Samara Private Game Reserve

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Lisbeth
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Samara Private Game Reserve

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WATCH: Bull elephants to complete first herd in 150 years at Samara Private Game Reserve

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Just over a year after the reintroduction of elephants to the Camdeboo Plains, Samara Private Game reserve have two elephant bulls to complete the first herd in the region in about 150 years.

This follows the successful release of six female elephants into the reserve in October 2017 – a historic translocation in itself. Crucially, the translocation of the two bulls will enhance the social structure of Samara’s elephant population.

Samara’s new bulls both originate from Phinda, where they sometimes moved together. One is approximately 30 years old weighing 6.3 tons and the other 20 years old weighing 5.7 tons.

“We have been so pleased with how the founder herd of female elephant have settled at Samara. We monitor their behaviour and movements closely, with a full-time monitor provided by the NGO Elephants, Rhinos & People, who also co-funded the translocation to Samara and the satellite collar on the sub-matriarch," says Sarah Tompkins of Samara.

ERP’s monitor at Samara has been training two interns, graduates of the SACT Tracker Academy, whose knowledge of elephant ecology and behaviour has progressed tremendously over the past year” says Tompkins.

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"We have been monitoring the female elephants at Samara for a year now”, says Ida Hansen, ERP representative. “It will be very interesting to see how they react to the two bulls and how the bulls settle in at Samara”.

The knowledge that elephant bulls are highly social creatures informed the decision to introduce two bulls so that they could enjoy each other’s company.

“The presence of bulls is likely to bring a new dynamic to the reserve, and one which we are excited to witness as we continue to restore this breathtaking ecosystem.”

The two bulls arrived at Samara after a 24-hour journey, ably transported by drivers Koos and Skukuza, part of Kester Vickery’s team at Conservation Solutions. The entire operation was guided and overseen by elephant translocation experts Elephants, Rhinos & People (erp.ngo), who accompanied the elephants on their journey in a support vehicle.

Sarah, who founded Samara Private Game Reserve with her husband Mark 21 years ago, has long held a vision of restoring the area to its original state. “Before early farmers and settlers eradicated the Karoo’s wildlife, it boasted a wonderfully rich biodiversity, and was home to species like cheetah, rhino, Cape lion, springbok and elephant,” Sarah comments. Thanks to the Tompkins’ dedication, and the conservation ethos which remains at Samara’s heart, their vision is steadily becoming a reality.

“The population of African elephants is in a state of crisis, having declined by an alarming 30% in just 10 years. To safeguard the future of the species, there is a need to manage elephants as part of meta-populations; a group of spatially-separated populations between which translocations can take place to ensure genetic diversity and to establish founder populations in areas where elephants previously occurred but have since been eradicated,” says Tomkins stating, "Samara is committed to playing its part in the conservation of this iconic gentle giant."


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\O \O \O


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Who’s your daddy, jumbo mama?

Hopes high as two bulls join female herd on Eastern Cape land where nature's giants once roamed freely

BY GUY ROGERS - 27 November 2018

Two bull elephants have been introduced to the Samara Game Reserve near Graaff-Reinet where the species last ranged more than 150 years ago.

The hope is that the pair of bulls, which arrived last week, will link up with the pioneer herd of six jumbo cows that were introduced to the reserve a year ago.

Samara general manager Marnus Ochse said on Monday, the new arrivals would change the dynamics of the reserve in a number of important ways.

“There may be some conflict as they vie for mating rights with the four mature females which will now start coming on oestrus every three months,” Ochse said.

“But the presence of the bulls should also make the herd feel more secure.

“Once they mate, the gestation of a pregnant elephant cow is 22 months and the arrival of calves thereafter, if all goes smoothly, will bring further stability and cohesion to the herd.”

He said the bulls would also have a positive physical effect on the reserve itself as well as tourism as their sheer size attracted attention. “They will probably open up passages, especially through the dense riverine vegetation, and we’ll see the regeneration of different grasses.

“More guests will mean money to put back into conservation, so that will be great,” he said.

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Mvula pokes out his trunk to get a sense of his new surroundings after the truck arrived at Samara - Image: Julius Mkhize

The two male elephants were transferred from the Phinda Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal with co-sponsorship from the NGO, Elephants, Rhinos and People.

The same organisation has been sponsoring the monitoring of the females since they arrived in October 2017 as well as the training of two SA College for Tourism Tracker Academy graduates who have spearheaded the monitoring programme.

The latest transfer was part of a continuing project by the owners of Samara, Sarah and Mark Tompkins.

They were advised by the Centre for African Conservation Ecology at Nelson Mandela University to restore the predator-prey balance and the full suite of wildlife that historically occurred there.

Records of elephant bones, molars and tusks illustrate an ancient elephant migration route which saw jumbos move up the Sundays and Great Fish rivers onto the Camdeboo plains, branching into tributaries like the Melk, which runs across Samara.

One early explorer’s account captured in naturalist Dr Jack Skead’s Historical Incidences in the Cape Province Volume 2 indicates the elephants sometimes used to continue north to the Groote – now Orange – River.

Tompkins said the move to bring back elephants to Samara was also a response to poaching which had cut elephant numbers by 30% across Africa in the past decade.

“To safeguard the future of the species, there is a need to manage elephants as part of meta-populations [a group of spatially-separated populations between which translocations can take place to ensure genetic diversity],” Tompkins said.

“And to establish founder populations in areas where elephants previously occurred but have since been eradicated.”

Ochse said 13,000ha of the 27,000ha reserve had so far been fenced for elephants.

After the first calving, numbers would be assessed and selective contraception might be introduced to ensure carrying capacity and maximum sustainable population for the available range are not overshot.

He said the vision was to extend the elephant fencing further, and in the long run lower the fences dividing Samara and neighbouring reserves and to create a 104,000ha conservation corridor stretching up to the Camdeboo National Park.


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Re: Samara Private Game Reserve

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Go go go.

Hope they live for long there \O


Next trip to the bush??

Let me think......................
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^Q^ ^Q^


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Good to see a positive story for a change. O/\


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Re: Samara Private Game Reserve

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A good friend of mine farms along the boundary of this reserve and has had Samara Cheetah break through onto his property in the past ..He normally phones them and gives them 6 hours to remove them which they do. \However with extremely valuable Stud Angora Goat Rams on his farm ..the last time he had had enough so he has told them 'Shoot on Sight next time'..So if they cant keep their Cheetah in the reserve I dont hold out much hope for them containing elephants ..He wont tolerate those as they are very destructive to irrigation pipes (They even dig up submerged piping at Addo and thats not as dry as his farm area and his very expensive irrigation lies on the surface)..Hopefully Samara have done their homework and provided Ellie fencing ala Addo style at est R 40 m per Km ??!!...I see from the article that they have in fact fenced a portion for ellies .. The Farmer and his family and my family were invited one evening for a 'Full on ' Trial run years ago before they opened their doors to Jan Public ..Super understated lodge the way it should be and SUPERB scenery as only the area around Graaff Reinet can provide and the food that evening after the game drive ..best of breed !!


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\O


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\O


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LIONS RETURN TO THE KAROO AFTER 180 YEARS

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Cindy Archillies | The hills and valleys of the Karoo will once again be filled with the roar of the King of the Jungle. More than 180 years after hunters wiped them out in the area, a pair has been reintroduced.


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