Rare Wildlife Sightings

One of the most rewarding parts of spending 2 months in “the African bush” is that it provides opportunities to see so much wildlife, some of which is quite rare and considered lucky to see, even by the permanent residents. I mentioned in previous posts my aardvark and leopard sightings…. well the magic continues. A few nights ago I participated in a field count which involves driving out into the “little Serengeti” as it is referred, otherwise known as “the Big Field”. First, someone spotted an aardvark, yes, making that two aardvarks I’ve seen now! I tried to snap a photo as it ran off, but all I got was some aardvark booty. Better than no proof I suppose.

Not too long after that, someone spotted a pangolin! Holy smokes!! Matti, the amazing and wonderful staff member helping with our game count, motioned for us all to climb out of the safari vehicle to get a closer look at it. Luckily, this creature does not run off and we got to get up close and personal with him. Incredible. What’s a pangolin you say? See for yourself!

The magic followed me to Bellebenno yesterday. On our way back from a late trip to feed the cheetahs, Ryan and I saw something cross the road ahead. He said “African wild dog?” to which I said “Brown hyena?”… Well we slowed down the truck to see if the critter was still within sight, and hiding there behind a bush was an aardwolf! So beautiful. I didn’t realize they were so brilliantly colorful. We hopped out of the truck and he headed off to see if we could track him (an insect eater so no worries about safety) for a little bit. Apparently, my camera was more fascinated with the bushes, but I’ve got a blurry shot of aardwolf proof.

Lastly, this morning was a magical morning. Not because I had 6am goat milking duties (which itself requires another blog post at a future time), but as I was walking from the dorms, up towards the cheetah enclosures, I’m looking up to my left at the moon still in the sky, only to look back forward and see a WILD CHEETAH walk briskly past me, about 20 meters away. No doubt this is the male called HiFi who’s territory includes the main center of CCF and thus all the lovely ladies in the Eland enclosures. He is a frequent visitor, but it was my first sighting and I could not be more ecstatic! Did I have my camera ready? Absolutely not. Am I sad that I failed to capture him on film? Of course, but seeing a wild cheetah has been on my wish list for a long time and I finally saw one! That cannot be taken away from me. Next time I have 6am milking duties I will be sure to bring a camera in tow!

Captures

Juliette (cheetah curator) got some amazing news last weekend: a private game reserve in Namibia, Erindi, is willing to take two more cheetahs, which means CCF gets to release two of our captive cheetahs to the “wild”. Who are the lucky ladies? Luna and Athena.

 Luna

Athena

In order to get the two chosen females ready, we had to capture them into a box for transport up in Bellebenno and bring them down to CCF’s main center to release into one of the Eland enclosures in order for them to get habituated to humans driving around them and taking photographs of them (as this will happen several times a day when they are in Erindi). We did not get to assist in the capture itself, just watch from the truck, and of course my camera battery died, so I have to get good pictures from someone else, but these are some I managed to snap of Ryan closing the door to the box with Luna inside and one of Athena unhappily inside the box, loaded on the truck for transport.

 I did get to help open up the crate for Luna to enter the Eland holding pen, but again, that picture is on someone else’s camera, so hopefully I can get my hands on a copy… The next day, Paul (farm manager and hunter), shot a warthog to feed to the two ladies so we could see if they were capable of opening a carcass. 

Athena was successful and then she became a booty nosher:

In other news, there is a wild cheetah, most likely a male, that has been marking his territory around the 57ha female cheetah enclosure in Bellebenno and we’d like to get a look at him! He has pooped the last three days, and yesterday we put up a camera trap to try a capture him on film. When we went to Bellebenno today though, there were no tracks, no fresh scat, and just some sexy photos of my booty, LOL! Perhaps we will get luckier tonight...

Less Exciting Moments

This week has been crazy, yet unexciting. We have had two large groups of people here: National Geographic Student Expeditions and Earth Expeditions. Because they like to take big groups out to Bellebenno, it means interns get left behind, which means me. Basically I gave a short talk about my research to the two groups (across two days) of Nat Geo kids (high school students) and then they took off to Bellebenno whilst I stayed behind to pick up poop in Elands. Then there was a 12hr waterhole count, 6am to 6 pm, sunrise to sunset, during which obviously I also did not get to do anything except sit and watch a water trough. The most exciting thing we saw all day was a giraffe at 8am.

I was also a nervous nelly when a female kudu made it very clear she could see us and would mess us up if we came close to her family. She was a beast. I had no idea they could make that kind of noise and if I hadn’t already taken a poop in the bush myself (yes… thanks for the chili the night before the 12hr count), I would have gone in my pants. We had a 6.5hr stretch during which all we saw were warthogs, and a 1.75hr stretch during which we saw absolutely nothing. Luckily, my waterhole buddy, Rachel, a working guest, was good company, otherwise we would have gone insane. Luckily, I got to go to Bellenbenno with the Earth Expeditions groups after three days away, which recharged my batteries. I rocked a cheetah stick with confidence and did not get attacked while opening the gates in front of all those other people. Winning. It allowed me to enjoy more of the little things again like African sunsets... 

and the view of the Waterburg Plateau. I really want to get on top of there...

Exciting Moments

The last few days have had some exciting moments indeed. On Wednesday, we went out to Bellebenno as usual, but on the drive home, all of a sudden a cat leaps across the road! Not just any cat: a leopard! We hit the brakes and back up to see if we could catch a better look, and the young adult leopard was sitting behind some trees/brush looking at us back. What a beautiful animal and a rarity to see, so I am one lucky gal!

After we returned to CCF’s main center, we found out that they were going to run the cheetah cubs, Rainbow and Aurora. A “run” consists of rigging up a lure (a cloth tied to a string) that is hooked up to a battery, such that the rag can be moved around the enclosure with a remote. The movement of the rag stimulates a cheetahs natural instinct to hunt, much like domestic cats like to attack toys with feathers or laser pointers. This would be only the second time these cubs were run. These youngsters are less than a year old and too cute, so watching them chase the rag was super enjoyable. Ahh cute cubiness….

Yesterday, we had Laurie and her aunt, Anna, join us on our trip to Bellebenno. For those who don’t know, I met Laurie a couple years ago at the CCF benefit in DC. The three of us stood in the bed of the truck as we drove through the 57ha cheetah enclosure, getting to watch them first walk with the car, then run after the car. Watching cheetahs run is so fantastic. It is so dry that the truck kicks up a lot of dust, but I managed a few good shots with my camera I think (while trying also to hold on tight!).

Today had its own excitement. The Bellebenno girls were being fed donkey heads today, and thus I had to “mark” each of the donkey heads with the appropriate glitter, beans, corn, rice, etc. This was something new and I surprisingly enjoyed it… though I enjoy every moment here besides the occasional cold shower. The photo is not for the faint of heart…

Every day is a new adventure!