Written by Isaiah Banda
The last winter months have provided a humbling reminder of the struggles of the cold! Highlight of this month was to welcome Wildearth on our beautiful reserve. They will be doing live broadcast from the reserve. We are glad that the whole world can now see the reserve live and the work that Reserve Management Division have done to make Mabula Game Reserve as beautiful as it is currently.
Winter time is a special time of the year when it comes to animals like Aardwolves and Aardvarks on Mabula, during the summertime it is very difficult to get good sightings of them. This month it was very special to spent time with Aardwolf on the rain meter plain. Best of it all it was inside the Aardvark hole just next to the road. Very shy animal, however,r this one was one of the most relaxed ones I could have ever asked for. I got a chance to spend the whole afternoon, about three hours just watching his behaviour, from sleeping, grooming, and yawning, it kept me entertained all the time.
Aardwolves are shy and nocturnal animals that sleep in burrows by day. During the winter, however, they may, on occasion, become diurnal feeders. This happens during the coldest periods as they then stay in at night to conserve heat. For most of the year, aardwolves spend time in shared territories consisting of up to a ten dens. They live in family groups consisting of a mated pair and their young. If their territory is infringed upon, aardwolves will chase the intruder up to 400 m or to the border. If the intruder is caught, which rarely happens, a fight will occur, which is accompanied by soft clucking, hoarse barking, and a type of roar.
The majority of incursions occur during the mating season. When food is scarce, the stringent territorial system may be abandoned and as many as three pairs may occupy a “single territory”. Their dens are usually abandoned aardvark, springhare, or porcupine dens, or on occasion, they find shelter in crevices in rocks. They will also dig their own dens, or enlarge dens started by springhares. They typically will only use one or two dens at a time, rotating through all of their dens every six months.
During the summer, they may rest outside their den during the night and sleep underground during the heat of the day. Aardwolves locate their food by sound and also from the scent secreted by the soldier termites. They feed primarily on termites licking them off the ground. Aardwolves do not destroy the termite mound or consume the entire colony, thus ensuring that the termites can rebuild and provide a continuous supply of food. They often memorize the location of such nests and return to them every few months.
Due to their diet habits, aardwolves play an important role in their ecosystem. They control termite populations, preventing extensive wood damage and benefiting natural habitats as well as humans.
When it comes to Mabula Game Lodge, there are few animals more iconic than the giraffe. While some minds may spring to elephants or lions, it won’t take long for them to arrive back at the giraffe with its elegant morphology, long sloping neck, beautiful patchwork pattern, and slow, measured walk.
However, for anyone who has observed a giraffe galloping, there is no doubt they can look ungainly and as though they may be about to topple over should they corner too fast. And, as the world’s tallest living land animal, this can seem alarming. Giraffes measure in at somewhere between 3.7 and 5.5 metres meaning you might have to stack three people to be eye to eye with a giraffe!
Ossicones, the unique protrusions on a giraffe’s head. An equally interesting, but perhaps less obvious feature when one thinks of a giraffe is the protrusions on their heads. Protrusions? Aren’t they just horns like an impala? Most of our guests will ask. A fair assumption but unfortunately not a correct one. These bumps on their heads are not horns in the sense that, many antelopes here at Mabula have horns. On giraffes they are actually bony protrusions called ‘ossicones’ and these are directly fused to their skull.
As well as being the tallest animal on Mabula and on earth, giraffes are a keystone species and play an important role in the environment where they live. They are uniquely adapted to reach vegetation inaccessible to other herbivores. Unusually elastic blood vessels and uniquely adapted valves help offset the sudden buildup of blood, to prevent fainting when giraffes’ heads are raised, lowered, or swung quickly.
Giraffes “horns” are actually knobs covered with skin and hair above the eyes that protect the head from injury. Their necks contain the same amount of vertebrae as we do, seven except their bones are extremely elongated making their neck a long length of 2.4 meters. Calves are about two meters tall and grow rapidly as much as two and a half centimeters a day. By two months, the calf will start eating leaves and at six months is fairly independent of its mother.
A young giraffe can even survive early weaning at two or three months. They feed 16 to 20 hours a day, but may only consume about 2% of their body weight each day, which is about 30kg of foliage during that time. These two-ton mammals can survive on as little as seven kilograms of foliage per day. While these browsers’ diverse diets can to contain up to 93 different plant species, Vachellia and Senegalia trees are their favorite food source.
Giraffes drink water when it is available, but they don’t need to drink water on a daily basis, which allows them to survive in areas with scarce water. Giraffes play a crucial role in their ecosystems. As herbivores, they graze on leaves and twigs from acacia and other trees. These feeding habits contribute to the natural pruning of vegetation, influencing plant growth and maintaining a healthy balance in the ecosystems. Giraffes also help with seed dispersal, contributing to the regeneration of plant species.
We are delighted to announce a new partnership with Wild Earth TV Our collaboration promises life-changing travel adventures, with a filming team going live daily, bringing you closer to the action than ever before. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see our exciting new Virtual Safaris, designed to transport you right into the heart of the African wilderness from the comfort of your home.
Until next time…
From Isaiah Banda & the Mabula family.
Safari Greetings.
