African Wildlife facts

[guymclaren]

1. Lions mate up to 50 x in a day (no wonder they call him the king)
2. Leopard can climb a tree carrying a gazelle of double his own weight or more
3. a Rhinocerous once derailed a freight train in the then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe
4. Elephant will eat up to 600 pounds of grass, leaves and bark in a day.
5. Buffalo have been said to backtrack and ambush hunters.

If anyone is interested I will continue and add more details, as far as telling you all about mans interaction with these animals in My Paradise. I live in the Mpumalanga Lowveld in South Africa, a place where the big 5 roam, We also boast the two beasts that kill the most people in Africa. The Hippopotamus and anopheles, the malarial mosquito.

[coupekid]

Re: African Wildlife facts

1. Lions mate up to 50 x in a day (no wonder they call him the king)
2. Leopard can climb a tree carrying a gazelle of double his own weight or more
3. a Rhinocerous once derailed a freight train in the then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe
4. Elephant will eat up to 600 pounds of grass, leaves and bark in a day.
5. Buffalo have been said to backtrack and ambush hunters.

If anyone is interested I will continue and add more details, as far as telling you all about mans interaction with these animals in My Paradise. I live in the Mpumalanga Lowveld in South Africa, a place where the big 5 roam, We also boast the two beasts that kill the most people in Africa. The Hippopotamus and anopheles, the malarial mosquito.

OOooh yes please Guy, always interesting to here wildlife facts.
It always makes me laugh that they call the lion the King of the jungle......when they dont live in jungles!

Cheers!

Ben

[Tinka]

Re: African Wildlife facts

Hi Guy,
Yes please, it would be very interesting and educational to hear how it is, from someone on the spot, from someone who knows the true history.
Thank you.

[Caz]

Re: African Wildlife facts

Hiya Guy

Please do continue.... I lived in Malawi for a couple of years in the mid-seventies, would love to go back and show my kids the country. Never made it down to SA - when I was there, it was still Rhodesia and half the staff were draft dodgers (no opinon there, just a comment).

Unfortunately time has not been kind to my pictures, a lot of which were developed in Nairobi and have a yellowish tinge. But even now, I remember the shots that 'got away' - like being charged by an elephant cow because our land rover was between her and her calf. However, that film never came back developed, lost in the post!

Caz

[Jocelyn Walker]

Re: African Wildlife facts

An incredible experience I had was walking with a ranger with the animals in Umfolozi Reserve. Breakfast on top of a kopje overlooking the 2 rivers.(Black & White Umfolozi) We came across a dry river bed where lions had been minutes beforehand, as you could smell them & the sand was still wet from their urine. Their spoor led into the bush nearby! They were probably watching us! Then later we stopped in the shade of a tree next to the river & watched amazed as a rhino crossed & headed straight towards us! With hearts thudding in our throats, we stood rooted to the spot as he trundled past us, quite oblivious to all of us agog! He was damned close, but the wind was in our favour! Further on we almost walked into a pair of bachelor buffalo that eyed us suspiciously as we walked backwards, very quietly, so as not to take our eyes off them lest they charged! It was an amazing experience & the ranger knew & shared so much about the flora & fauna! How to use one's hat or cap as a filter to get fresh water to fill a canteen! The bird species are numerous there! These days one can do a 3 day walk, which would be incredible! We had a safari tent at the camp & watched all the animals surrounding the tent in the early morning from our bed! The animals freely walk around as it is not fenced off! Hyenas come around at night looking for scaps! The tents kitchen is Al fresco!! If you look around outside the tent at night with a torch, you see many sets of eyes shining! Mainly impala & zebra but who knows... a lioness & her cub had visited a few nights before our arrival & a leopard had chased an impala through the camp! The gamedrives were great at night & early morning! Hopefully before this year is out, I will be visiting the land of my birth & hope to spend a few days in the Maasai Mara. Given some luck I'll have a SLR by then

[guymclaren]

Re: African Wildlife facts

Lovely story, I too have had a few close encounters of which I will tell

[joefoto]

Re: African Wildlife facts

My first night and Sandibe Camp in Botswana, I was awakened by a very loud rustling noise which first originated from the papyrus in the river. As it was 3 AM and we were strongly advised against leaving our lodges alone at night, I decided the best I could do was turn over and go back to sleep. The next morning, my guide pointed out the hippo spoor and where the hippo had exited the river immediately off my deck! On the last day at this camp, we were boating on the Santandibe River and saw a male, female and one young calf(?). On our return they were still in the same spot, so we turned about and waited upstream for a while. The female and young left at right angles to the channel, but the male just disappeared. After a little longer wait, we turned back to camp, and having gone no more than 10 yards, the male surfaced immediately astern, enough to rock the boat significantly. Probably my adrenaline wildlife highlight of the trip (Victoria Falls Bungee holds my personal record for adrenaline pop!)

Keep up the stories, Guy. I am trying to convince my wife to go to South Africa, spend a couple of nights at a game lodge, and then tour the southeast coast down to Capetown. Your stories may help in my quest to return to African and its spectacular sunsets.

Joe