Unusual or Interesting Sightings in the Kgalagadi

[Toko]

http://www.news24.com/Green/News/Busine ... t-20150122

Businesses save Kalahari elephant
2015-01-22 05:00

Windhoek - Local business people in Namibia have stepped in to save an elephant bull roaming commercial farms that had been branded a "problem animal" and was to have been killed.

"We want to avoid what happened last year when a wild elephant moved into commercial farm areas from Eastern Namibia and was shot dead by officials from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism [MET]," Alex McDonald, who runs an agricultural business, told a Sapa correspondent on Wednesday.

"I engaged a few business people to collect some funds to move the elephant to a safer area like a nature park.

"We have now set up a trust fund via a lawyer and donations are coming in."

He said an application was made to the MET for permission to relocate the elephant to a safer area.

The elephant is believed to have entered Namibia from Botswana's Kgalagadi Cross-Border Park shared with Namibia, last week.

He was first sighted at the Kalahari Game Lodge near the border with Botswana.

"The elephant was very, very thirsty and drank a lot of water," said Divan Dreyer of the lodge.

The MET said on Wednesday it had first decided to kill the elephant but will now allow it to roam.

"Damages to [farm] properties were confirmed by our dispatched officials. In accordance with applicable legislation the elephant was declared as a problem-causing animal and a decision was therefore taken to destroy it."

The ministry however backtracked.

"The MET has received a request from some farmers to capture, release and transfer ownership of this elephant to them which the ministry could not do for various reasons," it stated in the same statement.

No reasons were given.

"These farmers indicated that no serious damage is caused by this elephant. The ministry has now decided to let the elephant roam the area without any intervention."

Once it causes serious damages, the ministry would have "no choice but to destroy the elephant," according to the statement.

- SAPA

[nan]

[Mel]

Glad the MET backtracked!

[nan]

for how long time

[Lisbeth]

The elephant might return to where it came from

[CliveK]

Thought I would revive this thread by sharing an interesting encounter experienced during a recent trip to KTP. Unfortunately I was using a long lens and wasn’t always able to get all the birds together in each shot.

Whilst taking a midday drive from TR towards Kij Kij, and at a point near Leeudril, we observed an AWC stalking across the road some distance ahead of us. We proceeded towards the spot with caution, hoping to find the AWC still around where first sighted. The grass was quite thick and it was difficult to see anything. Then in a clearing, a short distance from the road, we found the probable source of what must have been the attraction for the AWC.

A pair of Pale Chanting Goshawks had captured a Spotted Thick Knee (Dik Kop), and was battling to hold the bird down for the kill. They were extremely exhausted and were panting heavily when found. The following pictures (a few of many taken) record the events that unfolded:

The Scene on arrival…….


Some 5 minutes later still hanging in….


After a while, the one gave up and moved to a position further away…..


Leaving the remaining one to handle the kill……


All of a sudden, the DIK Kop made a desperate move to flee…….


One can see the strangle hold marks on its neck as it moved away……


It made an attempt to dash away, but……..


As it attempted to take off, the Goshawks came in for another attack….


The second confrontation – sizing each other up…..


At this point, something distracted the Goshawks (possibly they sensed the AWC around) and they abandoned the catch and left the scene….


The DIK Kop, being completely disorientated and having an injured left eye, now made a desperate dash for freedom, colliding with everything in its path…


At this point it disappeared into the thick grass and we never saw it again


We still wonder if it got away and survived or if later, due to its injuries, became prey for the AWC .

It is still on our wish list to see and photograph an AWC in KTP. Others seem to be so fortunate in this regard.

[Flutterby]

Wow, amazing sighting and pics!

[Lisbeth]

Really an unusual sighting The dikkop looks rather shocked, poor thing

Too big a bite for the goshawks They would be able to kill it, but would they eat it?

[Mel]

I feel for the poor dikkop... but nevertheless this was an exciting thing to observe.

[Flutterby]

An amazing video of lions licking water from a tent in the KTP!