Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Boteti Lions and Brown Hyena movements

Leroo La Tau is not only about lion, zebra and wildebeest. Leroo La Tau also boasts Chobe bushbuck, leopard, brown and spotted hyena, impala, kudu, jackal, porcupine, genet and caracal, to name but a few. In addition, there is also the possibility of seeing the rare white rhinoceros. Most unique however, are the crocodiles and an amazing pod of hippo which have survived in extremely adverse conditions for over 12 years. The hugely contrasting seasons and terrain make this area of the Makgadikgadi a unique haven for large herds and predators alike.

Researcher Glyn Maud based themselves at Leroo La Tau, tracking collars on brown hyaena and lion. The immediate information from these transmitters would show us their movements, especially now the migration has moved away to the saltpans. They achieved the aim with a couple of collars onto brown hyaena (one a cell phone collar and the second a normal GPS remote download collars. They also put a cell phone GPS collar onto a lioness.




While we were doing the darting we saw males on the other side of the fence. The next aim will be to get funds together to get a cell collar onto a male lion to observe fence crossing, as it is mainly the male lions that cross the fence, but the data captured will give clearer picture over a longer period.

Glyn Maude, Researcher at Leroo La Tau

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