Warthog post november 2016

- 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

This has been one exciting month here at Dumela Lodge.

On family fun day we had one crazy mud fight. Nobody could or even wanted to escape, everybody got involved and ended up in the mud pile. The mud was already gone before we could even start with the tug of war game.

Not to forget, a big thanks to our THAF intern, Siobhan Bentley for organising this incredible day! People that were there will agree and say that it was a ‘FUN’ day! We all can’t wait until the next episode!

We have some more impressive things to tell you about. In our rangers report you can read about the most breathtaking sighting we had this month in Buffaloland. In community focus you will give you an idea about our the top achievement. And volunteers share their experience and take you with them in the world of conservation and photography.

We hope you all enjoy this edition as much as we enjoyed this past month!

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

Covershot: macro, palm leave – bushwalk, Dumela Lodge – Sabrina Chielens

The

I've been fascinated by nature for as long as I can remember. It was a foregone conclusion during school years that I would eventually work with animals. Biology was my strongest subject, as it was something I was genuinely interested in. I followed this passion through to university, where I studied Zoology BSc at Newcastle University.

‘I never knew of a morning I woke up in Africa and was not happy’ (Ernest Hemmingway) and this is certainly true for me.

Growing up in Joburg I loved the times my parents took us to Kruger and Blyde River Canyon.

Some of my earliest memories are of elephants in the wild and the natural beauty of the three rondavels. After moving to the UK with my family these memories still remained. As a child all I wanted was to live and work in the bush, near mountains. After volunteering with African Impact I knew that South Africa was calling me home. As an adult I am now pursuing my dream and love the fact that I get to call Dumela Lodge my home.

After graduating earlier this year I found myself at a crossroads. Do I jump into a job in industry, further my studies at university, or try something extraordinary in a country I've never been to? This would come in the form of volunteering in South Africa, that would provide extremely valuable experience in conservation. Something I can later look back on to figure out what I would like to study for my Masters.

A thorough online search led me to African Impact’s website. From there I found the Big 5 Research and Conservation project, and was impressed with the level of research taking place at the Dumela Lodge location. My intrigue was enhanced after reading the glowing reviews I found on Facebook.

Previous volunteers spoke of how both the work and the social environment were incredible. I wanted to volunteer for an organisation that I felt was benefitting the local community and was contributing to conservation efforts locally and globally.

I’ve now been volunteering with them for a month, and have enjoyed every moment. I have one month to go, so will try to make the most of each and every day I have left in this natural place. Conservation may not be high up on the political priorities of South Africa, but despite the lack of government support, volunteering organisations such as this one can and do make a huge positive impact.

Each weekend so far, I have been on a trip. These include a day in Kruger National Park and a hike at Blyde River Canyon. I also went horse riding in Nelspruit nature reserve, something I personally hadn't done in over 10 years. As you can imagine, hilarity ensued! They've all been incredible experiences, and with such great company there have been no disappointments.

Sport is something I live for, so to keep fit I use the ‘boma’ outside arena as a makeshift gym. Rocks, tables and benches may not sound like the perfect weightlifting tools but they have proven to be surprisingly effective. When you add appropriate music, you're all set for a gym session in the bush.

There's also a 2km path around the perimeter of the property that serves brilliantly as a running track, if you can avoid the leopards and sickle bush thorns!

Insects are able to walk on water because they do not break the surface tension that water holds.

Their weight is even supported by it.

They have hydrophobic oils that forces the water molecules to move out of the way when they walk on water.

When did you start working for African Impact?

I started in 2009 in St- Lucia, in 2013 I moved up to Thanda and in 2015 I came to Dumela Lodge.

What do you like about your job?

I love to talk with people.

Having people around me is really important, it gives me the feeling to be home with my kids.

To be able to talk and learn different languages gives me a free feeling and makes me laugh.

What don’t you like about your job?

If people tell me to be quiet. If I can’t laugh or express myself, it makes me sad and gives me a sick feeling.

Tell me about your family.

I have 5 kids, 4 girls and one boy between the age of 6 and 24.

Eco Children our partners presented us with an opportunity to create an Amphibian curriculum booklet that taught in the Klaserie Head Quarters Bush School to more than 300 learners. We created three different booklets for different age groups, one for 7-9 years old, 10-12 and 13-16 years old respectively. These curriculums will help raise awareness, protection and conserving nature.

It was quite a challenging task that took us 3 weeks straight to finish. It was rewarding at the end, knowing you have created and done something that will help educate and spread the word of conservation. While they are young it’s quite important to teach them to conserve nature. I call them the “sponges” as at this age they kind of soak up everything they learn very easily. I have no doubt and believe this will have a massive impact in their lives going forward. We hope to do more books in the near future.

The weaverbirds nest is outstanding in many ways.

The nest consists of woven strips of fiber, leaves and grass. Using beak and feet, the male weaverbird uses both loops and knots to weave his hanging nest.

Then the nest must be inspected by a prospective mate. If she doesn’t like the construction, she will turn down the hopeful mate. The male must then tear down his work and start over.

We decided to do something different this month at Dumela lodge in order to raise funds for the various projects we have established here. This area is all about conservation and what better way to raise money for conservation education than have a fun day with local conservationists showing off what they do in the name of conservation.

We teamed up with ProTrack in order to host the event. ProTrack is an anti-poaching unit in the area that works day and night trying put an end to poaching.

We not only had ProTrack at our event we had other conservationists such as Daktari bush school and wildlife orphanage, Rhino revolution and Kinyonga reptile centre.

The games were a highly successful part of the day which brought out the competitive spirt in everybody. From people tripping each other up in the three legged race to drinking water out of a dirty trough to win the hole in the bucket race it truly was a sight to see.

One of the best parts of the day was by far the mud fight while preparing for the tug of war competition. No one was spared from getting smeared in mud and of course the cleaner you were the more you were targeted!

The tug of war competition didn’t go as planned with the rope breaking twice throughout the war however, this didn’t put a damper on anyone’s spirts and everyone preceded to run and jump in the pool to clean off.

We didn’t just have classic fun day games, we also had a water slide and bouncy castle which were a great hit with everybody, especially our volunteers and staff that of course had a test run the night before.

With it being a fun day surrounding conservation we had to have a serious side of the day as well. ProTrack demonstrated a vehicle extraction. This demonstration perfectly illustrated just a part of the importance of the work that ProTrack does.

We were also extremely fortunate to have a snake demonstration from Kinyonga reptile centre. This gave everybody the chance to see the importance of snakes and why they need to be conserved and not killed. The best part of the demonstration though of course was every one getting the chance to hold the snakes!

The day was a success in every sense of the word. The day was filled with fun and laughter while at the same time celebrating the importance of every aspect of conservation.

Once again I want to thank everybody that helped out on the day especially the incredible staff that I’m lucky enough to work with every day.

We can show how the Hippo has an affectionate, not just aggresive side, we can show the industrious My love for Africa started six years ago. People, including myself, that dung beetle working away (the flies have been here talk about it with so much love and passion. We will tell you how wonderful and magical it is and at the same time you can hear here, incidentally, point like an arrow towards the subject – I how much we miss it. Something strange, isn’t it? Just wait until you’ve trained them myself), or a lonely been here. This feeling, is something you can only understand once impala with a long way to go.

you’ve been here. Not everybody shares the same opinion. But if you come with an open mind it steals your heart and never lets go again.

We can also create confusion within the image to make the viewer look deeper, like a crocodile’s eye In college, one of the programs was to go abroad and Africa was my seen through another croc’s mouth,place to go! For the next 3 months Tanzania, Kigoma was my home. In getting the audience to engage with the morning, I was teaching in ‘Carmel school’ and in the afternoon, I a photo, get them thinking.

was helping out the Brothers of Charity. We did all kinds of activities Bringing two elements together, with the orphans. From playing football to dancing nights! To see the we can make a suggestion – here smiles and excitement on the children’s faces each and every day, is the that African Impact works with most priceless experience ever. I was so lucky to be part of that. I went snakes – so you can see that even back home, but a piece of my heart stayed. And I knew for sure that I with few variables, a photograph was coming back! becomes more and more complicated.

In the beginning of this year I had no idea how to work with a camera.

This, for me, is part of my I just knew that I loved taking pictures. When we were on holiday I was fascination with photography - the (or am) the person that drove my friends insane because I was always control we can have over what we want to communicate, by simple taking pictures. No not from them, but from nature, animals, … even the most random things and this was just with a small pocket camera, inclusion or omission. It’s also where we have a responsibility, in on automatic settings… not only what we say, but how we At some point that wasn’t enough anymore. After looking on the say it. There is no way we can get internet for quite some time, I found the best thing ever; African that perfect image, that puts an idea Impact. It had two amazing things to offer, Africa and a photography in another’s head with no confusion whatsoever. Striving towards that course. perfection, however, is what keeps the photographer coming back.

Use what’s on offer.

Natural lighting is always going to be way better than anything man can manufacture, so use it! The hours just after dawn and just before sunset (the golden Look subject hours) giveyour light with a beautiful, rosy quality in the eye(which is why most romantic shots are set ateye sunset).

Direct contact can be ‘Bad’ lighting can in your as engaging inwork a picture favour. Atmospheric as it is in real life, be it conditions can lead to moody with animals or people shots, so maximize any definition in overcast clouds a picture of toWhen make taking sure it doesn’t look someone, hold the painted out. camera at(a the person’sused Rim-lighting technique ineye studio lighting setupsthe using level to unleash a power designated ‘hair light’ for of those magnetic models) and silhouetting can gazes and mesmerizing have a very dramatic effect. smiles. For children, that Just because you can’t get into means stooping to their the right position doesn’t level. And your subject mean you should try for the need not always stare at shot. Remember – let nature the camera. inspire you!

Dung beetles eat the dung of herbivores and omnivores. Many of them also feed on mushrooms and decaying leaves and fruits. Those that eat dung do not need to eat or drink anything else, because the dung provides all the necessary nutrients.

Many dung beetles, known as rollers, roll dung into round balls, which are used as a food source or breeding chambers. Others, known as tunnelers, bury the dung wherever they find it. A third group, the dwellers, neither roll nor burrow: they simply live in manure.

Dung Beetles can grow to 3 cm long and 2 cm wide.

My experience as a volunteer was more than amazing. It’s really hard to describe in a few words, but I will try. First, Tim Feherty, the photography manager, is the most amazing teacher that guides each and every one on their own level. He gives you things to work with and a good and solid foundation. In the four weeks that you are here you learn so much about photography. The things that I have learned to do at the end, was beyond expectations. When I looked at my pictures I could actually say that they could be framed and even sold. But the experience here is way more than just to learn to take a good photo. You learn to look in a different way at things, see things that other people will never notice.

You learn to leave stress behind, sit down and take the time to look around, because here … you can! To love all the surroundings big and small. Africa has so much more to offer then just the “big five”. For example, insects, the stunning landscapes, the birdlife, amazing sunrises and -sets, the culture, … And one thing that will forever be in your heart, the friends - the family that you can be part of, this is African Impact!

I wasn’t ready to leave Africa or African Impact, not just yet. I believe Africa can teach me so much more. That is why I asked to come back as a Photography assistant. My skills as a photographer are not even close to a professional. But when I’m passionate about something I will do whatever it takes to do a good job. Taking photos and to be able to leave a little piece of myself in the world is the most amazing thing. Don’t get me wrong it’s not about me, my name doesn’t need to be on the pictures, it’s about the feeling that you just had a small impact in this big world.

This passion, this feeling is something we should all experience and this is my goal as a photography assistant.

Before I came to Limpopo to join the photography project as volunteer I did not have a camera except the one on my phone. When I took photographs I always tried to get a good position and a good light. This was more an impulse from inside than actual knowledge. Tim Feherty, the photography manager, has taught me the important basics about photography, about the settings on my camera and how images can be used for private and public purposes.

The most important program for editing the shots taken during excursions is ‘Lightroom’. It archives your images in the so called ‘library’. The main tool in Lightroom is about developing your photographs. Cropping, exposure, colors, clarity, vignette, filter were the tools I focused on the most.

When I manipulated my images I also tried to be very extreme, because this helped me to develop a ‘feeling’ for certain tools that I used.

Lightroom allows you to be very creative with your photos, which I really like. I have always been interested in arts and in my opinion photography is a form of art. I can express myself through my pictures.

Sometimes images have a greater impact than any other form of expression. One day we went to Moholoholo, Rehab Center in the area to get some great shots of animals and also to get the opportunity to compare different interpretations of conservation. The following photograph shows a Cheetah in a cage, I did focus on the fence intentionally to make a clear statement that this is not an animal in its natural surroundings. Even if the Cheetah was happy, seeing the picture of it behind a fence, arouses a feeling of compassion for this ‘poor’ Cheetah. Here we learn, how it is also possible to manipulate pictures to a certain extent.

Because of the way giraffes are built, drinking can be a serious problem. They need to spread their front legs and crane their neck down.

This makes them extremely vulnerable to predators for it requires much effort and time to get into this position or regain upright again.

Luckily their digestive system can obtain lots of water from the plants they eat. This way they increase the amount of times they have to drink. Giraffes are extremely economical creatures when it comes to liquids—they never sweat or pant to cool down.

Instead, they allow their body temperature to fluctuate according to the temperature around them, enabling them to conserve water and to keep cool in any situation.

Woodpeckers are the construction workers of the bird world. They hammer right into the thickest trees to hollow out wood for their nests, find wood-boring prey, and release sap flows. To prevent brain damage from huge impacts, they have some physical features to protect the brain, which is relatively small and smooth. The space between the skull and the brain is really tiny and has a little amount of cerebrospinal fluid to prevent it from moving back and forth inside the skull during pecking. The skull is made of strong but compressible sponge-like bone which is most concentrated in the forehead and the back. All the pecking also heats up the woodpecker's skull, which is part of the reason why they often peck in short bursts with brief breaks in between, giving the head some time to cool.

This photograph is very expressional. First of all because it shows a human being. Other than animals we are able to show our feelings through facial expressions and gestures and we have learnt how to interpret them. On the other hand, this photograph is taken in an open area. You can see a waterfall; it also seems like the person would jump off the cliff. The image does not show the sky, but from the surrounding seen we can imagine the sky. The image conveys the feelings of happiness, freedom, enjoying the moment.

Using the feelings you can arouse in people with images, you can take it further to express your visions. The vision of Conservation: Education on the local nature and its’ needs, taking steps to clear up the area from weeds, litter etc.

And finally having created a healthy environment for natural processes.

Photography is a great way of expressing feelings and opinions. The best and at the same time the worst thing about taking pictures and editing them is, that you will never reach a final point of expertise. It is art and every form of art is subjective. Our feelings and opinion are constantly changing and progressing and so are our photographs ‌

African Impact received a new database programme called Camerabase that is being used as a way of keeping track of this area’s leopards, their activity and ranges as they move through different properties.

CameraBase works by using photos taken from the camera traps that African Impact have placed in this area. The photos are inputted into the database. That data is organized based on individual leopards’ age, sex, and the camera locations. If the photo of the leopard allows for a clear identification, it is listed with its code name e.g. “FBL1”. If it isn’t possible to retrieve a clear ID but the sex is known, then it is listed as either “FBLUK” or “MBLUK”. If the sex is also impossible to determine, the photo is listed under “UK”.

In the past month I have sorted through 1038 total leopard photos and organized the single best photo from each leopard camera trap sighting. I have inputted 117 total photos into CameraBase. This has generated reports as well as organizing the data. It allows us to see information such as: • • • • •

How many female and male leopards are in the area Frequency of individual leopard captures Location and time activity Movements and ranges throughout the properties Any leopards that are seen with others

If you measure an ostriches eye from front to back, you’ll see that is has a diameter of 2in (5cm). They are five times bigger than the human eye and bigger than the eye of any land animal.

They take up so much room in the skull that the ostrich's brain is actually smaller than either one of its eyeballs.

Altogether, it is a remarkable organ. The size of the eyes is helping them to see predators at a great distance. They sometimes like to have a good, up-close look at things until they are good and satisfied with their inspection. The high number of photoreceptor cells in the eye, combined with the sheer size of the image from the lens, means the ostrich can see in phenomenal detail.

At first, it was a little bit of a struggle trying to figure out the new system and get it working but after a couple of tries I managed to get the hang of it. After that, inputting the data became easy.

An elephant's trunk is the most conspicuous part of its body. If you look at the skeleton, you'd see that there are no bones. The elephant's trunk contains over 40,ooo muscles. Compare that to the human body, which contains 639 muscles, and you start to get an idea how flexible it really is.

The trunk is an elephant's most versatile tool, used for breathing, smelling, touching, grasping, and producing sound. The trunk is also used to snorkel. By holding the tips of their trunks above the water, elephants can traverse rivers totally submerged.

The reports produced by Camerabase make it easy for African Impact to keep track of how many leopards there are within the area. This information can also be provided to property owners so they are aware of how many leopards are on their property. If a new leopard is found in the area, it is easy to input those pictures into the database along with the others. This allows us to keep track of the new leopard in the same way that we already do with the existing ones.

The research team will be getting approximately 7 new camera traps in the near future which will increase the data collected and photos captured that can be added to the database. This will allow the team to get an even more accurate population estimate and understanding of the movements of the leopards. They also hope to increase the number of properties where they run camera trap surveys.

Camerabase is not limited to just leopards and can be used for other animals. My next job is to organize and input the other predator photos that have been collected on the camera traps, so that the populations and ranges of these species can also be understood and compared.

“…healthy predator populations are essential to the health of almost everything else. If they are not gods, they are at least the great drivers of ecosystems.” Richard Conniff Hallo (Hi in Dutch) My name is Sabrina and I’m from Belgium. Before I came to Dumela Lodge I was a kindergarten teacher. I liked my job a lot, but for me it was time to try and do something else, that is how I ended up here.

Back home I have 2 brothers that I love to bits. At the weekends, we were always together. If you saw one of us, you saw the others.

I have to admit it wasn’t always like that you know. We could drive each other, but especially my mom, crazy  I love doing all kinds of creative things, from drawing to even planning and setting up a party!

So, I’m always in for having one.

But I can equally enjoy the peace and quiet of nature. Ooo and not to forget, I love mud fights and the slip and slide!!!

Klaserie predator data has been plentiful, along with some very rare sightings! Lion dynamics continue to shift across the traverse area. At the beginning of the month, we were excited to hear that KF2 had birthed cubs, likely sired from the Trilogy males. We were even lucky enough to have a visual of one cub with her mother.

However, as our volunteers are always told, the Ross Breakaway females are not known for their abundant maternity skills, and we were right not to get our hopes up. Unfortunately, the cubs were killed shortly after, as happens in the wild! Since this event, we had observed both KF1 and KF2 with the Mapoza males, KM9 and KM10. The females and males were seen together on a buffalo kill. While KF1 and KM9 relaxed next to one another, KF2 was chased off by KM10 and kept a larger distance between the males.

The Mapozas had also been observed with the Giraffe pride in a more Southern area. This provided evidence of interesting shifts in territory and dynamics with the male lions. The remaining trilogy male, KM2, was seen quickly making his way North across his former territory, scent marking multiple times along the way.

We were able to record this behaviour and it was our research team’s first recorded sighting of KM2 since April. Following his departure, the Mapoza males have been mating with both KF1 and KF2! It seems the takeover of the Mapoza male lions is complete and that we may have seen the end of the Trilogy Male era.

There is certainly still a lot to see with the lion population, and we are always looking forward to record what happens next.

There was also an abundance of other predator data recorded this month. One such event was an interaction between a spotted hyena and a honey badger! Honey badgers are known for their fierce demeanor and it was fantastic to watch the species chase the larger hyena. The Wild Dog pack we recorded this past winter also made an appearance and the pups were looking much bigger and very healthy! Of course, one of the most special sightings was that of a young male cheetah relaxing in an open area. We were able to spend over an hour watching him relax in the shade and stroll past our vehicle.

Move it from the middle Centre-stage is a great place for a performer to be. However, the middle of your picture is not the best place for your subject.

Bring your picture to life by simply moving your subject away from the middle of your picture.

In Buffaloland, camera trap activity has been most frequent in the North. Both MBL4 (a new young male leopard) and FBL1 were captured at a corridor hole, providing confirmation that this hole is being used by leopard to cross properties. Of course, the camera trap data that we collect cannot simply be collected. This month, we also initiated use of Camerabase software, allowing us to efficiently store and analyze our camera trap data. Lucy Udo, a large predator volunteer, talks about this software in the Research Focus. A new camera trap station was also set up in the North where we have observed leopard and spotted hyena spoor. We are looking forward to collecting the photos and any identifications soon!

The adult millipede assassin bug can grow up to 22 mm in length. They have a stout form, are shiny black, with a distinctive black cross incised on its yellow thorax and with yellow abdominal margins.

The nymphs are bright red with black wing pads.

They are ambush predators that slowly approach their prey before quickly grabbing the millipede and piercing the body with their proboscis, or “beak.� Saliva containing paralytic toxins and cytolytic enzymes is injected into the body of the millipede to subdue the prey and initiate digestion of the body contents.

As always, all of these magnificent carnivores continue to enthrall us.

Collecting data on them is not only an amazing privilege, it is absolutely necessary. Almost all of these species have experienced declines across their range and continue to be threatened by loss of suitable habitat, fragmentation or conflict with humans. As we continue to record their behaviour, we are consistently reminded of the need to research and conserve them so that entire ecological communities will thrive.

It was certainly a highlight of last month and one of my personal bush highlights when we The stumbled across a 5 day old black rhino calf and its mother. The black rhino cow known as Ntombi had recently pushed her older calf away which gave us a clue as to what might be happening.

Only a few days later we got a report of black rhino cow tracks with VERY small calf tracks next to it! This news alone put a big smile on my face, however due to the black rhinos naturally secretive and shy behaviour, especially when they have young with them I didn’t expect to see the little one, for a few months at least and was just happy to hear about the news about the new addition.

The very next drive we found the mother and calf standing right next to the road, the calf no bigger than a warthog and still wrinkled from lying in the mother’s womb for 16 months!

Seeing a black rhino alone is a very special sighting, seeing such a young calf is a privilege that not many people will ever have, including those of us who live in the bush!

The Black Rhino is a highly endangered species with fewer than 5000 animals left in South Africa. We can only hope that this youngster lives a full life. During this time of poaching the odds are stacked highly against it. On top of the poaching risk the youngster is also prone to attack by the new dominant black rhino bull on the reserve, since this is not his offspring he may attempt to kill the youngster in order to force Ntombi into oestrus again and allow him to put his genes into the system… We wait in anticipation to see how things play out over the next few years.

Check out our newest submissions for this month on: africanimpactphotography.com