The Best Souvenir

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Natasha and I went out to take moulds of leopard tracks and came across a couple of great ones. A genet had stepped inside a leopard print. It was getting dark and there was rustling in the bush so we packed away the stuff and moved downhill to get other tracks.

First time helping to make the plaster of paris and the moulds turned out great. Now I have my own leopard track to take home – best souvenir ever.

Written by David Johnston

Filming

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For nearly a week now, the film crew from OSF have been on site working to film the honey badgers for a documentary to be shown on BBC and PBS. We have been all hands on deck with long nights spent in the field on “badger watch”. The crew is in a hide which moves from place to place to try for the best chance of seeing the badgers. We have had the badgers on camera traps again this week, in a location very close to where the crew is currently on watch. Using various baits around the reserve, we have seen a multitude of interesting animals, such as cape fox scent marking over badger scat, mellers mongoose, brown hyena and lots of genets.

As well as animals being filmed, we have also done a few scenes of the researchers in the field, and a few driving scenes. It should really be easy to kick up dust on the roads here for the cameras, however it is proving to be quite a challenge. Thankfully, the stunning views and animals more than make up for a lack of dust!

Written by Becky Freeman

Carnivores everywhere!

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In the last couple of months there has been a distinct increase in the number of carnivores seen on the reserve. Species that were seen only occasionally are now being caught on camera trap much more frequently. Species such as black backed and side striped jackal, aardwolf, brown hyena, meller’s mongoose, aardvark, serval and caracal. There have also been sightings in person of the jackals, and even aardwolf. It may be due to the bush being thinner now as it is coming up to winter, however there seems to be more too it than simply being able to see better. It will be interesting to see in the months and years to come if this is a seasonal change, an anomaly of this year, or just animals moving into the area after many years of being kept away. 

Written by Becky

Bait Tree

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June has come around quickly and the film crew is back on site! We’ve upped the stakes on our hunt for badgers and a new bait has been put out- this time it’s been strategically placed in a tree to avoid losing them to hyenas and bush pig.

Setting up the camera traps in a tree is no easy feat! Careful consideration has to be taken when choosing which branch on which to attach the cameras for the best angles (and how to do it without getting stuck in said tree when doing it!).

We’ve had lots of activity on the bait from one very lucky genet (he’s been feasting on our bait for a good few weeks now!) and surprisingly even a slender mongoose has scaled the tree to get some free food!

We’ll be keeping a close eye on the bait sites and checking it regularly for any fresh carnivore activity. We’ll be sure to keep you all updated!

Written  by Natasha

The Not so Illusive Badger

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When you have been hoping and hoping for so long to have a sighting of a particular animal, it makes it all the more special when it actually happens. This week we have had not one, but two sightings of honey badger, one was on a camera and one (actually two individuals) was seen by Black Leopard Camps guide.

The camera trap photo came first, and it was exciting to see the badgers down in the valley again. It was only days after that the call came in to say there was a pair of badgers next to a road digging away happily. It was classed as a 5/5 sighting, which means the animals were in the open, the sighting was more than a fleeting glimpse, and it was close. It is very exciting that the badgers are clearly getting more habituated to our vehicles, and fingers crossed this will be the first of many sightings in the coming months.

Written by Becky Freeman

Close encounters with the Nyala

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We’ve been working for months to get the nyala comfortable around people and our efforts seem to be finally paying off! A small herd of females wanders into the conservation village most nights and we’ve been feeding them so they associate people with good things. Even in just the two months I’ve been here, the change in the nyala has been pretty incredible. They used to startle at the slightest movement but now they actually come up to us with expectant looks as if to say ‘do you have treats for me?’.

But this week we reached new heights yet! It had been a few days since we’d seen the nyala and I was starting to wonder where they’d wandered off to. Then one evening I walk out of the office to find the little nyala calf looking at me with big doe eyes. I quickly fetched some herbivore pellets and got comfy sitting on the ground amongst the herd. Slowly but surely the little nyala moved closer and closer to me. I held out a handful of pellets and kept talking to her as she inched forward. Tentatively she stretched her neck out and touched her nose to the tip of my finger- only to startle and retreat a few steps.

The little nyala was so close to taking the pellets right out of my hand! Never have I been so excited to have animal snort on my finger! The nyala, especially the little one, are getting so brave and maybe one day soon they’ll be confident enough that we can hand feed them!

Written by Natasha