Rangers Report May – July 2008

Dear Friends of Monate, trust you are all well and are surviving the Winter chills…

What exciting months we have had lately. So much news to share with you all…where to begin…

We are pleased to announce the arrival of a baby rhino as well as two baby hippos? We now have a total of six White Rhino and seven Hippos at Monate.

All three young hippos with two of the mothers and white-faced ducks

We managed to capture our first Brown Hyena which we named Jabari meaning “brave hearted” He is a young male of about 3yrs old. Whilst tracking him we managed to locate a series of caves along our rock koppies where the hyenas are living. There have been numerous sightings here and we have started taking drives in this area for the hope of guests “getting lucky”

Our two cheetah brothers “Blik” and “Sem” have been relocated to Ka’ingo Lodge in Limpopo as their rewilding process is over. They were with us for over a year, they gave us awesome sightings and we will miss them dearly. We are excited to receive four new cheetah, three young brothers and their sister. They are actually the cubs of a female which was with us over two years ago “Bubbles”. The cubs are already about 22 months old and are very relaxed. They are currently in the cheetah boma just to acclimatize to the area and get used to people before we release them onto the reserve to fend for themselves.

Wimpie And Kelly releasing the new cheetahs

As it is our dry time of year, the pumps for the dams are working overtime to keep full for the animals. It is also that time of year where veld fires can be a major problem so the rangers and staff have been like meerkats, always on the look out for any sign of smoke! The deciduous trees have all lost their leaves which has made raking in the garden an impossible task though we still try. But this makes game drives great as you can see further into the bush. The animals are coping well as we do put out supplementary feeding for them.

That is about all the news for now. We are happy to welcome Venice to the “Monate team” She is our new receptionist and brings a smile to everyones day.

Welcome to Monate Venice?

It has been pretty quiet these winter months with regards to bookings, where do you guys go in the Winter? We hope you will all visit us next year, we offer great Winter Specials and we promise to keep you warm?

Until next time…take care

The Rangers
Wimpie, Werner, Lauren and Keith

Rangers report for March/April 2008

Hi there friends

We hope you had a fantastic last couple months with all the holidays and long weekends. Thank you to all who came to visit us over that time, we hope you had a memorable stay.

There is so much news to tell. Firstly we are ecstatic to finally get our Brown Hyena research project underway, we had to wait for a permit to capture one. The cage trap is out, the collar is ready and the vet is on standby. The permit is only valid for a month so wish us luck?

The rainy season is now over and its time to fix roads, water gardens, pull out the beanies and freeze on morning game drives?. All the animals are in a very good condition as our rainy season was a good one with over 850mm compared to the average for the region of below 500mm. The animals should cope with the winter conditions and shortage of food sources. We also put out supplementary feeding for the animals. Winter of course is the best time to view the animals as it is dry, there are no leaves on the trees and the hippos will be basking on the banks during the day.

We are proud of all the animal births this year, our blesbok and red hartebeest calves surviving as last year they did not possibly due to too many jackals on the reserve. There were many kudu, waterbuck, zebra, wildebeest, eland and impala calves born this year. Unfortunately a few gemsbok calves and ostrich chicks did not survive. The male and 3 chicks “disappeared” and we were left with the female and 4 chicks, but lost another one. We do hope that the last 3 chicks make it to adulthood.

We are pleased to announce the arrival of another bushbaby, his name is Keith and he is the latest addition to the ranger clan. He has just finished his studies and is one eager beaver.

That is all for now…until July.

Take care and hope to see you soon

The Monate Rangers
Werner, Wimpie, Lauren & Keith

Rangers report for January/February 2008

Dear Friends, hope you are all well and 2008 has been a good one so far. It definitely has been for us, with lots of rain, new births and of course you, the guests who make it all worth it.

January saw a rainfall of 340ml which is almost unheard of in this region. It even filled up our natural dam which has been dry for the last 3 years. It is so deep even the hippos moved in for a couple of weeks. It is now inhabited by many waterbirds including Blacksmith Plovers, Dabchicks, Whitefaced Ducks and Egyptian Geese. So far this season we have had a total rainfall of 750mm.

We are also extremely happy and relieved for the arrival of nine ostrich chicks (unfortunately two were lost, we now have seven). We have not had chicks in 3 years due to the strong possibility of the jackals and brown hyeanas taking the eggs. We have really had our hands full with them, rescuing the chicks and reuniting them with the parents as they get lost very easily. We are really hoping they survive to adult hood as all other ostriches have failed to have chicks. Many did lay eggs but were lost. Look under “New Arrivals” to see the photo.

We have also been lucky to now have a resident juvenile Brown Snake Eagle with us. We see him everyday perched on the top of an acacia tree. He is very relaxed and we can stop right next to the tree and admire his beauty. Some have even been lucky to have seen him catch a small snake. We do not have many other raptors in this area besides the African Fish Eagle, Wahlbergs Eagle, Chanting Goshawks and the occasional Black Eagle so we get very excited when we do see them. They are very important in maintaining the population sizes of their prey such as rock dassies, snakes, rodents, rabbits etc.

All rangers and reserve staff have been very busy on the reserve after the heavy rains as the roads were all severely eroded, the fence became overgrown very quickly with grass and shrubs. So a lot of work has been put in to get the reserve looking its best again. Thanks to all of you, we have a superb team!

To end the month on a good note, we are very happy to announce the arrival of a new baby hippo which was born on the 25th of February. It is our 2nd born hippo at Monate. We now have six Hippos’ in the dam. We need a name so please help us choose one, we are not sure of the sex though. Look under “New Arrivals” to see the photo. We are all very excited about it and we hope you will all come visit us and ALL the babies as well.

Till March, take care

Werner, Wimpie, Lauren and all reserve staff

Rangers report Nov-Dec 2007

Hi there friends of Monate, we trust you all had a peaceful, fun and merry Christmas. Thank you to all who visited us and hope you had as much fun as we did. May the New Year will be filled with love, peace, fulfilled dreams and many more visits to Monate?

We have decided to update the Rangers report every second month as there is not much to report in just one month . These last two months have seen some great experiences and sightings of all kinds.

It is baby fever here at Monate. The Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Blesbok, Impala and Warthogs have all had babies. It is great. As you know from our last report the gemsbok, giraffe and eland had young ones too. We hope that they all survive and we hope you will all come see them for yourselves.

Our most touching and special story is that of a baby eland which got herself stuck in the electric fence. Her family had deserted her leaving her for dead. She was luckily still alive but badly burnt and extremely exhausted and in shock. We tried to get it back with the family but they kept running away. We decided to try and save its life as that’s what we do. We took her to our stables into one of the empty stalls and gave her some sugar water and milk. She could not stand but did drink. We left her there overnight with not much hope. The next morning we were overjoyed as she had survived and was standing. We loaded her onto the bakkie and searched for the family. We managed to get her back, it was the most awesome moment, the baby was walking and crying and the herd heard it’s cries and ran up to the young one and caressed it. She is quite big now and is doing very well. She is a little slower than the other young ones, perhaps a little brain damaged, but doing well.

We’ve had plenty of rain, one weekend we had 100ml. It was great but it caused a lot of damage to our roads and lightning struck a few of our energizers. The Hippo dam is so full and looks really good. We haven’t had to pump it for the last month. Even one of our crocodiles decided to search for water on the far side of the reserve. There was water there but not enough for him to stay. We found him outside our fence very dehydrated from the long walk and very hot conditions. We put our fear aside and grabbed him and took him back to the hippo dam. He has since moved out of the dam to a smaller one nearby. Maybe he has a few rivals in the hippo dam?

We have had amazing bird sightings. The European bee-eaters are back from their migration to Europe. African Hoopoes, Shaft-tailed Whydahs, Plum-coloured starlings, Diederik Cuckoos, Knob-billed ducks, Namaqua doves and Woodland’s Kingfishers to name a few. The bird life is fantastic and it is great to hear all the bird calls this time of year. So bring your binoculars and bird books and lets go spotting. Remember the well known Nylsvlei Reserve is also just down the road.

We were also lucky enough to have seen the moth of all moths. The spectacular Lunar Moth. It was the first time we had ever seen one and we were over the moon (Excuse the pun, its other name is Moon Moth). Its pure size and brilliant green colour and tail fronds are amazing.

We are excited to announce that we will be starting a Brown Hyena Research project in the New Year, we will be assisting the University of Brighton in the UK as part of a conservation project. It will be great to learn more about these shy rare animals that form such a strong part of the ecosystem. We urge you all to help us in the conservation of these beautiful animals by giving a small donation needed for expenses such as tracking collars, veterinary costs and camera traps etc. If you donate R200 or more we will take you on an exclusive complimentary cheetah tracking excursion to see these beautiful creatures up close.

Wimpie and Lauren attended the Annual Gala Dinner for the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust. It was an amazing evening awarding the special individuals who have contributed to the Cheetah’s success in the Wild.
Wimpie and Lauren were dressed in their evening best, a bit out of their norm of dirty khaki clothes. It is great to be part of such a special project.

That is about all the news for now. Thank you for all your support and we look forward to welcoming you all to Monate in the New Year.

The Rangers

Wimpie, Werner and Lauren

Report for October 2007

Hi there friends. Hope you are all well and over the moon about Rugby World Cup triumph. Congrats to our Bokke?!

Wow, it is so green now, the animals are in a great condition and there is food for all! The reptiles are out from hibernating, the insects are back with all their beautiful colours and the animals are having babies? There is a new giraffe, nyala, red hartebeest six gemsbok and six eland and many more to come if the females bulging tummies are anything to go by.

We suspected that the Gemsbok females were giving birth as there were a number missing from the herd. The females give birth in the thick forest and hide their young for 3 months before introducing them to the herd. They already have horns at first sight to others, hence the myth that they are born with horns, meanwhile they were just hidden away for a while.

The Lodge is looking amazing, the lawns are green, the Violet trees are flowering and our gardens are currently being “revived”. Colours of red, yellow and orange are so welcoming after the long dry Winter. Even Sugar, our female Squirrel decided it was time to explore the wild beyond the borders of the lodge. She is doing really well and loves to eat Acacia pods. We hardly ever see her, typical teenager, probably ran off with a young boy? Rebel!

Blik & Sem (our cheetah brothers), are doing very well and hunting for themselves every 4th/5th day. Congrats to Wimpie on a job well done! It is quite an achievement to get captive cheetahs to hunt for themselves. They will stay at Monate for a couple more months as they are still too young to be relocated to a larger reserve. It is very special to watch them grow from fluffy cubs to independent adults. We will definitely savor every moment we have with them.

The staff are as busy as ever – from the reserve where they’re spraying the fence with grass poison to the lodge where Werner is doing maintenance, maintenance and more maintenance. Our gardeners doing a great job too.

That is about all the news for now, just enjoying the warm temperatures, the new animals and the colours of the bush.

We hope to welcome you soon to share our passion with you.

From the Monate Rangers (Wimpie, Werner and Lauren)

Rangers Report: September 2007

Hi everyone?

Trust you are all keeping well. Wow, time sure flies when one is busy. We cannot believe it’s almost the end of the year. It’s still very dry, but this last week our first rain arrived so hopefully there’s more on the way. The animals are still coping fine, although the kudus are taking more strain. We foresee juicy green leaves sprouting everywhere for them soon!

It has been a very busy month with the team working really hard on the reserve, from road maintenance, clearing reeds in the hippo dam, building new waterholes, building fences to even saving a waterbuck in the lodge swimming pool! Temperatures exceeding 36°C at times makes it a little draining, but it’s part of the job?

Werner trying to loop her & us in our sleep wear, assisting from shore!

We welcome a new member to the Monate Family… her name is Sugar. She is a young tree squirrel who decided to fall out of her nest into our hearts. She is already about 3 months old and eating solid food so she should be just fine and would love to meet you. We welcome babysitters?

Sugar eating an apple

Coco greeting her new friend

We only had one young eland born this month, although there are a few other pregnant eland. The hippos, rhinos, cheetahs, buffalo etc are all in fine condition.

We’ve had great bird sightings, namely that of the African Hoopoe, Black Breasted Snake Eagle, Yellow bellied bul bul, African Spoonbill, Black flycatcher and a few cuckoos. As the temperatures increase, the reptiles come out of hibernation and are seeing rock monitors, lizards and snakes (don’t worry, none at the lodge!). The reptiles are all on the skinny side as they have not eaten during the winter months. People shouldn’t be afraid of snakes, as rangers know their behavior and we can guarantee that there is more chance of getting struck by lightning than getting bitten by a snake. They are really beautiful, intriguing animals and seeing them on game drive is rare but an awesome treat.

We wish Werner and Lauren the best of luck for their FGASA exams on the 13th October!
That is about all the news this month, hope you enjoyed the photos… PJ’s and all?
Wimpie, Lauren & Werner

Rangers Report – August 2007

Hi there friends.

Wow, summer is here. There is no such thing as autumn or spring in the bush. One day it is freezing cold and the next it is the beginning of a very hot, hopefully wet summer. It is still very dry and we have had gale force winds, which is normal this time of year. It drives the gardeners crazy as they have to rake the leaves everyday and boy there is a LOT of leaves!

The reserve is coming along nicely - the clearing of the camphor bush, which is encroaching on almost half the reserve is slowly being eradicated with successful results. The visibility of game has increased tremendously and more grass can now grow, which is vital for all our herds of grazing antelope. We are in the process of building 2 new waterholes on the eastern side of the farm to increase the animal numbers there and we will have more area to drive on safari.

Game Drives this month has proven to be interesting to say the least. A special request for a night drive after dinner was most appreciated as we got to view a Brown Hyena, a rare sighting! They come out late at night and are solitary. We also got to see an Aardvark, you know the one with the long nose and long ears, and yes we have to remind ourselves sometimes too. A very strange looking animal indeed, it comes out late at night to dig and eat termites. He then burrows in the now empty termite mound and is responsible for all the big holes in the ground. He then moves out the next night and animals like jackals, brown hyena and warthogs then use the empty burrow for their homes.

Great news on the cheetah project. Blik and Sem (the 2 young brothers) have now been released from the boma and are moving together which is great as this is essential to their survival. Blik still has a limp in his paw so we are relying on Sem to do the hunting for the both of them. It has been an absolute treat for the guests to go out on drive with a telemetry and antenna to find these beautiful cats and get in close quarters to them. Look at the photos of their release on our blog.

The Ostriches are now in breeding colours, the males who usually have a grey or black beak and legs are now bright pink. This advertises to the females that they are ready for …you know what? hopefully we will have some chicks this year. We have been really lucky to view a breeding pair of Secretary birds which have become very relaxed around vehicles and humans. They have been residing at Monate for the last few years. They get their name from the Arabic word “ Secretair” meaning Hunter Bird, as they eat creatures like snakes and small rodents. There have also been sightings of an African Spoonbill as well as a huge flock of white faced ducks at the hippo dam.

Well, that is it for now. There is plenty more to talk about but you will have to come and find out for yourselves?

Take care

Wimpie, Lauren & Werner?

Monate Ranger Report – July ‘07

Hi there friends, hope you are all well.

We are excited to announce that we will be updating you every month with news about the animals and reserve.  We are very proud of our little piece of paradise that we just have to share it with you all, so please log onto our website’s “Latest News” every month and join in the magic of Monate.

As you all know, we run a cheetah rehabilitation programme in association with De Wildt.  Currently, we have two 15 month old brothers, Blik and SemJ  They were released from the cheetah boma about two weeks ago. 

Their mother (Honey) was taken back to the Lowveld to Karongwe Game Reserve.  The day of the release, it was pouring with rain so we had to move the cheetahs indoors to put on their tracking collars and give them their shots.  It was quite an experience as it is not every day that you have 3 cheetahs on your diningroom tableJ Sem is doing very well since the release as he has caught a grey duiker, a young warthog as well as a young Nyala.  We were worried as they had not much previous hunting experience.  Blik though has been battling as he has a shoulder injury (possibly a nerve or tendon damage) so he has been removed to get treatment and we look forward to his return.

We have a very special animal, “Lucky”.  He is a young Red Hartebeest about 6 months old.  He was rescued by ranger, Werner, on the Boekenhout rd outside the reserve fence about 3 months ago.  We do not know what happened to the mother or where he came from but would have died if we had just left him.  He is still very wild as we did not try to hand rear him, we wanted to give him a chance to live a natural life.  It is a miracle that he has survived as he was not yet weaned (still drinking milk from his mother) as well as being accepted into a breeding group, as females and males do not accept outsiders.  We hope you get to see Lucky when you visit us.  PS.  Werner says Lucky’s real name is “No Fear” because Lucky charged him when he was rescued.  But we will stick to Lucky…ShhhhJ

We were fortunate enough to have spotted a Black Eagle (Verreaux’s Eagle) a few days ago.  It was our second sighting of this magnificent bird at Monate.  We have large sandstone koppies where large families of Rock Dassies occur.  This is the main food source for the Black Eagle. Unfortunately it does not remain in the area but it is a great sight to see when it is passing through.  Maybe one day, we will have a breeding pair living on the koppies as there is definitely no food shortage for them here.  Other great bird sightings lately have been the Secretary Bird (Yes Ok so there is a breeding pair living on the reserve which we see every day, but always great to see), Kurrichane Thrush, Red Crested Korhaan, Pied Babblers, Spotted Dikkop and Golden Breasted Bunting.

It has been a quite a warm month with Maximum Temperatures of 28°C in July!!!  Which is fine by usJ  But the very dry conditions are starting to take their toll on certain animals, for example our Kudu, which are looking a little on the skinny side.  We supplement their feeding with game pellets and mineral blocks, which will keep them going until the rains arrive in October, hopefully!

Lastly, congratulations to Wimpie and Lauren on achieving their FGASA (Field Guides Association of South Africa) Level 2.  Now you can really put them to the test during your next visit to Monate J

Until next month, take care!

Yours in Conservation

The Monate Rangers (Pieter, Wimpie, Werner & Lauren)