John Michell (left) and
Mark Saunders (right) relaxing
in the accommodation complex Jan trying to track the wild dog pack
using telemetry.
He walks through the bush barefeet !!
MY EARLY MORNING HUNT FOR
WILD DOG
IN HLUHLUWE-UMFOLOZI GAME RESERVE
Jennifer Muller -
on a recent (late November 2003) trip to Hluhluwe-Umfolozi to visit
Travellers volunteers and to experience the work projects.
Jan (the researcher in charge of
Travellers volunteers on their project), Mark Saunders and John Michell
(two volunteers on their project) were going out on a morning field trip
to monitor two packs of wild dogs that they had been researching to
ascertain their impact on the local species. Phil Perkes (Travellers
Director), Sam Terblanche (Travellers KZN Project Co-ordinator) and her
6-year-old boy, and I were invited to join them - and we were thrilled to
bits!
The first shock to my system was having to
get up at 4.00 in the morning! I'm a 'night person' and early morning is
not something I'm familiar with. However, I dragged myself out of bed
("why on earth am I doing this??!!), sleepily downed about 3 cups
of coffee ("I'm going to pay for all this liquid, I just know it!) and
crawled into the 4x4 vehicle ,,, this had better be good.
It was brilliant.
A game reserve in the first light of day
is nothing short of magical. This is the time that the animals come out to
feed and drink, when it's still relatively cool and fresh. Birds twitter,
crickets and cicadas fill the air with waves of sound that increase and
decrease as you pass - and you feel as though you're
the only person on earth. For true harmony with nature, you can't beat
this.
Hluhluwe-Umfolozi
Reserve is huge and lush, with rolling hills and mountains. It is
certainly one of the most beautiful game parks I've been in. There are some
dirt roads running through it and the animals don't appear
wary of them - they graze wherever they feel like it, including the
verges, and they cross the roads as though they were just another plain.
We drove around to the places where the
three guys thought the wild dog pack would be. Every now and then we'd
stop while they hopped out the car and used telemetry equipment to try and
track the pack.
I was amazed at how much our volunteers,
Mark and John, had learned in the time they'd been there. They kept up a
constant flow of information about the pack we were tracking and the
reasons why it was necessary to monitor them.
Apparently the dogs, being predators, were having quite
an impact on the local game and it was important to measure this to see
whether they ought to be relocated or not.
I think Jan, the project leader, is an
expert on everything! There wasn't a question he couldn't answer and the
facts he came out with were fascinating. All the while we were trying to
track the wild dogs, he would drive for a while then suddenly slam on the
brakes and point to an animal or bird and tell us all about its
characteristics, habits, and its place in the overall ecosystem.
We saw everything imaginable, from buck through to
warthog, to rhino and tortoises. And birds I've never even heard of!
Jan's also one of the nicest people I've
met. He's that rare combination of enthusiastic expert, nice guy,
authority figure ... and great fun to be with. His love of nature and
animals is infectious and you find yourself becoming fascinated by even
the smallest insects, just because his knowledge and enthusiasm opens your
mind to the important place these little bugs play in the overall
ecosystem. Suddenly you love the little creatures!
A herd of buffalo, showing the lush vegetation in the
background
We weren't having much luck tracking the
wild dogs and finally ended up on one of the highest peaks in the Reserve
where, hopefully, we'd get a telemetry reading on them. The views out over
the Reserve were stunning. Here and there in the distance we saw herds of
buffalo, zebra, buck and the occasional rhino.
By this time I was in heaven and not
concerned in the slightest about finding the pack - there was so much to
see - but Jan, Mark and John were obviously disappointed because they
wanted to add to their database of knowledge about the animals. However, for them
there was always tomorrow - me, I was leaving later that day and I was
green with jealousy that Mark and John still had a few weeks left in this
paradise.
We never did find the wild dog pack.
Apparently, according to Jan, they'd crossed a ridge into a valley that was
a bit too far to get to that morning. We left the mountain-top and started
making our way back to camp.
'One-Eye' (on the left) and one of her cubs
Nonchalantly crossing the road, ignoring the safaris
vehicles in the background. You can see the shadow of our car in the bottom
of the picture - showing you how close were to the lions!
... And then we came across the
lions. Three females, right in front of us as we turned a corner.
"One-Eye", as she's called because she's lost
an eye, is collared so that researchers can monitor her. The other two were
apparently her cubs - and they were huge! They strolled across the road
nonchalantly, with dignified disdain of our presence.
From our position we could see a small herd
of buffalo in a water-hole not more than 50 or 75 yards away on the other
side of the bush. The lions hadn't seen them, but Jan said he thought they
may have smelt the buffs, or sensed their presence, because they were
heading towards the waterhole.
I admit that I kept my fingers crossed that
the lions weren't heading for the buffalo - the last thing I wanted to see
was an attack and a killing. I know that animals must kill each other for
food ... but I didn't want to actually watch it happening.
Jan, Mark and John got out notebooks and were
furiously making notes about the sighting, jotting down the date, time and
position, and the composition of the small pride. It all formed part of the
database of information on the animals in the Park and would add a little to
their knowledge.
Mark and John were torn between writing down notes and
taking photographs for the family albums! They were just as excited as we
were about the sighting - probably more so because of their greater
knowledge of the park and the research.
Word must have got around by bush telegraph
because pretty soon quite a few safari vehicles filled with tourists showed,
but this didn't phase the lions one iota. One important thing about working
on a project in a Game Park is that you get to see things and go to areas
that no-one else is allowed to.
I actually felt quite sorry for the tourists (and a bit
superior!), because they were merely visitors and we were part of the
on-site working team. Well, I reckon I'm allowed a little smug superiority
every now and then!
And then, just to make life even better, we
came across a waterhole shared by two large herds of rhinos and buffaloes
when we were on our way out of the Game Park. There was even a baby rhino
among them.
Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve was an
incredible experience, one I'll never forget. How lucky can I get to have
experienced that. I must have have done something really good in a
past life! And our volunteers get to do this nearly every day - I'm so
envious I think I could easily get to hate them.
Jan, Mark, John - thanks for the
outstanding experience - you were right, it was well worth getting up at
4 o'clock in the morning for. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. And if any of you ever want to swap your job for mine behind a
desk, I'm willing ...!!
Suite 2A, Caravelle House, 17/19 Goring
Road, Worthing,
West Sussex, BN12 4AP, England
Tel: +44 (0)1903 502595 Fax: +44 (0)1903 708179
Email:
info@travellersworldwide.com
.
+44 01903 502595
