Baboon Business

Hyena are not everyone's favourite mammal, which is sad because we think they're pretty amazing. Perhaps its because they look rather odd. With their front legs longer than their hinds ones, and generally large and chunky looking, they most certainly are not the best looking mammals in the bush. Add to this a menacing "grin" and jaws that deliver one of the biggest bite forces in the animal kingdom and you have an animal that's generally loathed rather than loved. Hyena are generally portrayed as the "bad guys" of the bush - just think Shenzi in Disney's Lion King! Their bad reputation is completely undeserved and far from being snide, sneaky, double crossing scavengers they are, in fact, clever and successful predators with an amazingly complex and competitive social structure. The largest and most widespread of Africa's three species that also include the brown and striped hyena, spotted hyena clans are presided over by a matriarch or alpha female which is generally the oldest and most experienced female member of the clan. In this matriarchal society, the females are larger than the males and dominate them completely, so that even the lowest ranked female will be dominant over the highest ranked male! Unlike other carnivorous mammals, spotted hyena cubs are born with their eyes open and with teeth and will readily attack each other, often killing weaker cubs, especially in same-sexed litters. This behaviour is called neonatal siblicide and kills an estimated 25% of cubs in their first month. The cubs grow strong quickly, thanks to milk which has enormously high fat and protein content that they will drink for up to 16 months old and the ability to process solid food from three months onwards. The cubs are relentless in their demand for milk and keep their mother very busy. Of course, the hyena's success is dependent on the ongoing competition with its closest rival - the lion. These age-old enemies' fates are interlinked because they occupy the same ecological niche and are in direct competition with one another, hunting the same prey species. They will also steal each other's kills. In fact, research has shown that lions steal more from hyena than the other way round, dispelling a commonly held belief that hyena are the "thieves" of the African wilderness. In fact, hyenas are more prone to waiting politely for lions to finish their meal before edging in to take what's left than barging in to take the main course! We have been blessed for a number of years now with a succession of hyena denning on Olifants West Nature Reserve but more recently the hyena have been thin on the ground due to the burgeoning size of our Thakazile lion pride They killed at least two hyena and chased away the others but in the last three months they have begun to return and all of us here at Sausage Tree Safari Camp love them, and love showing them to our guests and listening to them calling as we drift off to sleep at night. This blog was also originally published by Africa Geographic Republished 16 April 2024

The debilitating drought that ended five years ago saw the Kruger National Park lose almost half of its hippo population, with an estimated 4000 of these water-dependent animals dying, not as you'd imagine, from a shortage of water, but due to a shortage of food. Drought always hits hippo populations hard as they depend on good grazing when they leave the safety of the water at night, travelling up to 20km away from the water to feed mostly on grasses. They can consume up to 50kg of grass in one night, acting like a biological lawn-mower.  Here in the Olifants Nature Reserve, Greater Kruger, whilst we didn't lose thousands of hippos, we did notice a significant drop in numbers during the drought, as with most of our larger herbivores. Thankfully numbers are now recovering nicely, which is good for the Olifants River and the other water sources on the reserve. Hippos are critical for healthy rivers for an unusual reason - their poop. Hippo dung provides valuable nutrients for fish and other aquatic species, so when you see a hippo defecating in the water, think positive thoughts! However, as with any good thing, too much of it can cause problems. When water sources like dams and seasonal rivers shrink, too much hippo dung can prove toxic to aquatic life, primarily because of the absorption of dissolved oxygen. Hippos spend their days in the water, and can move through it quite rapidly when they need to. They're not good swimmers, but generally walk or run along the bottom of rivers or dams, surfacing every three to five minutes to breathe. They can sleep underwater too, thanks to the process of surfacing to breathe being a subconscious one. Hippos are trailblazers. Literally. They have an enormous impact on the land surrounding river systems and dams as they generally take the same paths each night to feed, clearing vegetation and creating hard surfaces as they constantly move across the ground. These paths are followed by other animals as they offer direct access to water. Hippos are very dangerous due to high levels of agression, most especially in bulls which are extremely territorial. They are also exceptionally nervous and when out of the water will seek to escape to it when startled or alarmed. Their bite can be fatal, thanks to their long, sharp incisors and canines which brush past one another in a scissor action, plus their incredibly powerful jaws. Territorial bulls preside over a relatively small stretch of river, or waterholes and dams. In its territory a mature bull will dominate a pod of females and babies, as well as juveniles and younger bulls which are allowed to stay in the pod as long as they remain submissive. Territories primarily exist to establish mating rights with the females and fights between bulls invariably revolve around dominance. Before coming to blows, bulls will gape at one another, opening their huge mouths to almost 180 degrees, showing off their canines and incisors in a threat display. The incisors point forward, like tusks, and can reach up to 40cm in length. The super-sharp canines can grow up to 50cm in length. They are used in combat and play no role in feeding. A hippo's skin has very little hair. It is also very sensitive to the sun, which is why hippos prefer to stay submerged during the hottest periods of the day. They secrete a red-coloured oily substance that acts as a natural sunscreen, but they still need to stay in the water as much as possible as too much exposure to the sun causes their skin to crack. Hippos are very vocal animals and are able to communicate above and below the water at the same time. They achieve this courtesy of a fatty area around their necks which vibrates when the hippo vocalises through its nose, sending the sounds waves out into the water at the same time. The sounds are amplified by the water and can be heard over large distances, and express important information like "this is my territory" and "I am here, so stay away". Here at Sausage Tree Safari Camp we love for our guests to experience the sounds the hippos make, which always remind us of someone guffawing at a particularly rude joke!

Here at Sausage Tree Safari Camp in the Greater Kruger Park we're especially conscious of the responsibility we have to encourage the youth of today to become tomorrow's custodians of nature, and to make what we do more relevant and beneficial to those living in impoverished and disadvantaged rural communities. So we give back as much as we can, and encourage our guests to contribute to the programmes we support while helping to make them aware of the great work being done in educating local children and creating the all-important bridge between eco tourism and community upliftment.

The beautiful Olifants River runs along the northern border of Olifants West Nature Reserve within the Greater Kruger on its way to join the Limpopo in Mozambique, creating a magnificent habitat for a variety of riverine birds that draw birders from all over the world.

Of all of the animals of Africa, perhaps the most beloved and revered is it's one, true giant - the African elephant. The world's largest land mammal is also Africa's biggest icon, and, sadly, one of its most threatened, thanks to the demand for ivory. It's said we lose 100 elephants a day here in Africa to ivory poaching. That's one elephant every 15 minutes. Gone. Forever. On the Olifants West Nature Reserve, home to Sausage Tree Safari Camp, our elephant population is well-protected, and shared with the Greater Kruger, moving freely between the reserves that make up this amazing grouping, including the legendary Kruger National Park itself. We regularly see large breeding herds on game drives as well as some magnificent individual bulls and bachelor groups and consider it a privilege to get sight of them, switching off our vehicles where we can to spend time, quietly observing them and appreciating their presence. Elephants are, quite simply, incredible mammals. Intelligent, emotional, empathetic and acknowledged as being sentient. They are capable of using tools, recognise themselves in mirrors, have incredible spatial awareness and recent research has even shown that they are able to work out which humans are the most dangerous, giving them the ability to classify us into groups that pose different degrees of danger! Elephants "grieve" for their dead and offer assistance to others in their family unit in distress. The oldest members of herds have innate "wisdom" and store knowledge and experience of both their social groups and their environment. They are able to hear and communicate over enormous distances through low-frequency, infrasonic rumbles and other vocalisations, including trumpeting, as well as foot stomping, which resonate at a frequency other elephants can detect through the ground. They have enlarged ear bones and sensitive nerve endings in their feet and trunks and "hear" these sounds through the soft skin pads on their feet, picking up the sensitive, seismic vibrations and are thought to also lay their trunks on the ground to detect vibrations. There is so much that has been written about elephants, so many facts and figures, so much research done by so many that sheds light on their way of life and so much more to learn. And there is so much being done throughout Africa to try and protect them from their biggest threat - us. It's sometimes hard to cut through this mountain of information and focus on what we can do to help ensure our children and grandchildren live in a world where African elephants still roam wild and free. Here at Sausage Tree Safari Camp we believe that protecting their habitat is key to the survival of elephants. Their range is hampered by human expansion and human competition for the same resources - access to water and food. It's restricted by the fence lines we put up to both protect them and us. Elephants need space, and it's up to us to ensure that there is enough space for them, and that we learn to live alongside them through better understanding their needs.  Our role is easy - by helping our guests to understand these incredible animals we create elephant ambassadors who help to fuel and drive conservation programmes. And through these programmes we are slowly finding ways to co-exist with this most wonderful African icon. And hope for their future.

Olifants West Nature Reserve (OWNR) is one of Southern Africa’s most alluring Big Five safari destinations. Expertly guided game drives in open 4x4 Game Viewers, operate out of a scattering of small mid-range camps and offer exceptional wildlife viewing. High densities of elephant and buffalo are attracted to the Olifants River. The reserve is also known for its large lion prides and relatively conspicuous black rhino. Other safari favourites range from giraffe and zebra, plus hippo and warthog, to spotted hyena and cheetah. Most South African private reserves are fenced in their entirety. OWNR, however, is open to the world-famous Kruger National Park , meaning that wildlife moves freely between the two.

It is purported that they did once, sometime after the dinosaur extinction, but not in the form as most of us would imagine. Present day crocodilians with their thick, armoured skin, large teeth, slow lifestyles and predatory habits give the image of being directly descended from dinosaurs , unchanged for hundreds of millions of years.

Are African Buffalo seasonal breeders? Yes , they are and here in Greater Kruger , January is the month we used to see the arrival of the newborn calves. However because of the series of drought years that ended four years ago, their numbers had crashed to less than half the pre drought population of approximately 36,000. As a result, up until six months ago, our buffalo sightings were infrequent, albeit slowly increasing. Not that we received any complaints, as the lowly buffalo seems to be at the bottom of the must see list of first time visitors to our safari lodge at Sausage Tree . It is a curious fact that there seems to be little in the way of support for this species in the face of the relentless and prolific trophy hunting that takes place in sub Saharan Africa. We would underline , not here in Olifants West Nature Reserve, where this practice came to a stop several years ago.

This has been a stand out year for the quantity and quality of animal sightings.  Our Takazile pride continues to expand thanks to the considerable mating efforts of our two dominant Masungulo males who took over only eighteen months ago in a killing spree of unprecedented carnage . Currently the pride numbers six adult females and thirteen cubs of different ages. Twenty one in all. The Singwe pride has diminished to one female however she is heavily pregnant.