SIGHTING SUNDAY There has been an abundance of rain in our research area and the grass is as high as an elephant’s eye. The Mopani-veld is gorgeous green but provides perfect camouflage and hide-always which makes sightings of our collared bulls a bit more challenging. We set out at first light hoping to meet up with Classic and his askaris. Even though we could pinpoint his exact location with our sophisticated tracking devices, we could not sight him in the dense bush. Rounding a corner for the umpteenth time we chanced upon one of his young bull companions crossing the road. I am not sure who was more startled, but the young bull mock-charged us as we slammed into reverse – something I have no recollection of doing. My camera man of the day, however, did not waver- he kept clicking away and took beautiful photographs of the bull albeit through the windscreen. After recovering from the adrenaline rush we set off to find Yvonne’s herd. Her collar had been sponsored by a man who named the elephant cow after his beloved wife. They were in a dense thicket of Mopani trees and being hungry, we decided to have lunch. No sooner had we set out our fare of fruit, sandwiches and tea than Yvonne’s herd appeared. The young ones were inquisitive at the strange smells and while some stayed at a safe distance, for others the fear of not knowing was greater than their fear of the unknown. As always we were amazed at how silently they moved and disappeared into the bush. We duly collected the required dung sample and filled in the data sheets before heading back home.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 18:20:20 +0000