Nothing too exciting happened over the weekend; hunting is taking place on the majority of the northern properties limiting our chances of seeing the elephants. On Sunday we managed to take one 30-minute scan of Ngani before he moved into a restricted area, on Saturday it was relatively the same story for the main herd.
Yesterday things finally started to look up when we managed to find the Orphan herd and were allowed to enter the property despite the hunting. The herd was extremely calm and relaxed as they browsed on a ridge overlooking the Homestead. As we conducted our 15-minute focals we could even hear someone blasting tunes while washing a vehicle in the nearby staff village. Around 10:00am the herd had finally moved over the top of the ridge toward an artificial watering hole. Naturally, we followed them in the Ele-truck to continue our data collection. As the elephants entered the vicinity around the water Heike took signal for Kohlewe, who we suspected of trailing the herd. Not only was he trailing the herd... but as we looked behind us to see if we could spot him, he was already within fifty meters of the vehicle making his way down the adjacent hillside. We reversed the vehicle up the road to prevent blocking his way to the watering hole but apparently he had a different idea. We were watching him closely with our binoculars as he came toward us but he unexpectedly stopped within the thicket and began playing around with an unidentified object. It wasn’t until he lifted the pipe upwards towards his mouth that we came to the realization he had stumbled across a waterline; there was no need for the watering hole after all.
The fifteen minute focal consisted of two behaviours, RE (resting) and FE (feeding, in this case on water). We watched as Kohlewe wrapped the end of his trunk carefully around the open end of the pipe and let the water run into his trunk. Each time he lifted his trunk to pour the water into his mouth he didn’t even bother to release the pipe from his grasp. We watched him do this over and over, only being able to decipher his behaviour by the water dribbling out of the pipe when he took each drink.
Eventually, Kohlewe made his way down the hill but the Orphans had already moved deeper into the thicket. We watched him for another hour before going in search of the herd. When we eventually found them it turned out to be the best sighting we have had of them yet. Within thirty minutes of spotting a few elephant backs within the river line, three juveniles were brave enough to make their way towards the edge of the road and to where we were parked. Umvula was a part of this group; he is a seven year old juvenile male and because of his inexperience around the vehicle he is amazing to watch. As Luke and another youngster neared the vehicle Umvula decided to investigate further. He moved through the thicket ten meters or so behind the vehicle, stopping every now and then to push a shrub over or test his strength against a tree. This form of behaviour was his attempt at intimidating us before making an approach. He eventually made his way onto the road behind the vehicle slowly and cautiously. He often stopped to mock feed or rub his eye with his trunk (this is a sign of being uncertain). When he was within five meters of the back of the vehicle Heike had no choice by to turn the engine on. The sudden noise somewhat startled Umvula but he managed to stand his ground. Within seconds of moving Lydia and I, who were sitting in the very back, could hear an incredibly deep vibration bring created by Umvula. His nasal cavities and forehead shook rapidly due to the air flowing through his trunk. We moved a few meters forward and Umvula continued to pursue us slowly. After five minutes though he appeared to be unsure about the situation, shook his head, and backed up to turn into the thicket.
I managed to capture most of the confrontation on film which was exciting; it is a rare occurrence for an elephant to get so close to the vehicle. The pictures I took as well are fantastic and when looking at them you can almost tell what Umvula is thinking as he peers at you through his massive brown eyes.
By the time we made it back to the Loose the wind had picked up. By dinner time it was too windy to even make a fire so we huddled in the kitchen as we ate our dinner. To our dismay it began raining around 9:00pm and it hasn’t let up. This morning Heike didn’t even need to come and tell us that we wouldn’t be going out today. I took one look out my door at 7:00am and immediately crawled back into bed. The rain has drenched the camp and has forced us to take cover within our rooms. The day ahead is going to be long and most likely filled with movies. “Despicable Me” here I come.
No comments:
Post a Comment