Author Archives: Gavin Tonkinson

Wild Dogs Cause Mayhem

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The next story and amazing sighting I am going to share with you, is one that will get your emotions running at full tilt, and probably wont be for the faint hearted !

Just to give you an idea, I spend about 8 hours every day out here in Madikwe’s savannas, and to see a real time hunt from start to finish is something that happens very little, and I am lucky if I manage to see just one such a sighting a year . Yes… 1 in a year doing 8 hours everyday !!

 So it has a lot to do with being in the right place at the right time, and a bucket full of luck…. Well almost. We as professional guides, do from time to time create our own luck sometimes as happened one beautiful morning at Tlou Dam in the Madikwe Game Reserve.

The sun was just rising, and the dew on the grass was glistening with golden color and the melodious chirping of the birds all around us created a scene of peace and tranquility.

Well, our heaven on earth moment was abruptly interrupted when a herd of wildebeest came screaming out of the bush at full pace with a pack of 19 African Wild Dogs hot on their heels !!

The pack had managed to separate a female wildebeest and its calf while some of the other pack members split off to chase the rest of the herd away. The mother and calf were running straight at us, and the cameras were going wild frame by frame, and this is when I soon realized they were going to chase them into the water as they have done so successfully in the past.

First it was the calf…. running in front of its mother, then the snapping jaws of the most efficient predator on planet earth all splashing into the muddy dam at a serious pace. Once the wildebeest had hit the mud, it instantly slowed them down, as their hooves just could not get any traction to move forward, at this time it was the beginning of the end as the razor sharp teeth of the Wild Dogs started tearing into the flesh of both victims !

The calf was left to the sub adults in the pack while the more experienced and lead hunters went after the mother wildebeest and the struggle then began….

Before you read any further, I would just like to explain to you the modus opperandi of the dogs when they hunt. Wild Dogs do not stalk their prey as lions or say leopards would, they briskly move through an area moving into the wind, and when they smell or hear or see any prey item, they simply give chase, and they chase until the prey is exhausted, or use well know obstacles such as waterholes or fences to corner their prey. Once they have pinned the animal down, they will just start tearing into the flesh, usually from the inside of the legs where it is very soft, and soon the prey loses its vital organs or bleeds to death very quickly. Lions would suffocate their prey for 20 minutes before they will open the carcass at their own time.

Anyway, what happens next is just that… the tearing open of the victims and the accompanying bellowing of the calf and mother mixed in with the high pitch giggling sounds of the excited dogs created a very moody atmosphere, as some of the guests witnessing this started closing eyes and ears, and even looking in other directions !

It took some 10 minutes for the calf to succumb to the razor sharp teeth, and a further 10 minutes for the mother wildebeest to die due to shock and loss of blood. Once the killing had been done, a feasting frenzy had begun, and the dogs were filling their bellies in no time, and had only taken them 10 minutes to reduce the calf to a few bones and skin. This is efficiency at its best !!

This was a big prize for such a large pack of wild dogs, as they require a large amount of energy to chase their prey, so killing a large wildebeest and calf would do them good for the next day or so.

 

So…. What an incredible sighting, and if your are a guest on my vehicle in the future, and find yourself in such a lucky position, just enjoy the moment, and see it for what it is…….. 100% raw nature !!

 After all, isn’t that what we all want to see and experience when we are in the great savannas of Africa?

  So, until the next awesome sighting,

I wish you all happy safaring…..

Regards,

Gavin

Madikwe’s “Magnificent 7″

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Madikwe has not had cheetah roaming the plains for about 3 years until the release of 2 males which came from the Kwandwe Game Reserve in the eastern cape. They were put into a holding boma for an introductory period where they would get used to the sights and sounds of vehicles moving around them, and also gave them the opportunity to tune in to the animal movements around them. A month or so later another coalition of 4 males arrived and were put into a boma in the south to go through the same process.

So…. you are probably thinking, why did it take so long?

Well besides the fact that cheetah populations in the wild are under severe threat by habitat destruction and relentless persecution by farmers, there are very few ” lion aware” cheetahs available. “Lion aware ” cheetahs have to come from game reserves or parks where they have been introduced, or born in lion and other big predator areas. This gives them a better chance of survival, as they will know how to deal with the stronger predators and evade them when necessary.

Madikwe now boasts the “Magnificent 7″  once more !

That is… the Big 5 plus Cheetah and Wild Dog, and being able to spend time  with these animals on a regular basis really puts us in one of the best places in the world to photograph all these amazing creatures. Now, just photographing these animals wouldn’t be half the fun if it was not for us having to track them down. It is an extremely rewarding experience to find these animals after a long tracking session, and then being able to share your knowledge with the guests and seeing their ecstatic expressions as their shutters go wild on their cameras. Cheetah are probably my most favorite animal to follow and photograph, as their eyes just have some soft as well as evil shades in them, and depending on their mood can astonish you with their speed and agility as they tear off after an impala at just short of 100km/h !

So, you will probably be seeing and hearing a lot more about these underdogs in Madikwe, and hopefully we can find a female for them in the future to bring the species full circle by preserving them for our future generations.

 

Until next time,

Regards,

Gavin

 

2013 Begins !!

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Hello all,

Well, 2012 has come and gone, and we are looking forward to new challenges in 2013 with new goals and aspirations to keep us sane in your day to day grind.

Well, my day to day grind is somewhat different to the average person on the street in that i am fortunate enough to live my life amongst the animals on the savannas of Madikwe. I wouldn’t change it for the world !! So my website has finally come to a kinda completeness, and I am enjoying the results after much frustration in the process, and I will hopefully keep it as interesting as possible with insights of the images and sightings I will share with you this year.

So here we go….. Madikwe is the place to be at the moment, as the rains have brought a huge change from the long winter splashing the land with carpets of green grass, flowers in every color and shape, and the cheerful song of migratory birds which have returned to enjoy the abundant food available at the moment.  As far as the animals are concerned it is ROCKING !! The impala and wildebeest calves have dropped and there are lots of young zebra, kudu, and giraffe on every corner. Now, we are extremely excited with the  two newly released cheetah brothers that came from Kwandwe in the Eastern Cape, and I am glad to say that they are spending huge amounts of time with full bellies, as they are killing on a regular basis. There are another 4 males which are going to be released shortly, and will double our chances at finding them, and on top of that there are another 2 which arrived a couple days ago which will undergo an introductory period for them to acclimatize to the area before they too will be released within a month or two.

The lions in and around the lodge area are doing nicely, with the Bulaya females both giving birth to cubs, however have not yet shown their cubs to us yet. The Mica/Jamala pride have adopted 4 cubs from out of nowhere, and we are baffled at this behavior, as we are not sure which pride or female they came from, but are giving us huge pleasure to photograph, as there are 9 cubs all bouncing around and begging their moms to go hunting for them.

The Wild Dogs are just causing havoc with the young impala and wildebeest as they are nailing 2 0r 3 every morning and every afternoon…..CARNAGE !! The small pack has 5 youngsters and 3 adults, while the big pack has 24 individuals with 12 been pups, so they are doing extremely well for the time been…hopefully they stay away from the lions this year !!

As far as leopards go….well, it is going extremely well, as the Phodile female from the north has been sighted very often and is becoming a really good find as she is allowing us to follow her on the hunt, and she even uses the vehicle to her advantage when hunting ! The Tshala female in the south has always been a gem, and she is showing up frequently, and just yesterday showed us her long awaited cubs !!! Yip, she has 2 of them, but thay are still rather shy, and I have not managed to get any images of them just yet, but i am sure with some respect to her and her cubs she will bring them to us in her own time !! So watch this hot space for news on her in the close future !!

The general game around the lodge and along the ridge to the south is insane at the moment with huge herds of zebra and wildebeest filling in the gaps when times get quiet on the drive.

So, this is just to get you all back to speed with whats what in  ”MY OFFICE” ……. Stay tuned for more stories of “my kids” soon…..

Regards,

Gavin

 

Merry Christmas !!

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So another great year has come and gone !!

It has been a year filled with some amazing photographic challenges and unbelievable sightings in the Madikwe Game Reserve, and I look forward to sharing some more of the same special times next year.

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Splendid 2013 !!

Regards, Gavin