Fire is often used as a management tool to control bush encroachment and maintain species diversity.
Man induced fire has been a part of the African savannah for centuries and many of the plant species have adapted to it. But they haven’t adapted to the intense heat created by hundreds of Quelea nests blazing in their upper branches and in this case killing large parts of the upper tree.
Zebra are often the first to be found on a burnt area. The new flush of green growth is obviously a great attraction but the zebra usually arrive before the flush. There must be something else about fire that attracts them.
Today is my last day of fun. Been utter bliss. Tomorrow I drive 8 hours to Jackson Hole for the week for the wildlife film festival. But I’m still going to sneak in some kayaking at 6h30 before hitting the road.
29th September 2000
For the first time in a long time Tjololo wasn’t around where we’d left him. After much searching with tracks heading west and then east again we eventually picked him up moving north along the boundary with the Kruger National Park.
He tends to follow this boundary all the way north which is extremely frustrating as the road is just inside Kruger, with no road on the Mala Mala side. Also there is no physical barrier between the 2 areas. This doesn’t do us any psychological good to be bouncing around through the bush while only a meter away Tjololo is walking on a perfectly graded road.
Once Tjololo was back on Mala Mala he frustrated us further by spending the whole time walking in the bottom of any donga he could find. This is not unusual and is very typical leopard behaviour. Before midnight he did eventually venture out and work on hunting. On the burn he killed an adult male steenbok which he hurriedly treed with 3 hyaenas hot on his heels. He had an uncomfortable feed in the tree as it was rather scraggly and the hyaenas weren’t letting him move on to another tree with the carcass.
Having fed he had to move away from the tree as the hyaenas stayed lying there hoping eventually to get a scrap.
At dawn Tjololo finished off his carcass. 8 hours to finish the whole carcass, another amazing feat by Tjololo.
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