My last field trip was reasonably successful, when I managed to collect faecal samples, vegetation samples and observational data. The herd was on Chief's Island, which takes about 7 hours to drive to. The water on the roads has finally started to go down, which is a relief. However, when we stopped off at Stanley's Camp to say hello, they told us that Chief's Camp had already started to reduce the area that they use for game drives because of rising flood water, and the water was expected to start rising again at Stanley's abut 3 weeks later. We managed to find the herd quite close to the road, in relatively open mopane, and were able to age and sex 111 individuals, with a total estimate for the herd of about 150 - 200. I saw the collared cow as well, looking healthy.
After spending a few hours with the herd, we moved onto sampling vegetation from areas that they had used over the 2 weeks prior to that date. Despite the vegetation map that I have telling me that there was lots of acacia woodland, the only habitat types to be found were mopane and grassland. We sampled several sites in which the herd had been grazing, resting and walking. We managed to find a route through the dense mopane using open grassland areas, which was a huge relief as the last time we were in that area we encountered mopane that was very difficult to drive through. Needless to say I saved that route onto my GPS for future reference!!
Unfortunately, as we were about to reach the 16th sample site, the drag link arm for my steering fell off (the second time that has happened, although the first time was at the other end!). I re-attached it using cable ties and duck tape, but was not convinced of the wisdom of continuing since we had just decided that we had to go through a particularly dense stand of mopane. So we re-traced our tracks and returned to the road to get back to Maun and fix the steering. We drove very slowly on the tar just in case the cable ties decided to snap, but luckily they held together and I was able to get the car fixed the next day.
I have been in the UK for the last 10 days, where they were very excited to see the sun for the first time in 2 years. Bless them. I was able to access data from my collars but did not have the software with me to work out where the fixes were, so I have just been checking that they have been moving. Above is a jpeg of their movements over the last 6 weeks, with the big red symbols representing their current locations. The three on the NG34 side have generally moved west, with the sole survivor in NG32 still just moving up and down between Chief's Island and NG32.
My new assistant (Shavaughn) will be arriving at the end of May, so we will get cracking on field work then. Until then, my supervisor has asked me to write a summary of my work so far and my plans for the rest of the year. I am also going to have to revise one of my chapters, so I will be spending a decent amount of time in the office, unless one of my buff decides to take pity on me and come closer so I can spy on them without travelling too far or crossing too much water.
