24 November 2009 - Game Rangers report
Summer time is upon us and even though we have not yet received any rains most of the trees have started to flower or receive their new leaves. The bush is extremely dry but the animals are still in good condition and sightings have been great as usual!
Giraffe have made their presence felt and have been visiting the camp to drink from the small pan near our Treehouse on a daily basis. They have been moving about in a mixed group of males and females. Large herds of Impala and families of Warthog have also been visiting the small pan at different intervals throughout the day. Our night time visitors to the camp and pan include White Rhino, Hyena; Side striped Jackal, Honey Badgers and the odd herd of Buffalo and Elephant passing through!
Rhino and Elephant have been seen regularly and are always a welcome sighting on foot during a walking safari!
One evening just after sunset while the rangers from Africa on Foot and Gomo Gomo were viewing the Ross pride, who were lazing about at Buffel Dam, a female Leopard walked into Africa on Foot Camp and proceeded to drink from our swimming pool! We saw her coming from behind one our rondavels in the dusk light; she moved along the edge of the camp quietly sniffing around and then she jumped up onto the swimming pools edge and started drinking. It was amazing!. We radioed the game drive stations and they left the Lions and got to see the magnificent Leopard, who we later identified to be the Buffel Dam female.
Leopard sightings have been excellent and we have had many memorable sightings, one worth mentioning is quite unique! An unidentified male leopard was found mating with the Jouberts Hoop female, and as if this was not good enough, out of the bush came the Buffel Dam female and we enjoyed an amazing sighting of three adult Leopards mating and moving through the bush on Ross together!
The Ross pride kept us entertained these past two months by being ever present, and making a few spectacular kills of Giraffe and Buffalo. It would seem that they really do prefer large game species! This is probably due to the size of the pride. Lion sightings have been regular however I have some bad news to report; one of the cubs born in August has disappeared and we presume is dead. His brother is doing well and growing day by day! On a good note two more females from the Ross pride have had new cubs but nobody has seen them yet. As soon as we know how many I will let you know.
Despite the incredible Leopard sightings, the sighting of Sept/October will go to the Black Rhino bull which has been frequenting our property! We have had regular sightings of him on Ross farm and Jouberts Hoop. As you all know these animals are extremely rare and it is a great honour to be able to witness one in all its natural glory on a Kruger walking safari!
We received 9mm of rain on the 29th October and I am sure by my November report I will be able to let you know that the Kruger National Park has received some goods rains ! Until then stay well and keep looking for my next news update.
Kind Regards,
Courteney Blunden
Africa On Foot Camp, Klaserie Private Nature Reserve.
19 August 2009 - Game Rangers report
Winter has finally started to increase it’s strangle hold on the bush and everything is noticeably grey and dry! All of the small pans which had water deposited in them from
the summer rains have dried up and the only waterholes which remain are ones which are mechanically pumped by various boreholes through our traverse. The pans which are
pumped are done so in a rotational basis from year to year and their surrounding areas are monitored so we can maintain a pristine environment for our wildlife to inhabit. These
waterholes are vital for animal survival.
We have also had many excellent sightings including massive herds of buffalo some exceeding five hundred individuals. These herds have been seen on Ross, Mufula, Jouberts Hoop and Charloska which is an indication how privileged we are to have multiple large breeding herds of Buffalo for our guests to witness!
Elephant bulls have been very prevalent and the breeding herds are making a few appearances getting ready for the spring and all the new leaves, fruit and flowers which come with it. Rhino have also been plentiful and have been moving larger distances than they would in the summer months due to the fact that water is becoming less available.
The Ross pride of lions has two new members of about five months old and they made their first appearance to Africa on Foot and Gomo Gomo on Tuesday 18 August 09. They were found walking on Ross towards Buffel Dam. The Ross pride at this stage comprises of two large black manned males, nine adult females and two cubs. The rest of the pride which split away after the new males took over dominance have been around in fragmented groups and we are hoping that they return, and eventually re-group bringing the Ross pride back to exceeding twenty members!
There have been sightings of other lions on Mufula; their origins to us are unknown, but this is to expected as we are part of the greater Kruger National Park and new animals are always welcomed and make our game viewing great!
Our leopard sightings have been constant with the Mufula Male making regular appearances at various pans. He was found with a large impala ram which he hoisted into a Marula tree. The Buffel Dam female has been seen on Ross with a huge male warthog kill which was stolen a day later by our resident Hyena clan. The Twala Dam female and her cub from Jouberts Hoop have been seen around Koos’s dam and an unknown female caught an impala on Nyoka street; she ate for about an hour and then the Hyenas came and took her kill, fortunately she had already eaten a fair amount and was not injured in the altercation. We also had sightings of a young female on our Northern boundary. She was hunting impala on one occasion and seemed to be really relaxed and focussed on the job at hand. We left the area so as to not interfere with her hunt so we do not know if she was successful but everything was in her favour.
Sighting of the month happened on Mufula where Courteney and Jan assisted by Aaron from Mufula spent over an hour with a pack of six African Wild Dog on the airstrip, where they cavorted and drank from a nearby pan before leaving at high speed.
Other special sightings this month included Honey Badger, Pangolin, Aardvark, Caracal and Corey Bustard!
Until next time keep well and we will see you soon,
Regards,
Courteney Blunden
19 July 2009 - Wild dog back in the Klaserie!
Daniel and Jan picked up spoor of wild dog yesterday and this morning after a few hours of tracking finally found the dogs! Wild dog are an incredibly rare sighting so we feel privaleged
to be able to allow our guests to see these animals in the wild.
