The day of the jackal

We at EcoTraining spend countless hours pouring over books written by a variety of experts to try and explain animal behaviour to prospective field guides.  We have a huge wealth of knowledge at our finger tips with which to glean the plethora of information documented on some of the most iconic animals in the world.  However, despite Man’s propensity of recording field data from observations, animals do not always read the text books and often we are made to look foolish as they defy the preconceptions we have attributed to them!

The other day, a report about a male lion that had killed a bush pig, came through on the radio.  We rushed to the scene of the crime already deep in explanation as to the feeding habits of Africa’s apex terrestrial predator, looking forward to watching the ferocious feline demolishing his prey.  When we arrived at the location we found the bushpig completely intact, not even opened, and no lion to be seen.  Often predators will kill other predators as a means of eliminating competition and these victims are usually not consumed as they were removed rather than killed for food, but there was no viable reason that a cache of meat such as this would be left alone.  It was a gentle reminder from the bush that no matter how long you spend out here watching the daily lives of its inhabitants, nothing is ever set in stone!

I can offer no satisfactory explanation as to why the lion chose to leave his prize but nothing is left to waste in the bush for long.  Throughout the afternoon, the vultures arrived and began to consume the carcass, comically scrapping and flapping around as they argued over feeding rights.  We returned to the site at the end of our night drive hoping that the smell of decomposing flesh had wafted its way to the sensitive nostrils of the resident hyena clan.  It seemed however that the hyenas’ had also turned their nose up at the meal but not so a small group of side-striped jackals!

This diminutive predator is often overlooked in the food chain but plays a hugely important role in cleaning up the bush.  It is not as gregarious as the more common black backed jackal and thus their presence was a welcome sight to us all.  The temptation of a free meal overrode their normal normally nervous disposition and we were rewarded with a wonderful sighting as they wrestled with their porky prize! 

Side striped jackals are omnivores and can get their water requirements from eating fruits which enable them to be very successful in more harsh terrains.  They are also efficient hunters and regularly take small mammals, birds and even arthropods but an unattended carcass was a bonanza for them to enjoy.  We stayed in the sighting long after dark enjoying their antics as individuals argued over the choice cuts, prompting a long discussion over their feeding habits, role in the ecosystem and why the lion chose to leave its kill. 

For me, the true beauty of working in the bush is the fact that nothing is ever set in stone.  For a lion to pass up an opportunity to feed is unusual, but its decision benefited a whole host of less powerful members of the bushveld community.  Rules are made to be broken and trying to fathom the rationale behind these incidents is what makes this vocation so fascinating.  Variety is the spice of life, and we bush folk live our lives wondering what awaits us around the next corner and it is this excitement: the unknown commodity, that makes a life in the bush so rewarding!

Blog and photos by Ben Coley

Survival 101: What to do when you get lost in the bush

What do you do when things go wrong and you get lost while out in the bush? In a nutshell: Stop, stay calm and plan. Keep warm. Drink plenty of water and ration your food. Conserve your energy. 

Be determined to survive. Get help.

Actually there are a number of things, so let’s tackle this systematically.

The first and most important thing to do is to remain calm and THINK. Then make tea, tea and not coffee. Making tea requires a certain ceremony and if you can take your time and make tea, then you are in charge of the situation. Then take stock of your situation.  

The first option is to turn around and track yourself out of there. Your shoes have left marks on the trail; the tires of the vehicle have left two long lines behind the vehicle. The vehicle will not leave tracks on a tar road but if you are on a tar road then you are probably not lost.

If this still does not work then settle down and make a camp. Take out you little survival pack. What, don’t you have one? You should have packed it before the rest of your kit. Inside should be the following: a small bag or pouch with a lighter, some strong string, a knife and/or a machete; a small pot for cooking and boiling water; soap and a lightweight towel; water sterilizing tablets and coffee filters, to filter water not coffee; insect repellent; a proper first aid kit, not just a packet with first aid written on it.

The weather conditions will determine what type of protection you will need. Do a good job of keeping yourself warm and dry. Find and purify water or ration the water you have. Find fire-wood before it gets dark but use it sparingly. Have a pile of small sticks that you can throw on if there is a threat from animals. Feed the fire slowly, do not heap it up and then let it die down to almost nothing.

Stay near the vehicle if you are using one. The vehicle is easier to see than people on foot. You should have left a rout plan and return date with someone. Stick to the plan. Do not ever deviate from your plan. If you do not return by the set day then they will send people out to find you. You should know your equipment; know how to use it when it works properly as well as when it is not functioning properly. The boy scouts motto of “be prepared” says it all.

Look around you as you travel, look back at any junctions that you pass, see them from the return journey’s perspective. Learn to use your equipment properly and then practice regularly. Learn some skills and practice them regularly; learned skills are lighter to carry than a book. And very importantly – NEVER over-estimate your capabilities but be positive about what you can do.

Courtesy of EcoTraining instructor Mark Gunn - article written by Liryn de Jager

Survival of the fittest

A private game reserve may sound like a utopia to many of us.  It is an enclosed space where we have the honour of viewing some of the most beautiful, iconic and dramatic animal life on the planet.  But for its inhabitants, they have been unknowingly cast into a battle for available resources.  It is a battle where, size matters, strength matters and where numbers often triumph.  When species are fighting for specific resources it is inevitable that conflict will reign and for every winner, there must be a loser.

The world’s cheetah population is a lot lower than most of you might have realized.  Best estimates suggest that there are less than 10,000 of this fleet-footed feline are left on the planet.  The cheetah is a species best suited to wide open spaces and thus its last remaining stronghold consists of Namibia and East Africa, but there are still pockets of resistance dotted throughout the network of private reserves in SA.  These over grazed areas are dominated by woodland due to cattle farming but some individuals have altered their hunting habits learnt to survive.  But it is an uphill struggle and one that many are not winning.  Evolution takes millions of years and a species thrown into new surroundings will always suffer.  In the private game reserve scenario, there is nowhere to hide from your competition.  Artificial lines have been drawn in the sand and the pressure from the larger and more numerous predators is unrelenting.

In the past 6 months, Karongwe has lost 2 of it last remaining 3 cheetahs thanks to the survival instinct of the local lion pride.  A species cannot exist without access to resources, and any drain on those resources means that its eradication is paramount.  Lions do not share and they have systematically removed this threat.  1 male cheetah is all that is left of the local resistance but of late he has been sighted twice in the south of the reserve close to our camp.  The EcoTraining students had all but given up hope of finding this veritable needle in a haystack until we bumped into him with a freshly killed impala ewe a few weeks ago.  As it was after dark, and bearing in mind the threat of the nocturnal power of the hyaenas and lions, we chose to leave him in peace. 

However, last week, as we returned from a morning drive, we found him once again, this time with a freshly killed impala ram.  His streamlined body lay next to his prize, panting heavily to recover the energy exerted during the chase.   The impala had not yet even been opened and thus we knew we had missed the capture by minutes.  As we watched him catch his breath, he eyed us carefully, the recent loss of his brother no doubt playing a part in his trust issues.  Finally however he relaxed and settled down to claim his protein-rich reward.

We watched as his carnassial teeth sliced through the impala’s rump to expose the tender flesh.  A cheetah is always afraid of interlopers during this time as he cannot defend himself, or his kill, against the larger predators with whom he shares his domain.  His head bobbed up and down as he alternated satisfying his hunger and surveying the surroundings for danger.  By 11 o’clock however, nature’s undertakers had begun to arrive. A white backed vulture sat ominously in the trees close by waiting for its opportunity.  Even Job cannot challenge the vulture for its patience and as the minutes ticked by, more black shadows seemed to appear from the ether, descending towards the cheetah’s dinner table.

By the time we returned to the scene that afternoon, all that was left of the impala was a tattered piece of skin and a few splintered bones.  The vultures sat innocently in the surrounding trees, crops visibly full, and there was no sign of the cheetah.  Undoubtedly disturbed by the pestering presence of the feathered scavengers, he had most likely slipped away to digest his food in peace.  Learning to be unseen and to avoid competition is the only way the last remaining member of Karongwe’s cheetah population can survive.  Evolution may take millions of years, but behaviour can change quickly.  It is this ability that lends hope to this elegant enigma and I personally cross all my fingers that he can do just this.

The private game reserve phenomenon may have hampered his opportunities - no more can he just vacate an area and seek asylum in a less predator rich environment, but without it, he would have no doubt succumbed to Man’s unrelenting expansion.  A typical cheetah might range over 500-1000 square kilometers and while the boundaries of Karongwe may only be a tiny percentage of this, his chances here are far higher here than outside these fences.  Farmers protect their livelihood without mercy and kill with far less provocation and far more frequency than lions.  The private game reserves are not perfect, but without them, there is a very real possibility that this docile and beautiful animal would have been extinct by now, and we would have been denied the opportunity to see one of nature’s most exquisite creations.