Archive for October, 2010
Where have all the rhinos gone?
October 13th, 2010 | 
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Posted in Our readers are mainly folks living out of Africa, so I’m going to ask you a strange question here – have you ever seen a rhinoceros in the wild? If you haven’t, may I suggest that you make a plan to do so in the near future, because these magnificent creatures are being poached out of existence. Having roamed the earth for close on fifty million years, they are being wiped out at an alarming rate by greedy crime syndicates supplying ignorant Asian consumers who believe that rhino horns possess medicinal properties.
Sadly, a number of vets, nature conservationists and security guards are amongst those guilty of this killing spree in South Africa, which begs the question – if the very people who are meant to be protecting them are succumbing to greed, what hope is there for these endangered animals?
The rhino population has declined by 90% in the last 40 years. In 2010 alone, more than 210 rhinos have been slaughtered in South Africa for their horns. The situation has become so bad that game reserve owners are now reluctant to invest in these expensive animals because they are at such a high risk of being killed. Game reserves are so vast, that rhinos don’t have a chance of being protected against poachers, armed with AK47’s, who come seeking them in helicopters. Having said that, though, the poachers are also brazen enough to get to rhinos that are brought into guarded areas near homesteads.
Rhino horns are made of keratin and weigh between 8 and 11 kilograms. They are fetching outrageous prices on the Asian black market which makes them an attractive proposition for poachers. Unlike elephants that breed prolifically and can make a comeback if killed for their ivory, rhinos are in short supply and cannot tolerate being wiped out at the current rate.
Poachers are able to dart the rhinos and simply remove the horns from the animals without harming them, but instead they are wantonly killing them, often quite brutally. It’s a shameful situation and one that needs addressing as a matter of urgency.
Is the rhino going to be the next animal that man, in his greed, removes from the planet? Start saving for your trip to Africa now to see them before it’s too late, or better still give a donation to an organization funding efforts to save rhinos. They, like the rhinos, desperately need all the help they can get to combat this dire situation. We’d love your comments on this subject – please let us know how you feel about it.
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Bird of the week – Week 40 : African pied wagtail
A familiar sound along many of the waterways of southern Africa is the sustained “tsip weet-weet” of the African pied wagtail, a song that is easily recognized once initially identified. As is the bird itself. Pied in clean white and black, the African pied wagtail is a smallish bird with a length of about 20 cm, which makes it the biggest of the wagtails found in southern Africa, and it has the typical long tail of the wagtail family, which it wags up and down characteristically. Predominantly white, it has black upperparts and a broad black band across its breast; eyes are brown, legs and feet black. The males and females have similarly coloured plumage.
They are usually solitary or found in pairs or small groups and are a delight to watch as they walk briskly along the ground or hopping from rock to rock looking for insects, running forward when a likely morsel is spotted and sometimes leaping into the air to catch a low flying insect. And of course, when pausing, and also after landing, the long tail bobs up and down as if the bird cannot otherwise retain its balance.
In addition to frequenting the rocks and sandbanks of rivers and streams, the African pied wagtail makes itself at home in closer contact with humans and can be found at sewage ponds and open areas of tended grass such as golf courses, parks, and gardens, where it can become quite tame. It feeds mainly on insects, but will also take breadcrumbs and other tidbits from birdfeeders provided by obliging humans.
The African pied wagtail is monogamous and it builds a cup-shaped nest that is lined with grass and feathers, usually mounted on a foundation of leaves and roots that is located on a riverbank in a convenient tangle of sticks. Closer to human habitation the nest may be located on the roof of a building, or on a ledge or windowsill. The female lays a clutch of 3 or 4 greyish-white eggs that are lightly marked with brown and that hatch after an incubation period of approximately 13 days. The wagtail is parasitised by both the Red-chested cuckoo (Cuculus solitarius) and the Diderick cuckoo (Chrysococcyx caprius).
The scientific binomial for the African pied wagtail is Motacilla aguimp; Motacilla from the Latin for a “little mover” and aguimp from the French for “with a wimple” – wimple being the name of the cloth worn over the head and around the neck and ears by women in years gone by, and in this context referring to the black feathers on the head, neck and sides of the face of the African pied wagtail. Thus its name translates as a little mover wearing a wimple, which seems entirely appropriate.
Go with the flow – in the Okavango Delta
No visit to Botswana is complete without experiencing a mokoro trip in the Okavango Delta. Whilst the national parks enthrall you with their abundant wildlife and scenery, gliding through the narrow channels of the delta is equally spellbinding and quite literally a way to massage the soul and spend some time being completely ‘in the now’, with all the worries of the everyday world set aside for a couple of hours.
Every year, millions of cubic meters of water rush down from Angola and flood the Okavango River, filling the thirsty channels and grasslands of northern Botswana, to make it the world’s largest inland delta. The Nxamaseri floodplain, as it is also known, absorbs only a minute proportion of all this water into its ground reserves, the rest being lost to evaporation. It’s an annual road show that feeds not only the ground and the animals, but swells the coffers of the tourism sector and boosts the economy of Botswana. Lodges abound on many of the islands and guests from around the world get to experience some of the country’s finest nature moments.
From ancient times the locals have carved wooden dugouts (mokoros) from Sausage trees (Kigelia pinnata) and these amazing boats are ideally suited to float through the reeds and long grass covered by the floodwaters. The mokoro sits very low in the water making it seem perilously close to being inundated. If you’re lucky, it sports two legless plastic chairs for you to sit back on, if not, you sit on straw on the bottom of the boat, which can be a bit uncomfortable until you get used to it!
Sometimes as you go along, the reeds and long grass softly brush your face, or you break the gossamer thread of a spider web; other times the way ahead is clear and you glide through the narrow channels unimpeded. Sometimes you see the maroon under-leaves of the water lilies and other times you see the muddy bottom of the channel through crystal clear waters. Mostly there is a deep silence, broken only by the gentle splashing of the wooden pole (the ngushi) as your friendly guide propels you through the calm water. A peace descends as you sit back and let the hypnotic rhythm of the boat bring you to a state of total relaxation.
Nature puts on a magnificent display for your delta experience, as you float quietly past a pod of hippos, a crocodile or any number of beautiful birds that make their home amongst the reeds. You could see elephants and Red Letchwes wading in the water, or catch a glimpse of an African Jacana walking on the lily pads fishing for food, a Black Crake making its way busily along the bank or a colourful Malachite Kingfisher perched on the papyrus. If you’re very lucky a Fish Eagle might swoop down and catch a fish in front of you. We came across a puff adder swimming in the channel, which our guide passed rapidly, not wanting to take a deadly and uninvited passenger on board.
Lunch time brings an opportunity to stop on an island and have a walk around to stretch those cramped legs and see the abundant birdlife.
You can also learn so much if you share your lunch with your guide and quiz him on his spiritual beliefs, traditions and superstitions, which differ so much from your Western culture. He will take great delight in telling you his much-loved stories and will feel honoured that you have shown an interest in him and his life.
When you are safely deposited back on land after your delta experience, you will be the one who feels truly honoured and grateful to have had such a magnificent day out and fond memories will linger long after you have left this awesome country.
Bird of the week – Week 39 : Bateleur
When the ruins of Great Zimbabwe were discovered by the first European adventurers in the early 16th century, and more fully investigated in the 19th century, one of the intriguing discoveries made amongst the magnificent stonework was several carved statues of what has come to be called the “Zimbabwe Bird”. These statues were carved from soapstone and set on stone monoliths within the great city, probably during the 11th century, by the ancestors of the present-day Shona people. Subsequently becoming a symbol of Zimbabwe and being featured on the national coat-of-arms as well as on banknotes, coins, and stamps, the “Zimbabwe Bird” is now thought to have been modelled on the Bateleur.
And the Bateleur is truly a magnificent bird, both at rest and in flight, and would have been a worthy model indeed for the ancient sculptors.
It is an eagle of medium size, male adults being about 70 cm in length, with predominantly black plumage except for a chestnut-coloured mantle and grey tail. The bare facial skin and the legs are bright red; the bill is black. The males and females have similar plumage, although the females have grey rather than black secondary flight feathers.
The white underwings with a black trailing edge, together with the very short tail (the feet extend beyond the end of the tail) make the Bateleur very distinctive when in flight. The black band along the trailing edge of the wings is wider in the males.
The prey of the Bateleur consists mostly of birds up to the size of a Sandgrouse, as well as small animals. They will also prey on snakes, and are sometimes referred to as snake-eagles as a result. They will also feed on carrion.
Bateleurs are found through most of Africa south of the Sahara, where they prefer open savannah country. They are monogamous and will often occupy the same nest, a platform built from sticks and located below the canopy of a tree, for several years. The female lays a single egg, which hatches after an incubation period of about 42 days.
The name “Bateleur” derives from the French for an acrobat or tightrope walker. With its very short tail and long wings, the Bateleur is capable of quite spectacular aerial manoeuvres, which apparently led to the adoption of its common name.
The scientific binomial for the Bateleur is Terathopius ecaudatus; Terathopius from the Greek for “marvellous looking” and ecaudatus from the Latin meaning “lacking a tail”. Thus a marvellous looking bird with no tail. Can’t say fairer than that.
