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LATEST LODGE NEWS

06 February 2008

Dzivamisoko (Tsonga – Language of the Shangaan people) – “The protecting of the crops”. Its now April, and we have a new member of the Nyala family and Rose (our friendly Nyala cow) has given birth to a healthy calf that has already made Idube Lodge her home and is feeling completely comfortable around us as they go about their daily feeding under the large trees situated on the green lawns. During lunch one afternoon we noticed loud thumping and clashing sounds from the bush area below the breakfast/lunch deck. On investigation we noticed that two Nyala bulls were at war with one another, they viciously attacked each other displaying their mating rights over females.
The month of April will see the return of the Schotia dam pair of Wahlberg’s eagles return to equatorial Africa where they will spend the winter months. The attraction of veld fires and fleeing insects, reptiles and small mammals will see them through to August until their return to us. This month at the hide we have seen saddle-billed storks searching through the muddy water for fish and frogs. This endangered bird is most impressive with a bright yellow, red and black bill. The male has brown eyes with yellow wattles below them and the female has yellow rings around the eyes and no wattles. It was thought that there were many of these birds throughout Kruger but research showed that due to the huge flight range of these, they were often seen in different waterholes. Only a few mating pairs actually exist in the Greater Kruger National Park. Another visitor to this area is due to fly north now, standing in at 16cm the red-backed shrike will travel back to Siberia for the European summer. These birds are commonly known as butcher birds as they will impale insects and smaller reptiles on thorns to dry out and store them as food cache.
Love is in the air! This is the time that fittest of the species test their opponents for a right to a female, the Impala’s and warthog will start to rut (a period of sexual excitement of the male animals, leading to breeding). The warthogs will seek out individual females on heat and actively fight for them. Impala rams will also defend territories from rival males keeping the males from his area and round up the females trying to keep them from wandering off to “greener pastures.” The rams will actively mark their territories by scent marking horning the vegetation (thrashing the bushes with their horns) and rubbing their foreheads on bushes leaving a strong smelling secretion. The loss of condition during this period can be excessive to the degree that the animal can loose his right or territory over females. A book on elephant’s communication “Silent thunder” reported a bull elephant that stayed in Musth (heightened sexual condition) for a period of six months and lost 1100 pounds (948kg) in weigh during this period.
Enjoy Robs bush news; our rangers as usual have some great sightings they would love to share with you, warm greetings from the Idube team. Drop us a line we would love to hear from our Idube’s friends all over the world. Send it via e-mail to idubelodge@telkomsa.net (lodge) or info@idube.com (head office) and any photo’s you might want Louis to put on the web site.
Kindest Regards & Take Care till next time!
Andy Haggart
Reserve Manager

If you have not seen our BROCHURE and would like a copy, please e-mail Sally at
res@idube.com and she will be delighted to send you one.