As the year progresses, we are now entering the hot, dry season at Savute. Daytime temperatures are soaring, often around the 33ºC mark. Early mornings are however still rather chilly, in the region of 15ºC. All the natural waterholes are drying up very fast, with only mud left in the natural waterholes at Harvey’s and Disaster Pans. The only available water sources are currently at the three artificial waterholes maintained by Wildlife Services and the one directly infront of Savute Safari Lodge maintained by ourselves here in camp. Currently we are pumping water constantly throughout the day to the waterholes at the lodge, often to find it drank dry by the big groups of elephant moving into the area to make use of this very limited resource.
During daytime the waterholes are usually dominated by bulls, who at times look as if they are deriving great pleasure from standing in the waterhole, keeping all others from getting close to the water. At times they can become very aggressive when any other animal approaches. You can imagine our surprise when we even saw a young bull chasing away a Guineafowl that was cheeky enough to come and drink some of “his” water.
During night time, the waterholes are more often frequented by breeding herds of Elephant. The mothers and young ones usually move in as a big group. Getting to the cool water all in one go. They do not hang around the hole as the bulls usually do, but rather drink their fill and move on again as soon as they have slacked their thirst. This provide great delight for ourselves in camp, as there are often very young ones, less than a year old accompanying the adults.
One particular individual has been grabbing our attention for a while, as he is a regular visitor to camp. This young bull has got no trunk, due to either a genetic defect or loosing it early during his life – therefore being christened “Stumpy”. Stumpy made his first appearance at the waterhole around three years ago. Then already he had no trunk, therefore we can deduct that he is at least three years old. He is coping with this defect quite well, kneeling down in the deepest part of the water to drink whenever his herd comes into camp. When feeding, he pushes his whole head into the trees to feed like an antelope, directly from the branches. He appears to be in a good condition, therefore seems to be coping well with this disability.
With the elephants dominating the waterholes, the other animals are taking a chance whenever they can to have a drink. For the first time this year we even had a couple of giraffes coming to drink at the lodge. Unfortunately they did not stay for long, as the elephants quickly chased them away.
As the season progresses, and the days become hotter, these conflicts will become more and more, providing excellent opportunities to see the interaction between the different species. Who knows what the rest of the year holds?
Many thanks: - Kobus Lubbe, Savute Safari Lodge Manager
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