ELEPHANT SIGHTINGS - 2001

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December 2001

Elephants were not seen with great regularity towards the beginning of December, but they then arrived in great numbers later on with as many as 10 or more different breeding herds being encountered on a single day. These herds were often in close proximity to one another and moving in synchrony around the feeding areas.
Movements of the elephant families were often quite rapid as they fed upon the heavy seed-heads of the various grass plants. Using their trunks in the fashion of scythes, the elephants gather bundles of grass stems, put the seed heads into their mouths, bite these off and then drop the stems to the ground. Such selective feeding means that the elephants would move quickly through an area in order to obtain enough food. And then once an area has been depleted, the herds move on to other feeding grounds. This of course implies a fairly intelligent rotational feeding system where the elephants firstly know that the food is ready and secondly organise amongst themselves a system so that they do not all compete within the same small area.
Other food was of course also eaten, but grass seemed to be the main focus of their attentions this month. As the Marula berries ripen, so these will become the preferred source of food and elephants can be expected to go from tree to tree in search of these fruits. This food selection may cause family groups to at least temporarily break up as they try to eat as much as possible. Too many elephants trying to eat from the same tree will not be very productive and each elephant will only get a few of these delicious berries and then the herd will have to move on again. So viewing in January and February may result in this marula-concentrated-feeding system. Early signs suggest that the quality and quantity of Marula berries will be good this year.

November 2001

In spite of the heavy rains which fell from halfway through November, elephants stayed in large numbers on Mala Mala. The expectation was that, following the first substantial rains, elephants would 'escape' from their dependence on the Sand River and make use of more distant water and food sources. But this did not happen and viewing remained good for much of the month. Of course the elephants are certainly most happy that the rains have fallen; not only will new food become available to them, but so too will mudholes and other drinking areas.

Elephants seemed to spend much time this month stripping bark from trees, particularly the Knobthorn Acacias and particularly towards the beginning of the month. Then, as the abundance of grass increased as a result of the good growing conditions, so elephants seemed to shift their emphasis away from the trees. Nonetheless, many of the large old knobthorns have suffered heavy damage over the last few weeks and several will die immediately due to being completely ringbarked. Those trees which have suffered only partial removal of the protective layer of bark will continue to live, but are immediately far more susceptible to other life-threatening factors such as fire, borer beetles and so-forth.

October 2001

Elephant viewing was again impressive over this past month with some sightings of probably in excess of 100 different animals. These large groups of elephants were basically made up of several recognisable families which for some or other reason had decided to get together and travel around the reserve in close proximity to one another. Water away from the Sand River is still around, but in declining quantities and quality. With the Sand River flowing so well, this has then been the natural choice for drinking. Many small elephant calves are to be seen in the herds.

Interestingly, although some large elephant bulls have been seen, encounters with such animals appear to be relatively few, almost as if they have been deliberately avoiding the areas frequented by the females and young. Some sightings of large males have been seen on the areas of the reserve which were burned at the beginning of September. Due to relatively little rain, grass growth on these burned areas has so far been minimal, but the elephant bulls have been eating the trees which have flushed thanks to access to deeper supplies of water.

September 2001

Elephant viewing continued to be good with an abundance of breeding herds. As can be expected, many of these breeding herds would be found in close proximity to one another, not necessarily in eye-contact, but almost certainly communicating and co-ordinating movements. Perhaps the most dramatic sighting involving elephants occurred right at the beginning of this game-report period when a family of elephants interacted with the lions of the Charleston Pride when they were stalking a small herd of buffalo. The events are detailed in the report on the Charleston Pride above.

August 2001

Elephants have been around in huge numbers and gatherings of more than 50 or 60 of these large creatures have been commonplace. These large concentrations - which are associations of several independent families - have mostly been around the areas of the Sand River favoured by the elephants as drinking spots. Many small and several newly born calves have also featured in the viewing. In spite of the large numbers of elephants, relatively few large trees have been knocked down, perhaps because the females do not really have the strength of the big bulls. However, much of the damage has been subtle - branches broken off and, particularly towards months end, bark stripped from the trunks. These wounds of course allow fire and insects to attack the 'innards' of the trees and overall longevity is greatly reduced. One exciting elephant experience this month happened when some lions were feeding off a buffalo kill and this attracted the attentions of a breeding herd. The elephants came storming in, shrieking and trumpeting forcing all to scatter - lions and landrovers.

July 2001

Fine elephant viewing occurred during July. The Torchwood-berry season came to a close near the beginning of the month. Although elephants seemed to have a good supply of these oil-rich fruits for the few weeks when they were available, they were not as sought after as was the case last year. Either the yield was not as high or the quality not as good. One feature characterising the viewing this month, particularly towards the end, was the large herds of elephants encountered, some numbering in excess of 50 animals. Most of these were amalgamations of several smaller units. It is not known what caused them to conglomerate in such a manner. As the dry season progresses, so the elephants have started making more use of the Sand River, this for both food and water.

June 2001

May 2001

May saw some good elephant viewing, both in the form of breeding herds and lone or groups of bulls. Much of their movements paralleled that of both rhinos and buffalo with them moving large distances to and from the river and over the more peripheral areas of the reserve which still have good supplies of food and water.

Although the Torchwood fruit this year has certainly been utilised by the elephants, the crop of berries does not appear to be as good as it was last year. As with the Marula trees earlier in the year, the high quality fruits of the Torchwood trees are most sought after by elephants which seem to know exactly where all the trees are. The usual way of feeding from them is to approach the tree, give it a good shake and then pick up the fallen fruits. Perhaps the season will still pick up and become better during June.


One slightly annoying bit of elephant news this month was the fascination which one particularly large bull had with the Main Camp and for several days he would enter the grounds when all was quiet, this usually late at night. Just why, with all the food available outside the camps, the elephant should make such an effort to come in, is perhaps only explained by his curiosity. Nonetheless, he was actively encouraged to remove himself and after several days of this the message was finally received.

April 2001

Although there were a few days when elephants seemed to have moved off the reserve, this particularly towards the beginning of this game report period, there was generally very good elephant viewing during April. With conditions remaining green, elephants are still eating large quantities of grass and the trees have been somewhat spared. Elephants have still not started feeding extensively on the reedbeds of the Sand River and this area now represents an enormous reserve of food for the upcoming dry season. Perhaps with this source of food so good the trees will be further saved.

March 2001

Elephant viewing during March has generally been good with breeding herds being encountered on an almost daily basis on various parts of the reserve. Such herds have usually numbered less than a dozen or so animals. At present the elephants, like the buffalo, seem not to be using the Sand River for their supplies of food and water, probably wanting to save this resource until the dry season. As a result of this temporary reprieve given to the vegetation of the river and no doubt also due to the huge deposits of fertile silk as a result of the floods last year, the reedbeds of the Sand River are particularly tall and dense. Elephants appear to be eating much grass still, particularly the tops of the Panicum species which are still in seed. However, towards the end of March there was a noticeable increase in attention given to the stripping of bark from trees, especially the scented-thorn Acacias and the Marula trees. As autumn approaches, these trees will surely start increasing the supply of nutrients into their underground storage organs, sending these foods through the bark.

Seeming to know what is happening, the elephants are making use of this resource. Much of the time the tree is not completely ring-barked and so does not die immediately, but, the exposure of the more sensitive wood underneath the protective layer of bark will surely decrease the trees longevity as it becomes more susceptible to droughts, fire and insect and microbe attack.

February 2001

Sightings of elephant continued on from the end of Januarys viewing with fine concentrations of these large pachyderms. Breeding herds of females and young were plentiful, but there were few groupings of more than 15 elephants. As has come to be expected, herds appeared to move in synchrony with each other, staying some distance apart, but seldom coming into direct contact with one another. These movements could be anticipated when the food concentrated upon is Marula berries and each tree could be expected to yield only so much fruit. In such circumstances it would make no sense for huge gatherings of elephants to assemble. Towards the end of the month, however, elephant sightings were starting to change as the Marula season drew to a close and the animals had to start feeding on other items. One point, and this may well have to do with the same theory of only a few elephants feeding on the fruit of any one tree, half-way through February, there were increasing encounters with single mother and calf combinations. Dispersion within a single herd may well occur, again if such a combination is the best way to utilise a small resource, in this case the rapidly dwindling supply of Marula berries. This behaviour would of course also indicate that the elephants have nothing to fear. It could be expected that although small groups of elephants are out of sight of one another, they would still be communicating using sub-sonic noises. Several large bull elephants with impressive tusks were also encountered during this game-report period. These bulls would mostly be found alone, contentedly feeding upon the Marulas and staying within a relatively small area. It could be expected that elephant behaviour will change over the next few months due not only to the decline in supply of Marula berries, but also due to the rains which fell this month and the general decline in vegetation quality as the autumn approaches.

January 2001

A shortage of elephants towards the beginning of January was compensated by an abundance later on in the month. This has been perhaps due to the good supply of Marula berries upon which elephants have been feasting. In some ways this has been surprising since it was thought that, following the abundant ground-water supply and good rains of last year and in the early parts of this season, the supply of these fruits would have been so wide-spread that elephants would have had no need to accumulate in any sort of numbers in any area. Perhaps the fruits in this area are of particularly high quality - certainly from a human taste point of view they are, on average, a great deal sweeter than was the case last year with all of the rains. Several of the herds of females and youngsters encountered have reacted nervously to the presence of vehicles, indicating that they have arrived from some distant destination in search of food. One rather sad sight over the last 5 or 6 weeks has been a young elephant with badly deformed hind legs. This youngster is several months old already and is battling to walk. Nonetheless, the mother and the rest of the herd appear quite willing to wait for it and help it. Hopefully this tale will end happily.

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