Albino lechwe

Last week I said goodbye to Shavaughn, who was with me for six months. She got off fine, though she was quite sad to leave.

I borrowed a friend to come and help me collect data last weekend from the area used by two of my collared animals before they migrated. It was a good couple of days and we managed to get all the samples that I wanted. The area we were in was very easy to drive around, and although there were some nasty wet patches, these were clearly visible by the bright green grasses growing in them, so we managed to avoid them.

We had a couple of encounters with elephants, with a breeding herd at our first sample point that came to investigate us, but they were just curious and soon went on their way. A few lone bulls came past our tents both nights, but again showed no aggression. We had lions roaring and hyaenas calling both nights and saw several jackal pairs. We also saw the albino lechwe that I saw several months ago, which seems to be doing well.

I took my friend back to town and waited to pick up my new assistant, Jennifer, who arrived on Air Botswana yesterday. We are planning on going out this afternoon for a couple of nights to finish off the migration data collection, which is a bit of a sudden immersion for her, but I need to get to those sample sites as soon as possible.