Many thanks to all who looked. Yes, we are blessed with such a variety of
big game right on our doorstep. It's easy to get shots of individual animals
but I rather wait for something more unusual. Patience & luck are the
keywords. In 38 years I have had only 5 Leopard sightings yet some people
say they see Leopard every time they go in. Kruger is a vast area - roughly
400km N/S and 70km E/W. The game concentrations & herd sizes are much higher
in the south which receives more rainfall. The policy of artificial
waterholes (wind & solar pumps) has largely been discontinued because
predators were moving into areas in the north frequented by rare antelope
such as Sable & Roan. Up here the herds are generally small so that Elephant
herd was exceptional. There are roughly 14000 elephants in Kruger which is
nearly twice the estimated carrying capacity. They are breeding well. The
culling operations of former years were halted due to international pressure
groups. The downside is that the habitat is being destroyed in many areas.
The solution was thought to be the Transfrontier Park spilling over into
Mozambique with the border fences & police/army patrols removed. However,
poaching on the Mozambique side is considerable. The Elephants are very
intelligent & don't go there any more. There are no Rhinos left in
Mozambique & they are killing them in Kruger at the rate of 2 a day. There
is an insatiable market for Rhino horn in the Far East where it is believed
to have all sorts of medicinal properties. The poachers (all ex-soldiers)
are equipped with the latest night vision equipment - it is really a low
nsity war. Millions is being spent on counter measures (army patrols, air
surveillance, drones, undercover work) yet the poaching continues. Who are
the masterminds/financiers? Now they are talking about re-erecting the
border fence since most poachers are perceived to come from Mozambique. It
seems quite amazing that no tourists have yet been attacked in Kruger yet
many have in Mozambique.
Zos, my FA lenses are the original black ones with metal bodies, not the
later white ones with plastic bodies.
Alan C
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