The first thing our guide would say as we took off from camp early each morning was something like, "Time to read the newspaper" and, with that, he would lean out the door of the van to see what new prints were in the sand. Which animals had recently passed by? Once he had the latest "news" off we went to track these animals. It was always an adventure and, in most cases, the animals we saw were quite alive, but sometimes they weren't. Sometimes we came upon a kill. Members of our group expressed a range of opinions about kills. Some were enthusiastic - it's part of nature and they wanted to capture it on film. Some were less interested - yes, it's part of nature but we don't necessarily want to see it. I fell into the latter camp. I am a bit squeamish. We witnessed three such events during our weeks on safari.
#1 The cape buffalo at Okavanga Delta in Botswana
The first kill was that of a female cape buffalo (you know - the animal with horns that look like a 1960s flip sweeping over it's forehead and down the side of its head?). When our guide, Godfrey (you will hear more about him in a later entry about our most harrowing experiences) spotted the kill site he stopped the Land Rover and talked about what we were seeing. He used the site to teach us how to look at prints and examine a site - as an archaeologist or detective might. What had happened here? What evidence did we have to support our suppositions? In front of us was a fetus of an animal (seemed close to full term) that had not been touched and bits of its mother's body parts.
At one point Godfrey said, "Something isn't right. Let's look a bit more." He drove around the site, moving further out with each sweep. He stopped the Land Rover when he spotted other remains. He was more upset than that usual and I asked why? He shook his head as he answered, "It's not something I like to talk about because I am pretty sure this was not an animal kill but the result of poaching." He then went on to teach us the signs - in an animal kill the chest/ribs would be left and none were at this site, the mother and the baby were too far apart to have been an animal kill, the fetus would have been eaten as well, etc. He was visibly upset. Animal kills are one thing, poaching is another.
At this particular camp we had a local representative, Samilla, who rode with us on each outing. She was there to represent her community and make sure no animals or the environment were jeopardized by our expeditions. Godfrey and Samila talked among themselves and then she called the information in to her superiors. The site was noted. They would investigate.
The reality is that poachers are winning. It is a major problem in Africa's national parks. Some is done to supply food but most is done for the horns of animals or to sell as meat. The parks are huge and the staff is small - some are caught but most are not. At this point, the rhino population is diminishing to such an extent that its future is most precarious. We were all saddened as we drove away.
#2 The Leopard at the Lufupa River in Zambia
At our third camp on the Lufupa River we saw a leopard that had killed a wart hog. Four of us who had been fishing on the river got there later than the others so we did not see the actual kill but saw her eating the remains of the wart hog. She had dragged part of the body up a tree so she could eat it away from other predators.
Because I couldn't recognize the wart hog (it was just a bloody mess of meat) I found it a bit easier to view. What WAS fascinating was to watch her behavior as 4 Land Rovers moved in to watch (our two plus two others from another camp). Each time a new Land Rover moved in, she would look over, note it, move the meat a bit closer and then ignore us. Eventually she had her fill and moved down the tree, around the base and then moved off into the scrub. The great photo of the leopard from the previous entry (again Anna's) was shot after we had left her to start our ride back to camp and then spotted her again at the side of the road. At that point it was dark. Oh, what the heck, I'll just post it again. That Anna, she's good!
#3 The Leopard at Okavanga Delta in Botswana
This kill was heartbreaking. We spotted the leopard in the early morning (had followed its tracks from the morning "newspaper read") and watched in delight as the leopard mother licked her sweet infant. We must have watched for 10 minutes when suddenly Godfrey cleared his throat and said, "Something isn't right."
By this point we had learned to listen closely to what he had to say. He asked us to watch the baby's response. We watched - and saw nothing - a mother licking a baby as we have all seen mother cats do with their kittens. He kept shaking his head. "The baby isn't moving," he said, "Something is wrong. I think the baby is dead." We turned on him as one to counter with, "No, she wouldn't do that." "Yes, she would," he said, "She is hoping to bring it back to life. We need to go look around. See what has happened." And with that we drove off to investigate the immediate environment and found the story in the sands of the savanna. Godfrey pointed out the place where a lion had caught the baby (he showed us the tracks), killed it and left it. The lion didn't want it for food but to kill off future predators, future competition - that is why the body was left whole. The mother had either been hunting herself so wasn't there to protect her infant or was present but couldn't take on the lion. Whichever scenario, after the lion left she dragged the dead body of her infant back to the tree where we saw her - we could follow the drag marks in the sand - and then she tried to revive the baby.
It was too much. Babies are perhaps the sweetest part of life; they are meant to be cherished, nourished, loved. No parent should have to go through this - leopard, human or even nasty lions. I don't care if it is a "jungle out there." It was too much.
I wept - quietly - but I wept.
#1 The cape buffalo at Okavanga Delta in Botswana
The first kill was that of a female cape buffalo (you know - the animal with horns that look like a 1960s flip sweeping over it's forehead and down the side of its head?). When our guide, Godfrey (you will hear more about him in a later entry about our most harrowing experiences) spotted the kill site he stopped the Land Rover and talked about what we were seeing. He used the site to teach us how to look at prints and examine a site - as an archaeologist or detective might. What had happened here? What evidence did we have to support our suppositions? In front of us was a fetus of an animal (seemed close to full term) that had not been touched and bits of its mother's body parts.
At one point Godfrey said, "Something isn't right. Let's look a bit more." He drove around the site, moving further out with each sweep. He stopped the Land Rover when he spotted other remains. He was more upset than that usual and I asked why? He shook his head as he answered, "It's not something I like to talk about because I am pretty sure this was not an animal kill but the result of poaching." He then went on to teach us the signs - in an animal kill the chest/ribs would be left and none were at this site, the mother and the baby were too far apart to have been an animal kill, the fetus would have been eaten as well, etc. He was visibly upset. Animal kills are one thing, poaching is another.
At this particular camp we had a local representative, Samilla, who rode with us on each outing. She was there to represent her community and make sure no animals or the environment were jeopardized by our expeditions. Godfrey and Samila talked among themselves and then she called the information in to her superiors. The site was noted. They would investigate.
The reality is that poachers are winning. It is a major problem in Africa's national parks. Some is done to supply food but most is done for the horns of animals or to sell as meat. The parks are huge and the staff is small - some are caught but most are not. At this point, the rhino population is diminishing to such an extent that its future is most precarious. We were all saddened as we drove away.
#2 The Leopard at the Lufupa River in Zambia
At our third camp on the Lufupa River we saw a leopard that had killed a wart hog. Four of us who had been fishing on the river got there later than the others so we did not see the actual kill but saw her eating the remains of the wart hog. She had dragged part of the body up a tree so she could eat it away from other predators.
Of course, this is Anna's photo. Can you see the wart hog "meat" in the crook of the branches?
#3 The Leopard at Okavanga Delta in Botswana
This kill was heartbreaking. We spotted the leopard in the early morning (had followed its tracks from the morning "newspaper read") and watched in delight as the leopard mother licked her sweet infant. We must have watched for 10 minutes when suddenly Godfrey cleared his throat and said, "Something isn't right."
Again, from Anna's camera. Do you see the baby at the bottom?
By this point we had learned to listen closely to what he had to say. He asked us to watch the baby's response. We watched - and saw nothing - a mother licking a baby as we have all seen mother cats do with their kittens. He kept shaking his head. "The baby isn't moving," he said, "Something is wrong. I think the baby is dead." We turned on him as one to counter with, "No, she wouldn't do that." "Yes, she would," he said, "She is hoping to bring it back to life. We need to go look around. See what has happened." And with that we drove off to investigate the immediate environment and found the story in the sands of the savanna. Godfrey pointed out the place where a lion had caught the baby (he showed us the tracks), killed it and left it. The lion didn't want it for food but to kill off future predators, future competition - that is why the body was left whole. The mother had either been hunting herself so wasn't there to protect her infant or was present but couldn't take on the lion. Whichever scenario, after the lion left she dragged the dead body of her infant back to the tree where we saw her - we could follow the drag marks in the sand - and then she tried to revive the baby.
It was too much. Babies are perhaps the sweetest part of life; they are meant to be cherished, nourished, loved. No parent should have to go through this - leopard, human or even nasty lions. I don't care if it is a "jungle out there." It was too much.
I wept - quietly - but I wept.
Very touching Donna. (and what a perfect description of a Cape Buffalo. :).
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