December 2008

Many, many baby elephants were seen this month and they took centre stage wherever they went. Something about their characters always entertains as they swing their trunks in the air, come charging at the vehicles before running back to mom. Watching young elephant learn from the elders you can clearly see why they are thought to be so intelligent as they go about practising with their trunks watching mom or learning how to drink water before falling face first into the river. Many bull elephants were also seen this month, many were escorting the herds around.

November 2008

Elephants were more mixed this month with them disappearing in the middle of the month when the rains started in earnest; this is not uncommon as the herds don’t need to move to the river any more for their water. As the rains abated the herds came back in full force with often ten or more herds a day been found. The trees this month took a brake from the destruction wrecked on them during the winter as most of the animals were interested in the fresh green grass on offer.

Baby elephant - Photograph taken by ranger Matthew Meyer

October 2008

Elephant sightings were in great abundance at the beginning of the report period but as the river continued to dry up so did the sightings. At one stage you could not go five minutes without bumping into a herd and lots of damage was done to the trees and vegetation. As the herds moved away in search of water the pressure was taken off the vegetation but the scars were evident as the damage had been done. There were also a few sightings of some bulls with very impressive tusks, and many new born elephants were seen throughout the month providing great entertainment as they took their first steps and explored the different uses for their trunks before running back to mom for protection.

September 2008

The number of elephants has been very high. The river holding the last of the water has been bringing these large creatures in, in droves. On some days herds of 50 – 80 were not uncommon. They are causing much damage to the smaller trees and shrubs, especially the acacia trees. Given the dry conditions, it is not surprising that some of these animals are grumpy and rangers have been very cautious when dealing with these mega herbivores. There have also been many interactions between elephants and other animals, especially elephants chasing predators, either on kills or not. The elephants are providing a service to the other animals by digging open small watering holes in rivers and dams that are otherwise dry. Thus supplementing the available water on Mala Mala.

August 2008

Elephants continue to dominant the area around the river. This report period there was an incredible 182 elephant sighting. The effect of these large animals can be clearly seen as they break huge amount of trees in an effort to sustain their large appetites. Their effect on the reeds in the riverbed has been extreme. For the first time this year they are starting to eat the extremely marginal food sources like Wild Date palms, a sure sign of their desperation. The interaction between herds has been fantastic, as respective herds greet each other around busy drinking spots. At times these greeting sessions became slightly aggressive as the elephants competed for the best drinking spots. A highlight involving elephants this report period was when a herd was discovered with a female that had just given birth.

Photograph taken by ranger Andrew Batchelor

July 2008

During this report period elephant sightings have again been numerous especially along the Sand River with more frequently sightings along the major river systems leading towards the Sand River usually during late morning or afternoon as this animals comes down to drink. These large mammals tendency to stay near the water over this dry period results in a large amount of feeding occurring on the vegetation along the river itself. Especially the reeds, which have been reduced substantially in height over the report period, and this has helped rangers in spotting animals along the river. Now in the peak of the dry season the elephants have also been seen digging their own water holes along the tributaries of the Sand river. This not only provides water for these large animals but also the smaller ones, which are not able to dig their own holes. These herds are growing in numbers, which should make for an interesting next few months.

May 2008

During this report period elephant sightings have again been numerous especially along the Sand River with more frequently sightings along the major river systems leading towards the Sand River usually during late morning or afternoon as this animals comes down to drink, with the bush getting dryer and water becoming scarce sighting should increase as the animals need to stay close to the Sand River as it is becoming the only water source.

April 2008

Elephant sightings are slightly lower than last month. Sightings of large herds have been good and elephants were seen on most days during the report period. There have been a few more irascible elephants during the last month, but this likely to be caused by the drying conditions or merely coincidence. For most part the herds have been very relaxed and constantly on the move. There have been a few sightings of very large herds (50+ animals) moving together. These have usually been the aggregation of a number of smaller family herds that have come together at waterholes. There have been a number of sightings of an old female with a radio tracking collar seen in the Mala Mala area. She is moving with a fairly large herd including many young elephants. There have been many sightings of very young elephants (under 1 year of age) moving with the herds.

January 2008

Elephants have been seen on most days this month. There numbers range from single bulls to large family herds. Overall the elephants have been very relaxed and provided the guests with excellent viewing and photographic opportunities. There have been some interesting interactions between the elephants and predators, especially lions on kills and leopards. The elephants seem to take great pleasure in chasing these creatures around. Other interesting sightings have been new born elephants as well as fine sightings of courting and mating behaviour.

Baby elephant - Photograph taken by ranger Keenan Stears