On Safari With Amanda and Kara From 8 September 2016

8 September 2016

Today Kara and myself collected 10 guests from the USA. 

After a long journey we all settled in to our lodge relaxing sitting on the deck overlooking the sabie river.

Early night all round for an early start tomorrow on a morning drive.

9 September 2016

We set off with our breakfast packs and entered through Paul Kruger gate excited for our drive. Our guests were excited at every single animal we came across, zebras,  kudus, warthogs and impalas.

We came across a Verreaux's eagle owl sitting in her nest and later saw 5 southern ground hornbills walking across the road. 

A drive down watergat and lying flat was an old male lion, looking so old we had to actually check to see if he was still breathing, we didn't need to worry he slowly sat up and just as quickly flopped down lazily! 

Temperatures rising to the high 30's we headed back to the lodge for lunch before our guests went on a sunset drive! 

10 September 2016

Today Amanda and I decided to show the guests a different area of the park to where we drove the first day. And for me too it was a new area to explore and it ended up quite a adventure and seeing a few new and interesting things.

We entered in at Paul Kruger gate and headed to Tchokwane. On our way in we started out by seeing a pair of crowned hornbills which is quite special to see.

Especially because I love birds. Past that we got 2 males sleeping next to a lake with impalas drinking near by.

We also had good luck getting a leopard with a kill up in a tree and lions a bit away.

Right after baboons spotted the lions and successfully drove them away along the river.

While stopping for coffee at Tchokwane we were lucky to see African Clawless Otter swimming in the river.

A breathtaking day of good birding, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, blue wildebeests and cat sightings.

While perfect weather after a very hot week. The animals and all off us are really hoping this windy weather is bringing rain!

Rhino Poaching Suspects Arrested In Kruger National Park

South African National Parks today (Friday, 12 December) announced the arrests and fatalities of suspected poachers in the Kruger National Park (KNP) in the past week.

Whilst conducting anti-poaching operations on 8 December, rangers in the Phalaborwa area of the Park made contact with a group of three suspected poachers. One of the suspects was fatally wounded during the contact, while the remaining two suspects managed to evade arrest. Poaching equipment was recovered on the scene.

During the early morning of 10 December, rangers on patrol in the Lower Sabie Section of the Park close to the Mozambique boundary, made contact with a group of three suspected poachers. During this incident all three poachers were wounded and arrested. They are currently in hospital under police guard.

In the latest contacts, during the early evening of 11 December, rangers on patrol in the Pretoriuskop Section of the Park spotted a group of three suspected rhino poachers. During the engagement and follow up operation one of the suspects was fatally wounded. A hunting rifle, ammunition and poaching equipment were recovered at the scene. The remaining two suspects managed to make good their escape in the enveloping darkness.

In a second contact later the same night, rangers conducting anti-poaching operations in an area nearby, made contact with a different group of suspected poachers. During this incident one of the suspects was fatally wounded, while the other two managed to escape. A hunting rifle, ammunition and poaching equipment were also recovered on the scene.

There has been an increase in the number of contacts with suspected poachers in the course of 2014, with a total of 164 suspected rhino poachers having been arrested in the Kruger National Park since 1 January, 2014.

Issued by:
South African National Parks Corporate Communication

Media Release: SANParks Begins Implementation Of Rhino Management Strategy.

South African National Parks (SANParks) has begun implementation of a comprehensive rhino management strategy, starting with the relocation and auction of a limited number of white rhinos from the Kruger National Park (KNP). 

This is in line with a rhino management strategy adopted by Cabinet in August this year, aimed at curbing poaching in the country’s national parks.

At the time of the announcement, the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, emphasised the importance of relocating a number of rhino from Kruger National Park as soon as possible.

SANParks chairman Kuseni Dlamini said today: “We are now ready to move, and to begin implementation of our entire rhino management strategy.

“Relocation is the core of our approach – not only to combat poaching, but to ensure the continued growth of the rhino population.

“We aim to restimulate growth in large protected areas while creating new rhino strongholds. In this way, we will be able to offset the effects of poaching in the short to medium-term, while expanding rhino range and improving the overall population size.”

Mr Dlamini added: “The strategy is multi-faceted, and includes relocating some rhino from the Kruger National Park to create rhino strongholds in other parts of the country – ensuring that the broader population continues to grow.

“We will begin by relocating rhinos from specific high-risk parts of the park and from areas where there is a high population density, as this will also increase birth rates among the rhinos that remain in the park.

“This will include the relocation of rhinos from high-risk zones to zones of lower risk in the Kruger National Park, as well as to other parks under our control.

“Increasing births and decreasing death rates, through the relocation exercise, will stimulate growth in large protected areas and maximise growth in rhino strongholds – allowing South Africa to offset poaching effects in the short to medium term while also expanding rhino range and growing the overall population size.”

The relocation of rhino and other species from the Kruger National Park has always been part of the SANParks Management Plan, and the relocation of 1 450 rhino from the park between 1997 and 2013 has contributed significantly to the growth of the South African rhino population.

SANParks is currently finalising provisions for the sale of rhino and will call for offers to purchase in a series of newspaper advertisements soon.

The SANParks Board recently cancelled a planned sale because proper governance procedures were not followed.

“We have ironed these issues out and the sale will be fully compliant with our own supply chain processes and our conservation mandate,” Mr Dlamini said. “Planning is already well underway for the first auction of rhinos, which will take place later this year.”

Mr Dlamini emphasised that SANParks will strictly regulate prospective purchasers, and require them to sign agreements to ensure relocated animals contribute to the conservation of the species and the growth of the rhino population as a whole.

"These agreements will be linked to management plans with clear objectives and targets for the growth of populations that are being introduced in new range areas,” he said.

A due diligence process will be followed with all sales, including background checks on prospective buyers, and anyone wanting to purchase more than 20 rhino has to comply with habitat and ecological suitability and security requirements. The due diligence process includes a risk assessment to ensure the safety of the animals, and buyers will be required to present a security plan that ensures the animals’ safety as well as a conservation plan.

The money raised from the sale will be ploughed back into conservation. This includes the purchase of additional conservation land to expand the range for rhinos, the restoration of ecosystems and the employment of additional rangers.

Issued by:
The Board of SANParks
Chris Vick
black
Cell: 083 556 7644
Email: chris@codeblack.co.za

Happy New Year

Poachers Update 30/11

On Saturday, 30th November 2013, rangers in the Crocodile Bridge section of the Kruger National Park made contact with three suspected rhino poachers entering the Kruger National Park just north of Chana Spruit along the Eastern boundary.

One suspect was fatally wounded and the other two remaining suspects managed to escape back to Mozambique.

A .458 hunting rifle, ammunition and poaching equipment were recovered.

Issued by:
South African National Parks

Rhino Poaching Update

#RhinoPoachingUpdate: 12 June 2013

The Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Mrs Edna Molewa, is to meet Mozambique's Minister of Tourism, Mr Carvalho Muaria, in Maputo on Friday as part of ongoing efforts to improve relations between the two countries. The talks are expected to focus on the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, established in 2002, with an emphasis on the scourge of rhino poaching presently affecting South Africa. The total number of rhino poached since the beginning of the year has risen to 408. The number of rhino poached in the Kruger National Park, which bears the brunt of rhino poaching, increased to 265. In North West 46 rhino have been poached, while 38 have been killed in KwaZulu-Natal, 30 in Limpopo, 26 in Mpumalanga, 2 in the Eastern Cape and 1 in Gauteng.  The number of people arrested for rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park has risen to 56. Three suspected poachers were arrested in the Pretoriuskop region yesterday (Tuesday following an intelligence-driven operation by the SAPS, SANParks rangers and the Park’s Environmental Crimes Investigation Unit. The group were allegedly involved in five poaching incidents in the Pretoriuskop region, as well as several armed robberies in Hazyview, Mpumalanga. The number of people arrested on rhino poaching-related charges  countrywide totals 121. A total of 27 alleged poachers have been arrested in KwaZulu-Natal, 21 in Limpopo, 8 in North West, 6 in Mpumalanga and 3 in Gauteng. Of these five are alleged couriers. 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.

May Photos Part 2

Brown Snake Eagle

Male Lion

Mating Lions



 

Rhino Poaching In The Kruger National Park

#RhinoNewsUpdate: Crocbridge Rangers again made contact with a group of 3 armed poachers last night - during the contact one suspect was fatally wounded in a shoot out & a .375 hunting rifle, silencer, ammo and poaching equipment were recovered - the two remaing suspects unfortunately managed to escape back to Moz in the darkness.

What Lies Beneath

By Dr Ian Whyte

I was only ever chased up a tree by an animal once in my 37 years in the Kruger National Park, by a hippo that had come to graze on the lawn in my garden. Though there is little data to corroborate the reputation hippos have as being the mammal that kills more humans than any other in Africa, and i do wonder heather this reputation is deserved, I wasn’t taking any chances. It may well have been the case when humans and hippos tended to live along-side one another and potential for conflict was far greater. Hippos attacking fish boats, raiding crops or simply grazing around villages are all situations with the potential for fatal consequences to humans. These days I suspect elephants have taken over this role.  Humans and elephant populations are growing rapidly in many parts of the continent and conflict is on the rise. Be as it may, hippos remain dangerous animals capable of inflicting fearsome injuries and have been responsible for many human deaths. In most instances attacks on boats or people on the edge of the water are by mothers with small calves.  You only have to look at their teeth to understand why hippos are so fearsome.  Their huge canine teeth, measuring up to 300 millimetres in the lower jaw and 150 millimetres in the upper, grow continuously. These teeth protrude from the skull in such a way that they wear off against each other, keeping them razor sharp. The jaws open wide enough to encompass a human torso. In a bite from a hippo the upper and lower canines would probably meet inside the body, punching two huge holes right through it, almost certainly a fatal injury. Most field guides will tell you that hippos can stay submerged for up to six minutes, but rangers in the Kruger have recorded times of up to eight minutes. Once alarmed, the animals are wary of exposing themselves and will breath by cautiously allowing only the tip of the nostrils to break the surface of the water. So as not to give their position away, they do this in almost complete silence, compared to the explosive release of air normally heard from relaxed animals in the water. Hippo bulls are very territorial. They maintain a territory, usually consisting of a good pool with sandbanks for sunbathing, for many years. The territory is confined to a stretch of river and its immediate embankments, and does not extend to the grazing areas away from the river. Each territory has its associated females and calves that return to the same pool during the daylight hours. This status quo remains while the bull holds tenure, which he does for as long as he can fend off rivals. Displacement by a younger, more vigorous bull results in a upheaval in which the new contender may kill the calves sired by the previous bull. This behaviour ensures the new bulls genes are passes on into future generations and not those of his predecessor. Fighting is generally ritualised with much posturing and open-jawed displaying of the canines.  But sometimes more serious fights erupt in which males may inflict serious wounds by slashing at each other with their sharp canine teeth. These may last for several hours and are accompanied by weird vocalisations such as squeals, grunts and roars. Such battles can result in the death of one, or sometimes both, of the protagonists. Given their size, hippos have an extraordinarily short gestation period of eight months. Growth of the foetus in the womb is incredibly fast. Black rhinos, which are similar in size to hippos, have a gestation time almost twice as long, yet rhino calf weighs less at birth, about 40 kilograms, compared to a newborn hippo at about 50 kilograms. Calves may be born at any time of the year but the majority are born during the mid-summer, rainy months. When the time comes to give birth, female hippos move away from the herd and remain separated for about a fortnight. The calves are capable of going into deep water and can suckle underwater within minutes of being born. Initially the calf stays in shallow water near a shore while the mother grazes nearby. Growth of the first 10 years of life is also rapid. The average increase in weight is in the order of 100 kilograms a year, so that at 10 years old, a hippo can weigh in excess of 1200 kilograms. Males and females are similar in size, the male being only slightly larger than the female.

Wild magazine summer 2013/2013

On Safari With Dean And Mark Starting the 5th January 2013

5^th January 2013:  Our first safari for 2013!  Guests were collected by Dean from the Town Lodge close to the Airport and transferred to Neslpruit to meet up with Mark.  Guests entered the park through Numbi Gate and made their way to Skukuza for lunch.  En-route down Napi a small herd of Buffalo were sighted just before  the Voortrekker link on Napi, two elephant bulls on the road just past boulders entrance and a couple of White Rhino along the way to Skukuza.  There were no cat sightings at all for the entire day.  After lunch we made our way back to Nkambeni for check in with just general game sightings.

6^th January 2013:  We departed Nkambeni after breakfast and stayed in the general area, as Verity was bringing in more guests at 12h00pm.  Once again the day was relatively quiet with no cat sightings and none been reported for the whole day by any other vehicles.  We came across a herd of approximately 40 elephant on the River link road with a lot of individual bulls also seen.  Most of them were throwing sand or mud on themselves for protection as it was going to be a warm day.  We also came across a dazzle of Zebra with a very young foal.  On our way towards Nkambeni via Albasini we came across a female lions spoor but no lioness was found as the grass has grown immensely.  On the late afternoon drive 7 large male Kudus were seen.  We made our way back to camp after an exhausting hot day.

7^th January 2013:  We departed camp once again on the hunt for some cats, and Dean collected his guests in Johannesburg from the Radisson Blu hotel and made his way to the Kruger to join up with us.  We both had lunch at Pretoriuskop before departing on the afternoon drive with our perspective clients.  After lunch we took a drive down Napi where we got some dwarf mongooses, just before Shithave Dam we got seven Sable Antelope and awesome sight!, elephant , Impala, Kudu .  We returned to Nkambeni late afternoon .

8^th January 2013:  After breakfast, Mark and his group left down Napi and Dean followed with his guests.  Once again we came across the little dwarf mongooses on Napi as well as Impala and Zebra.  After a tea break at Skukuza we continued on towards the Historical site and came across a pack of 9 wild dogs, we carried onto the H2 as we had heard there were some lions two kilometres before Quagga Pan, we found the lions lying 10 metres off the road this made for a great days sighting.  We then journeyed back towards the Paul Kruger Gate road and onto Doispane where there were more elephants to be seen as well as a herd of 700 buffalo near Albasini  and then all was quiet as  we made our way to camp for a break while meeting up with Verity to deliver more guests.  The late afternoon drive was relatively quiet with sightings of general game before we made our way back to camp for the evening.

9^th January 2013:  After leaving Mark and his guests Dean took his four and started making his way straight to Skukuza and then Tshokwane and on to Satara.  General game was spotted as well as the usual sightings of Rhino, Elephant, Giraffe, Waterbuck.  After we all had a break at Skukuza it was onward towards the low water bridge toward Lower Sabi and to Tshokwane for lunch.  On the way we got a Martial Eagle busy enjoying lunch as he had caught a banded mongoose.  After lunch at Thokwane and bidding Mark a farewell as he was going on to Lower Sabi and Dean was going on to Satara, Dean got twelve lions resting near Nzamanzi Dam and at the Dam itself Buffalo, Elephant, Hippo and Crocodile.  Along the way there was a lot of general game.  Dean arrived at Satara at 15h00pm and clients decided they were exhausted with the temperature reaching 43 degrees and enjoyed the pool at Satara for the afternoon. Mark continued his journey down the H10, eloff, Napi and back to camp with sightings of Elephants, Sable and a Leopard up a Maroela tree near Quagga Pan, it was then back to camp for a ice cold beer!

10^th January 2013:  Dean left Satara early before the heat of the day and travelled the H100 and then onto the S41 and H6 before returning to Satara for breakfast, sightings were good with loads of Impala, Herds of Elephant and a Cheetah lying under a tree as well as a male Lion and cubs getting chased by two Bull Elephants .  After breakfast Dean took a drive to Olifants camp with sightings of general game , some White Storks, Vultures.  They returned to camp early as the heat was too much and guests were going on a Night Drive.  Mark also went out early as he had four guests departing back to Johannesburg and two more guests arriving at 12h00pm.  Sightings of elephants and one male Lion and two Lionesses near Renosterkoppies,  as well as Elephants having a swim in Nyamundwa Dam.  Most of the animals were looking for shade in the afternoon, but we will see what tomorrow brings and hopefully we will pickup a Lion or two.  Dean and his four guests were making their way from Satara back to Pretoriuskop for the night as all six guests return to Johannesburg tomorrow and new guests arrive!

We shall wait for the next report with the guests arriving tomorrow.

Save Our Rhino

Save our Rhino and bring those who slaughter them to justice

60+ Hyenas (2 Different Clans) come together - 19 December 2012 - Latest Sightings

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 25)( Page 2 ) Our Last Hunt

I had on several occasions interrupted fights between angry rivals: once two splendid koodoo bulls were at it; a second time it was two sables, and the vicious and incredibly swift sweep of the scimitar horns still lives in memory, along with the wonderful nimbleness of the other fellow who dodged it; and another time they were blue wildebeeste; but some interruption had occurred each time, and I had no more than a glimpse of what might have been a rare scene to witness. I was determined not to spoil it this time: no doubt it was a fight, and probably they were fencing and circling for an opening, as there was no bump of heads or clash of horns and no tearing scramble of feet to indicate the real struggle.  I crept on through the rocks and found before me a tangle of thorns and dead wood, impossible to pass through in silence; it was better to work back again and try the other side of the rocks.  The way was clearer there, and I crept up to a rock four or five feet high, feeling certain from the sound that the fight would be in full view a few yards beyond.  With the rifle ready I raised myself slowly until my eyes were over the top of the rock.  Some twenty yards off, in an open flat of down-trodden grass, I saw a sable cow: she was standing with feet firmly and widely planted, looking fiercely in front of her, ducking her head in threatening manner every few seconds, and giving angry snorts; and behind, and huddled up against her, was her scared bewildered little red-brown calf. It seems stupid not to have guessed what it all meant; yet the fact is that for the few remaining seconds I was simply puzzled and fascinated by the behaviour of the two sables.  Then in the corner of my eye I saw, away on my right, another red-brown thing come into the open: it was Jock, casting about with nose to ground for my trail which he had over-run at the point where I had turned back near the deadwood on the other side of the rocks. What happened then was a matter of a second or two.  As I turned to look at him he raised his head, bristled up all over, and made one jump forward; then a long low yellowish thing moved in the unbeaten grass in front of the sable cow, raised its head sharply, and looked full into my eyes; and before I could move a finger it shot away in one streak-like bound.  A wild shot at the lioness, as I jumped up full height; a shout at Jock to come back; a scramble of black and brown on my left; and it was all over: I was standing in the open ground, breathless with excitement, and Jock, a few yards off, with hind legs crouched ready for a dash, looking back at me for leave to go! The spoor told the tale; there was the outer circle made by the lioness in the grass, broken in places where she had feinted to rush in and stopped before the lowered horns; and inside this there was the smaller circle, a tangle of trampled grass and spoor, where the brave mother had stood between her young and death. Any attempt to follow the lioness after that would have been waste of time.  We struck off in a new direction, and in crossing a stretch of level ground where the thorn-trees were well scattered and the grass fairly short my eye caught a movement in front that brought me to instant standstill.  It was as if the stem of a young thorn-tree had suddenly waved itself and settled back again, and it meant that some long horned buck, perhaps a koodoo or a sable bull, was lying down and had swung his head; and it meant also that he was comfortably settled, quite unconscious of danger.  I marked and watched the spot, or rather, the line, for the glimpse was too brief to tell more than the direction; but there was no other move.  The air was almost still, with just a faint drift from him to us, and I examined every stick and branch, every stump and ant-heap, every bush and tussock, without stirring a foot. But I could make out nothing: I could trace no outline and see no patch of colour, dark or light, to betray him. It was an incident very characteristic of Bushveld hunting.  There I stood minute after minute--not risking a move, which would be certain to reveal me--staring and searching for some big animal lying half asleep within eighty yards of me on ground that you would not call good cover for a rabbit.  We were in the sunlight: he lay somewhere beyond, where a few scattered thorn-trees threw dabs of shade, marbling with dappled shade and light the already mottled surface of earth and grass.  I was hopelessly beaten, but Jock could see him well enough; he crouched beside me with ears cocked, and his eyes, all ablaze, were fixed intently on the spot, except for an occasional swift look up to me to see what on earth was wrong and why the shot did not come; his hind legs were tucked under him and he was trembling with excitement.  Only those will realise it who have been through the tantalising humiliating experience.  There was nothing to be done but wait, leaving the buck to make the first move.

Mr George Adamson The Father Of Lions

George Adamson with his female lion Elsa

George Adamson with his lions

George Adamson with his son the lion Christian



 

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 23)( Page 7 ) The Fighting Baboon

Near the Crocodile on our way down we heard from men coming up that Seedling had been there some days before but that, hearing we were on the way down and had sworn to shoot him, he had ridden on to Komati, leaving one horse behind bad with horse-sickness.  The report about shooting him was, of course, ridiculous--probably his own imagination-- but it was some comfort to know that he was in such a state of terror that his own fancies were hunting him down. At Komati we learned that he had stayed three days at the store of that Goanese murderer, Antonio--the same Antonio who on one occasion had tried to drug and hand over to the enemy two of our men who had got into trouble defending themselves against raiding natives; the same Antonio who afterwards made an ill-judged attempt to stab one Mickey O'Connor in a Barberton canteen and happily got brained with a bottle of his own doctored spirit for his pains. Antonio suspecting something wrong about a white man who came on horseback and dawdled aimlessly three days at Komati Drift, going indoors whenever a stranger appeared, wormed the secret out with liquor and sympathy; and when he had got most of Seedling's money out of him, by pretence of bribing the Portuguese officials and getting news, made a bold bid for the rest by saying that a warrant was out for him in Delagoa and he must on no account go on.  The evil-looking half-caste no doubt hoped to get the horse saddle and bridle, as well as the cash, and was quite prepared to drug Seedling when the time came, and slip him quietly into the Komati at night where the crocodiles would take care of the evidence. Antonio, however, overshot the mark; Seedling who knew all about him, took fright, saddled up and bolted up the river meaning to make for the Lebombo, near the Tembe Drift, where Bob McNab and his merry comrades ran free of Governments and were a law unto themselves.  It was no place for a nervous man, but Seedling had no choice, and he went on.  He had liquor in his saddle bags and food for several days; but he was not used to the bush, and at the end of the first day he had lost his way and was beyond the river district where the kaffirs lived. So much is believed, though not positively known; at any rate he left the last kraal in those parts about noon, and was next heard of two days later at a kraal under the Lebombo.  There he learnt that the Black Umbelusi, which it would be necessary to swim--as Snowball and Tsetse had done--lay before him, and that it was yet a great distance to Sebougwaans, and even then he would be only half-way to Bob's.  Seedling could not face it alone, and turned back for the nearest store. The natives said that before leaving the kraal he bought beer from them, but did not want food; for he looked sick; he was red and swollen in the face; and his eyes were wild; the horse was weak and also looked sick, being very thin and empty; but they showed him the footpath over the hills which would take him to Tom's--a white man's store on the road to Delagoa--and he left them!  That was Tom Barnett's at Piscene, where we always stopped; for Tom was a good friend of ours. That was how we came to meet Seedling again.  He had made a loop of a hundred and fifty miles in four days in his efforts to avoid us; but he was waiting for us when we arrived at Tom Barnett's.  We who had hurried on to catch him, believing that the vengeance of justice depended on us, forgot that it has been otherwise decreed. Tom stood in the doorway of his store as we walked up--five feet one in his boots, but every inch of it a man--with his hands resting idly on his hips and a queer smile on his face as he nodded welcome. "Did a white man come here on horseback during the last few days from the Drift?" "No!" "On foot?" "No, not the whole way." "Is he here now?"  Tom nodded. "You know about him, Tom?" "Seedling! the chap you're after, isn't it?" "Yes," we answered, lowering our voices.  Tom looked from one to the other with the same queer smile, and then making a move to let us into the store said quietly: "He won't clear, boys; he's dead!"  Some kaffirs coming along the footpath from the 'Bombo had found the horse dead of horse-sickness half a day away, and further on--only a mile or so from the store--the rider lying on his back in the sun, dying of thirst.  He died before they got him in.  He was buried under a big fig tree where another and more honoured grave was made later on. Jim sat by himself the whole evening and never spoke a word.

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 23)( Page 3 ) The Fighting Baboon

It was at this moment that Jim first noticed what was going on.  The other boys had not expected anything when Seedling called the dog, and they were taken completely by surprise by what followed.  Jim would have known what to expect: his kraal was in the neighbourhood; he knew Seedling well, and had already suffered in fines and confiscations at his hands; he also knew about the baboon; but he was ignorant, just as I was, of the fact that Seedling had left his old place across the river and come to live in the new hut, bringing his pet with him. It was the hoarse threatening shout of the baboon as it jumped at Jock, as much as the exclamations of the boys, that roused Jim.  He knew instantly what was on, and grabbing a stick made a dash to save the dog, with the other boys following him. When Jock was sent spinning in the dust the baboon recovered itself first, and standing up on its hind legs reached out its long ungainly arms towards him, and let out a shout of defiance.  Jock regaining his feet dashed in, jumped aside, feinted again and again, as he had learnt to do when big horns swished at him; and he kept out of reach just as he had done ever since the duiker taught him the use of its hoofs.  He knew what to do, just as he had known how to swing the porcupine: the dog-- for all the fighting fury that possessed him--took the measure of the chain and kept outside it.  Round and round he flew, darting in, jumping back, snapping and dodging, but never getting right home.  The baboon was as clever as he was: at times it jumped several feet in the air, straight up, in the hope that Jock would run underneath; at others, it would make a sudden lunge with the long arms, or a more surprising reach out with the hind legs to grab him.  Then the baboon began gradually to reduce its circle, leaving behind it slack chain enough for a spring; but Jock was not to be drawn.  In cleverness they were well-matched-- neither scored in attack; neither made or lost a point. When Jim rushed up to save Jock, it was with eager anxious shouts of the dog's name that warned Seedling and made him turn; and as the boy ran forward the white man stepped out to stop him. "Leave the dog alone!" he shouted, pale with anger. "Baas, Baas, the dog will be killed," Jim called excitedly, as he tried to get round; but the white man made a jump towards him, and with a backhand slash of the sjambok struck him across the face, shouting at him again: "Leave him, I tell you." Jim jumped back, thrusting out his stick to guard another vicious cut; and so it went on with alternate slash and guard, and the big Zulu danced round with nimble bounds, guarding, dodging, or bearing the sjambok cuts, to save the dog.  Seedling was mad with rage; for who had ever heard of a nigger standing up to a Field Cornet?  Still Jim would not give way; he kept trying to get in front of Jock, to head him off the fight, and all the while shouting to the other boys to call me.  But Seedling was the Field Cornet, and not one of them dared to move against him. At last the baboon, finding that Jock would not come on, tried other tactics; it made a sudden retreat and, rushing for the pole, hid behind it as for protection.  Jock made a jump and the baboon leaped out to meet him, but the dog stopped at the chain's limit, and the baboon--just as in the first dash of all--overshot the mark; it was brought up by the jerk of the collar, and for one second sprawled on its back.  That was the first chance for Jock, and he took it.  With one spring he was in; his head shot between the baboon's hind legs, and with his teeth buried in the soft stomach he lay back and pulled--pulled for dear life, as he had pulled and dragged on the legs of wounded game; tugged as he had tugged at the porcupine; held on, as he had held when the koodoo bull wrenched and strained every bone and muscle in his body. Then came the sudden turn!  As Jock fastened on to the baboon, dragging the chain taut while the screaming brute struggled on its back, Seedling stood for a second irresolute, and then with a stride forward raised his sjambok to strike the dog.  That was too much for Jim; he made a spring in and grasping the raised sjambok with his left hand held Seedling powerless, while in his right the boy raised his stick on guard. "Let him fight, Baas!  You said it!  Let the dog fight!" he panted, hoarse with excitement.

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 20)( Page 5 ) Jantje

He laughed almost hysterically, his eyes disappearing altogether and every tooth showing, as I lifted his arm to investigate; and then in high-pitched falsetto tones he shouted in a sort of ecstasy of delight, "Die ouw buffels, Baas!  Die buffels bull, Baas!" "Buffalo!  Did he toss you?"  I asked.  Jantje seemed to think it the best joke in the world and with constant squeals of laughter and graphic gestures gabbled off his account. His master, it appears, had shot at and slightly wounded the buffalo, and Jantje had been placed at one exit from the bush to prevent the herd from breaking away.  As they came towards him he fired at the foremost one; but before he could reload the wounded bull made for him and he ran for dear life to the only tree near--one of the flat-topped thorns.  He heard the thundering hoofs and the snorting breath behind, but raced on hoping to reach the tree and dodge behind it; a few yards short, however, the bull caught him, in spite of a jump aside, and flung him with one toss right on top of the thorn-tree. When he recovered consciousness he was lying face upwards in the sun, with nothing to rest his head on and only sticks and thorns around him. He did not know where he was or what had happened; he tried to move, but one arm was useless and the effort made him slip and sag, and he thought he was falling through the earth.  Presently he heard regular tramping underneath him and the breath of a big animal: and the whole incident came back to him.  By feeling about cautiously he at last located the biggest branch under him, and getting a grip on this he managed to turn over and ease his right side.  He could then see the buffalo: it had tramped a circle round the tree and was doing sentry over him.  Now and again the huge creature stopped to sniff, snort and stamp, and then resumed the round, perhaps the reverse way.  The buffalo could not see him and never once looked up, but glared about at its own accustomed level; and, relying entirely on its sense of smell, it kept up the relentless vengeful watch for hours, always stopping in the same place, to leeward, to satisfy itself that the enemy had not escaped. Late in the afternoon the buffalo, for the first time, suddenly came to a stand on the windward side of the tree, and after a good minute's silence turned its tail on Jantje and with angry sniffs and tosses stepped swiftly and resolutely forward some paces.  There was nothing to be seen; but Jantje judged the position and yelled out a warning to his master whom he guessed to be coming through the bush to look for him, and at the same time he made what noise he could in the tree top to make the buffalo think he was coming down.  The animal looked round from time to time with swings and tosses of the head and threatening angry sneezes, much as one sees a cow do when standing between her young calf and threatened danger: it was defending Jantje, for his own purposes, and facing the danger. For many minutes there was dead silence: no answer came to Jantje's call, and the bull stood its ground glaring and sniffing towards the bush.  At last there was a heavy thud below, instantly followed by the report of the rifle--the bullet came faster than the sound; the buffalo gave a heavy plunge and with a grunting sob slid forward on its chest. Round the camp fire at night Jantje used to tell tales in which fact, fancy, and superstition were curiously mingled; and Jantje when not out of humour was free with his stories.  The boys, for whose benefit they were told, listened open mouthed; and I often stood outside the ring of gaping boys at their fire, an interested listener. The tale of his experiences with the honey-bird which he had cheated of its share was the first I heard him tell.  Who could say how much was fact, how much fancy, and how much the superstitions of his race?  Not even Jantje knew that!  He believed it all. The Honey-bird met him one day with cheery cheep-cheep, and as he whistled in reply it led him to an old tree where the beehive was: it was a small hive, and Jantje was hungry; so he ate it all.  All the time he was eating, the bird kept fluttering about, calling anxiously, and expecting some honey or fat young bees to be thrown out for it; and when he had finished, the bird came down and searched in vain for its share. As he walked away the guilty Jantje noticed that the indignant bird followed him with angry cries and threats. All day long he failed to find game; whenever there seemed to be a chance an angry honey-bird would appear ahead of him and cry a warning to the game; and that night as he came back, empty handed and hungry, all the portents of bad luck came to him in turn.  An owl screeched three times over his head; a goat-sucker with its long wavy wings and tail flitted before him in swoops and rings in most ghostly silence--and there is nothing more ghostly than that flappy wavy soundless flitting of the goat-sucker; a jackal trotted persistently in front looking back at him; and a striped hyena, humpbacked, savage, and solitary, stalked by in silence, and glared.

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 20)( Page 4 ) Jantje

One day I was watching the ants as they travelled along their route-- sometimes stopping to hobnob with those they met, sometimes hurrying past, and sometimes turning as though  sent back on a message or reminded of something forgotten--when a little dry brown bean lying in a spot of sunlight gave a jump of an inch or two.  At first it seemed that I must have unknowingly moved some twig or grass stem that flicked it; but as I watched it there was another vigorous jump.  I took it up and examined it but there was nothing unusual about it, it was just a common light brown bean with no peculiarities or marks; it was a real puzzle, a most surprising and ridiculous one.  I found half a dozen more in the same place; but it was some days before we discovered the secret.  Domiciled in each of them was a very small but very energetic worm, with a trap-door or stopper on his one end, so artfully contrived that it was almost impossible with the naked eye to locate the spot where the hole was.  The worm objected to too much heat and if the beans were placed in the sun or near the fire the weird astonishing jumping would commence. The beans were good for jumping for several months, and once in Delagoa, one of our party put some on a plate in the sun beside a fellow who had been doing himself too well for some time previously: he had become a perfect nuisance to us and we could not get rid of him.  He had a mouth full of bread, and a mug of coffee on the way to help it down, when the first bean jumped.  He gave a sort of peck, blinked several times to clear his eyes, and then with his left hand pulled slightly at his collar, as though to ease it.  Then came another jump, and his mouth opened slowly and his eyes got big.  The plate being hollow and glazed was not a fair field for the jumpers--they could not escape; and in about half a minute eight or ten beans were having a rough and tumble. With a white scared face our guest slowly lowered his mug, screened his eyes with the other hand, and after fighting down the mouthful of bread, got up and walked off without a word. We tried to smother our laughter, but some one's choking made him look back and he saw the whole lot of us in various stages of convulsions. He made one rude remark, and went on; but every one he met that day made some allusion to beans, and he took the Durban steamer next morning. The insect life was prodigious in its numbers and variety; and the birds, the beasts, and the reptiles were all interesting.  There is a goodness-knows-what-will-turn-up-next atmosphere about the Bushveld which is, I fancy, unique.  The story of the curate, armed with a butterfly net, coming face to face with a black-maned lion may or may not be true--in fact; but it is true enough as an illustration; and it is no more absurd or unlikely than the meeting at five yards of a lioness and a fever-stricken lad carrying a white green-lined umbrella-- which is true!  The boy stood and looked: the lioness did the same. "She seemed to think I was not worth eating, so she walked off," he used to say--and he was Trooper 242 of the Imperial Light Horse who went back under fire for wounded comrades and was killed as he brought the last one out. I had an old cross-bred Hottentot-Bushman boy once--one could not tell which lot he favoured--who was full of the folklore stories and superstitions of his strange and dying race, which he half humorously and half seriously blended with his own knowledge and hunting experiences.  Jantje had the ugly wrinkled dry-leather face of his breed, with hollow cheeks, high cheek-bones, and little pinched eyes, so small and so deeply set that no one ever saw the colour of them; the peppe  corns of tight wiry wool that did duty for hair were sparsely scattered over his head like the stunted bushes in the desert; and his face and head were seamed with scars too numerous to count, the souvenirs of his drunken brawls.  He resembled a tame monkey rather than ahuman creature, being, like so many of his kind without the moral side or qualities of human nature which go to mark the distinction between man and monkey.  He was normally most cheery and obliging; but it meant nothing, for in a moment the monkey would peep out, vicious, treacherous and unrestrained.  Honesty, sobriety, gratitude, truth, fidelity, and humanity were impossible to him: it seemed as if even the germs were not there to cultivate, and the material with which to work did not exist. He had certain make-believe substitutes, which had in a sense been grafted on to his nature, and appeared to work, while there was no real use for them; they made a show, until they were tested; one took them for granted, as long as they were not disproved: it was a skin graft only, and there seemed to be no real `union' possible between them and the tough alien stock.  He differed in character and nature from the Zulu as much as he did from the white man; he was as void of principle as- well, as his next of kin, the monkey; yet, while without either shame of, or contempt for, cowardice; he was wholly without fear of physical danger, having a sort of fatalist's indifference to it; and that was something to set off against his moral deficit.  I put Jantje on to wash clothes the day he turned up at the waggons to look for work, and as he knelt on the  ocks stripped to the waist I noticed a very curious knotted line running up his right side from the lowest rib into the armpit.  The line was whiter than his yellow skin; over each rib there was a knot or widening in the line; and under the arm there was a big splotchy star--all markings of some curious wound.

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 20)( Page 3 ) Jantje

There were numbers of little squirrel-like creatures there too.  Our fellows used to call them ground-squirrels and "tree-rats"; because they live underground, yet climb trees readily in search of food; they were little fellows like meerkats, with bushy tails ringed in brown, black and white, of which the waggon-boys made decorations for their slouch hats. Jock wanted a go at them: they did not appear quite so much beneath notice as the birds. Along the water's edge one came on the lagavaans, huge repulsive water-lizards three to four feet long, like crocodiles in miniature, sunning themselves in some favourite spot in the margin of the reeds or on the edge of the bank; they give one the jumps by the suddenness of their rush through the reeds and plunge into deep water. There were otters too, big black-brown fierce fellows, to be seen swimming silently close under the banks.  I got a couple of them, but was  lways nervous of letting Jock into the water after things, as one never knew where the crocodile lurked.  He got an ugly bite from one old dog-otter which I shot in shallow water; and, mortally wounded as he was, the otter put up a rare good fight before Jock finally hauled him out. Then there were the cane-rats, considered by some most excellent and delicate of meats, as big and tender as small sucking-pigs.  The cane-rat, living and dead, I was one of the stock surprises, and the subject of jokes and tricks upon the unsuspecting: there seems to be no sort of ground for associating the extraordinary fat thing, gliding among the reeds or swimming silently under the banks, with either its live capacity of rat or its more attractive dead _role_ of roast sucking-pig. The hardened ones enjoyed setting this treat before the hungry and unsuspecting, and, after a hearty meal, announcing--"That was roast rat: good, isn't it?"  The memory of one experience gives me water in the gills now!  It was unpleasant, but not equal to the nausea and upheaval which supervened when, after a very savoury stew of delicate white meat, we were shown the fresh skin of a monkey hanging from the end of the buck-rails, with the head drooping forward, eyes closed, arms dangling lifeless, and limp open hands--a ghastly caricature of some hanged human, shrivelled and shrunk within its clothes of skin.  I felt like a cannibal. The water tortoises in the silent pools, grotesque muddy fellows, were full of interest to the quiet watcher, and better that way than as the "turtle soup" which once or twice we ventured on and tried to think was good! There were certain hours of the day when it was more pleasant and profitable to lie in the shade and rest.  It is the time of rest for the Bushveld--that spell about middle-day; and yet if one remains quiet, there is generally something to see and something worth watching.  There were the insects on the ground about one which would not otherwise be seen at all; there were caterpillars clad in spiky armour made of tiny fragments of grass--fair defence no doubt against some enemies and a most marvellous disguise; other caterpillars clad in bark, impossible to detect until they moved; there were grasshoppers like leaves, and irregularly shaped stick insects, with legs as bulky as the body, and all jointed by knots like irregular twigs--wonderful mimetic creatures. Jock often found these things for me.  Something would move and interest him; and when I saw him stand up and examine a thing at his feet, turning it over with his nose or giving it a scrape with his paw, it was usually worth joining in the inspection.  The Hottentot-gods always attracted him as they reared up and `prayed' before him; quaint things, with tiny heads and thin necks and enormous eyes, that sat up with fore legs raised to pray, as a pet dog sits up and begs.

Battle at Kruger National Park (Transport Dam)

 

By this time everybody who is anybody that has access to the web and “Youtube” would no doubt have heard about or the term “Battle at Kruger”, well below is the word for word account of the action by the guide “Frank” who had the guests aboard his open safari vehicle on the afternoon that the video was taken of this encounter.

We as a company consider ourselves very lucky to know Frank and have him as a good friend and collegue who we work closely with on a daily basis while conducting our safaris.

'It was during an afternoon drive when one of my colleagues called over the radio reporting the presence of lions at a place called Transport Dam between Pretoriuskop and Skukuza.  Safari vehicles had been visiting the scene for a short stop and had left. On my arrival I found 7 lions lying on the dam wall watching a herd of buffalo drinking at the dam.

The lions were all quite young except for an adult female and I did not believe they would take on the buffalo who in any event were too far from them to approach effectively.  I decided to stay on the sighting a while, for my clients to view the buffalo at leisure, whilst they drank at the river and they then began to move away.

The adult lion female at this stage had moved off the dam wall and was lying out of sight behind a rock near where we were parked.  The buffalo started moving slowly away from the water and the young lions were lying watching them.  For some inexplicable reason the herd of buffalo led by an adult followed by another adult, followed by a calf and then the rest of the herd, started to walk onto the narrow dam wall, directly to where the young lions were lying.  The lions had no cover and I was then intrigued by the developing situation.

One of the guests asked me what I thought would happen and based on past experience I told them the lions would run away.  I had no sooner expressed this opinion than one of the lions did in fact turn and slink off out of sight.  The buffalo kept walking in single file towards the lions apparently unaware of them and the lions moved closer to one another and crouched down in a threatening posture.

When the lead buffalo was about 15-20 metres from the lions, it suddenly stopped and started tossing his head about.  At that stage everything happened so fast that I cannot recall whether the buffalo turned and started to run away or if the lioness charged and they then ran.  In any event the lions all charged the fleeing buffalo.

They ran past the two adults and jumped on the calf who fell into the dam with the lions still attached to it.  The rest of the lions were all busy attacking the buffalo calf in the water while the rest of the herd ran away.  Suddenly a huge crocodile grabbed hold of the buffalo calf and a tug-of-war ensued between the lions and the crocodile.  The lions were victorious dragging the buffalo calf out of the water and up the bank with the crocodile hanging on its' leg before it finally relinquished its' grip.

By now the herd had regrouped, turned and amidst a cloud of dust they charged the lions who were busy mauling the poor calf lying on the ground.  The lioness tried to stand her ground but was tossed into the air by one of the buffalo.  The other lions lost their nerve and fled with the aggressive buffalo behind them.  As if this wasn't enough the calf stood up and was enveloped by the herd who moved off.  UNBELIEVABLE!!'