Madikwe Hills Bush Bulletin – August 2024

August in Madikwe is a time of transition, where the landscape comes alive. As the last of the winter cold fronts collide with rising temperatures, the notorious August winds sweep across the reserve, lifting the red soil into every corner of the bush. From watching a young Grey Heron bravely tackle a Puff adder to witnessing warthogs kneeling in search of dwindling food, this month’s Bush Bulletin offers a raw, unfiltered glimpse into the resilience of the wildlife that calls this place home.

August is notoriously known as the windy month. Here in Madikwe the red soil really does make its way into everything! Winds are caused by the sun’s uneven heating of the earth’s surface. August is the time of year where temperatures are rising, with the last of the big cold fronts coming through. This is a great combination for windy safaris.

Dust bathing is something animals do quite regularly. Birds will find soft soil and open their wings on the ground to let the soil in between their feathers. Zebras will roll around in sand and the white parts of their body will turn red from the soil. Elephants throw the sand over themselves whilst their babies might roll where mom has picked up dirt. Dust bathing has lots of benefits. It helps reduce any parasites and body oil; it even works as sun protection. For us humans though, the only benefit of a dust bath is the fact that we are on safari in this beautiful bush! August safaris have given us all a dust bath.

Whilst sitting at a waterhole and enjoying the birdlife, guide Megan spotted an interesting behaviour; a juvenile Grey Heron was fiddling with something in the water. It had caught something and made its way back to the water’s edge. It was a hearty debate on the vehicle as to what it had caught. Megan then took out her camera at the right moment! The Heron had caught a Puff adder! This snake is ranked as the 7th deadliest snake in the world and here we are watching this young Heron eating it! We sat and watched this for a good 40 minutes. It was definitely not something you see every day in the bush!

Our annual rainfall is between 400-500mm a year. Unfortunately, we only received about 350mm for the past rainy season. This led to a very dry winter, and we are seeing the effects.

Warthogs are hindgut fermenters. This means that they have one stomach to digest their food with. Contrary to what the lion king shows us, warthogs are omnivores but favour high-quality grasses. They have a sensitive digestive tract since there is significant microbial fermentation in parts of it. This is one of the reasons why you see them on their knees, digging for food. They are looking for the best quality. The quality of food is getting less and less, and we are waiting for rain to replenish the bush. Because warthogs are more sensitive than other animals, we can see them working hard for their food these days.

Black rhino is the more aggressive of the two species of rhino that we find in South Africa. For this reason, any conservation activities done with them is quick and with only a few people around. The Madikwe Foundation has just completed its yearly ear-notching and DNA sampling in the reserve. (Ear notches enable researchers to correctly identify different individuals in the Reserve. Each rhino is given a unique ear-notch number, and microchips are placed in the horn and body for identification and security purposes. Measurements, horn shavings, and skin samples are also taken for DNA analysis).

For 5 days a small team has been working hard to ensure all Madikwe’s black rhinos are looked after. This operation is vital as this species is critically endangered with less than 6500 individuals remaining across Africa.

Black rhinos feed on trees rather than grass, like our white rhinos. With their prehensile lip designed for their feeding habits, and the lack of front incisor teeth, they leave a distinctive 45-degree angle on the branches they have bitten off. Even though they are an extremely curious species, it can be hard to find them as they don’t move much during the day and prefer being active at dusk and dawn. Most of their time is spent in thick bush! When finding this special creature remember to count the notches in the ear so that your guide can report it!

Lions, like most nocturnal animals, have something inside their eye known as tapetum lucidum. This is a reflective layer of cells behind the retina which acts like a mirror. The rod- and cone cells absorb light entering the eye. The tapetum lucidum reflects the light which passes through the retina and photoreceptor cells. This gives the lion’s brain two chances to absorb the light waves and refine the image and this significantly improves the animal’s night vision.

During a full moon lions would hold off on hunting since they can be too easily detected by their prey. However, none of these animals read the same books we do! Cheetahs will often hunt during the full moon – as they’re diurnal hunters, they need the full moon light in order to see prey and obstacles.

Cheetahs’ eyes have elongated retinal foveae (the small, rodless areas of the retina), giving them a sharp, wide-angle view of their surroundings. Cheetahs can see up to 5km whereas a lion can only see about 3.2km. It is amazing when you realize how every animal is adapted for their role within the ecosystem! Even something that we probably don’t think about much, such as eyesight.