LATEST NEWS Rangers Report for February/April 2010 Rangers Report for February/April 2010 Monate Easter Greetings to everyone!!! We do hope that the real message was spread as much as all the Easter eggs devoured. We had plenty of rain the first week of April, which was a blessing after a dry February & March 2010. We welcome Solly, our horse trail guide, as our newest Ranger, who is always smiling & eager to take out guests for a super adventurous tour of our reserve.
We certainly have masses of good news… Firstly, in February we were blessed with a baby hippo, while in April a second blessing brought a baby rhino into our world. Along with the births of giraffes, zebras & all the antelope, Monate seems like a large crèche.
The brown hyenas are starting to creep out of the woodwork after a long, shy summer. We have had numerous sightings, while Halo excitingly picks up their scent everywhere.
Our three cheetah siblings - Puka, Mavuta (both female) and Kongo (the thorn amongst the roses) - are doing very well, although their rewilding process is taking slightly longer than expected. They have been taken out of the boma on walks in the bushveld to keep up their fitness levels, something that they thoroughly enjoy! The walks go out early morning and the cheetah use the opportunity to chase anything that comes into sight. The giraffes, however, were not amused and promptly returned the gesture, leaving Kongo rather rattled behind a bush! Every endeavour is being made to ready them for release onto Monate’s reserve before the end of June, where guests will be able to catch sightings of these beautiful creatures during drives.
The Super 14 is certainly riveting this season, keeping us all on the edge of our seats. The Stormers are going strong while the Bulls are doing their usual bit. It will be an interesting final, yet again! The Monate Rangers Rangers Report for November 2009/January 2010 Compliments of the Season! May 2010 ooze of superb health, love, joy & prosperity for everyone around the globe! The reserve is thriving in the areas that were burnt last year. Herds of antelope & zebra spend most of their day munching away. It seems so surreal describing the intensity of the flames and the black ashes to anyone today, not to mention the grime aftermath not so long ago.
Our beautiful cheetah, Maza, departed Monate in full glory for Mkuze where she will meet many eligible males & produce a horde of adorable cubs. She was darted & thoroughly examined before leaving. In the mean while 3 siblings were brought to us by Endangered Wildlife Trust and are currently in our small boma. They were quite “tame-ish” on arrival, but are getting to rather enjoy the wild side of life (ask Wimpie), which is the whole point to “re-wilding”!
In today’s cruel world we live in, there is unfortunately the bad news too – our youngest female rhino was poached late last year. It was heart wrenching to find her like that & a huge shock that this had happened to us. We tend to take crime for granted being at Monate full-time. Rhino horn is used in some Asian countries for the same reason Viagra was developed! In Yemen they make dagger handles from the horn and these daggers are then handed to boys when they become men. The latest rumor in Vietnam is that Rhino horn cures cancer... Funny thing is, Rhino Horn has the same medical value as hair or fingernails, made from the substance Keratin. Rhino poaching is an extremely organized crime business, which is controlled by syndicates over wide areas. The syndicate operating in our area has been linked with poaching as far as Madikwe, North West Province! They are very well trained in field craft and they manage to stay on a reserve for very long periods without being noticed before committing the crime. They also have a strong financial backing, which gives them access to any tools or weapons. They move in groups and are well armed to take down a rhino and for protection! To prevent more poaching we have a permanent Anti-Poaching Unit on the reserve. They constantly monitor the rhinos, following them wherever they go. The armed unit stays out & lives on the reserve full time! A sharp eye is kept on any low-flying planes/helicopters - any suspicious aircraft gets warned off by shooting emergency flares at them. Our border fence is constantly monitored in case the wires have been cut or for any fresh tracks that shouldn’t be there! Our remaining rhinos have since been darted & their horns inserted with microchips for tracing purposes. Hopefully we never have to experience another poaching incident. It’s gruesome seeing such a beautiful animal brutally killed and maimed for no significant reasons.
And then our domestic update… All the pets are doing great & get up to their normal mischief… Sitting in the office one late afternoon, our manager saw a red, white, black & brown flash go by. To her horror, her 3 labs where curiously chasing a young nyala around the gardens. The nyala mom’s normally go out for the day & leave the babies in tall grass close by the lodge for their safety. This little boy probably got bored of waiting & ventured out on his own. All her screaming only excited the dogs more as to what this little creature was. As he tired, he stopped running & bravely faced all 3 dogs, mock charging them. Eventually realizing that the human was on his side when a mop promptly landed on the dog’s head, he dashed towards her & hid under her legs. She promptly picked him up & carried him to the office where they could both catch their breath. After the dogs were escorted home, she took the young nyala out to the garden & lay there with him for a while, until he got up & sauntered away back to his hiding spot. Never a dull moment!
Monate looks forward to exciting times ahead. Rugby season kicks off soon, which means everyone gets out their boxing gloves. The Soccer World Cup is almost upon us and we are rather excited of the outcome. Whatever you have planned for 2010, don’t forget to get your dose of Monate Magic! The Monate Rangers Rangers Report August/October 2009 Monate certainly experienced a dramatic past few months! Where to begin… well, it turned out that MRS Hippo had wondered out of the dam, we are still not really sure why. The real issue arose when she decided to hang out at the lodge. We thought she was only coming in when there were no guests, until she made her debut appearance on the pathway leading to Hampton Luxury Tent – to the horror of the waiters taking guests their dinner! The last straw was when she charged some guests off their room patio & promptly chased them around the trampolines. Luckily no-one was injured, but sadly we had to bid her farewell. That’s not all, the saddest news was that her calf (almost 3 years old) that also left the dam was found dead a few weeks later. We were keeping an eye on him for a while, as he seemed lethargic, but was still frequenting the smaller water holes. Then he seemed to give up so we watered him with the fire fighter & tried feeding him bales of grass, to no avail. The mysteries of Mother Nature…
Then the came the fires… everyone’s worst fears… but with all the Monate staff and neighbours fighting together, it was overcome, each & every time! There have been too many to mention, but the scariest was the huge runaway veld fire on our farm. The flames were so high & the wind was at its strongest that it seemed impossible that we were going to get it under control, but miraculously we did. Thankfully no-one was injured, people nor animals, only lots of singed hair & smouldering uniforms, oh, and our poor Toyota Hilux! Going out that night to seek out burning embers was a very creepy experience – it looked like the reserve was covered in fairy lights. Then the wind would tear though whipping the glowing embers away into the dry bushes close by, but we had it covered. We all took turns to go out with the firefighter all night to extinguish any threats. The smell of “burntness” (not sure if this is correct English!) stayed with us all for a long while. Then, one afternoon as the we departed the lodge one all 3 game vehicles, we received a distress call from our neighboring farm to report that lightning had just hit our fence sparking a fire on the far corner of our reserve. We raced all the guests (sorry about that!) back to the lodge & put out that fire, with the welcomed help of a downpour of rain, which promptly cancelled our bush dinner – a small price to pay. After all this, we are officially called “The Monate Fire Brigade”. A huge Thank You to everyone that assisted in any possible way!
Moving onto some more pleasant news… The animals are all doing extremely well. Jan-Hendrik had a fantastic experience during a game drive – it started with him tracking Maza only to find her munching on a impala quite close to the lodge. Just as they were about to leave, a brown hyena was seen circling her & her dinner. The Hyena eventually came closer & closer, Maza growled at him a few times, but then let him take her dinner & she left…? Guests have had awesome sightings of Maza & the brown hyenas during drives & at the lodge! The rhinos & buffalos are back in action & pop up everywhere. Many of the females are heavily pregnant & some young have already made their way into the world. The rainy season always restores life with both fauna & flora.
Onto the domestic pets – Coco, Halo, D & Oscar are all also doing great! D & Oscar each had a turn to fall into the big pool (the one with no steps to get out!!!) and got rescued, so are now both Olympic swimmers. It’s wasp season & while Coco & Halo have each had a turn to be stung & swell up like hippos, there is no doubt that the 2 young lad’s curiosity will make them follow suit – that’s the only way they learn! Shenzi the cat is still stalking prey daily & the parrots make a colourful pair. Our newest edition is Ozzy (although each staff member has their own name for him…) the Ostrich. He prefers sport channels to soapies on the staff’s tv, otherwise just potters around waiting for his turn to use the bathroom!?
The regrowth has already begun after the first fires we had, supported by the early rain. It is fascinating to witness the bright green grass & leaves growing out of the black ashes. The animals are thriving on the fresh food, giving them the perfect kick start from a long, dry winter. Sadly we said farewell to Keith, our avid bird ranger, and wish him all the very best at his new post. Well, the Currie Cup sure was exciting, well done to The Blue Bulls for the great win. At last we can all put away our weapons & make peace with our colleagues (we hope it’s not too late!) The Monate Rangers / Brigade! Rangers Report for June/July 2009 We are well into winter and so far it has been fairly un-winter-like. The sky decided it wasn’t done spitting at us so we received some surprise rains in June. The birdlife is booming during this period with plenty green winged Pytilias (formerly Melba Finches), Violet eared Waxbills, golden breasted buntings, African spoonbills, and much more waiting to be viewed. We have also been spotting many a juvenile Black shouldered kite. Maza (our collared cheetah) has been doing exceptionally well on the reserve. She has decided to take a break from the kudu calves and is currently enjoying the taste of young Waterbuck… She seems to be the only cat that doesn’t eat too much Blesbok. Unfortunately, Annie passed away in June whilst still in the boma. At this stage the suspicion is heart failure but more tests are being done so we can only know when the autopsy is 100% complete. Our brown hyenas are enjoying having Maza around as they get a free buffet wherever she makes kills. Many different individuals have been spotted on the reserve so it seems to be the right time to intensify efforts to find the new denning site. Jabari has made a surprise comeback after his sabbatical on the neighbor’s reserve. We hope he will stick around longer this time and perhaps, yet again, he will be the key to finding the clan’s den. Onto the big guys… The Rhinos had been in hiding for a while, perhaps moving deep into the bush for warmth, but are seen more regularly as the winter’s sun warms up the plains. Sightings have been great with them often close to waterholes as the veld gets drier. With all the natural waterholes drying up, our big male hippo is running out of temporary homes. He can’t move back to hippo dam as the 3 ever so large females have chased him out, occasionally wounding him. We believe this is due to a cow protecting her calf, who may be a young bull coming to age. You’ll just have to wait for the next report for the outcome…! It’s Currie cup and Tri-Nations season and may the best teams win! Most of us are backing the boks and, well… the provincial competition is less clean cut. Guests may rest assured as always receive score updates during game drives! The Monate Rangers
Rangers Report for April/May 2009 It’s getting colder and drier now. The onset of our busiest season for reserve upkeep with waterholes needing more regular pumping, while roads and fences need more holes filling. We have also had what was probably our last rain fall. We were happy to see more new births including Zebra and Giraffe. Two of the giraffe were born at the beginning of April and the latest, mid-May. Unfortunately any offspring from here on have to walk a fine line, being vulnerable to the cold.
Maza, our free roaming cheetah, has been successful since her recovery and re-release. She seems to favour young kudus and warthogs and is not afraid to explore with her often being found in and around koppies. Another cheetah, Annie, has arrived. She is a tame cat brought here for re-wilding. It will be a challenge to get her ready for the wild and to teach her not to be reliant on people. The brown Hyenas seem to be moving back into their old den which they had abandoned for the rainy season. This is great news for our research as we can now monitor them closely. It looks as though they may have cubs. They are probably enjoying the left over carcasses from cheetah kills as well as any remains from still births. Jabari, our collared hyena, has been ‘missing’ with us not being able to get his signal. He was however spotted on a neighboring reserve, hopefully he makes his way back to Monate.
We hope everyone is well and wish everyone luck fighting off the winter chills. “Only with winter-patience can we bring
Seasonal change is upon us. We have had an awesome summer allowing opportunities for new life. Our rainfall has been exceptional, exceeding figures from previous years. However change is coming, indicated by chillier mornings and breezes. The summer saw many births from almost all of our species. We even got a new young Giraffe. The Blue Wildebeest have been so successful over the years we finally had to relocate some of them. The game capture was an awesome and exhilarating experience for all those involved. One hundred and fifty of our Wildebeest were on their way to new homes. With the good summer ticks are a real threat to our game but we have more good news! We now have a permanent population of red-billed oxpeckers. It was always said they wouldn’t occur here because of their distribution and poisoning from cattle dips. A few weeks ago one was spotted on a giraffe near a water hole and subsequently they have been seen in small numbers on some kudus and giraffes. They will help remove ticks and clean open wounds. Maza, our cheetah, had reached a point where she could be released. A day after her release she was able to hunt and kill a young Blesbok. In the process she managed to break a carpal (toe) so she then had to go to the vet for a few days. After a short recovery period in the boma, Maza has been re-released and will hopefully have more success. The Brown Hyenas have been active over the months. Jabari had been hanging around the cheetah boma before Maza was released looking for the easy meals as carcasses were removed. He had even tried to dig his way into the boma. We continue to see the Hyena at the lodge and around our houses. Fortunately it has decided not to chew valuable equipment but the occasional shoe or ball left outside may be a victim. We were sad to lose Lauren, who left us in search of new opportunities and we wish her the best of luck. A new ranger has joined us and we welcome Jan-Hendrik to the team.
Until next time. The Monate Rangers “Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”
Rangers Report for 2008 - 2009 “Happy New Year” to all our friends of Monate! We hope it’s an awesome one for everyone! What a change since our last report in Winter. From dust & dry to wet, lush green & MUD!! The rains arrived in November and we have had the highest rainfall ever for November & December. All the dams are full, even our male hippo has decided to take a break from the ladies and the kids, moving to one of the smaller dams. It is also that time of year when most of the animals give birth including the Blue Wildebeest, Burchell’s Zebra, Impala, Blesbok & the Red Hartebeest. It is not only the wild animals giving birth, Coco & Halo are proud parents of TEN puppies, six cream & four black, too gorgeous for words. It is going to be hard saying goodbye to them. Maza, a female cheetah about 2 years old, is our new resident in the cheetah boma. She is a very beautiful cat with a wonderful personality. Her mother abandoned her & the rest of the cubs in search of a new MALE! The cubs were taken to De Wildt and are now old enough to fend for themselves. Maza will be released from the boma in February. The Brown Hyena Project hit a low at the end of 2008. We could not find Jabari (our collared hyena) due to technical problems with the equipment but now all is in working order. Jabari is a nomadic male and has been moving all over the reserve taking us to some interesting caves & burrows. He is still very nervous but should relax in time. In the meantime there are two hyenas making themselves quite comfortable at the lodge coming to the point of even eating equipment. Luckily they seem to have put this habit on hold, hopefully for good!!! At least they have given guests great sightings! This also the time for migrating birds from Europe & North Africa visiting the Bushveld. European Rollers, European Swallows, European Bee-eaters, Amur Falcons, Lesser Kestrels, Purple Herons, Black crowned night herons & most of the Whydahs, to name but a few, have been spotted. Our new adventurous Putt-Putt course is now complete & has proven great fun for the guests. It is a 9 hole course which really tests your skills, especially when Halo is after the ball. Christmas at Monate was very special as we welcomed Preston’s (owner) family from all around the globe. many special memories were made. New Years was also a blast. A memorable dinner was held on top of a rock koppie in the middle of the reserve near the hyena den (guests only found that out afterwards). We handed out prizes to very happy guests. The New Year was announced by the popping of champagne corks and hyenas drinking from a little water pond. So next is Valentine’s day. Come on guys surprise your ladies with a romantic stay in the bush. We do have a Jacuzzi……! Until next time Lauren, Keith, Wimpie & Werner
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
