We welcome Spring and a change in the weather with the days warming up and the morning game drive departure times getting increasingly earlier with the sun rising earlier and earlier into what used to be the last darkness of the previous night. Stunning sunrises are the order of the day at the moment but they are given a run for their money by the increasingly beautiful sunsets.
As a game reserve we have a responsibility to all the fauna and flora found on our 9400 hectare little piece of African utopia. As we know the African elephant is an integral part of the ecosystem but an over population of these magnificent beasts can negatively affect all other organisms. With this in mind the Nambiti Reserve management took the decision to remove a fraction of the breeding herd of elephants. After an exhausting day of hard toil under the African sun 11 elephant where successfully relocated to Somkanda Game Reserve in Zululand. There are plans afoot to relocate 3 bulls in the near future to the same reserve so that the species can thrive and prosper. Both reserves are community owned. Somkhanda Game Reserve, owned by the Emvokweni Community Trust (ECT) and co-managed with the Wildlands Conservation Trust, has achieved another major milestone. Established in 2005 and formerly declared a protected area in 2011. Nambiti Game Reserve is course also a KZN community owned game reserve. This is the first time that 2 rural communities have worked together to extend elephant range.
As well as controlling the elephant population the lions also need a little management. Four of the lionesses have been given contraceptives in order to slow down the breeding rate of these cats but we are still hopeful that one of the other lionesses has conceived and will produce cubs in the not too distant future.
With the future of our wildlife in the hands of the youth we here at The Springbok Lodge welcome any opportunity to shape the future of any budding wildlife enthusiasts. We have had the privilege of having two such young wannabe guides as our ‘sidekicks’ this last month – Amy Summersgill, a grade 11 young lady from Pietermaritzburg Girls High School and Pierre who hales from the French Reunion Islands but is based at Michaelhouse for his schooling – obtaining valuable work experience in the daily running of a lodge and the duties and responsibilities of field guides. We wish them both well in their future endeavours and hope that we have had a positive influence on their future careers.
Till next time…
