Definitely not one of my best days in the office.
Actually it started off with a horrific bang. All the dogs were off the property having again somehow found a hole in the fence and ducked through. When I found them they were running to and fro along the fence seeming to want to get back, but all the old holes they knew had now been blocked. They then moved north into the Chipimbi River.
Since their last escape the fence has been well repaired and the only place they could have got through is along the river where fencing always becomes risky.
I was totally stumped and not being able to do anything left them hoping they would find the same way back as they came in.
Malilangwe is translocating about 50 elephants as the reserve is currently over-stocked. This is a problem that is becoming more and more common across southern Africa as elephant protection is now so successful that the areas set aside for their growing numbers are now too small. One day no doubt those areas will have to again resort to culling, but thankfully there are still areas that can accommodate elephants in Zimbabwe and our elephants are going to a huge reserve of about a million acres. Far larger than Malilangwe. No doubt they will be happy there.
I went to watch the whole capture operation, which has to be the slickest I’ve seen in game capture. It’s all run with such military precision and care for the animals. And so successful it is that when I bumped into a herd of elephants about 100m from the capture site they were totally unperturbed feeding as normal and quite happy to have me park amongst them. That really was amazing.

This technique of lifting the elephants onto the truck looks rather rough but it’s the safest and most secure way to move them with no side effects or damage to them.

But the sad news for me is One-tusk and her family were the first to go. I’ll miss that big girl but will remember the great times I had with her and how she taught Lindy to lose her fear for elephants. But the good news is she’s going to a great place and will be very happy there.
While watching the loading of the elephants I noticed vultures descending about half a kilometre away. They were on the remains of a wildebeest carcass killed by lions. The vultures sure had cleaned every scrap of meat from the carcass.

Malilangwe dam always lifts my soul but venturing down there today it was pretty quiet in the cool weather. The hippo too seemed rather lethargic not moving off when I approached by vehicle.

But the impala and zebra panicked when they realised they’d been caught between me and the water!

Early afternoon I headed back to check on the dogs. I had planned to open every hole in the fence to give them every chance possible of getting back. And so it was with huge relief that I found them back on Malilangwe. They had crossed back along the river.
They were all totally chilled out and had no plans on moving till about 5pm. It was still cool and so they were active earlier than usual. And hungry too.
Just as the got onto the open area of Khayeni, Puzzles disappeared around the corner, presumably chasing impala. Dad arrived a little later and seeing impala took off after them. The pups in the meantime were so engrossed in their own adventures they hadn’t noticed either moving off.
I followed after dad, losing him in the first 20secs. In the chick bush and rough terrain, using the radio transmitter I only found him about 15mins later. He was bloodstained and already heading back towards the pups. I searched briefly for his kill but couldn’t find it.
Catching up with him on Khayeni he was back in the area of the pups, but there was no sign of them. He called, but his called was soft. I think he has vocal problems and can’t call loudly.
He searched all over and by night fall he still hadn’t found them.
I suspect Puzzles had also killed and got back to pups before him and taken them to her kill. No doubt he’ll pick them some time in the night.
And for me…………………… Just frustration! I didn’t get to film anything today, not even the dogs. (The video clip is from a few days ago)

The wild dogs are all well although I only got to see them this afternoon. They were all resting up at their favourite Baobab tree and were all well fed. Which left no chance of them going hunting this evening.

I had to sort out some vehicle maintenance, as well as telemetry maintenance before I could head out this morning and knowing the dogs would be out of action until dusk I went in search of elephant.

Just this lone dude showed his face at Hwata pan and was loving his own private mud bath.

And when heading back past Malilangwe dam a cow herd were feeding on the shores. It’s just such a stunning setting with the elephant in the foreground, the dam with its dead trees standing to attention in the water and the sandstone cliffs behind! It’s a hard one to beat.

I’ve only been away a week but what a magical day to get back to! Lucky me!!!

I’m happily home after my 13hour drive today and can’t wait to get out to see my doggies tomorrow. Always just hoping they’re fine. I mean can they cope without me for a week? One always feels so silly about this stuff and worries about them but they’ve coped just fine over the years without my interference, and probably a lot better……

The elephant bulls swimming in the Malilangwe dam sent all those water creatures scattering for the shores, something the water birds are totally familiar with. As soon as the elephant were in the water the Yellow-billed Stork, Spoonbills and Hammerkops were right there on the shoreline hunting for aquatic animals. And successful they sure were.

It’s funny how these bulls, as big at they are, still don’t have the confidence to even chase off a tiny Hammerkop.

I’m back in the big smoke of Johannesburg. At least it’s warmer than Cape Town but I’m so looking forward to getting back to the bush.

As big as they are, one wonders why elephant bulls would even hesitate to move down to drink at Sosigi dam. Surely they couldn’t be scared of anything and especially with 4 of these giants marching together. But they were nervous out in the open as they approached the dam. Then having gained their confidence they moved with purpose down to drink.

This is my last day in the fairest Cape. Not so fair though with the cold wet weather, but still a wonderful place. Does it rival the lowveld bushveld? Hmmm………? For me, definitely not but a great place to get away for a few days.

With temperatures rocking all of last week the elephant bulls just couldn’t resist a swim in Malilangwe dam. With 2 bulls swimming together, their bodies made lighter in the water, they wrestle like giants in slow motion. It’s all just plane fun with no aggression.

My daughters competed in their gym competition yesterday. Penny did exceptionally well taking first for her 4 dances and first/Gold over all. She’s got a very proud dad.
Lindy did very well too but we will only know her results on Saturday, to know if she got her South African colours.

These buffalo came strolling out the woodland but only till they saw me and then froze. But when the wind changed and they got my scent they high tailed it out of there. And the herd just kept coming and coming. It didn’t take them long to forget about me and settled down.

This clip I shot a few days ago. I’m now in South Africa taking a few days off to watch my daughters competing in the South African Rhythmic Gym Championships in Cape Town.

From cooking in temperatures over 40 degrees C yesterday and now down to 22 degrees C, suddenly I’m freezing. Well that’s freezing for an African!
Low cloud and strong winds had moved in this morning accompanied with the occasional little drizzle. All ideal hunting weather for the wild dogs.
They moved back past Khyaneni pan and again the pups went through the whole process of discovering water. That big water monster had them on edge for some time before they drank.

Then it was back hunting with mom and dad. Puzzles disappeared and when the rest of the pack found her she’d killed an adult female impala. As usual it was a pup take over and the adults had to wait their turn. Being a big female impala the pups weren’t able to finish all, so the adults at least managed to fill their tummies. But little was left for the waiting vultures.

I went home to fill my tummy and in this weather stuck myself in the office for the day.

What an interesting day with the wild dog pups.
Picking them up at dawn the pack had just arrived at Khayeni waterhole. It was the first time the pups had seen water and while the adults lay around the pups investigated this water thing. They just couldn’t seem to make out what it was and were nervous to approach, jumping back whenever another made a quick move. They treated the water like an unknown carcass and were very nervous of it but also incredibly curious.
It was only after about half an hour of this nervous interaction that one pup dared to lick this strange thing. Hmmmmmmmm………..it tasted so good. Others followed and then all were drinking in a tight huddle. And they drank for ages. But even after drinking they were still unsure of this new thing.

I’m sure it won’t be long and they’ll be running amok in any water they can find.
Thankfully today was cooler, which meant the dogs were a lot more lively. And when a herd of impala ventured towards the water the pups gave chase. But they were too young and too slow. The adults followed slowly after them.
The male moved ahead and had only been gone a couple of minutes when the pups found him on an impala carcass. They took over. But had the male killed this? If so it had only run about a 100m. And it didn’t make a peep when dying as the other dogs didn’t respond to anything.

I think what happened is the male came across the impala carcass stashed under a tree by a leopard. Whoever’s kill it was the dogs made short work of it and spent the rest of the day chewing on bones.

Heading south we got to Hwata pan just as 8 elephant bulls arrived. They had their own little party drinking and playing in the water. The Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest were having a hard time trying to drink with the elephant dominating the waterhole. Only once the elephant had left about an hour later did the hartebeest move in to drink.

Down at Chiloveka dam we were lucky to find the Nyari Pride. I was surprised to see Manyari there as this is very far from the hills where she has her cubs.
But then it all became apparent. She no longer had cubs, she was mating again with Sjambok and her teats had totally lost their swelling.

So what happened to her cubs? Did she abandon them? Did the males kill them?
I’m beginning to think the males could be the murderers as Magwaza also lost her cubs when they were around. At the time I suspected she had abandoned them. But it could now be possible the males are the culprits.

We were back with the wild dog pups just before the sun was setting. The cool weather soon got the adults active as they moved south into ‘impala country’. But by the time darkness had fallen they were still unsuccessful.

I was up flying at dawn. Flying into the rising orange ball of the sun is always stunning. We picked up the elephant herds south of Nduna scattered all over. The flew over the management burns checking how successful they had been.
Suddenly I realised I’d been flying for over 2 hours. Time to get my feet back on the ground as temperatures started to soar.
As I came in to land, some of the scouts were training on the airstrip and as disciplined as they are they weren’t going to move until given the command. I didn’t know what was going on on the ground and was sure they’d move out the way. They stood to attention and only at the last second realising they weren’t getting a command AND that I was serious about landing, they fell to the ground. Thankfully their discipline gave in at the last second.

Heading east we searched for the elephant herds but they’d move into the hills. So we took some time out at Nduna dam. I was sure they’d be swimming there some time in today’s heat. But by mid afternoon there was still no sign of them.
It was now time to head to the dogs. Arriving at Lojaan dam there they were. Some 50 elephants loving the water but as soon as they got our scent they stampeded. But almost straight towards us. Even Mandlovu got caught up in the panic and raced past us. It was like what I imagine to happen in a football stadium stampede where everyone suddenly panics and the panic grows until you have a mass stampede.

But how sad to see these huge beasts in such numbers stampeding cos of a tiny little me in my vehicle.
The dogs were still right up in the north west and didn’t look like they had fed this morning. As the sun was setting and it got cooler they tried to move, but it was too much for all of them and not even a 100m away they had all collapsed again.

It had been another extremely hot day and all were feeling rather lethargic. Me included!