South African Conservation Biology
WCA11 Update - Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Playful Pachyderms?
Big bulls and leopard roars got our adrenalin pumping and our hearts racing. We awoke to the sound of lions roaring not so bright and early at 5:30 am. Wishing we had brought parkas on our trip, our day began freezing but full of potential in our open top safari vehicle. As volunteers at Siyafunda Wildlife Reserve, our job is to collect data of all the game we encounter on our game drives, which includes all the birds, ungulates, etc that we see. All of us loved being so hands on with these rangers and researchers as we helped navigate the roads and control the GPS while actively searching for any wildlife we could see.
As the day progressed and thankfully got warmer, our adventures heated up as well. A ranger spotted elephants in the distance so we zoomed our way through the savanna in order to catch an up close glimpse. We first only saw a bull munching on some shrubs, but soon more excitement came. First, a couple females and their young came up through the brush to cross the road, then a few more, then more and more! We were in the middle of an elephant herd at least 40 strong! While watching the adorable calves and their moms cross the road, we heard a loud and urgent sound that sounded similar to a roar. All of a sudden, the elephants began to run towards the sound, and we just hoped they would not use their large size against us. The bull previously mentioned and the rest of the herd detoured around us, and we were all so excited we got to see such a wonderful event. We then noticed we had a flat tire. In the middle of lion country. And we weren't 100% sure where we were. But eventually we made it home thanks to cell phones.
But that is not the end. We still had the evening game drive. We headed out into the bush once again with a new vehicle with full tires. Our experienced guide Andrews certainly made our second drive quite a bit more exciting. He stopped. Turned off the engine. Listened closely. Then began to drive straight into the bush! He said to listen for the sound of a leopard calling, and we all sat in silent anticipation as we searched for the last of the Big Five we had not seen. Unfortunately, no leopard was spotted, but as we began to drive back to the road we were greeted by white rhinos. However, the bull was not happy when we were in between him and his females and calf so we edged our way past him. After several minutes of scooting past the territorial rhino, we were able to continue our evening game drive.
We are excited for a week at Siyafunda and are hoping for more wild adventures!
-Julie
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