I realise that it has been quite a long time since my last blog. This is because I have been severely hampered by large amounts of water, both in the form of late rains and high floods. The heaviest rains fell at the end of April, filling all the pans and stimulating a new growth of annual grasses, causing the buffalo herds to stay in their wet season home range until the last couple of weeks. We have had several herds in the vicinity of my camp, but only last week did a collared animal, Jezebel, come our way. I recorded population dynamics from her herd of about 300 animals last week, but as yet she has made only one trip to floodplains that used to be grassland but have been flooded for several weeks now.
Of my other collared animals, Lilith's collar has been misbehaving for a month now, but has just started sending through occasional fixes again, so I have not entirely lost hope. However, she is on the edge of Chief's Island, and there is absolutely no way for me to drive anywhere near her. Pandora is currently taking refuge on a small island on the Boro, since her usual home range has been subjected to very high water levels - again, I cannot get to her. The last cow, Valkyrie, has been close to Mababe for the vast majority of the wet season. She has recently left the area, and has not gone to Savute as I feared. However, she is currently on the Khwai river, which was not supposed to be in my study area, and I do not know how flooded it is up there, but will soon go to try and find her.
However, as usual, my vehicle has started struggling, so I am waiting for a verdict and quote on repairs. Of course, I am coming to the end of my fieldwork, but I still need the vehicle for a few more months, and need to be able to sell it for a decent price, as I am relying on proceeds from its sale to support me for a while in the UK during the write-up.
The hydrological difficulties have meant that I have had a lot of time to read scientific articles and think about how to analyse all my data. I have also finished the first draft of my methodology chapter and am waiting for comments from my supervisor.
I will let you know if I manage to do some fieldwork!
Of my other collared animals, Lilith's collar has been misbehaving for a month now, but has just started sending through occasional fixes again, so I have not entirely lost hope. However, she is on the edge of Chief's Island, and there is absolutely no way for me to drive anywhere near her. Pandora is currently taking refuge on a small island on the Boro, since her usual home range has been subjected to very high water levels - again, I cannot get to her. The last cow, Valkyrie, has been close to Mababe for the vast majority of the wet season. She has recently left the area, and has not gone to Savute as I feared. However, she is currently on the Khwai river, which was not supposed to be in my study area, and I do not know how flooded it is up there, but will soon go to try and find her.
However, as usual, my vehicle has started struggling, so I am waiting for a verdict and quote on repairs. Of course, I am coming to the end of my fieldwork, but I still need the vehicle for a few more months, and need to be able to sell it for a decent price, as I am relying on proceeds from its sale to support me for a while in the UK during the write-up.
The hydrological difficulties have meant that I have had a lot of time to read scientific articles and think about how to analyse all my data. I have also finished the first draft of my methodology chapter and am waiting for comments from my supervisor.
I will let you know if I manage to do some fieldwork!
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