Today we set out at 7:30am to find the orphan herd for the second time since being here. After honing our data collection skills as well as practicing our elephant identification, we were all confident that we could collect and record data effectively and efficiently. We once again made our way through Mpalane to the jetty where the elephants were thought to be. Our signal for Lucky and the orphan herd was very strong as we approached the river. Unfortunately, we had arrived too late and as we waited and took signal it faded a little more each time. After a few quick visits to the “bush loo” we turned the vehicle around and decided to head to the opposite end of the lake/dam to try and track down the main herd. Along the way we passed a small lake full of hippos. They had all congregated in the middle of the shallow lake as it was still quite cold outside. The calves could be seen lying on their mothers backs above the water to rest from having to stay afloat.
At 11:30am we took another signal for the main herd as well as a few bulls that were thought to be in the area. We headed east towards the lake and at first we couldn’t spot any elephant. We followed the main road that made its way around a large thicket that bordered the floodplain. Just around the corner was Kohlewe and OJVM #1 (OJVM stands for “Older Juvenile Male, there are three of them). This adolescent bull was accompanying Kohlewe as OJVM #1 was starting to become more independent of the main herd as he grew older and larger. We did a 30-minute scan sample for the group and started a 15-minute focal sample for Kohlewe. Soon enough the two bulls meandered out of our view towards the shore to drink water. Before we decided to follow them, Mgangane emerged from the thicket further west. We positioned the vehicle in view of him and conducted another focal sample. When our focal sample was almost completed Mgangane was basically asleep, apparent by the slow swaying of his body to the left and right.
Ten minutes into this focal sample Ntini had also decided to show up, but instead of taking it easy like Mgangane, Ntini made a bee-line for the vehicle. I was responsible for taking the current focal sample so I scrambled off the roof of the truck and hopped back under cover. While I completed the focal sample of sleeping Mgangane, Heike had to quickly reverse the vehicle out of the way of Ntini who was headed for the water on the opposite side of us. This gave me the perfect opportunity to take some side photos for my body conditioning assessments. We decided to conduct our third and final focal sample on Ntini so we made our way towards the lake. Towards the end of the focal Ntini crosses the road directly behind where we had parked the vehicle. Once he made his way half way across he turned his body around to stare directly at as. He was less than 10m away. This would have been a great opportunity to take a picture, but to be completely honest, I was afraid that the shutter noise of my camera would alert him and he would fake charge us (as he is known to do). So we all waited silently for him to pass and then decided it was safe to breathe again.After a very successful succession of data collection our day was made even better with a sighting of buffalo. So far during this trip I have seen four of the “Big Five” species found on some of the reserves in South Africa. I have managed to see elephant (oddly enough), rhino, lion, and now buffalo. The last animal a part of the Big Five is the leopard. Although they have a known presence in this reserve the chances of seeing one is very slim as they are very elusive. I would still say four for five is still incredible as I have only been here for two weeks.
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