February sightings, wildlife monitoring and interesting research projects.`
Sightings of the month
Thank you to all who recorded their sightings in the book this month
Here is the number of recorded sightings of a few species during February:
Highlights:
- Of the 99 recorded sightings in the book, leopard and elephant sightings were the most frequent. There were 18 recorded leopard sightings and 16 recorded elephant sightings for the month. Lion and wild dog sightings totalled nine each for the month.
- Highlight mammalian sightings: Two leopard kills were recorded, one of a cane rat in the riverbed at Giraffe Crossing and one of an Impala at Wahlberg’s Gate. Wild dogs also had two recorded kills of impalas. A serval sighting was a nice rarity for the month!
- Birding highlights included three Trumpeter Hornbills at Aloe Ridge, six Southern Ground Hornbill sightings and three Kori Bustard sightings.
- Reptilian highlight: A fight between two Monitor Lizards in a tree was witnessed at Elephant Pan Hide, during which the lizards fell out of the tree. Shortly afterwards, a crocodile snatched one of the lizards and ate it whole!
- Reptilian species recorded: Rock Monitor, Nile Crocodile, Flap-necked Chameleon, Leopard Tortoise, Giant Plated Lizard, Marsh Terrapin, Mozambique Spitting Cobra, Black Mamba and Serrated Hinged Terrapin.
- Mammalians recorded: Leopard, Lion, Wild Dog, Spotted Hyena, Honey Badger, Elephant, Buffalo, Impala, Kudu, Wildebeest, Giraffe, Zebra, Waterbuck, Warthog, Hippo, Nyala, Bushbuck, Klipspringer, Sharpe’s Grysbok, Duiker, Steenbok, Warthog, Chacma Baboon, Vervet Monkey, Scrub Hare, Tree Squirrel, Springhare, Dwarf Mongoose, Banded Mongoose, and Slender Mongoose.
- Bird species recorded: Arrow-marked Babbler, Crested Barbet, Bateleur, Chinspot Batis, European Bee-eater, Little Bee-eater, White-fronted Bee-eater, Grey Go-Away Bird, Dark-capped Bulbul, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, Golden-breasted Bunting, Grey-headed Bush-shrike, Kori Bustard, Bronze-winged Courser, Black Crake, Jacobin Cuckoo, Levaillant’s Cuckoo, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Laughing Dove, Namaqua Dove, Ring-necked Dove, Fork-tailed Drongo, African Fish Eagle, Brown Snake Eagle, Martial Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Wahlberg’s Eagle, Jameson’s Firefinch, African Paradise Flycatcher, Crested Francolin, Egyptian Goose, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Helmeted Guineafowl, African Harrier-Hawk, African Hawk-eagle, Retz’s Helmet-shrike, White-crested Helmet-shrike, Green-backed Heron, Grey Heron, African Grey Hornbill, Southern Ground Hornbill, Southern Red-billed Hornbill, Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill, Trumpeter Hornbill, Hadeda Ibis, Giant Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Woodland Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Kite, Red-crested Korhaan, Blacksmith Lapwing, Crowned Lapwing, Black-headed Oriole, African Scops Owl, Red-billed Oxpecker, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Brown-headed Parrot, Three-banded Plover, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Black-backed Puffback, European Roller, Lilac-breasted Roller, Double-banded Sandgrouse, White-browed Scrub-robin, Magpie Shrike, Red-backed Shrike, Southern White-crowned Shrike, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Natal Spurfowl, Swainson’s Spurfowl, Burchell’s Starling, Cape Starling, Violet-backed Starling, Saddle-billed Stork, White Stork, White-bellied Sunbird, Barn Swallow, Lesser Striped Swallow, Little Swift, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Water Thick-knee, Groundscraper Thrush, Southern Black Tit, White-backed Vulture, Blue Waxbill, Cape Weaver, Lesser Masked Weaver, Red-headed Weaver, Spectacled Weaver, Red-billed Buffalo Weaver, Long-tailed Paradise Whydah, Green Wood-hoopoe, Golden-tailed Woodpecker and Stierling’s Wren-Warbler.
Invertebrates have once again been very active after the rainfall. Highlight invertebrate sightings included:
- The Brown-veined White Butterfly was incredibly populous as they moved through in their thousands during their annual dispersal route following the rains.
- Multiple sightings and removals of the highly venomous Transvaal Thicktail Scorpion (Parabuthus transvaalicus). Multiple other scorpion species were observed during the month, mostly from the genus Uroplectes (Lesser Thicktail scorpions).
- Plenty of Golden Orb-web Spiders and Garden Orb-web spiders have been seen. They have emerged very late in the season, and are common over the roads, between trees and on the electric fence.
- Termites, ants and butterflies have been incredibly active through the month, which is also quite late in the season for them to be emerging. This is likely due to delayed rainfall at the beginning of the wet season, and very high rainfall through January and February.
Golden Orb-web Spider (1 & 2) and Garden Orb-web Spider (3).
Update on Proud the Elephant Bull
During the month, the body of the large tusker known as “Proud” was found on a property to the east of Op Goedehoop. Proud was a well-known bull from the area, famous for his impressive tusks and gentle nature. Proud spent most of his time between the APNR and the Kruger National Park and would move through this area occasionally over the years.
Based on his condition and size, we had estimated that Proud was fairly old and as such was perhaps not getting enough nutrients due to his teeth having been ground down over the years. However, during an autopsy performed shortly after his death, it was determined that Proud was not as old as we believed he was! Using his teeth, he was aged at only around 40 years old, but due to a deformity in his lower jaw and teeth on one side, his teeth were not formed correctly and as a result he had a difficult time chewing and processing food. This caused a severe loss of body condition due to a lack of nutrients, making him look a lot older than he was.
The deformity in his jaw and teeth could have been from a trauma many years prior, such as a fight with another bull, which shattered one half of the jaw and resulted in his teeth moving out of their natural position and forming in a round ball, instead of lengthways as molars should (Image 2). It was estimated that the injury could be as old as ten years, if not even older. This undoubtedly caused him pain and stress, which also contributed to bleeding stomach ulcers over a prolonged period. The overall outcome is that Proud died from prolonged malnutrition and stress. In that sense, it is a relief that he is no longer suffering.
From our most recent sightings of him, we knew that he did not have much longer left in him, as he was losing strength rapidly towards his last few weeks of his life. He had been spending more and more time in Goedehoop Dam, where he seemed to be comfortable in the water, which likely helped him feel a bit lighter on his feet and gave his body some sort of relief.
We are grateful to have had such a magnificent tusker moving through to grace us with his presence, and we are hopeful that during his healthier times he passed his impressive genes on to potential future tuskers in the greater area.
Images in black and white for sensitivity
Words by Tess Woollgar, images courtesy of Ingrid Passier, Tess Woolgar & Wimpie Pretorius