Steenboks defecate and urinate in the holes in the ground. They later cover the holes with the ground to eliminate visual signs which most predators use when they are looking for food. The steenbok freezes and remains motionless in the grass when it is faced with danger. In the case of close encounters with predators, they bolt from their hiding place and run in a zigzag manner. They occasionally hide inside abandoned aardvark's burrows. Steenboks form monogamous couples that occupy territory of 4 to 100 hectares. Male and female usually live apart from each other and gather only during the mating season.
I was born in Budapest, but have spent most of my childhood in Beijing, China, as my parents were diplomats. I finished my education in Hungary, and moved to London in 2012. Over the last 4 years, I have lived in Egypt, the Philippines and Luxembourg, and have been working in a very diverse environment. My life came to a turning point when I volunteered with African Impact in 2014. I participated in the community and orphan projects run in Zimbabwe, and fell in love with Africa. Half a year later I was proud to be part of African Impact as Destination Specialist. I take care of all the direct bookings, and make sure that all future volunteers get the most up to date information prior to booking. Being able to live on site in the Greater Kruger area, I love joining the volunteers on game drives, community activities, and hope to add to their amazing experience with African Impact.
The term “Photography Reflections” carries a certain weight in my heart – to me it not only means thoughts about photography, but the techniques as well. Back home in Ireland, most people know there is no shortage of rainfall. There are puddles everywhere, and more often than not I would incorporate these into my photographs. It’s a way of looking at things differently, to see them afresh and find out why you chose them as a subject in the first place. But there are very few puddles in Africa at the minute.
As Jason’s article discusses later, the ramifications for drought are not mere trifles to be shrugged off in a season, but can carry issues many years into the future. So how can photography help? It’s a big question we ask all our volunteers. How can we use our photographs in a positive way, create awareness of issues that surround us every day. One such way is to use them within local schools here. Education can change the face of an entire country within one generation, and that’s why our photographers work with the community project to help in the education of the local kids. Not only are they out there doing the actual teaching, but are using their own photographs in the presentations,
giving a worthy output to their hard work.
Another way we’ve researched is again, long term, taking photographs over the course of a whole year in set locations. What this will do is show how animal introduction, bush encroachment and seasonal change affect the land. The land is the basis for the ecosystem, so healthy land equals healthy animals. Healthy animals equal healthy local economies (through tourism, one of the main sources of income). Healthy economies mean there is more for everyone, and more to put back into the land and its conservation. I’m happy to report this project has been fully researched and is now ready to begin, and the hard work of all the volunteers who previously worked on the project will soon see the fruits of their labours! In yet another example of how photography is ‘adding to’, two of our photographers have had their work published by WWF in their exclusive calendar for South Africa this year, and two more are having photographs
used in the WWF brochure! This is a simply amazing result, and an inspiration to future volunteers; it’s a clear example of the potential of their photography and how it can be used to positive effect. The settings will depend hugely on the situation and subject. The shutter speed will vary according to the subject, but 1/15th of a second is a good starting point for birds soaring at an average speed, or a car going less than 30 miles per hour. Shutter Priority Mode Shutter speed: 1/15 ISO: 100 Focus Mode: AF-C for Nikon, or AI Servo for Canon Focal length: 200mm (a long focal length helps the streaking of the background).
So reflecting on that (see what I did there?), we have had such a fantastic impact so far this year, it’s quite hard to see where to go from there. My answer? Hand it over to the volunteers. Just this week, we’ve been brainstorming on new ways to approach non-profit organisations, to raise awareness of our online database. To work smart, not hard, and use this wealth of photography that we’ve created. To use the old saying ‘many heads are better than one’. To help push forward this central concept of working together towards a common goal, of leaving this planet a better place than we found it.
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were helping create lessons for the kids about water conservation; we got to use our own photos in the presentation. We did that to really bring back the message to the kids that droughts are happening everywhere, and that even they have their own impact in the local community. Ostriches have the largest eyes of any land animal, but their brain would barely fill a teaspoon.
It’’s truly amazing to see that your work here really does have impact. Coming into this project I didn’t really understand too much about how my photos would make a difference. During my first week here I was more focused on making the best photos, not really knowing they could have other uses other looking “artsy.” However, I really do want my photos to make a difference and to be used for something greater than an ”epic” Instagram post. With there being three different programs run here (Community, Photography, and Research), It can get pretty hectic, which I am completely okay with. Growing up with seven siblings, you learn to love all different types of personalities and energy levels.
It was in our second week that we started really interacting with the community. We were taken to the local trash shoot where women dig through rubbish all day. Some of them don’t have shoes and there is shattered glass everywhere! What made me smile though was the fact that were women were SOURROUNDED by trash and they were smiling and singing and seemed genuinely happy. It was also shocking, that being our first experience with the local culture. During the next two weeks after that we got to go to the local community’s school three times. Our objective was to take pictures that could be used to promote this amazing school and the children that attend it. The really incredible part was when we
Photography is very important when it comes the Research project here. It is important for ID kits, education purposes, documentations, and making specific sightings. So when Taylor, our main researcher, came to Thijs, my fellow photographer, and I asking for help in identifying which of the two Ross Breakaway Pride girls was pregnant, we were quick to get as many picture as we could find. Within a half an hour we were able to identify that KF1 was in fact pregnant. Since then I have taken my pictures with a different perspective. It was really rewarding to see that everyday we contribute to the different teams here at Dumela. Even the other day we had amazing leopard sightings in Klaserie.
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The Nyala male has solid, elegantly curved horns and a large mane on the spine and back; during the rut he erects his mane to show off in front of a female.
We were able to use these photos to add to ID Kits, observe health conditions of the leopards since their last sightings, and just display. These cats are absolutely magnificent; it’s hard not to stare sometimes.
beginner level in the passion would get in the way of other. This couldn’t have been more false. I have been able to take photos and get very creative with a different side of art I hadn’t really had the opportunity to explore.
Coming into this project I was scared out of my mind. I had never been out of my comfort zone let alone put of the USA. I was scared that I didn’t have a fancy enough camera, or that my
Tim is absolutely amazing and is always able to take sometime good out of a photo. He and his assistant Diana, were able to give me a confidence in my world that I don’t think I would
have found anywhere else. Let’s just say that I definitely caught the bug here and will, hopefully, be back soon.
The female is little fast runner, and prefers to stay under the protection of dense vegetation. The Nyala can run up to speeds of 50 km/h to escape a predator and make leaps up to 2 meters vertically. They can stand on their hind legs to reach the leaves and bark of trees.
Photography was a vague term for me before I subscribed to the African Impact South African photography- and conservation project. I loved taking photo’s before, but I didn’t know what the results would be of joining this volunteering project. After waiting three months I finally left for a trip I never did in my whole life. Flying for more than 10 hours on my own to Johannesburg and then driving from there to Hoedspruit, I was quite stressed out, just because I’d never been outside of Europe. Upon arrival in Johannesburg I met some of the volunteers I would be spending my
time with, and in an instant that stress was gone! After a 6 hour trip to the Dumela Lodge I had the chance to meet the staff. The first thing people said to me, was that everybody lives here like a big family. And yes this is so true! Everybody is connected to each other in some way. So after this great arrival we had a night of rest and then the real program started! We got some introductions about the do’s and not to do’s, future
plans and what our impact would be during our stay. Not realizing what this impact would be, we started with our first drive to Buffalo Land. And what an experience this was! Our first leopard after 15 minutes? The people in the lodge couldn’t believe it. Some of them were searching for a Leopard for more than 2 months! We were the lucky crew! So after the first drive we had our first pictures of the Leopard, but also Rhinos, Kudu, some predators, and much, much more!
The question was, what will we do with all of these pictures? After the drive we had some introductions to photography and how to handle our cameras. For example, we learned how to take sharp pictures in bad lighting environments, something I struggled with for a long time! So first problem solved! What I didn’t know was what was to follow the next days/weeks. We learned to use Adobe Lightroom! This was the biggest revelation for me in my whole photography career. Editing is become one of the
most important parts of photography for me. You can make your pictures so much more beautiful to the eye. The reactions I get on my Facebook page are just awesome!
Many times crocodiles stay on the river banks mouth wide open. That is not an aggressive posture, but a way to cool off; they release heat this way instead of having sweat glands.
focused on community and conservation. We were already seeing the impact!
But let’s not get distracted. Well you do get distracted a lot here in Africa… After doing a lot of drives (Klaserie day and night drives, Buffalo Land, …) we had the chance to explore more of what African Impact actually does. Visiting community was a fun part of it, but also doing conservation, like digging waterholes, searching for traps, … and lots of things I’m not thinking about right now.
One of the most exciting projects we did, was going to Kinyonga Reptile centre. In this centre they take care of found, wounded, … reptiles, spiders, … Just being in close contact with these animals was such a magnificent experience! We met the black mamba (one of my favorites), the green mamba, boomslang, Nile Crocodiles, King Python, Baboon-Spider and so much more! Taking pictures on this location was one of the most crazy experiences I ever had!
So we had the chance to participate in these projects, but also take pictures and use them to help the people who
Now that my trip is coming to an end, we have to select our best pictures to put in the database of African Impact
(www.africanimpactphotography.com) These pictures will then be used for other purposes, like research, conservation, community, but there’s also a chance that these pictures will appear in magazines! So now we are trying our best to get these golden ones on the database! So back to editing and enjoying the last couple of days, before returning to Belgium and plan my new trip to this beautiful place! I hope the time will go as fast as it goes here! African Impact has been a revelation for me. So much experiences, so many good people. The only thing I could say now is, thank you! And see you next year!
My name is Willem Steenstra Toussaint and I’ve been with African Impact for almost four months now. I joined African Impact to gain practical experience as a field guide and to get introduced into the industry. I am originally from the Netherlands and came out to South Africa because I wanted to become a field guide. African Impact so far have given me a great opportunity to continue to grow and express my passion for the animals. I’ve always had an interest for animals and after I went on holiday with my family to Kenya and saw all these amazing things from the great migration to a cheetah hunting and making a kill I knew I had to come back. So here I am enjoying the wildlife and teaching people about it, I never thought it would happen but sometimes you just need to take a step outside of your comfort zone and experience a whole new world.
What an incredible month it’s been here in South Africa! From new research initiatives to amazing wildlife sightings, we have been jam packed with new projects! To start, we had several fantastic sightings on our weekly trip into Klaserie. To our researchers delight, they were able to witness 2 breeding pairs of African Fish Eagles and their juveniles fighting with a few Marabou Storks over a catfish. After a few minutes at the sighting, we drove just a few meters and stumbled upon 3 wild dogs! It was an alpha pair with a juvenile male; just a piece of a larger pack. The group was eager to return to the lodge to collate their photos and begin comparing and updating our
Wild Dog ID kit. By confirming which individuals we are seeing we can then determine which pack these dogs are a part of to aid in our analysis of pack structures and movements. In other exciting news, we have found Hyena tracks in Buffaloland! These are the first tracks we have seen in quite some time so the research team has been actively looking for any indicators of den location. In the mean time we will continue to check for fresh tracks and monitor any activity in the area. Hopefully, we will be able to confirm a location soon! Back at Dumela Lodge, the volunteers are working their tails off with various
research objectives. All of our species ID kit templates have been professionally updated to highlight essential information when ID’ing individuals in the field and for overall clarity. With the creation of the new template, we have had volunteers extracting and organizing all of our old ID photos and sorting them into separate folders to serve as a database for potential timelines of individuals. Although we had an extraordinary sighting of 2 female leopards in Klaserie a few weeks ago, Buffaloland has become quiet with the absence of our rosette beauties. Still, we are moving forward with our Hoedspruit Leopard Project in creating
protocols and potential research avenues.
Finally, we are thrilled to announce that we are now a participant in the Southern African Bird Atlas Project 2 (SABAP 2); the largest bird atlasing project in the region! Being a participant with SABAP 2 enhances our impact on conservation as we monitor
specific bird species with regards to habitats and locations. Without participants recording this vital information, it would be impossible to determine accurate conservation statuses on specific species of birds. Though the current drought has brought about some definite challenges with overall sightings, the research team has persevered and
stayed positive by delving into other areas of research to hone in on. We have our work cut out for us but are nonetheless enthusiastic for all the prospects the next month will bring!
Working with a small depth of field. Use a low aperture number, for example f/2.4 is recommended. You have to be careful getting the right focus point. Take several photos and select afterwards.
I started working for African Impact in St. Lucia in housekeeping and kitchen. We moved to Thanda in 2013 and I began working full time. Then AI moved to Greater Kruger and on 21th May 2016 we officially opened the lodge and I still enjoy my work here. My main drive is hard working, behaving and being proud of myself.
For example, their large ears assist in body regulation; they contain a lot of large vessels so when the elephant is hot, the blood will flow to their ears and they will fan themselves to cool their body down. The tusks will continually grow throughout their lives but because of continuous wear and breakages, they will never reach their full potential length. Elephants are an endangered species and there conservation status is vulnerable. Habitat loss is a contributor to this decline, however poaching and hunting are the elephant’s biggest threat to survival.
With such rapid declines in elephant populations, the researchers were humbled by so many great sightings of ellies this month, starting out with a herd of over 16! An elephant herd will consist of females and their offspring. Herds are a part of a matriarchal system where they are led by the oldest and wisest female. The researchers also had a close encounter with a bull in musth the other week! Musth is a period of very high testosterone levels in the elephant’s blood as a reaction to a female in estrus.
Mature bulls cycle annually between musth and non musth, and the cycles will start when the bull is around 25 years old. Bulls that are in musth are ready to mate, and are extremely aggressive. It was for this very reason that the researchers held their breath as the bull moved its way closer to our game vehicle. There was a huge sigh of relief when the bull became distracted and moved along. This was a truly memorable moment for the entire team. Our most recent encounter proved to be just as magnificent as the previous ones as we saw 7 ellies! First, a big bull on its own, which is normal for a mature male elephant. Then, A few minutes later we saw two young males;
we assumed this was a “bachelor group.” We ended the trip by seeing 4 more elephants having a nosh on some nearby trees. What a sighting! One may ask, with so many awesome sightings, how do we keep track of all the elephants? The research team here at African Impact creates elephant IDs for each elephant that has been sighted. The First step in creating our elephant ID kit is to take quality photos during a sighting. The photo collectors will focus their attention on specific individuals such as matriarchs, bulls and distinguishing
members of a herd. Photos of ear notches and tusks are imperative in distinguishing individuals as each elephant. Finally, for an ID kit to be approved, photos of the entire body need to have been taken (this includes: face front, head right, head left, body right, and body left). Needless to say, the ID kits are a time consuming task that requires plenty of patience (especially when going through hundreds of photos of ellies that all look the same). However, it is an absolutely necessary process and extremely gratifying when you have the final product.
All animals from arthropods to carnivores, defecate. Let’s face it…that’s a lot of dung!!! Cue in the ever diligent and overly efficient dung beetle. Did you know, there are over 5,000 species of dung beetle in Southern Africa alone? In fact, they are so numerous, that dung beetles can be found on almost every continent on earth other than the poles. Here in South Africa, we play host to 4 major groups of dung beetles – dung rollers, dung dwellers, tunnelers and dung thieves. With so many species of dung beetle around, it should come as no surprise that some of our dung beetles are dung specific feeders favouring omnivore, herbivore, and even carnivore dung. They can be found working both day and night, in a variety of habitats. Credited for removing over 250x their own weight in dung in a single evening, makes dung beetles Mother Nature’s most effective clean-up crew!
make the animals more aggressive toward one another, but the extreme high temperatures with no relief makes them edgy and irritated. It is very important to take note of and respect this fact, as the animals will undoubtedly react the same way towards us.
A hippo must stay moist, because if its skin dries out, it will crack. Its skin also secretes a red fluid that is thought to be an antibiotic, sunscreen and skin moisturizer. People once thought that the red secretions were blood and that hippos sweat blood.
For the 2nd year running the lowveld, highveld and parts of KZN are experiencing extremely low rainfall and is being called the worst drought in over 10 years. As of the rainy season 2015 – 2016 we have (specifically at Dumela Lodge) received less than 1 tenth of the usual rainfall! Some say this is because of the weather phenomenon called el nino. Others say it is a natural cycle. I’ll leave that for you to decide. The fact of the matter is that this is serious and we don’t know how long it will continue.
After the distinct lack of rain during the 2014 - 2015 wet season the landscape and the animals were already showing signs of distress. For example, during my time in the Hluhluwe – Imfolozi game reserve in KZN I witnessed on 2 separate occasions, rhinos that had died at water sources due to serious territorial fights over water. As the drought continues, scarce resources such as water and food create high tensions between animals of all species. Not only does the lack of food and water
Even if the rains do arrive very late, it’s not going to help the situation much. It will on the positive side fill dams and boreholes, but what little grass there is, is already going dormant or dying. Our grasses, both perennial and annual need rain throughout the wet season in order to sustain the grazers throughout the dry season. It is expected that the herbivore populations, especially the grazers are going to take a heavy knock. For example, Kruger National Park expects to lose around 18 thousand buffalo this winter! I would imagine that a very significant part of the hippo and zebra population will be lost as well. On the other hand, browsers and mixed feeders like impala will lose a lot less due to their varied diet and adaptabilities.
In places like KNP these massive losses are not entirely a bad thing. It is natures way of selecting the strongest and making sure that only the very best genes are available. Of course because of the increase of deaths we will almost certainly see an increase in raptor and predator numbers, something that we really are desperate for.
Wildlife. However because of the distinct lack of graze, providing water means that we will actually just be prolonging the suffering. Nature needs to take its course in order to grow stronger and establish its “core population” of survivors, so that when the rains do arrive it can repopulate itself – revived, strong and healthy.
Smaller reserves will face a much bigger problem. They are reliant on abundant game in order to attract eco tourism, if these numbers perish so does the income and the reserve then faces closure. Not only does the reserve risk closing, but worse the land can go up for sale and be used in an unsustainable manner and a precious piece of Africa can be lost forever.
Another important factor to take into consideration, especially in the smaller reserves, is disease. There are a lot of small reserves that have few or no large predators, meaning that with all the carcasses lying around and no “clean up crew” disease is free to spread quickly and easily.
Its not only the big animals that suffer from the drought, but also the smaller animals like the insects and reptiles and in turn the birds and mammals that feed on them. The question is: what do we do? Plenty of reserves will be filling up waterholes in order to provide for the
Obviously the drought proves a real threat to us as humans as well. We need to be extra conscious of how we use our water, and use it sparingly. As I mentioned before, we don’t know how long this drought will last, and if we are not careful we too could be facing a “natural selection” process. Unfortunately, in the human world Natural selection doesn’t mean the strongest and best genes will survive, it means the wealthiest will. And that is a very very small insignificant part of South Africa…
In july 2013 African Impact came to help train the nearby community youth at Thanda in Kwazulu Natal. The local leader picked me to come to work for African Impact. I started as a kitchen assistant and worked myself up to kitchen manager with Lilly and Mnene to prepare the dishes for the volunteers and staff. Although I really like my job here, I wish to be a fire fighter in the future. I failed because of my heart problem but as soon as I have the opportunity I will go for it. And my favorite animal is the white lion!
Check out our newest submissions for this month on: africanimpactphotography.com