Dear all,
It has been another interesting month here in the Makgadikgadi. The first month since August 2009 where I can’t remember any rain falling and where the mosquitoes have been happy to bite anything repeatedly and regardless of whether repellent was applied or not! Fortunately, they now appear to be slowly diminishing as the weather starts to turn colder and the shallow pools are gradually drying up. The deep waterholes remain and will do so for a considerable time to come as evaporation rates slow down.
Of the 10 collars which were deployed in late March and early April, there are only 4 collars still working and only 2 of these working as they should. Unfortunately, this means that I have to replace all but the 2 working collars with replacement collars that are being provided by the collar company. Not only has this lost valuable fieldwork time as well as valuable GPS data which have not been collected, but I will also have the additional costs associated with darting zebra. I am hoping that I will be able to change the collars in June but this depends on when the replacement collars are available.
Fieldwork has continued during May with the assistance of Rob, Dutch and Matt who have been kind enough to brave the mosquitoes with me. I have visited over 200 known waterholes, as well as found quite a few more, in order to record water availability and quality. I have also sampled grazing sites, collected faecal samples and conducted behavioural observations. It’s amazing how quickly a month can disappear.
As a result of the collar problems, it has proven to be significantly more challenging to find the zebra. It is amazing how well herds of 1,000 or more zebra can seem to disappear in the Makgadikgadi. They tend to stay very close to each other and move slowly across the ecosystem to find fresh grazing each day. When you see them like this they appear to be like a shoal of Sardines or a flock of Quelea: constantly changing shape but always linked.
Starting in the east, where some remain, during May the zebra have moved across much of the Makgadikgadi towards the centre of the Park. Some, however, have gone a step further and have migrated west to the Boteti and there are now two collared zebra in the Boteti region.
This migration was unexpected as there is still so much rain water remaining in the surface waterholes of the eastern Makgadikgadi. Exactly how many are in the Boteti is unknown but I am hoping to fly this weekend which will allow me to look at the bigger picture. All of the remaining collared zebra are still grazing in the centre of the park and it will be interesting to see whether they choose to go east or west as there does not appear to be much surface water remaining in this area.
The migration of zebra back to the Boteti raises some interesting questions. Why have they migrated when there are still large quantities of water and grass in the eastern Makgadikgadi? What triggered this movement? Will the zebra remain in the Boteti region for the rest of the dry season? Will the remainder of the zebra in the Makgadikgadi migrate west as well or will there be two groups – 1 in the west and 1 in the east? How do the grazing resources differ between the two areas?
I will look to collect data to help answer these questions in the coming weeks as well as continuing to monitor the movements of the zebra.
If you have any comments or questions then please feel free to contact me at any time.
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Friday, 2 April 2010
Darting 2010: Part A
As we approach the supposed end of the wet season, Botswana continues to receive regular rains in what is proving to be another good wet season. I am told that Central Kalahari is receiving its heaviest rainfall of the year while the Makgadikgadi has been receiving intermittent storms. The continued rains will be a further boost to zebra in the Makgadikgadi as they are able to make the most of grazing on the nutritious grass islands in the salt pans. I will soon be spending much more time in the Makgadikgadi with the zebra as the latest field season gets underway. However, it is first necessary to collar 10 random adult mares with GPS collars.
After the collars were returned to Botswana from Germany, where they have been refurbished with new battery packs, we headed down to the pans on the 26th March to try and collar 5 zebra. Putting collars onto random zebra mares is theoretically a much easier task than locating and darting a collared zebra so as to remove the collar. However, we did learn in December when we were removing the collars that zebra are much more relaxed first thing in the morning and will let you drive closer to them. We were therefore still up long before dawn to give us time to find a herd of zebra as the sun was creeping up over the horizon.
After persistent drizzle through the night we could not have asked for a nicer day with clear skies and, more importantly, relaxed zebra. These zebra were in groups of between 50-100 individuals and were happily grazing quite close to the research camp so we did not have far to go. When we were able to get close enough to dart the first zebra after only 10-15 minutes of effort we knew things were looking good.
The major challenge was for me to identify an adult mare and then to explain to the vet which one I was looking at. This might not sound to be a challenge but when all zebra have black and white stripes, and are stood close to each other grazing, identifying a specific zebra and explaining to someone else which one it is can be quite a challenge. I usually try to find an identifying feature that makes the zebra more noticeable and this is often to do with the stripe pattern or the colouration.
While a zebra is sedated and we are working to fit the collar and take the relevant measurements, the rest of the herd stay nearby and continue to graze while watching us from a safe distance. Often the sedated mare’s stallion will stay much closer, observing us while we work and waiting for the safe return of his girl.
Once we had successfully darted and collared a zebra we then moved a little further away to find a different herd of zebra and to start the process all over again. We had 5 GPS collars to deploy during this first trip which we achieved this in less than a day and a half. I only hope that when we head back down to the pans in a week’s time things continue to go well for us.
If you have any questions about anything to do with the darting process then please feel free to get in touch.
James
After the collars were returned to Botswana from Germany, where they have been refurbished with new battery packs, we headed down to the pans on the 26th March to try and collar 5 zebra. Putting collars onto random zebra mares is theoretically a much easier task than locating and darting a collared zebra so as to remove the collar. However, we did learn in December when we were removing the collars that zebra are much more relaxed first thing in the morning and will let you drive closer to them. We were therefore still up long before dawn to give us time to find a herd of zebra as the sun was creeping up over the horizon.
After persistent drizzle through the night we could not have asked for a nicer day with clear skies and, more importantly, relaxed zebra. These zebra were in groups of between 50-100 individuals and were happily grazing quite close to the research camp so we did not have far to go. When we were able to get close enough to dart the first zebra after only 10-15 minutes of effort we knew things were looking good.
The major challenge was for me to identify an adult mare and then to explain to the vet which one I was looking at. This might not sound to be a challenge but when all zebra have black and white stripes, and are stood close to each other grazing, identifying a specific zebra and explaining to someone else which one it is can be quite a challenge. I usually try to find an identifying feature that makes the zebra more noticeable and this is often to do with the stripe pattern or the colouration.
While a zebra is sedated and we are working to fit the collar and take the relevant measurements, the rest of the herd stay nearby and continue to graze while watching us from a safe distance. Often the sedated mare’s stallion will stay much closer, observing us while we work and waiting for the safe return of his girl.
Once we had successfully darted and collared a zebra we then moved a little further away to find a different herd of zebra and to start the process all over again. We had 5 GPS collars to deploy during this first trip which we achieved this in less than a day and a half. I only hope that when we head back down to the pans in a week’s time things continue to go well for us.
If you have any questions about anything to do with the darting process then please feel free to get in touch.
James
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
The Wet Season
While Maun and the Okavango Delta have been receiving both good and consistent rainfall since early November, much of the rest of Botswana has so far received intermittent rains. Recently the Makgadikgadi had been very dry for the time of year and it was possible to drive across the pans from the south without the worry of getting stuck. However, this all changed last week with over 200mm falling within a few days. With further rainfall to be expected before the end of March it looks likely that the zebra will remain in the eastern Makgadikgadi for the foreseeable future. In 2009, 180 mm of rain in June provided sufficient water to allow zebra’s to graze for more than 3 months in the eastern grasslands. I wait to see how long this most recent rain will keep them in the east for.
Over the next few weeks I will be based in Maun, finalising my plans for the upcoming field season as well as continuing with my fundraising in order to ensure a successful year. The first major step will be to redeploy the GPS collars now that they have had new batteries fitted to them. This will take place towards the end of March while the zebra are in the east and will involve the identification and darting of 10 random adult zebra mares.
I hope that you are all having a good 2010 and, as ever, if you have any questions or comments then I would like to hear from you.
Best wishes,
James
Over the next few weeks I will be based in Maun, finalising my plans for the upcoming field season as well as continuing with my fundraising in order to ensure a successful year. The first major step will be to redeploy the GPS collars now that they have had new batteries fitted to them. This will take place towards the end of March while the zebra are in the east and will involve the identification and darting of 10 random adult zebra mares.
I hope that you are all having a good 2010 and, as ever, if you have any questions or comments then I would like to hear from you.
Best wishes,
James
Monday, 1 February 2010
2009 - A summary
In early April 2009 I collared 10 zebra mares within the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park so that I would be able to follow the movements of these zebra throughout the year. Due to regular rainfall throughout the year, 2009 has been an eventful and prosperous year for the Makgadikgadi zebra. The zebra have been able to remain in the open grasslands of the Makgadikgadi to feed on grass which has not stopped growing all year. All of this has meant that the zebra foals born during the 2008-09 wet season have had a great chance to survive their first year of life – typically the hardest for any animal.
During the 8 months since the collars were deployed, 1 collared zebra was killed and eaten by lions in July and 2 of the remaining 9 GPS collars failed due to technical problems. Despite the problems I have been able to collect over 150,000 GPS positions from the 10 collared zebra thus allowing me to view up-to-date movements in response to rainfall, the drying up of waterholes and grass availability.
The fieldwork I have conducted during 2009 has been an incredible learning experience for me with a lot of valuable data collected. Since deploying the collars I have studied the grass that the zebra choose to eat and the waterholes where they prefer to drink. I have also observed the behaviour of zebra by conducting sunrise to sunset observations with additional observations of their grazing behaviour. Samples of grass, water and faeces have been collected for more detailed analysis later so that I can study how the zebra are making the most of limited water availability. During 2010 I will look to build on the data collected in 2009 as well as collecting other types of data to help answer my questions.
When you use GPS collars to track wildlife one of the most important decisions is to decide how long you want to collect data for. There are two main options – a long collar life with less GPS fixes taken daily or a short collar life with a high-intensity of GPS fixes taken daily. Both options have their merits depending on the data that you are looking to collect. I chose the latter knowing that I would have to remove the collars before the end of 2009 to refurbish them with new batteries. Therefore, at the beginning of December, with the assistance of a qualified veterinarian, I set about trying to remove the GPS collars.
Usually when you are darting wild animals, particularly to remove or replace collars, the hardest part is finding your target animal. However, in this instance, finding the collared zebra was the easy part, the hard part was getting close enough so that we could dart them. After a couple of frustrating days when we were unable to get close to any of the collared zebra we realised that our best chance would be in the hours immediately after sunrise when the temperatures were still bearable and the zebra were more relaxed. This meant we needed to be up by 4am so that we could be with a collared zebra before sunrise. Our new strategy paid off immediately as on the third morning we were able to remove the collars of 2 zebra before 8am.
Over a period of 8 days we were able to successfully remove the 7 working GPS collars. I removed 1 of the faulty collars in July and this means that the one collar which remains is one which failed in September. I will try again to remove this collar in March 2010. During the darting we were also able to collect some important information on the weights and physical condition of the collared zebra that were all heavily pregnant and due to give birth imminently.
The data provided by the GPS collars is vital in helping me to understand how zebra are able to survive and thrive in the challenging Makgadikgadi environment. Not only do the collars provide detailed movement data, they also allow me to track the zebra so that I can study behaviour as well as identify and sample the grazing and water resources which they are utilising. It is for this reason that in March 2010, once my collars have been refurbished, I will collar a further 10 zebra mares so that I can follow their movements within the Makgadikgadi throughout 2010.
During the darting period, whilst tracking a collared zebra, we were lucky enough to come across a mare just about to give birth so we stopped to observe this special event. Within 15 minutes the foal was up on its feet before its mother, looking a little wobbly at first but soon gaining confidence in how to use all 4 limbs in unison. The rest of the harem were not far away and soon came to greet the new arrival, a yearling was particularly interested, before they all moved off to rejoin the safety of the herd. The first few days of this foal’s life will be the toughest but if it can stay close to its mother then it will have a great chance of reaching adulthood due to the abundance of water and grass available this year.
If you have any questions or comments then please feel free to email me, zebra@zebramigration.org or visit the project website www.zebramigration.org where there will be additional photos and blogs added shortly.
Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2010.
During the 8 months since the collars were deployed, 1 collared zebra was killed and eaten by lions in July and 2 of the remaining 9 GPS collars failed due to technical problems. Despite the problems I have been able to collect over 150,000 GPS positions from the 10 collared zebra thus allowing me to view up-to-date movements in response to rainfall, the drying up of waterholes and grass availability.
The fieldwork I have conducted during 2009 has been an incredible learning experience for me with a lot of valuable data collected. Since deploying the collars I have studied the grass that the zebra choose to eat and the waterholes where they prefer to drink. I have also observed the behaviour of zebra by conducting sunrise to sunset observations with additional observations of their grazing behaviour. Samples of grass, water and faeces have been collected for more detailed analysis later so that I can study how the zebra are making the most of limited water availability. During 2010 I will look to build on the data collected in 2009 as well as collecting other types of data to help answer my questions.
When you use GPS collars to track wildlife one of the most important decisions is to decide how long you want to collect data for. There are two main options – a long collar life with less GPS fixes taken daily or a short collar life with a high-intensity of GPS fixes taken daily. Both options have their merits depending on the data that you are looking to collect. I chose the latter knowing that I would have to remove the collars before the end of 2009 to refurbish them with new batteries. Therefore, at the beginning of December, with the assistance of a qualified veterinarian, I set about trying to remove the GPS collars.
Usually when you are darting wild animals, particularly to remove or replace collars, the hardest part is finding your target animal. However, in this instance, finding the collared zebra was the easy part, the hard part was getting close enough so that we could dart them. After a couple of frustrating days when we were unable to get close to any of the collared zebra we realised that our best chance would be in the hours immediately after sunrise when the temperatures were still bearable and the zebra were more relaxed. This meant we needed to be up by 4am so that we could be with a collared zebra before sunrise. Our new strategy paid off immediately as on the third morning we were able to remove the collars of 2 zebra before 8am.
Over a period of 8 days we were able to successfully remove the 7 working GPS collars. I removed 1 of the faulty collars in July and this means that the one collar which remains is one which failed in September. I will try again to remove this collar in March 2010. During the darting we were also able to collect some important information on the weights and physical condition of the collared zebra that were all heavily pregnant and due to give birth imminently.
The data provided by the GPS collars is vital in helping me to understand how zebra are able to survive and thrive in the challenging Makgadikgadi environment. Not only do the collars provide detailed movement data, they also allow me to track the zebra so that I can study behaviour as well as identify and sample the grazing and water resources which they are utilising. It is for this reason that in March 2010, once my collars have been refurbished, I will collar a further 10 zebra mares so that I can follow their movements within the Makgadikgadi throughout 2010.
During the darting period, whilst tracking a collared zebra, we were lucky enough to come across a mare just about to give birth so we stopped to observe this special event. Within 15 minutes the foal was up on its feet before its mother, looking a little wobbly at first but soon gaining confidence in how to use all 4 limbs in unison. The rest of the harem were not far away and soon came to greet the new arrival, a yearling was particularly interested, before they all moved off to rejoin the safety of the herd. The first few days of this foal’s life will be the toughest but if it can stay close to its mother then it will have a great chance of reaching adulthood due to the abundance of water and grass available this year.
If you have any questions or comments then please feel free to email me, zebra@zebramigration.org or visit the project website www.zebramigration.org where there will be additional photos and blogs added shortly.
Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2010.
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Books for schools
As an extension of the research that I am conducting here in the Makgadikgadi I am working with a couple of schools from two of the villages surrounding the Makgadikgadi National Park, in particular Khumaga Primary School. I have visited Khumaga School on a number of occasions and I have spoken with pupils about the wildlife within the National Park, and in particular about the zebras. Nine of the pupils have also helped me to name the zebra which I collared earlier this year and these names are in an earlier blog post.
There has now been a link established between Khumaga primary school here in Botswana and Lanercost and Hayton primary schools in the UK. This link allows children from each of the schools to write letters and learn more about each others country, schooling and culture. This link continues to grow and I have recently delivered the second round of letters from children at Lanercost and Hayton to their pen-friends in Khumaga. These letters have only been recently delivered as the school has recently had their winter holiday for 5 weeks.
When I first visited Khumaga School in November last year and spoke to Mma Tshube, the deputy head, I asked her what she thought the school was short of; her reply was reading books for the school children. Earlier this year on March 5th, world book day, as well as dressing up as their favourite fictional character, the children of Lanercost and Hayton primary schools took some of their reading books into school with them. These books were being collected so that they could be sent to their new pen friends in Khumaga Primary School in Botswana and the response from all of the children and their parents was staggering.
On the 18th of September I took 6 large boxes of books of all shapes and sizes into Khumaga School. These books, along with 1 football and 1 volleyball (In a recent volleyball tournament Khumaga finished 3rd in their age group for the whole of Botswana) which had been bought with a donation from the Lanercost PTA, were delivered to Mma Tshube who was lost for words.
Mma Tshube and another teacher Mr Olephile then proceeded to look through the boxes of books before calling on some of the children to come and have a look. Mma Tshube found a book of bedtime stories and said that she was going to read them to her children, who are pupils at Khumaga, that night. Mr Olephile, the volleyball coach, didn’t really know where to start as there were so many books to look at. While some of the children were initially more attracted to the football and volleyball, the remainder began to look through the books with some enthusiasm before they hdd to go back to their lessons.
The books have now been safely placed into the small school library and are there for the children and teachers to use. I know that they are already proving to be a great resource for them all.
Before I left the UK for Botswana in mid-March I was amazed at the volume of books that had been collected while also wondering how we were going to be able to get all of the books to Botswana. This problem was solved for us by Mr Solomon Seeco of the Botswana High Commission in London. Mr Seeco generously offered his assistance, and the use of a container, in order to ship the books from the UK to Botswana. It would have taken much longer to get the books to Botswana without Mr Seeco’s help.
Once the books reached Botswana I then needed to get them from Gaborone, in the south-east, to Maun, in the north-west, where I am based and near to Khumaga. This problem was resolved for me by Desert and Delta Safaris, and in particular Adrienne Esterhuyse, who organised for the books to be transported to Maun for which I am very grateful.
Due to the sheer volume of books which were donated I decided that it would be good to pass on a few of the books to other places. Accordingly I took one box of books to Moreomaoto primary school. Moreomaoto is another local village to the Makgadikgadi and at around 100 pupils is less than half the size of Khumaga primary school. The books were gratefully received by the deputy head and some of the other teachers. We left all of the teachers busily looking through the books – I think the children will have spent the rest of the day reading books picked out for them by their teachers!! One additional box of books was returned to Desert and Delta Safaris to pass on to Love Botswana, an outreach program for local children in Maun.
If you would like to see some pictures of the books being delivered to the schools then please visit my website gallery at: http://www.zebramigration.org/gallery/
Mma Tshube has asked me to thank everyone who donated any books and to those people who have made the delivery of the books logistically possible. On behalf of all of the children at Khumaga and Moreomaoto primary schools and Love Botswana in Maun I would like to say thank you to all the children (and parents) who generously contributed their books. Thank you also to Alison and Sue, the headteachers of Lanercost and Hayton respectively, as well as all of the other teachers who have taken such an interest, and encouraged the interest of their pupils, in both the letter writing exchange and the collection of books. I would also like to thank my parents who have been so helpful in co-ordinating things in the UK as well as Solomon Seeco and Adrienne Esterhuyse.
As for the main reason why I am here in Botswana, things are still going very well with the project. I will write another blog soon to update you all in more detail. Most collared zebra’s had recently migrated west as the surface waterholes to the east of the Makgadikgadi began to dry up. However, it has just been raining again and any zebra which had migrated west has now gone east again. This is a very strange year in Botswana but the zebra should benefit by having access to the grazing areas in the east of the park for much longer than normal. I will write a more detailed update on the zebra’s and fieldwork shortly.
As ever, if you have any questions or comments then please feel free to contact me via the blog or via email on zebra@zebramigration.org.
Till next time,
James
There has now been a link established between Khumaga primary school here in Botswana and Lanercost and Hayton primary schools in the UK. This link allows children from each of the schools to write letters and learn more about each others country, schooling and culture. This link continues to grow and I have recently delivered the second round of letters from children at Lanercost and Hayton to their pen-friends in Khumaga. These letters have only been recently delivered as the school has recently had their winter holiday for 5 weeks.
When I first visited Khumaga School in November last year and spoke to Mma Tshube, the deputy head, I asked her what she thought the school was short of; her reply was reading books for the school children. Earlier this year on March 5th, world book day, as well as dressing up as their favourite fictional character, the children of Lanercost and Hayton primary schools took some of their reading books into school with them. These books were being collected so that they could be sent to their new pen friends in Khumaga Primary School in Botswana and the response from all of the children and their parents was staggering.
On the 18th of September I took 6 large boxes of books of all shapes and sizes into Khumaga School. These books, along with 1 football and 1 volleyball (In a recent volleyball tournament Khumaga finished 3rd in their age group for the whole of Botswana) which had been bought with a donation from the Lanercost PTA, were delivered to Mma Tshube who was lost for words.
Mma Tshube and another teacher Mr Olephile then proceeded to look through the boxes of books before calling on some of the children to come and have a look. Mma Tshube found a book of bedtime stories and said that she was going to read them to her children, who are pupils at Khumaga, that night. Mr Olephile, the volleyball coach, didn’t really know where to start as there were so many books to look at. While some of the children were initially more attracted to the football and volleyball, the remainder began to look through the books with some enthusiasm before they hdd to go back to their lessons.
The books have now been safely placed into the small school library and are there for the children and teachers to use. I know that they are already proving to be a great resource for them all.
Before I left the UK for Botswana in mid-March I was amazed at the volume of books that had been collected while also wondering how we were going to be able to get all of the books to Botswana. This problem was solved for us by Mr Solomon Seeco of the Botswana High Commission in London. Mr Seeco generously offered his assistance, and the use of a container, in order to ship the books from the UK to Botswana. It would have taken much longer to get the books to Botswana without Mr Seeco’s help.
Once the books reached Botswana I then needed to get them from Gaborone, in the south-east, to Maun, in the north-west, where I am based and near to Khumaga. This problem was resolved for me by Desert and Delta Safaris, and in particular Adrienne Esterhuyse, who organised for the books to be transported to Maun for which I am very grateful.
Due to the sheer volume of books which were donated I decided that it would be good to pass on a few of the books to other places. Accordingly I took one box of books to Moreomaoto primary school. Moreomaoto is another local village to the Makgadikgadi and at around 100 pupils is less than half the size of Khumaga primary school. The books were gratefully received by the deputy head and some of the other teachers. We left all of the teachers busily looking through the books – I think the children will have spent the rest of the day reading books picked out for them by their teachers!! One additional box of books was returned to Desert and Delta Safaris to pass on to Love Botswana, an outreach program for local children in Maun.
If you would like to see some pictures of the books being delivered to the schools then please visit my website gallery at: http://www.zebramigration.org/gallery/
Mma Tshube has asked me to thank everyone who donated any books and to those people who have made the delivery of the books logistically possible. On behalf of all of the children at Khumaga and Moreomaoto primary schools and Love Botswana in Maun I would like to say thank you to all the children (and parents) who generously contributed their books. Thank you also to Alison and Sue, the headteachers of Lanercost and Hayton respectively, as well as all of the other teachers who have taken such an interest, and encouraged the interest of their pupils, in both the letter writing exchange and the collection of books. I would also like to thank my parents who have been so helpful in co-ordinating things in the UK as well as Solomon Seeco and Adrienne Esterhuyse.
As for the main reason why I am here in Botswana, things are still going very well with the project. I will write another blog soon to update you all in more detail. Most collared zebra’s had recently migrated west as the surface waterholes to the east of the Makgadikgadi began to dry up. However, it has just been raining again and any zebra which had migrated west has now gone east again. This is a very strange year in Botswana but the zebra should benefit by having access to the grazing areas in the east of the park for much longer than normal. I will write a more detailed update on the zebra’s and fieldwork shortly.
As ever, if you have any questions or comments then please feel free to contact me via the blog or via email on zebra@zebramigration.org.
Till next time,
James
Monday, 3 August 2009
The Boteti River!
The Boteti river last flowed properly in 1989 (although some people even say as far back as 1985). Since this time there have only been a number of small natural water seepages within the riverbed as well as a number of well points controlled by local cattle farmers. These water points were the only source of water within the Makgadikgadi during the dry season and were relied upon by wildlife and livestock.
The two safari camps along the river, Meno A Kwena and Leroo La Tau started to pump water for the wildlife and then 14 further artificial waterholes were established during 2007. All of these waterholes were vital for the survival of the wildlife, not least the zebra population, as they were not able to access much of the riverbed after the fence was completed in 2004.
During November 2008 the Boteti river flowed into the National park once more as it passed through the fence just above Meno A Kwena. This was the final push of the flood water that had originated as rain in the highlands of Angola and it didn’t flow much further.
Now, in July and August of 2009, we can say that the Boteti is a river once more. Since the flood water from Angola reached the pan handle of the Okavango Delta in early 2009 we have been eagerly waiting to see how far it would reach this year. This flood water was topped up by a significant quantity of rainwater within Botswana from a good wet season here. This was further augmented by the heavy unseasonal rainfall which fell in early June. The water level in Maun is still slowly rising to heights not seen in more than 20 years and this water then pushes on to flow down the Boteti river.
The river flowed into the park once again around the 20th of July and has since been progressing along the dry riverbed at between 1.5km and 4km a day and is now less than 2km from the fence which crosses the riverbed North of Khumaga.
Within the next few days the river will reach the hippo pools and the resident hippo population will have fresh river water for the first time in 20 years. No longer will they have to rely on the stagnant pools which have been their home.
The zebras will have access to a large body fresh water, their historical reason for migrating west, without the need to congregate around 3 or 4 of the artificial waterholes when the water dries up in the eastern Makgadikgadi. It’s a shame that there are not 5000 or more zebra here in the riverbed to meet the river as it flows once more.
The crocodiles which live in caves near to the artificial waterholes will have a fresh watercourse to patrol which will help them to hunt. Do they even remember what fish tastes like?
Outside of the fence the cattle farmers will no longer have to pump water everyday to meet the needs of their livestock. The residents of Khumaga village will be able to fish once more. Khumaga was originally established as a fishing village long before the river dried.
The river does cause a few logistical problems though. As I’m sure you’re all aware, electricity and water don’t go well together and so there will be problems maintaining the effectiveness of the fence.
Also it is going to make driving into the National park a challenge. It may be possible to find shallow crossing points but until the river has passed through it is impossible to know how deep the water will be. I may have to look for another site to camp on the national park side of the river.
This is a very exciting time though and it is amazing to watch the river returning as it flows over areas not covered with water for so long. There are shoals of small fish at the head of the water and there are bubbles everywhere as air pockets in the sand get filled by the incoming water. I am expecting the river to flow in front of Leroo la Tau later this week and I will post some pictures to the website gallery when I am next in Maun.
Its back to work for me as I rush to complete some fieldwork before the river cuts me off from the park.
Till next time.
James
The two safari camps along the river, Meno A Kwena and Leroo La Tau started to pump water for the wildlife and then 14 further artificial waterholes were established during 2007. All of these waterholes were vital for the survival of the wildlife, not least the zebra population, as they were not able to access much of the riverbed after the fence was completed in 2004.
During November 2008 the Boteti river flowed into the National park once more as it passed through the fence just above Meno A Kwena. This was the final push of the flood water that had originated as rain in the highlands of Angola and it didn’t flow much further.
Now, in July and August of 2009, we can say that the Boteti is a river once more. Since the flood water from Angola reached the pan handle of the Okavango Delta in early 2009 we have been eagerly waiting to see how far it would reach this year. This flood water was topped up by a significant quantity of rainwater within Botswana from a good wet season here. This was further augmented by the heavy unseasonal rainfall which fell in early June. The water level in Maun is still slowly rising to heights not seen in more than 20 years and this water then pushes on to flow down the Boteti river.
The river flowed into the park once again around the 20th of July and has since been progressing along the dry riverbed at between 1.5km and 4km a day and is now less than 2km from the fence which crosses the riverbed North of Khumaga.
Within the next few days the river will reach the hippo pools and the resident hippo population will have fresh river water for the first time in 20 years. No longer will they have to rely on the stagnant pools which have been their home.
The zebras will have access to a large body fresh water, their historical reason for migrating west, without the need to congregate around 3 or 4 of the artificial waterholes when the water dries up in the eastern Makgadikgadi. It’s a shame that there are not 5000 or more zebra here in the riverbed to meet the river as it flows once more.
The crocodiles which live in caves near to the artificial waterholes will have a fresh watercourse to patrol which will help them to hunt. Do they even remember what fish tastes like?
Outside of the fence the cattle farmers will no longer have to pump water everyday to meet the needs of their livestock. The residents of Khumaga village will be able to fish once more. Khumaga was originally established as a fishing village long before the river dried.
The river does cause a few logistical problems though. As I’m sure you’re all aware, electricity and water don’t go well together and so there will be problems maintaining the effectiveness of the fence.
Also it is going to make driving into the National park a challenge. It may be possible to find shallow crossing points but until the river has passed through it is impossible to know how deep the water will be. I may have to look for another site to camp on the national park side of the river.
This is a very exciting time though and it is amazing to watch the river returning as it flows over areas not covered with water for so long. There are shoals of small fish at the head of the water and there are bubbles everywhere as air pockets in the sand get filled by the incoming water. I am expecting the river to flow in front of Leroo la Tau later this week and I will post some pictures to the website gallery when I am next in Maun.
Its back to work for me as I rush to complete some fieldwork before the river cuts me off from the park.
Till next time.
James
Friday, 3 July 2009
Unseasonal weather
Hi,
In my last blog entry I mentioned how the dry season had finally begun with all of the zebra migrating west, back to the Boteti region. I spoke to soon. There has been the most rain in June for 100 years which has understandably changed things once again.
June started well as the final GPS collar was deployed onto a zebra within 500 metres of Leroo La Tau. Everything went smoothly and the zebra was back with her harem within 20 minutes of the initial darting. We then began fieldwork in earnest by tracking collared zebra and locating preferred grazing patches to sample. We were able to conduct a number of these sampling sites prior to the rain arriving. We also tried to conduct a 12-hour focal observation on one collared zebra who decided to return to the Boteti waterholes for a drink. In doing so she had to walk through areas of dense acacia which we weren’t able to follow her through and so we had to stop the observation.
Then on June 8th the clouds started to build and I expected rain. However, I expected the usual 2-3mm which usually arrives in early June. Instead we got non-stop rain for 48 hours which prompted the government to issue flood warnings for most of the country. When the rain decided to stop there had been over 100mm in the western Makgadikgadi and over 180mm at Jack’s camp on the east of the Makgadikgadi! One of the most significant effects of this un-seasonal rainfall has been on the local farmers who had successfully harvested their crops but which then got severely damaged in the rain.
The zebra’s, however, decided that the rain was a good thing which they were going to take full advantage of. Within hours of the rain beginning all 10 collared zebra were on the move and migrating east back towards the open grasslands. In the grasslands they are able to graze in areas of plentiful high-quality grass near to pans which are full of water. This can only be a good thing for the Makgadikgadi zebra population but wasn’t really in the script of what should be happening during the dry season here in the Makgadikgadi.
I have adapted my field schedule to accommodate the zebra’s grazing in the east and this means that I am now spending 3 days at a time out in the centre of the national park away from my camp. During these 3 days I am able to collect a significant amount of data on the grazing preferences of zebra as well as conduct behavioural observations and counts.
A typical routine during a 3 day sampling trip is as follows:
Day one:
Rise at around 5:30am and download up-to-date GPS data from the collars so that we know where all of the collared zebra are. We then finish packing the car with the bed rolls, tent, tracking aerials, the fridge and food and anything else that we might need. Make a cup of coffee to drink from a thermal mug on the journey and leave camp before sunrise.
I choose which collared zebra’s I would like to collect samples from prior to leaving and so we head for the last downloaded GPS point for one collared zebra. When we near this point we begin to track the collar using a VHF receiver as the zebra will have moved, but hopefully not too far. Sometimes the zebra may be in a herd of a thousand or more zebra and so identifying the collared zebra can take sometime. After locating the zebra, we identify the area where it is grazing and then sample this area, identifying the grass species present as well as measuring the quantity of available forage. For the rest of the day we repeat this process for 2 or 3 more collared zebra before locating a campsite at sunset.
Day two:
Rise around 5:30am to track and locate a collared zebra before sunrise at 7am in order that we can spend the whole day observing one zebra. It’s currently the middle of winter here in Botswana and so it’s incredibly cold at this time in the morning and the aluminium aerials make you feel even colder.
Once a zebra has been located we then follow this zebra until 6pm, conducting a 5 minute behavioural observation every 20 minutes. During this 5 minute observation period I record the activity that the zebra is exhibiting such as grazing, vigilant, resting, walking, grooming or interacting with other zebra or other animals. If the zebra decides it wants to go somewhere then we need to follow but at a distance where we do not interfere with normal behaviour but where we can still see the zebra. If at anytime we lose the zebra and can not see her for two consecutive 5 minute observation periods then the whole days data collection has to be scrapped.
After conducting the final 5 minute observation at 6pm we head back to where we camped the previous night for a warm meal.
Day three:
Rise around 6am to break camp and locate a collared zebra. Before 9 am it is not possible to conduct grass sampling as there is too much dew on the grass and so we conduct observations on the foraging behaviour of the zebra. We then spend the remainder of the day identifying and sampling the preferred grazing sites of collared zebra as on day one.
Interspersed with the grass sampling we conduct counts of random herds of zebra to record how many adult males, adult females, yearlings and juveniles there are. This allows you to get a good picture of how ‘healthy’ the overall population is. Put simply - if there are lots of yearlings in the population then the number of young zebra surviving to become adult zebra is good and the population is in good health and may be growing.
Around an hour before sunset we set off on the two hour drive back to our main camp here at Leroo La Tau ready for a warm shower.
We then spend two days in camp sorting and entering the data that we have collected before heading back into the park again for another 3 days.
I hope this helps you to understand what we get up to on a daily basis. If you have any questions or comments then feel free to get in touch either via the blog or by email.
Till next time.
James
In my last blog entry I mentioned how the dry season had finally begun with all of the zebra migrating west, back to the Boteti region. I spoke to soon. There has been the most rain in June for 100 years which has understandably changed things once again.
June started well as the final GPS collar was deployed onto a zebra within 500 metres of Leroo La Tau. Everything went smoothly and the zebra was back with her harem within 20 minutes of the initial darting. We then began fieldwork in earnest by tracking collared zebra and locating preferred grazing patches to sample. We were able to conduct a number of these sampling sites prior to the rain arriving. We also tried to conduct a 12-hour focal observation on one collared zebra who decided to return to the Boteti waterholes for a drink. In doing so she had to walk through areas of dense acacia which we weren’t able to follow her through and so we had to stop the observation.
Then on June 8th the clouds started to build and I expected rain. However, I expected the usual 2-3mm which usually arrives in early June. Instead we got non-stop rain for 48 hours which prompted the government to issue flood warnings for most of the country. When the rain decided to stop there had been over 100mm in the western Makgadikgadi and over 180mm at Jack’s camp on the east of the Makgadikgadi! One of the most significant effects of this un-seasonal rainfall has been on the local farmers who had successfully harvested their crops but which then got severely damaged in the rain.
The zebra’s, however, decided that the rain was a good thing which they were going to take full advantage of. Within hours of the rain beginning all 10 collared zebra were on the move and migrating east back towards the open grasslands. In the grasslands they are able to graze in areas of plentiful high-quality grass near to pans which are full of water. This can only be a good thing for the Makgadikgadi zebra population but wasn’t really in the script of what should be happening during the dry season here in the Makgadikgadi.
I have adapted my field schedule to accommodate the zebra’s grazing in the east and this means that I am now spending 3 days at a time out in the centre of the national park away from my camp. During these 3 days I am able to collect a significant amount of data on the grazing preferences of zebra as well as conduct behavioural observations and counts.
A typical routine during a 3 day sampling trip is as follows:
Day one:
Rise at around 5:30am and download up-to-date GPS data from the collars so that we know where all of the collared zebra are. We then finish packing the car with the bed rolls, tent, tracking aerials, the fridge and food and anything else that we might need. Make a cup of coffee to drink from a thermal mug on the journey and leave camp before sunrise.
I choose which collared zebra’s I would like to collect samples from prior to leaving and so we head for the last downloaded GPS point for one collared zebra. When we near this point we begin to track the collar using a VHF receiver as the zebra will have moved, but hopefully not too far. Sometimes the zebra may be in a herd of a thousand or more zebra and so identifying the collared zebra can take sometime. After locating the zebra, we identify the area where it is grazing and then sample this area, identifying the grass species present as well as measuring the quantity of available forage. For the rest of the day we repeat this process for 2 or 3 more collared zebra before locating a campsite at sunset.
Day two:
Rise around 5:30am to track and locate a collared zebra before sunrise at 7am in order that we can spend the whole day observing one zebra. It’s currently the middle of winter here in Botswana and so it’s incredibly cold at this time in the morning and the aluminium aerials make you feel even colder.
Once a zebra has been located we then follow this zebra until 6pm, conducting a 5 minute behavioural observation every 20 minutes. During this 5 minute observation period I record the activity that the zebra is exhibiting such as grazing, vigilant, resting, walking, grooming or interacting with other zebra or other animals. If the zebra decides it wants to go somewhere then we need to follow but at a distance where we do not interfere with normal behaviour but where we can still see the zebra. If at anytime we lose the zebra and can not see her for two consecutive 5 minute observation periods then the whole days data collection has to be scrapped.
After conducting the final 5 minute observation at 6pm we head back to where we camped the previous night for a warm meal.
Day three:
Rise around 6am to break camp and locate a collared zebra. Before 9 am it is not possible to conduct grass sampling as there is too much dew on the grass and so we conduct observations on the foraging behaviour of the zebra. We then spend the remainder of the day identifying and sampling the preferred grazing sites of collared zebra as on day one.
Interspersed with the grass sampling we conduct counts of random herds of zebra to record how many adult males, adult females, yearlings and juveniles there are. This allows you to get a good picture of how ‘healthy’ the overall population is. Put simply - if there are lots of yearlings in the population then the number of young zebra surviving to become adult zebra is good and the population is in good health and may be growing.
Around an hour before sunset we set off on the two hour drive back to our main camp here at Leroo La Tau ready for a warm shower.
We then spend two days in camp sorting and entering the data that we have collected before heading back into the park again for another 3 days.
I hope this helps you to understand what we get up to on a daily basis. If you have any questions or comments then feel free to get in touch either via the blog or by email.
Till next time.
James
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