Watering Hole Q&A

Please use the Nkorho Q&A topic for questions about Nkorho Bush Lodge and the wildlife that frequents the area.

Thanks!

The guides here havnt seen Aardwolf for a long time. The one guide has been here for 2yrs and not seen 1. Aardwolfs are much smaller than hyenas. They weigh between 8-12kg and are between 40-50cm in height. I have had some luck in seeing 4 in 9yrs. They are not seen often.. Im not saying its impossible for you to have seen one(thats one of the cool things about the bush-you never know what you might see), but we will somehow have to make a positive I.D.

The bat-eared fox lives in the Somali-Masai arid zone to central Tanzania and the south west arid zone of southern Africa; in low-rainfall areas. We had excellent sightings of them in a reserve I worked in further west- cute little guys... Cheers for now

Josh

Sorry the reply is late-almost up to date. If you have some audio of that night I can confirm. Now that the new laptop is almost up and running(sorting out a few wireless/software necessities), I can store daily/nightly information in it. Two nights ago we heard a leopard calling not far to the west of the pool deck; and yesterday we saw Nzile around the corner at the bush braai site- lovely sighting,he was sniffing around and marking territory. Cheers for now

Josh

Two separate lioness sightings come to mind. The first one being the Nkaluhmas. Three females and the dominant male were seen in the morning. They were very skittish due to the violent confrontation with the Mpogos. They havnt been seen for a few days. I will find out where they were last seen and headed. At least they havnt been tormented by the Mpogos for the last 6 days. I was told that only 3 of the Mpogos killed an adult giraffe which all of them have been feeding on for the last week. It was killed about 15m from a waterhole, proving how vulnerable they are when drinking- having to get themselves into a very awkward position in order to reach the water. The 6th Mpogo has joined for the feast. It was an incredible sight to see how they gorged themselves and how they "disassembled" the carcass. To have seen the kill would have been magic(sad; but to witness the power and strength involved...).   

The other sighting was of a video clip I saw briefly. I recall there being 4/5 lionesses at night. I dont know who they are- will watch it again. Three Styx females were seen 2 days ago in the west-Safari(Arathusa).  Please let me know if you have a different sighting in mind. Cheers for now

Josh

This may seem like a strange question josh but if i never make it as a zoologist i would quite like to become a ranger in africa maybe and i was wondering what qualifications you need and what training you have to do? thanks dan!

I went walking around the area  where she ran off to, but did not find any remains of her or the calf. The weather for those few days was not very conducive to attracting many scavengers(it was fairly cool so the smell doesnt carry well. I think it also rained shortly afterwards). My guess is that the calf didnt make it. I was told that a reason why it couldnt come out was that the hoof/foot may have twisted inside; or the umbilical cord might have wrapped around an appendage. The length of time(over 3hrs) that the calf was caught in that position- halfway or three-quarters of the way out- is what leads me to believe it could not have lived. With that said, I would have thought complications to arise for the mother as well. Im going to ask around what the chances of the mother making it are. We have had so much hyena activity here that carcasses would be disposed of quickly. The wildebeest and/or her calf did not come back to the herd. All these factors point towards a very unfortunate possibility that both of them didnt make it. Cheers for now

Josh

A top day to you, Josh.

I have a question. I get the impression that infanticide isn't as prevalent in the leopard community as lions. Is that true or a misassumption? Does their preference to live a solitary life have an effect on the infant death rate...ie death from infanticide ?

tks again.

Hi Josh,

You talked about the cape buffalo having a disease. Other animals ate the meat, can they also get the disease? Thank you.

Bindy

 josh - could you   measure the  cape buffalo skull-

tip to tip      --        and approximate weight  -

do you ever send   a tooth off  to  collage  to have the age of animal

dated ?  -  usuually they would like a fresh tooth  with meat on it

for acurate  data to age animal

                                     thanks  barry

This was shared with us by Sabine the day this new thread was created....

As before with the Watering Hole Q&A, this thread has been created for all members to ask questions they might have that relate to our streaming cams (Nkorho & Elephant Plains) and the Sabi Sand private game reserves that the cameras are located in. Please relate your questions to the wildlife, terrain or the reserves.

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