Warthog Post End of Year 2017

End of year| 13 • • • -

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

8 weeks. It sounds like a long time, but when doing something you love in a place that you love, it is not enough. By the time this is published I will have returned home to England. Not only will I have left, but we recently said goodbye to our AIF intern, Melanie Frauenlob, and three of our guiding interns, all whom have been fantastic. A big thank you and ‘good luck’ therefore goes to Jess ‘the epic’ Talbot, Bernhard Crafford, and Annabelle Ward.

This issue of the Warthog Post is the final one for 2017, and what an amazing year it’s been here at Dumela Lodge: *We have started a new garden here at Dumela Lodge so that we can produce our own vegetables. *The research team has been able to expand their predator surveys onto four different properties, due to 19 camera traps being donated this year. *The photographers have produced 623 photographs for our database. Go and take a look - the images are great:) www.africanimpactphotography.com *The Happy Africa Foundation has had a rebrand, and is now the African Impact Foundation. *Through Sasekile Gardens, Reading Club and Environmental Club, the community projects have proven to increase youth empowerment and development.‘ We must thank all the project coordinators and managers, the business managers, lodge manager, and the ’behind the scenes’ staff; Cooks and kitchen team, housekeeping team, security guard, and maintenance team. All of whom do an essential job in ensuring that the lodge is clean, we are fed, safe, and well looked after. Basically, everything that contributes to the volunteers having a fantastic experience.

Cover shot: Julie Lovegrove. Photography Coordinator. England

Last but not least, a massive thank you to all the volunteers who have made their impact on the various projects here!

Here’s to 2018 and all that we can continue to achieve :)

Subscribe by mailing: warthogpost@africanimpact.com to keep yourself updated with the latest news!

I joined the Big 5 Research Project for three weeks, but I am not your typical gap-year volunteer at African Impact.

Firstly, I am slightly older than most volunteers. Ok, quite a bit older. Therefore, some of my reasons and motivations for being here are different to the other volunteers. Secondly, this is not my first time living and working in the African bush. I live in the UK but have spent A LOT of time in South Africa over the past 20 years.

South Africa actually stole my heart when I was 19 and I met a South African guy whilst travelling. He introduced me to this beautiful land with its abundant wildlife, welcoming people and diverse landscapes, and over the next few years a deep love developed for the country whilst it dwindled for the guy. My passion for African wildlife never wavered and motivated me to achieve a 1st class degree in Ecology and to spend 4 months volunteering on a Big 5 game reserve. But all that was a very long time ago…

Fifteen years and many life-changing experiences later, I found myself in a very scary position; widowed, all alone, and completely directionless. So I did the only thing I was capable of doing, which was to follow my broken heart back to Africa. What better way to start the healing process than by being in the place I love most whilst helping to conserve Africa’s wildlife, surrounded by like-minded people.

The Dung Beetle Dung beetles prefer fresh dung which they find using their sensitive sense of smell. The fresher the dung, the easier it is to find and form their balls. Within minutes of a herbivore dropping their dung, the beetles will move in.

On average dung beetles can roll a ball of dung 50 times their own weight. One specific species can pull a dung ball 1,141 times their body weight.

This is equivalent to a human pulling six double-decker buses full of people…

After much thorough research, I decided that ‘African Big 5 & Wildlife Conservation’ with African Impact was the project for me. Admittedly, I had a myriad of concerns about joining the project: Would I fit in? How would I cope with getting up so early every day? How would I adapt to being told what to do? WOULD I BE THE OLDEST PERSON THERE??? Thankfully, all of my concerns were completely unfounded (except, maybe, getting up early every day).

From the moment I arrived I was welcomed with open arms and huge smiles and immediately felt part of the family. The work is really varied, so each day is different and interesting. Obviously, collecting wildlife data has been amazing, but I have also enjoyed other aspects of the project more than I expected, such as helping out in the community, chopping down trees, helping at the reptile centre, and even being told what to do.

And despite the amount of time I’ve previously spent in the bush, I have learnt SO much in three weeks, for which I am indebted to the amazing field guides for imparting their wealth of knowledge, and for teaching me how to spit impala poo! I will miss everyone dearly, but I will definitely be coming back in the not too distant future.

Oh, and I wasn’t the oldest person here. Not by a long shot.

The Warthog

Warthogs are included in the ‘Ugly Five’. However, like most babies, even young warthogs look cute.

The female warthog usually has two or three piglets at a time, after a gestation period of around six months.

Piglets are weaned at around 4 months old and become mature at 20 months. Females tend to stay with their mother as adults, while males tend to go off on their own.

Warthogs live 12 to 18 years.

A warthog's diet includes roots, berries, bark, bulbs, grass and plants.

Q&A with: Bhekimuzi Why did you join Sasekile Gardens? Because I don’t have money to study What is your favourite part about gardening? Watering the garden and removing weeds.

What is your favourite crop to grow? CHILLIES!!

What will you do with the harvests? I want to sell to the community so that I can get an income.

One thing you have learnt from the project? I learnt how to plant seeds.

Photo credit: Till Juncker

In 2017 a lot has happened with the community projects – ‘Farmers of the Future’ with Sasekile Garden was born, and conservation education ended giving the opportunity to open a second reading club and an environmental club.

On Youth Day 2017, Sasekile Garden opened to increase youth empowerment and development in Green Valley, Acornhoek. The 1615 seedlings planted in July grew thanks to the care of Portia, Taelo, Remember and Bhekimuzi, but also thanks to the hard work of the volunteers who help them maintain their garden and shared their knowledge. These seedlings have now produced over 190kg of vegetables and allowed the gardeners to earn over R3300. The gardeners also participated in business development and presentation skills workshops delivered by Alice and Sally, two amazing combo volunteers. These presentations boost the gardeners skills, who are now getting ready to challenge 2018 objectives – increasing vegetable and seedling production, development of high-value products and last but not least mentoring new Sasekile Gardens’ members.

Now let’s have an insight of what happened in the different partner schools.

Looking back at the numbers, Conservation Education (ConEd) was a success. The attendance was over 80% and the tests revealed that 75% of the students improved and acquired new knowledge about different aspects of conservation, such as the interdependence necessary to constitute a food web. After finishing the ALERT curriculum for ConEd, it was time to move on and start new projects. Hloaia Primary School was therefore selected to open new reading and environmental clubs with two groups of grade 5 students. The clubs, which started in September and ended in November, were highly appreciated both by the students and the volunteers.

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

At reading clubs, the students read more than 220 books to the volunteers, and in return, the volunteers prepared a lot of fun games to test the students’ comprehension on pre-read books. At environmental club however, the students had the chance to learn about what the environment actually is, how different living organisms perceive it (plants, animals, humans) and to discover photosynthesis. As learning while having fun is much more efficient, two types of activities were always proposed – one using creativity and one sportier.

This way the students could express themselves in a manner that suits them the best. All the students really enjoyed the clubs and proved it to us by trying to sneak in during games or by making their own name tags to make us believe that they were part of the group of the day. This and their desire to be part of the clubs to learn more, are two things that none of the volunteers will ever forget!

Reading club at Seganyane also finished at the end of November after approximately 1285 books were read in 6 months. All this reading lead to the delivery of 103 certificates and significantly helped the Grade 7 students to improve their English reading and comprehension. The great majority improved from 2 to 6 reading ability group, proving the progress that has been made thanks to the dedication of all the volunteers from the three projects.

Photo credits: Toodie May, Emily Thompson, Michelle Huang, Jessica Talbot, Marine Servonnat

Backgrounds Exposure Compensation

In order to capture that dramatic sunset your eyes see, try decreasing your exposure compensation.

Without this, your camera metering will see a dark scene and brighten everything up.

This will lead to a disappointing result as the beautiful colours will be washed out and not look nearly as nice ? as what you are actually seeing.

Decreasing the exposure forces the camera to keep the overall image darker, resulting in a much more pleasing and ‘wow’ image.

We’ve come to the final sprint to the finishing line of 2017 with a new year of exciting possibilities ahead. However, with our sights so firmly aimed ahead, it’s important to look back and reflect not just on this past month’s work and developments, but on the year as a whole. Needless to say, a lot has changed not just in terms of the photography project, but for every single photographer that has joined us.

We often see a mixture of individuals come through our doors, ranging from those who’ve been photographing for decades to those who have never held a camera before and it’s exciting and refreshing to have that diversity of experience. As photographers, not matter the experience or pedigree, we always look to improve, to progress and to challenge ourselves; and what better way than to take on those aspects with other like-minded photographers? Throughout this year I’ve been constantly surrounded by photographers and I’ve never felt so inspired, enthused and pushed to up my game and.. to put it simply, without this environment I wouldn’t be at the level of photography or character that I currently am, and I see the same happen every cycle to other photographers.

Just as they come through our doors, our photographers inevitably leave having had experiences on multiple levels that they could never have expected. The greatest thing is knowing they leave us not only having a great time, having made an impact, but that they’ve evolved as people and as photographers. From gaining the theoretical knowledge to experience in the field, they all leave on a higher level than when they arrived and the biggest hope I can have is that they continue their photographic journey in to whatever direction of life they decide to take after.

Locusts

Shutter speed and how it affects the outcome of your photographs Long shutter speeds are usually used in Landscape photography, especially when there is flowing water or a dramatic sky is involved. It gives water and sky a kind of silky look.

The picture of the waterfall was a 90 second exposure, f/8 and a ISO of 100. The water is very still because all the small splashes created by the waterfall are evened out.

However, in order to ensure that the image is not over exposed a dark filter had to be used.

A long exposure of up to 15 seconds is also used in astrophotography, where it allows us to see the universe and the stars around us. Alternatively a 45 minute exposures makes the rotation of the world visible. The photo of the night sky was a 13s exposure, f/4 and an ISO of 6400.

Short shutter speeds are used to freeze motion, and are necessary when you want to capture a moment that could be over in a fraction of a second. For example when you want to get a water droplet splashing up from a surface or an eagle flying from a tree branch, with a longer shutter speed you would get a blurry mess.

Locusts are members of the grasshopper family, and like those familiar garden insects they have long hind legs used for jumping. Unlike their grasshopper cousins, however, locusts can change their physical appearance and behaviour, morphing into massive swarms that move as a single unit.

They are normally solitary and actively avoid contact with each other.

But when conditions are right, particularly after lots of rain, contact becomes unavoidable.

As the insects bump against one another, they begin to change. In an hour or so they become attracted to each other and swarm together.

Animal of the Month: Chameleon

The picture of the giraffe was taken at a 1/1600, f/ 6,3, and with a ISO of 450.

This picture of a water droplet splashing up was a 1/4000s, f/2.8 and an iso of 3200.

Chameleons change colour for camouflage but this is not always the main reason.

Some show darker colours when angry, or when trying to scare others. Males show light multi-coloured patterns when vying for female attention.

Chameleons have amazing eyes. They can rotate and focus separately on 180degree arcs, so they can see two different objects at the same time. This gives them a full 360-degree field of vision. Their eyesight is so good that they can see small insects 5-10 meters away.

They can also see in both visible and ultraviolet light.

Each technique has its own strengths and weaknesses. Short shutter speed require much more light in order not to be underexposed and you may have to set a higher ISO (which creates grain) or a very low f-stop (which most of the long lenses don't have.) So short shutter speeds work best when you have lots and lots of light.

Longer shutter speeds have the problem that the subject has to be very still; a tree moving in a breeze will not be sharp, or an animal running will be blurred, and although many photographers like these shots, where the subject is pin sharp and the background is blurred, it´s hard to achieve on animals because you have to predict the movement of the animal, which in most cases doesn't work out. But you usually don't need to set a high ISO, which is an advantage because you do not get grainy photographs and can make things visible that remain hidden to the human eye.

The

Photography Volunteer

Scorpion and UV Light

All scorpions fluoresce under ultraviolet light, such as an electric black light or natural moonlight.

The blue-green glow comes from a substance found in the hyaline layer, a very thin but tough coating in a part of the scorpion’s exoskeleton called the cuticle.

Because scorpions aavoid sunlight in general and UV light in particular, it’s possible that the glow actually helps them decide whether to come to the surface or stay underground, based on how much UV light shines on them. These nocturnal creatures are generally less active on moonlit nights and during the full moon.

Since I was a little kid, I liked taking pictures. So I was probably cut out to become a photographer but I became an engineer instead. For the last 10 years, I worked on one project after another, from building a Bank in Nigeria to extending production halls in China and the US. After the last project I decided to take some time off.

I was determined to do some volunteer work and when I saw the description of the photography project, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. When I lived in Lagos, Nigeria I learned a lot from the country and its people.

I was looking forward to returning to Africa and explore another region of that amazing continent. And I was rewarded: South Africa is…

Beautiful: every morning when the sun rises over the mountains in the distance.

Thrilling: when you see lions sleeping under the trees waiting to go hunting.

Wild: when you are hiking through a beautiful canyon and see hippos relaxing in the lake on the way.

Impressive: when you see all the hard working people making a living.

Scary: when you see a scorpion for the first time and realize that this tiny animal could kill you.

Caring: when you realize all the effort that is put into saving the rhinos. … and so much more.

The

The Golden Hour.

The golden hour is an hour after sunrise, and an hour before sunset. It does depend however on where in the world you live.The further you are from the equator, the longer your golden hour. Golden hour is the perfect time to photograph people with natural light. The sun is low in the sky, Shadows are longer and softer, they don’t need to squint, it’s even, gorgeous, and very flattering.

Photography Volunteer But not only the beauty of the country was rewarding, the project work itself is an amazing experience. In all my years working and living all over the world, I can say I have never learned so much in such a short period of time.

I was on automatic mode with my camera for years, I never thought it would make much of a difference. But then I learned what all the buttons on my camera are for and how much better I can do with adjusting the camera to my needs instead of just pressing the release.

Additionally it is a great feeling to know that your pictures help research to keep the Big 5 and every other animal or plant alive for generations to come. It helps a lot to make people aware of the conservation projects and the amount of effort it takes to keep this earth alive.

So a big thank you to all the people working on low salaries and dedicating their lives to research and the beauty of wildlife and nature in Africa. And thanks for letting me be part of it for a little while.

How photography can have a significant impact on how effective research can be conducted To introduce myself, I have been a volunteer at African Impact for 6 weeks; the first 4 weeks I was on the photography project, followed by 2 weeks of research.

Originally, I came to wildlife sightings with the eye of a photographer, more than that of a researcher. I was thinking more about the framing and exposure of my images, than about identifying the individuals in front of me or recording the social interaction in the herd, pack, or pride.

After joining research, the team asked me to take a few ID Shots of a newborn giraffe calf, and told me specifically how they needed those shots to be taken. A researcher doesn´t necessarily care about how the ISO grain affects the image, the composition, or how the light falls on the subject of interest. The best shot for identification is getting one of every side of the animal, preferably parallel to the lens. It´s a much different approach to capturing wildlife from a photographic style, you are focused more on documenting their presence then trying to make a piece of art that you would hang on your wall.

Depth of Field When working with a shallow depth of field, you have a very small amount actually in focus. Depending on the focal length of your lens, distance to your subject, and the aperture you have chosen, you may have anything from a few inches to a couple of millimeters in focus.

The reason for using a shallow depth of field however is so that the background is beautifully out of focus which keeps the viewer’s attention on the subject.

The perfect scenario is to change your position in relation to the subject until you find a uniform background without any distracting elements.

The common ground is that you still want to have clear, sharp in focus images, but in contrast you want the subject of the photo as isolated from it´s surroundings as possible. No branches that could be in front of patterns used to ID them or other individuals that could lead to mixing up certain individuals.

To properly understand 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. https://www.globalgiving.org/ projects/leopard-research/

You really develop another style of photography and have different priorities.

For example, on the photography project if we came to a sighting I would usually start by capturing the most impressive individual or the one that had the best light on it, so I would end up with a decent photograph. It was almost hectic how every photographer tried to gather on one side of the vehicle to get the perfect angle of that animal. However now, when I get to a sighting it´s much more calm. My first instinct isn´t to automatically take photos, but first ask the other researchers if they need any ID shot for this individual or if I should take a photo of a very isolated raptor on a tree to make it easier for them to distinguish the certain species. I still take plenty of photos for myself, but now I do it in a different way, and I enjoy the actual sightings much more.

The biggest difference is that in photography you are usually taking pictures for yourself and for the database, but in research you care much more about the whole team and what they can gain from your images.

Interesting Facts: Ostrich

2017 what a year!

Throughout 2017 our research project has made its impact and achieved so much! We could not have accomplished so much this year without the many hands that have helped. In order to show the massive amounts we have accomplished this year we thought we would highlight some of our achievements. So here it goes folks…

Ostriches can run faster than horses and the males can roar like lions.

They don’t need to drink water, they get all the water that they need from the plants they eat.

The biggest bird of the world can live 50 to 75 years.

One ostrich egg can take the weight of about 220kg vertically and 120kg horizontally. So you can stand on an Ostriche’s egg and it will not break.

1,450 – Hours spent in the field on Research Drive throughout our different reserves collecting data on our South African wildlife.

194 – The number of volunteers that have made their impact on the research project since January.

36.9 – Hours of data collected on Elephants in order to make the expansion of our Herds and Bulls Identification Database possible.

77.4 – Hours of data collected on predator species like Leopards, Lions, Wild Dogs, Hyena and Jackals to enhance our understanding of predator movements and ranges throughout our reserves.

3 – New properties added to the Leopard camera trap survey diversifying the study area we have available.

1,509 – Raptor entries recorded to be submitted to our partner the African Raptor Data Bank to ascertain the conservation status of raptors and their habitats across Africa.

Male Giraffes 169 – ID kits created and updated on many species from Lions to Elephants to Giraffe, which our team can use in the field to identify the many individuals throughout our research.

16 – Camera trap sets garnered through the African Impact Foundation and fundraising to expand the locations and reach of the Leopard Survey project.

Adult male giraffes spar by neck wrestling- each trying to wrestle the other off balance.

The neck is so long that the swing looks slower than it is, and the blows less hard, but the sounds of their impacts can be heard from 100 meters away.

A bull tries to lesson the impact of the blows of the opponent by jumping slightly at the moment of impact. They cannot jump and swing at the same time so the two opponents give the impression that they are taking turns to give and receive blows.

Fights like this can go on for more than half an hour.

82,012 – Camera trap photos tagged and sorted by species all completed by volunteers.

366.9 – Hard fought hours doing physical conservation work clearing encroaching bush, firebreaks, road clearing, and working for Kinyonga to help both conservation organizations and to restore a healthy ecosystem.

334.25+ – Behind the scenes project work hours spent entering data, creating Id kits, tagging camera trap photos, and much more with many more hours put in above and beyond to help our projects grow and achieve our goals.

317 – Hours spent learning about the our research projects and gaining knowledge about our South African Wildlife through presentations like Rhino poaching, Lion Conservation, Ecology and more.

Our volunteers are the life blood of this project and we could not do the amazing conservation work we do without each and every one of you. So from the entire research team we want to say the biggest thank you to everyone who has made their impact this year and shown amazing DATACATION to our research projects.

The Southern Cross Remember that scene from The Lion King? Timon and Pumba are staring up at the stars one night and wondering what they are all about.

The stars have fascinated us for millennia. Every nation has stories and explanations for what is happening in the darkness of the night sky.

The Southern Cross (also known as Crux) is one constellation that is stunning to learn more about. To many South African tribal people the Crux and its Pointer stars were called “the giraffes”, with the Pointer stars being the females and the Crux stars the males. Within their mythology when the Giraffes are near the horizon soon after sunset in October you should be finished your planting for the upcoming season. Within Bushman tribes the Pointers were once men, but a magical girl transformed them into lions, with the stars of the Crux being a pride of lionesses.

The Southern Cross is used by many for navigation. You can find Celestial South by extending the axis of the long beam of the cross four and a half times.

Astronomically, the Cross is fascinating. Alpha Crux is the brightest star in Crux and the first binary star system ever discovered by us. This means it is actually two stars that orbit each other, but you need a powerful telescope to recognise this. The two stars are very close together – as close as we are to the Sun. They orbit each other every 76 days. A third star orbits the binaries, but it is much further away and takes 1500 years to do one orbit. Space is so massive! Since then we have discovered that most stars in the sky are actually binary or multi star systems, even though they look like single stars to our naked eye. Just goes to show how special our Sun is – if it had a binary we would not be able to exist within the solar system as the temperatures would change too dramatically.

Gamma Crux is at the other end of the apex from Alpha Crux. It is the closest star to us in Crux, being The 88 light years away (this in itself is a huge distance we simply cannot fathom). To its right is Delta Crux – the furthest star from us in Crux. Delta is THREE TIMES FURTHER AWAY from us than Gamma – this means that we are three times closer to Gamma than Gamma is to Delta. When we look up at the night sky we see a flat cross-like shape, but actually parts of it are so much further away from us than other parts, and none interact with each other. It is quite incredible.

Tucked in close to Beta Crux is a little soft patch of light called the Jewel Box. This is actually a cluster of over 100 stars that are 6000 light years away from us (15 times further than Crux). It actually holds some of the brightest stars in our Milky Way. There is so much to discover out there in the universe, and the more we research the greater our understanding gets stretched and our wonder grows. It fills my heart.

End of year| 13

Just uploaded to our stock site Check out our newest submissions for this month on: www.africanimpactphotography.com