Daily Archive for August 15th, 2007

Elephant bully: Video

I was greeted by the most lovely dawn this morning. Temperatures were perfect and it just had that great feeling, almost as if spring is on the way. Well it sure nearly is. And the Ipomoea’s seem to be the first to flower.

Ipomoea
Mandlovu was being her elusive self and has taken her herd to distant wanderings.

Always proud
Not to be hard done by I did a loop past Lojaan dam. When I got there a herd of elephant were already well into their mud bath. This has to be what elephants dream about on hot days!

Team Dream
When they moved away I got out the car with my camera and perched myself right on the edge of the wallow waiting for the next herd.

Siphon
In they came. Initially the mom was a little suspect of me, so I spoke calmly and she relaxed. She was soon in there, boots and all along with the rest of her team. Except for a young bull calf, who had decided he wasn’t going to brave the mud and so rolled around on the hard ground.
When he saw his sister battling to get out I’m sure he was relieved not be in there.

Destroying mother earth
And then to make matters worse for his sister a cheeky young bull pummelled her into the side of the wallow preventing her getting out. Her groans got louder and louder and only when she was screaming did mom come charging in and the bull backed off.

Going in!
After that debacle they all left moving in to the hills, which left me on the move too.

Tjololo 14th August 2000

The Tjololo Diaries

14th August 2000
Met up with some cammers/Mala Mala guests at sunset for a sundowner drink while Tjololo was still pacing out in Kruger.
Tjololo moved north along the Kruger/Mala Mala boundary and then across country north east again moving back into old territory. Still no sign of Masuli.
While following him casually strolling through the bush he disappeared like a bullet and were heard the death cries. He’d killed a male duiker.
Well fed he left the carcass on the ground and slept the rest of the night. Only just before dawn did a hyaena arrive and Tjololo treed the carcass, just to proceed to finish it off. An amazing feat, to polish off a male duiker in some 10 hours. I suppose we should be used to it by now, but he always amazes us.


With swaying belly finding it hard to keep his balance Tjololo moved off a short way only to collapse and pass out again soon after sunrise.