Back in Africa 12/10 #5

I was driving around the other day and saw this sign. It basically translates to: Isn't it great to be living in the bush.

Hi all. I hope you had an excellent Christmas and got to spend it with family and friends. I'm wishing you all a great 2012. For Christmas here we cooked a turkey dinner and celebrated an international  Christmas because we have volunteers from various countries working here. It was interesting to hear them explain how they celebrated Christmas in their own country. For Christmas morning we went on a game drive and saw four bull elephants. I had to admit that it was a great way to spend Christmas morning.

I had a good week of seeing different animals and was able to take some  pretty nice images to share with you. But first I thought I'd try to answer a couple of questions that two of my blog followers have asked me.

Question 1: How many types of antelope do you have there?  In Makalali Game Reserve there are 11 different antelope species. Unfortunately, I have never seen the smallest one (a Sharp's Grysbok) because it is so small and elusive that it can easily hide in the bush. However, I have managed to get images of the other 10. So lets take a look at what we have here... 

#1: Impala - these are the most numerous of the antelope and a favorite prey for the big cats.

#2: Nyala - males fight using a "strutting display", but rare fights using their horns are all-out and usually causes serious wounding or death. Below is an image of young Nyala males practicing their fighting skills...and if you'll look at my earlier blog, there is an image of Nyala males doing their "strutting display".

#3: Kudu - adults utter very loud and startling barks, but grunt when fighting or during confrontations. They can weigh up to 700 pounds.

Here's a male Kudu..the image isn't the sharpesst but I wanted you to see what magnificent horns he has.

#4: Waterbuck - an interesting fact about waterbucks is that their odor is so strong that they can sometimes be detected at a distance by the human nose.



#5: Eland - these are the largest of the antelopes weighing up to 2,000 pounds. They have been hunted to such a degree that they have disappeared from most farmed areas. This is one of the only antelope that uses its horns for defense against predators.

#6: Blue Wildebeest (also called Brindled Gnu in other African countries) - these animals are usually found in herds, but solitary males (like the one here) will stake out a territory and wait for females to wander into his territory. Once they are there he will fight to keep them there. 

#7: Steenbok - this is a very small antelope usually no more than 24" tall. Interesting that Steenbok will defend tiny territories of up to 300 square meters. Another interesting aspect of these animals is that they are the only antelope that buries its dung.

#8: Common Duiker - another small antelope (24" tall)  but weighs up to 55 pounds. This is the only antelope that sometimes has carnivorous tendencies...that is, they will eat mice, birds, lizards, etc.  Notice the turf of hair between his horns? This is a distinguishing characteristic of the Duiker as compared to the other antelope species.

#9: Bushbuck - this small antelope is so elusive that this is the only image that I've ever gotten of one...and that was just a couple of day ago. It was a very long shot...but I felt so lucky to actually see one that I didn't mind that the image wasn't as clear and sharp as I'd have liked.

#10: Klipspringer - one of the smaller antelope that weighs between 17-40 pounds. These are very elusive animals and are rarely seen because they will bound away at the first sign of danger. I counted myself lucky to have been able to get this image. Notice how he's standing on the tips of his hooves?  This is one of the characteristics of a Klipspringer.

This is usually where you'd find (in rocky areas) and how you'd see a Klipspringer...if you saw it at all. These animals are so fast that even leopards can't catch them.

[On a side note: A few days ago I watched a Klipspringer running over some boulders. He was so fast that in just a few quick seconds he was gone. I was extremely impressed at how he jumped from boulder-to-boulder without slowing down. It reminded me of watching #35, Hayden Guest, of the Wheeler High School football team. Like a Klipspringer, when Hayden runs, he's fast, agile, and powerful...and the predators (or in this case the other football team) don't have a chance of catching him.] Go Mustangs!

Question 2: If a lion chases the animals and the mother's run away, how do they find their babies again? Well, most of the babies are "precocial"...In biology, the term precocial refers to species in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth. Basically this means that the babies are independent from the time they are born and can keep up with the group. As an example, the image below shows a 2-day old Wildebeest keeping up with his mother. All antelope babies are "precocial".

  

However, many of the animals have a built-in "follow me" sign. Here's a few examples:

For these warthogs, notice how their tails stick straight-up when they are running? This is their "follow me" sign and allows the babies to see the tail even in tall grass...this way they know where their mother is going and can keep up with her.

For impala, they have this big "M" on their rump...when the impalas run, the babies only have to follow the "M".

It's almost the same for waterbucks, their "follow me" sign is pretty obvious...the "white-circle" on their rump. This circle allows the babies to easily follow when the mother's are running through the bush.

Other animals have babies that are referred to as "altrical"...that is, their babies are born helpless...like these two lion cubs. They will be totally dependent on their mothers for many months to come.

And there are babies that are neither "precocial or altrical"...that is, when they are born they are not independent, but they are not totally helpless...like this baby elephant in the image below (see him down by their legs?). But elephants are very protective of their young and being so big and fierce that they will just run the predators off...plus they have the whole herd to protect the babies. For this reason, baby elephants don't have to worry about getting lost from their mothers.

For some of the animals there are times when the mother's either have to go hunting or gather food and can't take their babies with them. So what do they do with their babies then? Well, believe-it-or-not, they get babysitters just like humans do.

 This young lion is actually the designated babysitter for four lion cubs that are asleep in the grass. By him just being there it will keep most of the other animals away...but unfortunately, if a leopard, elephant, cape buffalo, or a few other animals come by...then this lion couldn't protect the cubs and they would be killed.


 Here's an image of two young Chacma Baboons watching over a baby. But as soon as the baby's mother comes near (image below) and sees me taking photos of her baby...she immediately grabs him and runs away.

I hope that answered your question.  In all the time that I've been here I've never seen a lost baby animal. Now some of the babies do get eaten by predators or killed by other animals...but so many babies are born each year that there are always many of them around. If you have any more questions, just let me know.

My friend, Leon Bosman, helped me with these answers. He's a Ranger here and also a wonderful wildlife photographer. Leon has some excellent wildlife images on his blog...so if you'd like to see them, just go to leonbosman@blogspot.com. Leon is from the Netherlands so his site is in Dutch...but you won't need to understand the words to enjoy the images.

So here's a few of my favorite images from this week:

I caught this lioness early in the morning as she was out hunting. 

This elepant is taking a dust bath.

I caught these two juvenile Ground Hornbill having a tiff. That's their parents in front of them. They live in family groups and are extremely endangered.

I took this image for my friend, Bruce, because he likes giraffes.

It was almost dark when we drove to a hyena den...and this baby came out to tell us that we weren't welcome there. I have to admit that he does look pretty ferious for being such a little guy.

I just happened to catch this baby zebra playing with his mother. All she wanted to do was roll in the dirt, but he just wanted to play.

I caught this Lilac-breasted Roller just as he caught his lunch.

I included this image just because I thought he was majestic looking.

So that's it for this week. I hope you found an image or two that you enjoyed. I'm getting ready to go on a night drive and maybe finds some lion cubs if I'm lucky. I'm wishing you all well and a wonderful New Year. John

P.S. As fate would have it I've been able to get some nice images over the past couple of days...so this weekend I'll put together another quick blog just of images  to share with you. I'll put in the leopard I saw yesterday...and other surprises.