Latest Update On The Fires In KNP (19 September 2014)

FIRES UNDER CONTROL IN THE KNP

Following the raging fires in the Kruger National Park (KNP) that lasted for over a week, South African National Parks (SANParks) can confirm that all four fires are contained.

According to SANParks Acting Head of Communications, Reynold Thakhuli, the weather condition has improved with a slight southerly wind blowing at the moment and it is expected to cool down as the day progresses.

Thakhuli urged visitors to still exercise caution when approaching burnt areas, particularly between Phabeni and Skukuza as there is still heavy smoke in those areas and some fires are still burning but under control.

Visitors are also urged to report any fire sightings to the nearest camp or gate and refrain from starting more. At the moment there is no infrastructure damage but two young giraffes and possibly a rhino have been reported as injured due to the fires. “Area surveillance is currently underway to determine if there are other casualties,” said Thakhuli.

SANParks conservation staff members and the Working for Fire teams are currently managing all the fires and extinguishing potential new fires.

***END***
Issued by:
South African National Parks Corporate Communications, Tel: 012 426 5170
Media enquiries:
William Mabasa – GM: Communications & Marketing, Kruger National Park. Tel: 013 735 4363; Cell: 082 807 3919; Email: william.mabasa@sanparks.org
or
Reynold Thakhuli – Acting Head of Communications, SANParks. Tel: 012 426 5170; Cell: 073 373 4999; Email: rey.thakhuli@sanparks.org

Fires In The Kruger National Park

The Kruger National Park (KNP) is currently experiencing four fast moving fires since Friday, 12 September 2014 due to the hot weather conditions in the area. A run-away fire jumped over the border on Friday from Mozambique into the KNP; burning areas south of Olifants River, Houtboschrand, N’wanetsi until Tshokwane; however it is now under control.

Yesterday around lunch time, another fire came from one of our concession areas on the western side of the Park. Two fires started today around Phabeni Gate areas as well and are still raging.

“We are concerned about the hot weather conditions which we have been experiencing this week as they cause these fires to be difficult to control and can cause damage to the environment, said the KNP’s General Manager: Communications & Marketing, William Mabasa.

Our conservation staff members are working day and night to try and manage all the fires at the moment.

“We would like to advise the public to be on the look-out for fires in the Park and to refrain from starting more, as the dry and windy conditions cause these fires to be fast, hot and out of control”, concluded Mabasa.

Issued by
Communications & Marketing Department – Kruger National Park. Contact: Tel: 013 735 4262 cell: 082 807 1441 or email: laura.mukwevho@sanparks.org


Media enquiries either:
William Mabasa, GM: Communications & Marketing, Kruger National Park. Contact: Tel: 013 735 4363, cell: 082 807 3919 or email: william.mabasa@sanparks.org or

Reynold Thakhuli – Acting Head of Communications, SANParks, Tel: (012) 426 5170, Cell: 073 373 4999, e-mail: rey.thakhuli@sanparks.org

Poachers Busted By Three Ladies In The Kruger National Park

While driving around Kruger with two other ladies these three ladies had stopped at a water hole where a rhino came to drink and another car was there and it had 4 men in it. They thought it was suspicious and took photos and the vehicle registration number. When they left they saw the same car again a few moments later but with only 2 men in the car as there was nowhere to stop in between they became very suspicious. They followed the car and started to phone the poaching hotline. After helicopters started to follow and the anti poaching team caught the car. They revealed that these men where indeed poachers and all 4 were arrested!

Just shows that anyone can help. Always be ALERT in the Park.

On Safari With Curtis From 14 September 2014

14 September 2014

The start of a new tour and after introductions in Nelspruit we headed down to the Kruger National Park and Nkambeni. After settling in and abit of lunch it was time for our first safari.

On camp road we found a lovely male waterbuck next to the road as well as a zebra far away in the distance. We also found a group of three reedbuck hanging on top of  a termite mound.

We proceeded down Albasini where we found more waterbuck and also two groups of kudu, one a female group and the second one a group of males. At mestel dam it was fairly quiet with the hippos showing little more than their backs and nostrils. We did have time to spot some of the birdlife around the waters edge. We then spotted our first impalas before taking a drive around Shabeni. It was very quiet although we did see a couple of ellies from afar. We did have a nice sighting of vervets sitting in a tree having a munch as well as two bataleurs resting next to each other.

On circle we came across a much closer and nicer ellie sighting as well as more kudu, waterbuck and impala.

Time was passing fast but as we headed back to the lodge we found a lovely herd of elephants close to the road as well as lilac breasted roller and a pair of tawny eagles. We then went to the burnt area and had plenty of sightings of common duiker as well spotting some wildebeest mixed in with some impala. We also found a large herd of buffalo next to the road before we returned to camp.

15 September 2014

This morning we set off early and again spotted a couple of common duikers on the camp road. We then came across a nice male elephant, it looked like he wanted to cross the road however he was being blocked by a large bus who kept its motor running. Irritated by this the elephant backed off until the bus moved on and then crossed the road. We turned onto napi where we found plenty of kudu and impala as well as zebra in the distance. As we approached the entrance we found a wonderful herd of sable close to the road. I counted at least fifteen altogether and we followed along before they edged further into the bush.

We then saw a crash of three rhino having a munch and a couple of close elephant sightings before we got to transport dam.

At the dam it was a hive of activity with a large herd of waterbuck drinking, impalas grazing, a large croc sunbathing and three big ellies first drinking and then swimming. Not to mention the hippos relaxing and the numerous birds preening, chirping and feeding. Its times like these when you could spend all day at one of the waterholes as there is always something to watch. 

After leaving the dam we found the now familiar sight of the hyena pup lying outside the den before further along we had a couple of very nice rhino next to the road as well as a big old male warthog feeding.

More elephants and then another familiar sighting as we found the little klipspringer sat on his rock at surprise surprise, klipspringer koppies.

As we headed to skukuza for tea we had one last surprise at delaporte dam. As we reached the bridge we saw a couple of cars standing on it. We looked right and saw kudu and impala before we looked left and found a lovely leopard sitting in the shade of the riverbed. We stayed with her until she decided to get  up and go which was our cue to do the same.

After a break at Skukuza we headed back down Napi where we spotted plenty more general game, the little hyena pup and something that I know both my guests wanted to see. Giraffes and lots of them, four on the right and another five on the left. We also had a second giraffe sighting near numbi tar of about five. We then stopped at Numbi gate where we met two new guests who are joining us.

This afternoon it was time for everyone to go on their sunset drive. A chance to see the park when its later in the evening and a chance to watch a beautiful African sunset with a drink and maybe spot one or two of the nocturnal animals.

More coming soon!!

On Safari with Karen From 12 September 2014

12 September 2014

This morning we started our day without breakfast as we left before the restaurant had opened. We drove north on the H1-6 towards Engelhard Dam. It was the morning of crossing animals as we had impalas crossing in front of us multiple times as well as guineafowls. Two elephants looked like they were going to cross, but while one old bull was happily munching the accacia on the side of the road, the other decided he didn't want to cross after all and turned around. We also spotted some nice kori bustards not far from the gate as well as hippos lounging in the river. We also spend some time looking at various tracks in the riverbed, like hippo paths and elephant tracks.

On the bridge over the Letaba river we enjoyed the view as we noticed a crocodile walking from the sandbank into the river and swim off. Waterbucks were coming to drink, a male kudu was standing along the waterline and a giraffe was hiding in the bush not far away. Swallows were flying around and there were Egyptian geese as well as another sadlebilled stork. Tree nice nyala bulls crossed the road just off the bridge. We then turned off onto the S62 towards the Longwe Lookout.

Jus around the corner we saw a baboon cross in front of us. And suddenly they were crossing all around us. More and more were coming from the bush as if it was a never-ending stream of baboons! They were funny though, climbing trees to get to seed pods, trees that were thin and started to hang towards the ground with the weight of the baboons. They were digging for roots and the young ones didn't care as they were just playing around. It was great watching.

The drive was a great change of scenery from the south, flanked on both sides by plenty of bushwillows. The views were amazing and we did a lot of bird watching: whitefronted bee eaters (making little whitefronted bee eaters ), golden breasted bunting, sandgrouse, crested and natal francolins, brubru, fish eagle, bateleur, a great soaring yellow-billed kite that was plainly showing off his acrobatics, and still beautiful lilac breasted rollers. At a little causeway we enjoyed watching two little crocodiles sunning themselves and move around on the rocks and into the water. They tried to get the best spot, but one of them went to lie down in a dent in the rocks, his back all bend the wrong way, we thought it was everything but comfortable! There were also some hamerkops and a giant kingfisher.

On the way back we stopped at the Matambeni bird hide which overlooks Engelhard Dam. There weren't many birds around, surprisingly for a bird hide, but some cape glossy starlings were begging in the parking lot, hadeda ibisses flew by and darkcapped bulbuls made such a racket they most likely had chased away any other birds. Then we made our way back to Letaba for some breakfast and not to forget: well-needed coffee! During breakfast we had great view of the Letaba river. We sat in the same spot last night, but everything being dark and all we didn't appreciate the view. Right now we were enjoying it immensely with marabou storks, redwinged starlings, impalas, zebras, bushbucks and elephants coming to show themselves.

As it was already hot again, we decided to take some rest. Some walked around, seeing more birds and other went to the elephant museum. When it cooled down we set off for our lovely drive to Mopani Restcamp.

Up the H1-6 we went. It was a lovely drive with sightings of kudu, three elephants butt to butt to butt under a tree in the shade, giraffes, lots of zebras, plenty of elephant herds, multiple steenboks, more kori bustards, waterbucks, lilac breasted rollers (of which we all tried and failed to get an action shot of it flying away), the always present impalas, a lone wildebeest, warthogs, brown hooded parrots, magpie shrikes and up to now we haven't had a day without buffalos. This herd was lying spread out, occupying the shade of every bushwillow close by. As they were lying down their bodies were just as high as the grass so all we saw was shade with horns. Until we stopped too long and one of them got up to give us a nasty look. They did not want to be disturbed during resting hour!

Speaking of hour, we spend an hour sitting at Middelvlei where herd after herd of elephants came to have a drink. A couple of bulls were standing in one little dam snoozing with their feet in the water. Except for their flapping ears they looked like statues. Others were drinking, or trying to, from one of the high walled watertanks leftover from the old farm days. That elephants are smart was proven by the fact that some of them used a little stepping stone to get their trunks further over the wall to reach the water. They stretched and stretched, balancing on three legs even, and some managed while others were too small. One cow was sweet and helped her herd with water by spraying them when she had her fill to drink. It was all so wonderful it was like watching a movie!

Then time came to continue to Mopani. Here we watched a gorgeous sunset from the deck of the cottage before having a well earned shower! It was the end of another great day!

13 September 2014

We welcomed the overcast this morning and decided to go and have breakfast at Shingwedzi. We drove up the H1-6 and just on the corner with camp road we saw a herd of elephants. As a matter of fact, first kilometer of the drive was pumping with animal sightings: whitebacked vultures, whiteheaded vulture, giraffes, zebras, buffalos, impalas, brown snake eagles, nyalas, and a steenbok.

Then it went quiet...

We saw nothing for many kilometers except for Mopani savannah. Not even impalas! So we took out luck down to Olifantsbad to see if anything was there. Well, the bath was dry, so no luck. We did see an elephant skull and shoulderblade, so maybe he had been waiting for the bath to fill a little too long.

Just before Shingwedzi it got interesting again when wanting to see animals. We saw lots of waterbuck, elephants and the impalas were back on. We stopped at the bridge over the Shingwedzi to enjoy the view before breakfast with an elephant drinking down below. Breakfast finished and ready to go, we noticed a large water monitor hanging around the car. He seemed quite relaxed, so we hang around, taking lots of pictures.

The first kilometers we saw plenty of birds again: crested barbet (until now he was heard, but unseen), an openbill, a sadlebilled stork (by now the guests have stopped believing this guy is actually rare) and a little bee eater to name a few.

At one point we noticed some buffalo coming from the bushes and walking towards the river. More and more and more came out. And not just at one exit, but many! We started counting them, but well over 50 they always started moving again and we lost count. But the small but we could count this herd was well over 250 buffalos big! Everywhere we looked was being covered with buffalos and lots more out of sight. This mega herd of buffalos didn't even fit in pictures. Amazed with the size of it and the constant stream of buffalos still coming from the bushes, we noticed a little sharpe's grysbok in trouble. He probably was lying under a bush when disturbed by a buffalo grazing nearby. When trying to get out of his way, he bumped into another. And another. And another. We could almost see the panic on his face now seeing all these big black animals and no way out! He luckily found a gap and ran off, very fast, with the buffalos hardly taking notice. Then we were entertained by this little tree squirrel up in a flimsy tree. Trying to find food he showed the climbing skills of an acrobat hanging upside down and sideways, hanging on for dear life!

We had watched this great show for a long time, but as it all calmed down we decided to move on. Bad choice as from now until the next 45km it went all quiet again. The dull monotone of mopani after mopani tree was then broken by baboons feeding, two sable bulls hanging out with impalas, some more zebras multiple times, a herd of wildebeest going crazy in the distance and a small family of warthogs. And to look at something else than mopanis, we stopped at a nice baobab to take pictures too :-).

The afternoon is spent relaxing on the deck of one of the cottages as it has a brilliant view over the Pioneer Dam (with swimming elephants at the moment). Hoping for a brilliant sunset (luckily the clouds are starting to move aside now) we are celebrating the guests' 40th wedding anniversary! We'll drink to that!

14 September 2014

Today was our last day up north and we decided to use it well. We got up early and stood smiling in front of the baobab in Mopani camp to take pictures before the camp gates were even open! We had decided to visit the Pioneer Dam Hide before breakfast so as soon as the gates were open, we were out. We started with a lovely sighting of two buffalos just around the corner. One was already up, the second one lay in a sunny patch in the grass chewing his cud. He looked so content! Then we also saw some elephants hiding in the bush and some hippos and waterbucks before we got to the hide.

At the hide we slowly started waking up, just like the bush. It was a cacaphony of sounds: Egyptian geese, blacksmit lapwings, water thicknees, brown hooded kingfishers, chinspot batisses, spoonbills, fish eagles, blackbacked puffback, crested francolins, hippos, and most of all (what made my personal morning great) a giant territorial woop from a hyena just across the water. It was an awesome wake up call!

Ok, to be fair, we didn't see everything we heard, but most of it we did. Not to mention, the great view over Pioneer Dam is not too bad either so we spend quite some time there. On our way back the buffalo snoozing in the sun hadn't moved, while his buddy was on a 6 paces per hour speed. We also saw the hippos again, a black crake and a crested francolin drinking water with her 4 chicks. A herd of elephants was almost completely obscured by Mopani bush and was making its way to the water. By the time we were back at our huts, we saw them drinking from the dam as well as some other buffalos.

Personally I got greeted back at the hut by a giant plated lizard on my porch. Beautiful animal, but he didn't hang around and hid under a big rock when he spotted me. After breakfast we packed up and set sail to Olifants restcamp. It was a nice slow drive with now and then some animals popping up. We came across loads of elephants, some giraffe, lots of birds that still deserve attention and we added a new rule of at least 1 picture of an impala a day as they are being outnumbered in the picture load but are so beautiful that they deserve more pictures.

At Middelvlei the elephants we saw last time around had moved off. Just two bulls were drinking and showering, one lone zebra stood in the bushes nearby and a ostrich pair was having themselves a dustbath judging by the clouds of dust coming from their direction. Oh and we almost overlooked the warthogs that were grazing just one meter from the car!

Down the H1-6 to Letaba we drove, seeing lots of nice elephants in the river, some impalas and waterbuck too, as well as our first lot of vervet monkeys. A quick stop at Letabe to empty our bladders and buy a cool drink to refill them and then we went down the S46 and S93 along the river. It was getting really hot again already and we were hoping some the animals thought so too and would like to cool down in the river at the same time as we drove by. We saw a nice elephant herd and some bull buffalos, but except for some nice views the animals had found other ways to cool down.

We arrived at Olifants Camp not too late as the guest will have their sundowner drive tonight.

Sundowner drive:

The guests returned from their sundowner all happy as they could check some more animals in book. They were lucky to see some night animals like a porcupine, two separate civet sightings, a large spotted genet and a spotted eagle owl. As the sun started setting however they also admired a young male lion who posed willingly for pictures. And during the drive they also came across giraffes (now during this tour also known as "camels" as in only the first bit of the Afrikaans word for giraffe), an elephant bull, a spring hare, zebras, wildebeest, a kori bustard, a big fat crocodile, waterbucks and a red crested korhaan. On top of all that they also heard a leopard as well as hyenas! I think we can say this sundowner was a great success!

15 September 2014

Today we went from north to south, leaving Olifants restcamp behind us and looking forward to Nkambeni Safari Camp's buffet. We set off early morning with a walk to the viewing deck to watch the sunrise. Then back into the car and down the H1-5. It was going to be giraffe day today as we saw loads of giraffe at the start today and during the drive they kept on popping up in between bushes and under trees in the shade. 

And this wouldn't be a good day if we hadn't seen any buffalo, but we covered these pretty early too. The early bit of the morning we spend pointing out groups of zebras and wildebeest and impalas. There were so many we didn't bother stopping in the end. Elephants were many too, but somehow these always got our attention as they were playing with water or branches. 

We stopped briefly at Ngotso Dam where zebras were coming down to drink. We saw some waterbirds, but nothing else was thirsty. 

Then down and down it went. As it was already getting hot we decided to push it past Satara and go for breakfast at Tshokwane as we had noticed the animals like to hide away in the shade. This was a good call as we saw our first lioness just past Satara on the bridge over the Sweni. We saw her lying down and getting up twice to walk away. When she lay down again and was barely visibly, it was pointed out by nice passers-by two others were lying just a bit further down the road. When we stopped we saw another male and female lying in the shade and the third one came to join them. She gave them both a cuddle and lay down as well. One by one they went flat and that was our cue to leave the sighting. 

We saw another pair of lions just by luck not far from Tshokwane. We saw some cars grouped together, but they were all moving around. Then a small herd of impalas came running by... chased by a lioness. Where she had come from she chased them for about 50meters before giving up. Her two companions had already given up a while back. 

On the last stretch of the route down to Tshokwane we added a martial eagle to our sightings list, three white rhinos, lots of elephants, a couple of steenboks, brown snake eagle, plenty of bateleurs, and baboons. 

We had a lengthy brunch before getting up again. Vervets had tried to steal our food, but without a chance. Lots of cape glossy starlings were begging for it, also without a chance. Back in the car we turned the air-conditionditioning back on full by driving down to Skukuza. We were right this morning, it was already hot. 

Down the H1-2 we came across more buffalo as a nice herd was all spread out among the trees in the shady bits. A nice herd of elephant was cooling down in the river. Apparently their arrival in the riverbed had chased off a leopard that was lying in that riverbed just before we arrived at the spot. So we couldn't have all the luck in the world. Nonetheless we enjoyed the elephant sighting a lot!

Furthermore we saw three marabous and warthogs before we stopped on high level bridge over the Sabie river where the hippos were little islands in the stream. Ellooff was a quiet road except for impalas and after a quick stop at Skukuza we went straight to Transport Dam. 

Here the hippos were bobbing up and down and we had some nice red-billed hornbill, burchell's starling and natal francolin sighting. A water thicknee took on a fully grown grey heron and won. Under loud screaming he chased away the grey heron but never returned himself after the deed either. 

The rest of the journey to Nkambeni we decided to keep the air-conditioning on. That meant we just pointed out animals but kept on driving: kudus, zebras, giraffes, ground hornbills (aircon off, until they flew away, aircon back on), elephant and a grey duiker. It was 31 degrees when we arrived at our destination, and still it was another great day!

More coming soon!!

Poachers Update

South Africans urged to work together to curb rhino poaching

The Department of Environmental Affairs calls on all South Africans to work together to combat rhino poaching. 

The call for communities to embrace the rhino as an important contributor to tourism and as a heritage icon in South Africa comes as the number of rhino poaching for their horns since January 2014 increased to 769, with 227 people arrested countrywide.

The Kruger National Park continues to bear the brunt of rhino poaching in South Africa, having lost 489 rhino so far this year. A total of 103 rhino have been poached in Limpopo, 65 in KwaZulu-Natal, 47 in North West and 43 in Limpopo.

Rhino are part of South Africa’s shared heritage. The rhino is a key member of the Big Five and part of the reason millions of tourists travel to South Africa annually. The influx of tourist to enjoy the country’s natural heritage contributes not only to job creation and benefit for communities living adjacent to national and provincial parks, and private game reserves and lodges, but to the economy as a whole.

As the country approaches the World Rhino Day on 22 September and Heritage Day on 24 September, the Department of Environmental Affairs calls on all communities to join hands in ensuring the survival of not only the rhino as an important ecosystem contributor, but also of the plants and other wild animals being decimated by international crime syndicates.

South Africans are urged to report incidents of poaching and tip-offs to the anonymous tip-off lines 0800 205 005, 08600 10111 or Crime-Line on 32211.

For Media inquiries contact Albi Modise on 083 490 2871