Last week, Roz and I went to sample from the route that Jezebel took from her wet season home range to the flood season area. On the first day, we set out and bumped into a herd of buffalo just in front of HQ, so we got some population dynamics data from them, then continued down to Kazikini, where we sampled from the area that Jezebel had been using prior to the long distance movement. We then headed back towards HQ, but spotted a cheetah lying on the main Moremi road. We realised that there were three cheetah there - a mother and two cubs. We radio-ed Dog Camp, and they were preparing to come out and try to dart the mother, but the cheetah were in fairly dense mopane and I unfortunately lost them before the guys from Dog Camp could reach me.
The next day, we sampled further along the route, which went up to Hippo Pools, where we found another herd of buff. The area is fairly wet, so I wanted to see whether it was still possible to get to the Gomoti, or whether it was completely inaccessible. After a small amount of battling to get around water and palm scrub, we found our way around and were able to get to the channel, which is very impressive. Jezebel has since returned to the Gomoti, so being able to reach it will be useful! We came across a secretary bird trying to get comfortable in a tree.
The last day of sampling was along the Mogogelo drainage road, in the hunting area, where we managed to spot two eland running off into the bushes. We finished and were back in camp by lunchtime, after which a collared zebra was called in, keeping an eye on 6 lions eating a warthog. Hattie, the zebra researcher, was preparing to come out and dart the zebra, but they got a bit freaked out, especially after they ran into two leopards whilst evading the lions. They ran off, and Gabriel could not keep up with them, so that was another aborted darting.
Tomorrow, I am heading up to Khwai, which is where Valkyrie has been for the last few days. I have no idea what to expect in terms of flooding, but I hope to be able to access some sites at least!
The next day, we sampled further along the route, which went up to Hippo Pools, where we found another herd of buff. The area is fairly wet, so I wanted to see whether it was still possible to get to the Gomoti, or whether it was completely inaccessible. After a small amount of battling to get around water and palm scrub, we found our way around and were able to get to the channel, which is very impressive. Jezebel has since returned to the Gomoti, so being able to reach it will be useful! We came across a secretary bird trying to get comfortable in a tree.
The last day of sampling was along the Mogogelo drainage road, in the hunting area, where we managed to spot two eland running off into the bushes. We finished and were back in camp by lunchtime, after which a collared zebra was called in, keeping an eye on 6 lions eating a warthog. Hattie, the zebra researcher, was preparing to come out and dart the zebra, but they got a bit freaked out, especially after they ran into two leopards whilst evading the lions. They ran off, and Gabriel could not keep up with them, so that was another aborted darting.
Tomorrow, I am heading up to Khwai, which is where Valkyrie has been for the last few days. I have no idea what to expect in terms of flooding, but I hope to be able to access some sites at least!
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