SANParks Board Thank Dr. Mabunda For 15 Years Service

SANParks Board thank Dr. Mabunda for 15 years service

Dr David Mabunda’s career as Chief Executive Officer of SANParks will come to an end on 31 March 2014, after two 5-year contractual terms. Dr Mabunda has worked for SANParks for 15 years, starting as Director of the Kruger National Park in 1998 and was appointed CEO of SANParks in 2004. 

The Board expressed its sincere gratitude at its meeting held on 26 March 2014, in recognition of Dr Mabunda’s contribution to conservation and to national parks specifically. The Board will now begin the process of recruiting a successor for the position of SANParks' CEO.

…Ends…

Issued by: Corporate Communications on behalf of the SANParks Board

Media enquiries:
Dr Gert Dry, Chairperson of the Human Resources & Remuneration Committee of SANParks' Board, Tel: 082 441 4426 or Email: gertdry1@vodamail.co.za

On Safari With Mark From 24 March 2014

24 March 2014

Route: Doispan - Skukuza - Napi - Skukuza

General animals seen: kudu, blue wildebeest, impala, hippos, common duiker, rhinos and zebra

Highlights:

Once we entered through Phabeni gate we saw a dark chanting goshawk attack a snake which looked like a vine snake. As the attack was on, it was interesting to see that the snake was trying to wrap itself around the legs of the bird and intern the goshawk only attacked the head area of the snake. This continued for approximately 15min and in the end the goshawk got the better and the snake expired.

Along our route we had wonderful sightings of single elephant bulls as well as herds of elephant cross over in front of our vehicle. Most of these sightings had elephants either drinking water or cooling themselves down by spraying water behind the ears.

We did find a lioness lying in the shade of a sickle bush, however not much could be seen apart from a full belly going up and down as she breathed. Will look for a better sighting so guests can take some photos.

We head north tomorrow morning, just to show guests another part of Kruger as later on in the safari will be based south at Nkambeni.

 

25 March 2014

Route: Skukuza - Tshokwane - H10 - Elloff - Skukuza

General animal sightings: impala, warthog, kudu, bushbuck, chackma baboons, dwarf, slender and banded mongoose, elephant, rhino, crocodile and ostrich

Highlights: At the lower sabi bridge on the H10 we were luck to get a cape clawless otter out of the water on the river bank. Unfortunately as we spotted him, he move back into the water on his way to catch fish and we lost all sight of him. We stayed around but unfortunately didn't get visual of him again. One of those brilliant sightings that no one expected and the only photo taken was in a persons mind.

Heading back to skukuza we found a lioness with her 2 cubs lying in the shade of a sickle bush. We stayed with her a while hoping that she would get up and move closer, but because of the heat of the day she just stayed in the shade relaxing.

 

26 March 2014

Route: Skukuza - Doispan - S65 - H3 - S112 - S114 - Doispan - Albaseni - Nkambeni camp

General animal seen, impala, kudu, giraffe, warthog, zebra, elephant, rhino, waterbuck, hippos, common duiker,

Highlights:  A male leopard walked out behind our vehicle on the S65 approximately 9kms from doispan. As I turned the car around, it moved off the road into the thicket and although we waited a while, that was all we got to see of it. Guests once again couldn't get photos of it but enjoyed the sighting never the less.

We responded to a call about wild dogs just south of S112. We found all 11 just lying right next to the road. Guests got good photos of these and enjoyed the sighting tremendously.

We moved on looking for lion, but no such luck. As we moved towards skukuza, we came across another sighting of 15 wild dogs lying in the road approximately 20m from Stevenson Hamilton and S112 junction. This brought us up to  26 for the day.

After lunch we were fortunate to experience a black rhino game capture for possible relocation purposes. Our guests got good photos of this and a explanation as to how we handle such a process here in Kruger.

Guests are on a sundown drive so we headed back to camp for some rest before leaving on their drive.

 

Keep watching for more!

On Safari With Curtis From 22 March 2014

22 March 2014

After picking up my guest from Nelspruit we headed down to Nkambeni Tented Safari Lodge and checked in. After a bit of lunch and a bit of time to settle in we set off on our first Safari of this tour. A very short drive around the local area and it turned out to be a quiet drive. We had three separate Kudu sightings as well as a sighting of five Giraffes in the distance. We also had a nice Elephant sighting where a young Bull walked across the road in front of us.

Although quiet my guest enjoyed her first experience of Kruger and we both hope for much more tomorrow morning.

 

23 March 2014

We left the lodge early and started to head down Napi. A bit of a quiet start but we did find a couple of nice Elephants close to the road, we also saw a family of Dwarf Mongoose which scurried into the bush as we neared them, However after we turned off the engine and waited a couple of minutes they soon came back out onto the road. We also had sightings of Zebra and Kudu before we turned down to Transport dam. The resident Hippos were there as well as plenty of water birds.

As we drove back and came across two male Rhinos lying in the middle of the road and we got some great close ups of them before they wandered into the bush. We also had two sightings of Waterbuck near the dam. We then heard about a Lion sighting nearby and drove straight there. Unfortunately the Lions had decided to move into the shade of a nearby Acacia and so we only got brief glimpses as they occasionally moved around.

Heading back to the lodge we had Elephant, Impala, Giraffe and Kudu sightings as well as Vervet monkeys.

This afternoon my guest has gone out on an evening drive, with more details to follow tomorrow.

 

24 March 2014

Last nights Sun downer drive was enjoyed very much, with a lovely sunset, and a tot or two of Amarula followed by sightings of Buffalo, Rhino, Impala, Scrub Hare and an owl.

This morning we set of down Albasini where we spotted several Hippo, at Mestel Dam, as well as a tree full of Cattle Egrets as well as Impala and a brief glimpse of a Warthog. As we turned onto Doispane we found two male Lion lying in the bush , not much movement by either so we decided to carry on to Nyamundwa dam where we found a solitary 'Dagga Boy' stood in the dam at the edge. We then noticed a pod of Hippos making their way to the Buffalo, one of them moved all the way up and opened his mouth touching the Buffalo. The Buffalo didn't take kindly to this and turned around before moving slowly out of the water. He moved further along the edge before entering the water again and again one of the Hippos came up to him. This time , however the Buffalo was having none of it and stood his ground and the Hippos moved away. We watched as two more very large Hippos moved closely to the Buffalo but again he stood his ground. While all this was happening we also had a family of Vervet monkey playing and feeding in the tree next to us. We also saw an African Fish Eagle and a Crocodile at the dam.

Carrying on we spotted two White Rhinos and we spent 20 minutes sitting watching them munching away on the grass, as the Red-billed oxpeckers sat on them and the Impalas looking for Ticks. We moved back up to the Lion sighting and the two of them had moved next to each other.
Driving back down doispane we found more Impala, the Hippos and Waterbuck before we returned to the lodge for lunch.

 

Late afternoon we went back out for a short drive spotting Hippo, Impala, Kudu, Cape Buffalo, Giraffe and a very inquisitive family of Dwarf Mongoose who came right up to the car and started looking up at us, even lovelier were the baby Dwarf Mongooses who were just as brave as their parents.

 

 

25 March 2014

 

This morning it was time for the bush walk, accompanied by two armed rangers the guests set off on a three hour walk in the bush. The actual walk turned out to be a quiet affair regarding the larger mammals however this meant more time to explore the smaller, and often forgotten, bits. The guests were shown different spoor, how to identify it and how to decipher what it means. They also learnt about some of the more common local trees, animal scat and smaller animals such as the Golden orb spider. It was thoroughly enjoyable experience and there even had sightings of Giraffe and Cape Buffalo on the drive back.

In the afternoon we went for a drive on the way spotting Impala, Kudu, Waterbuck, Elephants and four separate sightings of White Rhino, with a total of 13 Rhino seen. As we got to the dam we slowly drove past some known Hyena dens but with no luck, we went down to the dam and turned off  the engine and just sat for twenty minutes just enjoying the peaceful tranquillity the water brings. Numerous birds as well as Hippo and Waterbuck were seen. Heading back up to Napi we decided to have one more look for the Hyenas, again we drove past but nothing. As we turned around to head back to the lodge three young Hyena cubs walked across the road before disappearing into the bush. Our patience had been rewarded.

We headed back to the lodge with my guest very happy at seeing the Hyena, her ' top of my list' animal. We saw more Impala, Rhino and Kudu on the way back to the lodge.

On Safari With Karen from 20 March 2014

20 March 2014

Last night's sundowner drive was a success. They set out from Numbi gate spotting zebras and hippos on the way to the sunset spot where they drank some Amarula. When it got dark they drove around with a spotlight, being lucky to see a spotted eagle owl, white rhino, hyena and a honeybadger!

Today we went out for a full day game drive. On camp road we greeted our impala friends and almost at the end we found a road block in the form of a buffalo. Instead of moving to the side he stop and had a poo in the middle of the road, taking his time. We waited and spotted a tree squirrel with a fluffy baby in the tree next to us.

When we continued we heard about a leopard sighting and made our way there. We met another car on the way that showed us the place. We saw some warthogs running away and then we indeed saw the leopard! As soon as we stopped him he got up and moved down out of site. We waited a little, as there was no way to go anyway since there were lots of cars all around, when suddenly an alarm call sounds and this big kudu bull comes jumping out of the thick bush. He scares us, us being there scares him so he screams again and jumps back into the bush the other way. Then we decide to turn around as the cars behind us did and while turning we get another glimpse of him first sitting up on the rocks and then slowly walking out of sight. We were hoping to see him on the other side of the rocks, but no such luck.

At the crossroads we spotted a warthog reading the road sign - no 'looking' at the sign, So this warthog stands in the middle of the crossroads looking at the road sign and then at us. He is quite indecisive so we warn him not to go towards the leopard, but who knows where he went when we left him...

We left the sighting to have a quick toilet break at Pretoriuskop and then continued onto Napi. We spotted an elephant feeding, this one much bigger than the one we saw yesterday. On Napi Boulders we saw 5 male giraffes. A young one and a youngish one who was twice his size were having a very half-hearted fight. They showed the moves but no power or passion. Even when two even bigger ones joined the squabble it looked like a slow motion show without conviction! So no giraffe got injured even a little bit. A little further we saw a terrapin crossing the road from one puddle to another.

We stopped at Transport Dam and saw a large herd of waterbuck snoozing on the opposite side. There was a water monitor on a rock and we saw two hippos in the water. An elephant was feeding but as he was all wet he probably just had a swim before we arrived. We also saw a pied kingfisher showing what he does best: fish. And we saw a lot of other birds like the carmine bee eater, grey heron, greenbacked heron, white faced ducks, water thicknees, blacksmith lapwings and yellow billed hornbills are the ones I remember.

We then turned onto the H3, heading for Afsaal. It is always stunning to see how different the vegetation and the sights get while driving in different areas. The road had some crossing wildlife like impalas, a leopard tortoise and a chameleon. The last one being very slow, showing his imitation of a leaf in the wind, until he got close to the other side of the road and took a sprint! We spotted a nice kudu bull on the side of the road, one that didn't look like he was about to jump in the car. Close to Afsaal on the open area we saw a massive elephant and more kudus.

After our coffee break at Afsaal, the road towards Skukuza had become rather quiet, spotting even hardly any impalas. We decided to take a look around the river as we were told about lions while at Afsaal, but these were unfortunately hiding somewhere unknown. At high level bridge however we spotted some more hippos and saw two nice and close crocodiles. On the way to the golfclub we also saw some zebras and another warthog.

We stopped for lunch at the Skukuza golfclub where a hippo kept on showing half his body above the water. On the way out we spotted a bushbuck hiding in the bush.

Just before we turned onto Doispane we saw a massive herd of buffalo and some zebras which tried to blend in with the herd. The trail of the herd crossed in front of the car when we actually turned onto Doispane.

A little further on we were stopped by another safari vehicle. They had found a leopard, quite far in the bush but with binoculars excellently visible. Grateful we watched until it jumped out of the tree it was lying in. It look like it was going into the direction of a herd of impalas we had just passed, so we turned around. We sat with the impalas for a little while when indeed the leopard showed up crouching in the long grass. We watched it go nearer and nearer but then lost visual when it was about 10m away. Too far to make a dash and the impalas were not aware of the leopard yet. So we hang around for a while, all the time scouting the area in between the last spot we saw the leopard and the impalas. But she did not return in our sights and unfortunately we had to leave as we were running out of time.

We turned onto Watergat and spotted some vervet monkeys. They were hanging around, quite literally as 1 was hanging upside down on a tree ready to jump/let go. The youngsters were having some playing time. We also saw a large elephant bull and more kudus and impalas.

Back on Napi we came across another herd of buffalo. But then close to Transport Dam we saw 11 hyenas outside their den. Of those 11 only 4 were adults and the rest was youngsters of various ages and one female looked heavily pregnant too. The babies were drinking with their mothers while the youngsters were running around in the grass.

After sitting with them for a while, we really had to go. While driving back to Nkambeni there was no more time for stopping, except for some dwarf mongoose and later on impalas in the middle of the road (we wouldn't want to run over anything, now would we!). It had been a long day, but a very successful one.

22 March 2014

Today was our last day. We left after breakfast once again and passed our impala friends on camp road without stopping this time. On the tar road we spotted zebras.

There were rumours there were lions on the Shabeni koppies so we took a drive around the loop. The previous vehicles there hadn't seen anything, but it couldn't hurt to see for ourselves. We drove right way around the koppies and spotted buffalos, impalas and a klipspringer. When we were all around we decided to go around the loop one more time the left way around. To see things from a different perspective, we joked. We once again saw the klipspringer and then suddenly spotted movement. We stopped and through our binoculars we didn't see the lions we were hoping for but a leopard! He was watching around and sometimes even straight at us. The klipspringer started whistling alarm when the leopard got up and walked in his direction. He ran away when the leopard came too close. We sat watching the leopard for about 30min, all by ourselves. The klipspringer came back, showing his mate the location of the leopard too. We could almost see them whisper "look, honey, there he is. I told you there was a leopard".

We also heard vervet mknkeys alarm calling in the area. Probably for that same leopard. As the leopard was settling down again, our attention waivered in trying to find the monkeys, but to no avail.

Then we decided to finish the Shabeni loop, with unfortunately no sightings of lions, but we did see another buffalo and a hovering black shouldered kite.

Just before we turned into Albassini road we saw a small herd of buffalo crossing. And then all the way up Albassini to Phabeni Gate we saw absolutely nothing. Not even an impala. Guess our luck had run out!

At Phabeni Gate we quickly stopped for a toilet break. Kelly thought it was wise to point out we have been so lucky with the weather those four days.... Needless to say we drove to the airport through thick fog and rain! But that didn't change anything. I had to say goodbye to Kelly and Alex at the airport, who are having a bit more holiday in Cape Town and surroundings before they are heading home. It was great having you on safari with us, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Deputy Minister Of Water And Environmental Affairs Opens Talks Between South Africa And Vietnam

Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi opens official talks between South Africa and Vietnam on Biodiversity Conservation and Management.

Honourable Dr Bùi Cách Tuyến, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) of Vietnam;

Distinguished officials of the Vietnamese delegation;

Senior Officials from the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) and the South African National Parks (SANParks);

Ladies and gentlemen.

It is indeed an honour for me to warmly welcome you to South Africa.

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of South Africa, we are honoured to be hosting you and your delegation at the Department of Environmental Affairs at a time when our country is celebrating the successes of 20 years of Democracy and preparing for landmark elections in May 2014.

I understand that your visit will be a relatively short one, but I am sure it will be fruitful for both of our countries and respective organisations mandated in biodiversity conservation and protection.

I would like to begin by recognising that both of our countries are blessed with a rich array of biological diversity, cultural and natural heritage, diverse landscapes and ecosystems, all of which provide natural goods and services which we have been entrusted to conserve, manage and protect for the benefit of present and future generations.

As you are aware, rhino poaching across South Africa and Africa has risen sharply in the past few years and has threatened to reverse the hard-won progress achieved by conservation authorities during the 20th Century.

Disturbingly, the number of rhinos poached for their horn in South Africa last year totalled 1004, up from 668 in 2012. Since the start of this year, 189 rhino have been poached, 121 of these in the Kruger National Park, which you will be visiting later this week.

In order to address the poaching problem, the South African Government and various other roleplayers have initiated a range of interventions to address the worrying surge in rhino poaching. These include engagements with countries where rhino horn is known to be traded and consumed.

Since 2011, South Africa and Viet Nam have been actively engaging on measures to address the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products.

I wish to recall that a significant milestone in our cooperation was achieved when the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Cao Duc Phat and Minister Edna Molewa, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Biodiversity Conservation and Protection in Hanoi on 12th December 2012. The signing of the MoU signalled a significant intervention in the bid to address an array of wildlife and conservation challenges. These include the scourge of rhino poaching in South Africa and the illegal trade in rhino horn and related products beyond our borders.

The signed MoU addresses, in particular, the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products, which has become a significant problem worldwide.

Furthermore, the MoU serves to promote cooperation between our two countries and enhance compliance with international Conventions such as the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as CITES.

The MoU between our two countries provides the framework to promote the exchange of information, expertise and experiences for the benefit of both parties in wildlife management and enforcement.

South Africa recognises the immense value for both our countries to share information, policies and legislation on biodiversity protection broadly; as well as experiences in the implementation thereof.

There is significant scope for information and technical skills we can exchange and much we can learn from each other in doing so. Hence I am happy that you, Deputy Minister are here this week to take this cooperation between our two countries further.

It was just more than 10 months ago – from 6 to 10 May 2013 – that Dr Ha Cong Tuan, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Viet Nam led a delegation of senior officials on a working visit to South Africa.

The focus of the visit was on wildlife management, and together, we signed the Plan of Implementation for the MoU to put into action those steps that we had agreed were necessary to conservation and protect the wildlife and plantlife, including forests, in our two countries.

The plan of implementation is now in force and we are looking forward in reaping the benefits of its implementation.

I hope that the Implementation Plan will serve as a framework and a guide to ensure that we achieve the required cooperation and enhancement stipulated in the defined fields, and, that through this MoU, we will be equipped to deal decisively with the challenges confronting our countries in regards to biodiversity conservation, management and protection.

I have noted from the programme for your visit, that you have already had an opportunity to take in the scenic beauty of South Africa, and one of our country’s proud world heritage sites -- Table Mountain overlooking Cape Town.

You will also be visiting the iconic Kruger National Park where I hope you will, hopefully, experience the pleasure of seeing all members of the Pride of Africa’s “Big Five”. I am confident that during your visit to the Kruger National Park you will obtain further insights into South Africa’s wildlife management as well as the protection of our rich of biological diversity.

I trust that the interactions with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the South African Police Services and the National Prosecuting Authority will be beneficial to both countries not only in furthering understanding of legislative and policy measures and how these could be aligned and further developed to ensure optimal management and protection of our natural world, but also in furthering your understanding of how our law enforcement agencies are engaging in addressing the scourge of rhino poaching.

Your Excellency, in conclusion, I would like to wish you and your delegation a pleasant stay in South Africa. I hope the deliberations this week will be fruitful and that the working visit will further strengthen the bond between our two nations.

I thank you.

Issued by:
The Department of Environmental Affairs

On Safari With Curtis From 19 March 2014

19 March 2014

A very misty start to the morning meant that sightings were hard to come by. However as the sun burnt through the mist we found Cape Buffalo, Elephant, Impala, Zebra and a Steenbok along the road. We also found Hippo and Waterbuck at one of the dams. We then heard about a sighting along the river so we made our way there and found three lionesses lying near the road. The grass was covering them a bit but every now and again they would look up or move around so we were able to get some nice photos. We continued along the river and found a small Crocodile lying on the sandbank. Lots more Impala were sighted before we got to Nkuhlu picnic site for a coffee break. While there we had plenty of fun watching the Vervet monkeys running around.

As we headed back along the river we saw Warthog and a large troupe of Baboons and had another sighting of the Lionesses as we drove past again. We stopped at the Golf Club for lunch and the Hippos put on a show as the dominant male spread his dung around and showed who's boss. On our way out we found Nyala. Back on the main road we had a couple of Elephants crossing over the road and also saw Zebra, Kudu and Wildebeest. We then had a lovely sighting of 8 Giraffe, we backed away from them and one of the big bulls crossed the road in front of us. Lots more Impala, a couple of Dwarf Mongoose and Tree Squirrels and a roadblock of Zebra were seen before we got back to the lodge.

A long and hot afternoon but the guests loved all the sightings.

 

20 March 2014

The last day of the tour for Andrea and Oliver and so yet another early morning as we had only a couple of hours left in the park before we made our way to Nelspruit. We set out hoping to find a nice Rhino sighting and with a big slice of luck maybe Leopard. We managed to get the Rhino sighting as we came across a large male resting in a drainage line, he got to his feet as we approached but soon settled down again when he realised we were no threat. We sat and watched him for a while before moving off.

We then heard off a possible Leopard sighting, on the radio, and headed straight there. When we got to the area there were no other vehicles around so we assumed the Leopard had moved off. We took a slow drive around the koppies looking for any sign that it was still there, but no luck. We were beginning to run out of time and so we had one more look around the loop, just at the end I spotted him sitting up on the rocks, he stayed for a minute or so and then jumped down. We spun around and found him on another rock, again he jumped down and again we turned around. Slowly edging forward Andrea spotted him in the bush now just a few metres away from us. We managed to get a few more glimpses before he disappeared. Unfortunately time had run out and so with much regret we had to leave the sighting and head for the gate. As well as the two sightings we had been hoping for we also spotted Impala, Kudu, Buffalo, Giraffe and Warthog. Not bad for two hours drive.

We made our way to Nelspruit where Andrea and Oliver got on the Citybug and transferred to Jo'burg before flying home.