Hand rearing a baby warthog – Kevin the piglet at Askari

One day back in November, we found ourselves cradling a tiny warthog piglet and trying to feed it milk. At Askari we are not well practised in hand rearing animals; it’s not something we aim to do and in fact just the opposite, our goal is for nature and wilderness to exist with minimal human interference. This particular piglet however was so determined to survive that we literally couldn’t ignore him if we tried! Suddenly faced with a task we knew nothing about, we began to search the internet….the big world wide web which would surely have all the answers for how to hand rear baby warthogs. There really wasn’t much out there, just tiny snippets of info here and there and much of it conflicting. It was very much trial and error but here I will detail the success of ‘Kevin’ the baby warthog who we successfully hand reared here at Askari.  For some it will just be a great story about a piglet of amazing character.  For others, and the main purpose of me writing this, we hope it will help those who find themselves in the same situation as we did a few months ago. We hope it may give you the information you need (that we were so lacking) when you next attempt to hand rear a baby warthog!

Finally before we begin our story, some words of wisdom for living with a baby warthog. At times is can be frustrating, at others tiring, obviously you will worry and wonder what you’ve got yourself into! Be warned it’s a big undertaking and be sure you are willing to go ahead. Your house will never quite be the same again; but prepare yourself for a wonderful adventure and the rare treat that is sharing the joys and woes of life as a baby warthog. As they grow, so does their personality. They establish the most amazing character but be warned….also sharp teeth and tusks too! They will entertain you to the ends of the earth and you’ll never laugh so hard but one day they grow bigger and can even become problematic. Males especially can become aggressive and protective of you to the extent they may attack strangers with their tusks. They want to be one of the family and be with you all the time. If you leave them on their own they will scream and squeal, sounds you’ve never heard before. You may need to prepare yourself that this warthog will be a friend for life, digging up your garden and sleeping on your sofa! If all of this sounds ok then we wish you the best of luck with your warthog and may you enjoy many hours of warthog break dancing!

So firstly, how Kevin came to be with us! One day our fence patroller ‘Issac’ had stopped on our main access road. He was checking something on his bike when a piglet came running out the bushes and sat under his bike. Unsure of what to do Issac drove away but all that happened was the piglet followed. He drove to Askari (a kilometre away) to try and find us and ask what to do. Unfortunately we were in town that day so he continued his fence checks around the breeding camp perimeter. Another 1.5 km later and still with the warthog in tow, Issac drove to the reserve headquarters. This was another 2 km still and from there Issac called the reserve manager. Efforts to put him back in the bush failed as he simply stayed less than a metre away from whichever legs were trying to drop him off. It was at this stage we decided he was so committed to surviving that he deserved a second chance and the manager brought him to Askari on our return from town.

EQUIPMENT – So what equipment do you need to rear a baby warthog? The first thing is a bottle and teat. We just bought a standard babies bottle from the supermarket. The teat had a very small hole but this is fine at first otherwise the milk flows out as fast as it goes in! Next is some sterilising fluid as all bottles and teats must be sterilised at first. For this we used ‘Milton’ – also available at the supermarket. Next you’ll need some milk and for this we used regular soya milk. Although we have heard of people rearing piglets on cows milk, we were advised strictly NO DAIRY. Apparently Lactogen 1 human supplement also works but is much more expensive. You also don’t need the most expensive soya milk, spar’s home brand was the cheapest we found and worked wonders. Lastly you need to pick up some PROTEXIN from the local vet. This comes in powder form and must be added to the milk as soon as possible upon finding the piglet. The most common problem hand rearing piglets is that they pick up dihorrea; once they suffer from this it dehydrates them and it’s very hard to bring them back, try and avoid it at ALL costs.  The Protexin dosage is on the packet but we added 2 ml of the powder to his milk (split between a morning and afternoon feed) every day for the first 3-4 weeks. This not only helps their gut flora establish but can also help with dihorrea if they do get it. Finally you will need some sort of bed (any old cushion will do) and a blanket or towel or two.

FEEDING – The first job is to weigh your piglet. This will help you work out the feeding quantities as well as keep a check on its progress. Piglets should be fed between 10 and 20% of their body weight per day. 20% is an absolute maximum. Less is better than more at the start to avoid dihorrea as they adapt to the different milk. For around the first week ‘Kevin’ spent the majority of the day sleeping, only really waking up to feed. Feeds should be every 2-4 hours spread throughout daylight hours; they do not need feeding at night. So starting at 1.3 kg (we estimated already 4 weeks old), Kevin had 160 ml of milk a day, gradually increasing as his weight did.

You should see a gain in weight quite quickly. After about 10 days of having Kevin, his weight had reached a plateau and he stayed on 1.6kg. We realised (after probably a few too many days) that this wasn’t normal and suspected he was suffering from worms. This also coincided with continual squealing and extreme wining, no matter how recently he had drunk his milk. While warthog piglets will suffer from worms in the wild they have the strength and nutrition to deal with them. When without their mothers’ milk and in a stressful, unusual situation it gets on top of them and so they may need a helping hand to rid them. We happened to have some ‘Panacur’ de-wormer lying around so we put Kevin on this 5 day course. We saw instant results and his tummy started to plump out and the continual pestering for food stopped.

Once over this initial problem, he was gaining around 100g a day. Within 2 weeks he was taking his milk from a bowl on the floor (when not stepping in and knocking it over!). To encourage them to do this you can gently push their snout into the milk so they work out it’s there. I’m afraid to say that throughout rearing Kevin I’ve come to realise he’s not the most intelligent animal on the planet! Porridge can also be introduced to the diet at quite an early stage. Apparently pro-nutro works well but again is expensive and the cheaper Jungle breakfast energy cereal works just as well. This can be put in a bowl and they will take it themselves but beware it’s a messy business!

At this stage, Kevin was starting to nibble on grass as well. Each time he was taken out for the toilet he nipped a bit more off. If your piglet is very young and still not sure about the great outdoors, a square of lawn can be cut and put in a box. This worked well for me when I was working on the computer. Kevin would want to be continually at my feet but would also get bored so a box of turf meant he could not only learn how to graze but also feed himself! Rooting in the soil and mud is also important for your piglet so as they gradually start to do that it’s good news. It helps them gain extra minerals and nutrients that are present in the soil.

SLEEPING – Remember in the wild a piglet would have its mum and most likely a few siblings. They would huddle together in an underground burrow to sleep at night. And so when it comes to sleeping, it’s very important that your piglet needs to be warm. If at all possible, a companion is the ideal answer. If you happen to have a puppy or a tolerant dog and the two of them pair up then this is great. We have a Rhodesian ridgeback who not only didn’t like Kevin but was also scared of him! So no solution there, the piglet slept alone but inside the house for the first month. He had a bed and plenty of blankets, apparently a cuddly toy can work for them too and even better if it smells of you. Often when you try to put them to bed they will scream and squeal and it can last for more than an hour. Although it seems harsh they will settle eventually and then sleep the whole night through. If cold you must also provide hot water bottles as catching a chill is another thing to easily kill a young piglet. As soon as we thought he was old enough Kevin started sleeping outside. We have a small enclosure in which we placed an old dog kennel. With his cushion inside he even takes himself to bed now without so much as a squeal and he has weathered some huge thunder and lightening storms in there without even waking up.

A few weeks later still and we started giving him bread. Again this can be put in a bowl and covered with milk to soften it. By now he was also eating dry dog biscuits and loved rice krispies! Pap can also be fed. The more he takes grass, the better and you’ll see that the piglet should naturally know what to eat and what not to, you don’t have to do much teaching in this respect. Kevin seemed to be very keen on hunting insects (especially winged aliates) as they gathered around the light early evening.

WALLOWING – After a couple of months, we built Kevin a mud wallow. This just involved digging a small hole in the grass and filling it with water. This was a massive hit but beware again, it’s messy! Once covered in mud and slime Kevin likes to run in the house and rub it all over the furniture! Placing a few rocks or pieces of wood next to the wallow may provide an alternative location for this!

PLAYING – Don’t be surprised one day if your piglet begins to ‘break dance’. One day Kevin just woke up and seemed to have discovered ‘play’! Spinning in circles and running around like a mentalist will become common practice and is all part of the fun. They love a good tummy rub and if you hit the right spot they usually collapse on the floor to lap it up. I’m not sure what it is, but Kevin also loves to push things around the floor. He literally spends an hour at a time pushing an old bed sheet around the floor with his snout while down on his knees. This provides a good tool with which he can entertain himself and give you some peace for a while. If he’s not snouting the sheet then he’s snouting your leg so the sheet was a good discovery!

If you do live in the bush then walking with the piglet is great practice. Kevin regularly joins us out and about and enjoys rooting through the soil and roots to feed.

For now that is all I can give you. We have had Kevin for just over 2 months and he now weighs more than 5 kg. We plan to return him to the wild in another few months when he is weaned and big enough. Many more Kevin photos are posted on http://www.facebook.com/Askari.Wilderness.Conservation.Programme and videos can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/user/AskariWCP

Happy warthogging!

CHEAPER 2012 rates at Askari

New year…new prices but unlike others who are bumping prices up, Askari is now CHEAPER!

We would like Askari to be affordable to all, especially the many students enquiring recently wanting to take advantage of our opportunities for field work and hands on practical placements.

There are also considerable discounts for extended stays up to a maximum of 6 months. 

You don’t have to be a student to take advantage of these amazing prices; it’s one price for all. Enquire now to secure your 2012 place at Askari. Become part of the management and research team while making a real contribution to the conservation of African wilderness and its wildlife.

Project Impisi – Darting and Collaring

So you’ve seen the photos, no hear how we did it! We finally have 5 brown hyaenas fitted with GPS collars here at Askari but it didn’t happen without a lot of hard work, planning and to be honest…luck!

 As you have read in the newsletters, we had been preparing for this for months. We had put a stake in place at the feeding area so we could tie down the food and also placed a cage trap in the boma for the hyaenas to acclimatise to back in August. We had hoped we would dart at least 3 hyaenas off the carcass and that the trap would secure the more skittish individuals.

 Of course the day for darting was a stinker, peaked at 35 degrees! The vet arrived and we headed into the boma with the best laid plans, hoping to get Gismo, Smoothy and Jaggedy at least. We sat and sat and sat and time raced on. Just before dark we had only seen Gismo, most likely a result of the heat. The decision was taken to take what we could and Gismo was darted. It didn’t affect her much and within a few seconds she was back feeding on the carcass. She gradually fell asleep, all the while trying desperately to get back to her impala meal! We waited as long as we could to see if anyone else showed up. No joy so we collected Gismo in the stretcher and took her outside the gate to work on her. After we left the boma we placed the remaining bait in the trap and set it up.

 Outside the boma, the first job was to weigh Gismo and then blood samples were taken. We hope that these will establish relatedness between hyaena and also tell us whether she’s pregnant. You’ll notice all this time I’ve been calling Gismo a ‘she’ so obviously we took the opportunity to check genitals and sex the hyaena too. She was then fitted with her collar and injected with a microchip. Plenty of photos were taken and measurements made. These will all add to the baseline database for brown hyaena and help us age her etc.

 As we were working on Gismo, we heard a golden sound…it was the sound of the cage door shutting. We quickly went in to check and sure enough we had caught another hyaena. It was darted inside the cage and fell asleep within 5-10 minutes. We swapped the new hyaena for Gismo who went back into the boma to wake up. The same procedures were carried out and we were very happy to establish from our ID kits that this was in fact the elusive No. 5 that we had caught. Again, halfway through the procedures, the cage went again! This time we had caught Jaggedy and as we put No.5 back in the boma to recover, work started on Jaggedy.

 A few hours later we were finished and as we discussed what the options were for catching the last 2, the cage went again! We raced into the boma and were very happy to see we had trapped Smoothy. Not for long however as he thrashed and broke right out the cage, an opportunity missed!

 Fairly satisfied with our 3 however we called it a day and booked the vet the following week for another instalment. Luckily for us the 2nd try went to plan. Both Smoothy and Spot arrived at the carcass just after dark and were darted consecutively. Although Smoothy fell asleep near the carcass, Spot had run away so we set off with torches to search for her in the dark. Darting and working with anaethetised animals in the dark was a new experience for the team but was made much easier by the pre-planning and preparation with our small generator and light to work under. Unfortunately Gismo had also sustained some damage to her collar so she was also darted again. Smoothy and Spot were fitted with their collars, blood sampled, micro-chipped, and weighed and had their measurements and photos taken. Gismo received some collar repairs! We suspect one of the hyaenas had been tugging on the collar and had managed to pull out one of the antennae. By a stroke of luck all collar functions were still working. All 3 hyaenas went back into the boma and we stayed with them until they woke up.

Project Impisi at Askari

 Working with wild animals is always a challenge and it was a great relief to have all hyaenas collared. 2 days later the boma gate was opened and the hyaenas were free to leave. While No. 5 left that night, all others stayed. Jaggedy left the following night but Smoothy, Gismo and Spot were still in the boma 3 days later. Here came the next problem….Gismo was no longer wearing her collar! Using the telemetry signal we were able to track the collar and where would we find it…but in the bottom of the dam! Again it appeared that one of the hyaenas had ripped it off and where we found it suggests they were playing in the dam and having a wrestle when the damage occurred. Muzzle wrestling and neck biting among young brown hyaenas is common and likely the time when the collar is damaged. We decided to give it one last try and so the following day Gismo was re-darted. The collar received some major re-enforcements and so far so good, it seems to have stayed on! Since then ‘Spot’ (the suspected culprit of Gismo’s collar damage) has also left the boma but Smoothy and Gismo remain. Regular updates will be posted of the hyaenas movements in the newsletter and on the facebook page.

Elephant darting & Relocation – October 2011

This week there was elephant darting on the schedule as Askari were able to join and assist with a relocation operation. Over the course of the week, a small breeding herd and a number of bulls were relocated from the Greater Makalali conservancy (formed by Makalali game reserve and Pidwa Wilderness reserve). 

As you can imagine, it’s a large scale operation to move elephants! But all went very smoothly with Makalali ecological advisor Audrey Delsink, Makalali warden Ross Kettles and the professional capture team running the show. Firstly, elephants were identified from the air and darted by the vet in the helicopter. The helicopter then herded the animals to fall as near to each other as possible and also close to a road. As the ground team, we were then called in and preparations began for hoisting the elephants onto the trucks. Ropes were tied around the elephants feet and then a crane, attached to the flat bed truck, was used to lift them up and onto the conveyor belt lying on the truck. Once in position they were laid on their side and their eye was covered with an ear. The elephants were then tied down using straps so they were secure on the vehicle. We were then each given our duties, some were time keeping so as to keep a track of drug top-ups for the vet. Others were keeping a check of the elephants breathing by monitoring their trunks.

We started off with a group of 5 on Tuesday morning, split between 2 trucks. When all the animals were in place and secure we made our way to the transport trucks which were waiting on the Makalali airstrip. Here each elephant was dragged, by the conveyer belt on which it was on, into the transport truck. Once inside, the animals were woken up with the reversal drug and encouraged to move through to the right compartment for travel. The team then carried on to collect a further 5 eles from the same herd and the procedure repeated.

The small breeding herd has been donated to the Dinokeng game reserve in the Gauteng province. Here they will be the first, free roaming elephants in this part of South Africa for more than a century. It’s an exciting step for the Greater Makalali conservancy elephant contraception programme too as they are the first ‘treated’ elephants to be relocated. They will continue to be an important part of the ongoing contraceptive research in their new home. A small number of bulls were also darted for relocation on Sunday, Thursday and Friday and have gone to new homes in the Limpopo and Kwa-Zulu-Natal provinces. It was really a spectacular sight to see and a great event to be involved with. These are in fact the only elephants being moved in South Africa this year and Askari was there to see it! All relocated elephants are reported to be settling in well to their new homes around the country.

Tiny spotted hyaena cub seen

This week the team took a long drive to the very southern section of the reserve. It started off with a visit to the boma which is housing our 4 new lions, due for release soon. From there it was all about the giraffes as we passed plenty of them, including tiny babies. We then caught glimpse of an old termite mound, just off the road, which appeared to have some fairly fresh holes. Suspecting it could be a spotted hyaena den, we went in for a closer look. We soon caught sight of an adult hyaena, in the shade of a tree, who was lying in a scraping next to the den. We were very excited and pulled in to have a look. She appeared very hot and had a continuous stream of dribble coming from her mouth! Just a  few minutes later a tiny little head popped out of the hole behind her. It was a cub, just 4-6 weeks old and still completely black. The youngster came all the way out and first spent some time pestering mum. In return for this affection, the cub received a large amount of slobber to the head! The cub then strayed a little further to come and have a look at us. Finally it found a fub stick to chew before also settling down for a snooze under the tree. At this stage we left them to it feeling completely honoured by what a special event we had just been witness to.

Pidwa burning – October 2011

Yesterday was burning time again when we set fire to specified areas of Pidwa as part of our prescribed burning programme. The ‘Working for fire’ team arrived on Sunday to recce the area and lead the burn. Weather conditions were not ideal as we had already received a little rain and the day was cool and overcast. This just meant that we needed to give the fire a little helping hand and Askari team members were able to get involved with spreading the fire around! The burning started near the Askari house and came right past the fence and up to the main gate. It then moved south towards the buffalo camp and across to the east burning block after block of bush. The fire does great work in ridding the bush of dead moribund and built up matter and also provides some bush control for alien and encroaching species. Roads between blocks act as fire breaks so drip torches and rakes are used to spread the fire across the roads and ensure all areas are burnt. One particular area on the edge of the airstrip took off really well and it was a stunning sight as Askari set fire to the bush and watched it burn. Burning continued into the early evening and the flames emitted an amazing orange glow over the night sky.

Emma Gibson – England….Click here

I turned up to Askari slightly unaware of what I was going to be doing and to begin with it seemed daunting! However as soon as we began I was in love with the place and the work they do. All the staff were friendly and happy to answer questions and give you information. Not to mention the great house you stay in and the awesome food!

I have been amazed by many of the sightings we have had and you never know what is going to happen next! All you know is what ever it is, you will be taking part as an active member of the team, be it chopping down trees that elephants have pushed into the road, or carrying a darted cheetah then standing on the back of a car which is the operating table! I would recommend this trip to anyone and have loved every minute of it.

Ground hornbill conservation efforts continue

We are happy to begin this post with the news that there have been yet more sightings of the magnificent and rare Southern ground hornbill on Pidwa north. These birds are critically endangered with one of their biggest problems being loss of habitat, especially for suitable nesting sites. Their prefered sites for nests are in big trees with large natural holes, usually about 5 meters off the ground. Many suitable trees have been cut down due to farming or land clearing or simply died and collapsed in their old age. In an effort to assist breeding pairs, Askari have placed a number of artificial nesting boxes around the reserve and today a new one was put in position.

Artificial nests have been donated by the EWT (Endangered Wildlife Trust) and the one  today was placed in the area of the most recent sightings of the birds. It is a single male that has been seen, likely broken off from an existing group and now looking for a mate to start a group of his own.  The big plastic barrel was hauled up into the tree and wire used to secure it to the branches. A small amount of leaf litter and grass was also put inside to imitate nesting material. We hope it may provide a potential spot for some Ground hornbills in the future.

So many animals! – Diary extract

Ooh, what a cool day I get to write the report about! We started with a check on the female cheetah. She was standing when we arrived and seemed fine. She was far too fixated on what her neighbour in the boma next door was doing to notice we were even there! Next we began road clearing, starting with the road behind Askari. As we tried to proceed round to the river road we were interrupted as we came across 2 bull eles. One of these had a particular fascination with our car and decided the tracker seat must most definitely be up! From there we had breakfast and then headed for the river to do a clean up session. We collected a good amount of rubbish in our bags as well as seeing impala, waterbuck, bushbuck and kudu in the river. After lunch we set off for Pidwa south and had already seen a lot by the time we got there. Our drive was full of herbivores including a lot of zebra, giraffe, kudu and wildebeest. On the way home we came across another herd of zebra and while watching them we heard some crashing through the bush. Soon, 4 rhinos appeared! Luckily they moved onto the road and we had a great sighting. Now a little dark we got the spotlight on and we saw a civet! Waiting for us at the end of the driveway was another rhino, ‘Isinkwe’ and a baby zebra. Great end to an amazing day of sightings!

Sarah Gammon – England…..Click here

The past four weeks at Askari have been incredible. You arrive and straight away feel like part of the team and that everything you do is contributing to the management and maintenance of the reserve. Joe and Katie are fantastic – they obviously care a lot about the programme and what they do and their enthusiasm instantly rubs off on you. You are involved in everything they are, which is great experience and much more hands on than other programmes I know offered. I have loved my time here – highlights including cheetah monitoring, sleep out, visiting Kruger national park and everyday driving around never knowing what you might see around the next corner! I would recommend anyone looking for a wildlife volunteer placement to sign up – you will not only have an incredible time and learn a lot but you will also feel like you are making a difference and contributing to the preservation and monitoring of this incredible wildlife reserve. Thank you to everyone involved in my time here – you have made the last four weeks incredibly special.

Internships

When numbers allow, Askari takes on an intern to assist the staff team. Interns are not required to pay for their stay but become an unpaid staff member assisting with a variety of jobs.

  • Interns are only selected from past Askari volunteers. Volunteers must be with Askari for a minimum of 4 weeks to be considered
  • It takes a particular type of person to be an intern so no official application procedure is in place. Suitable candidates will simply be approached by the staff team towards the end of their stay and asked if they would be interested in returning as an intern in the future
  • Internships do not necessarily continue directly on from your stay as a volunteer. An e mail is sent to the short list of potential interns, as the need for them arises, at various stages throughout the year. If you are available you can apply to intern for the time specified. All flights and insurance must still be covered by yourself
  • Internships may be 1, 2 or 3 months long depending on availability
  • Roles as an intern include all normal reserve & wildlife activities, menu planning & shopping assistance, data entry, report writing assistance, volunteer arrival preparations, running of tuck shop, marketing & bookings, stock takes, filing, duty weekends.

Independent students & Educational Institutions

Are you studying an environmentally based degree? Why not use your time at Askari to gain credits for your course? Help conserve the African bush and enjoy the wildlife whilst fulfilling requirements for your degree modules.

Independent students -  Askari offers you the following for your field placement

  • Practical, hands on experience in conservation, reserve & wildlife management.
  • On the job training for all projects, data collection & analysis, research techniques & tasks.
  • Training in the use of all research equipment including GPS consoles & radio telemetry equipment for the tracking of research animals.
  • Personal, interactive approach to all activities with a maximum group size of 10 and an emphasis on team work.
  • Appropriately controlled safety procedures when working out on the reserve or while off base during Askari run excursions.
  • The provision of ongoing supervision, training & assessment for students and the completion of references and placement feedback forms where required.
  • Trained, experienced and passionate staff on site combining more than 10 years bush experience, research knowledge and BSc qualifications.
  • Public liability insurance.

 All of this combined with stunning, world class wildlife viewing of species such as elephant, lion, rhino, cheetah, leopard, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest & warthog. 

If you are interested in this please mention it when e mailing us providing contact details for your course supervisor or institute. We will liaise with your study institute and supervisor and see if this can work for you.

Educational institutions -  

Askari caters for students following any environmental discipline & with a minimum of 6 persons, a faculty can secure exclusivity of Askari for field trips. Faculty leaders are encouraged to accompany students where possible & would be expected to provide leadership & motivation for their students as well as supervise internal student issues. With prior arrangement, projects can be tailored to suit the discipline of arriving students. Alternatively, the group can partake in all seasonally running Askari projects covering a broad spectrum of conservation & research areas. Certain times of year may be better suited to your faculty than others.  Please enquire.

The Langa Cheetah Boys

On Tuesday afternoon a call came over the radio that a dead cheetah had been found on the reserve. On arrival we were able to confirm that this was Xambila, one of two collared brothers. Xambila had obvious wounds from an attack and all around were signs of a struggle. The brothers were part of a cheetah relocation project and were living on a large 2000 hectare area of the reserve that is fenced from the main open system. The hope being to give them the best chance of survival in this, an area initially free from lions until they were older and possibly more educated to the ways of the wild.

Earlier on Tuesday, two larger male cheetahs had been spotted nearby but on the other side of the fence and it is believed that they may have been responsible as they had attacked and killed the Langa boys other brother some time ago. These particular males are known to us and we are aware that they have managed to cross fences in the past. However, the tracks around the scene were on poor ground for identification so we were unable to confirm exactly what animal had caused Xambilas fatal injuries.

We tracked Hwaqile  (the remaining brother) on Tuesday afternoon and found him unharmed but on our return the following morning we discovered that Hwaqile had been attacked overnight and the decision was made to call in the vets as his injuries were quite severe.

The vet sedated Hwaqile and carried out some repairs and cleaning of the wounds. For now Hwaqile will be left in a boma to recover and we are hopeful for his return to health. He has survived a previous attack and so if he survives again a decision will be made for where he can be released in the hope of reducing further conflict with these two particular cheetah.

Cheetahs are one of the worlds most endangered cats and so we will try to relocate Hwaqile to another area of the reserve. It’s not always easy to know what to do for the best when it comes to conservation as there is no hard and fast rule book, choosing whether or not to intervene is always difficult. We manage safe areas for wildlife  to some extent but appreciate and understand that we can never control what wild animals will do or how they will interact, nor is that our intention. We must consider however that endangered species sometimes need a helping hand as they have to exist in boundaries made by humans for their protection but along with that can come other problems too. It’s a tough balancing act but one that keeps on teaching us new things all the time.

We will keep you updated on Hwaqile’s progress but we are hopeful. He is already looking much more lively than when we found him on Wednesday, he even gave us a good snarl this afternoon as we dropped in on him at the boma and was quick to feed last night.

Rachel Nichols – England…..Click here

My time at Askari has been amazing! Katie and Joe are a great team and really make you feel at home. The accommodation is far better than I expected, and the meals are delicious! Askari is all about returning the environment to its natural state and we had a number of lectures during the first week to explain how this is achieved. Practically we then got to help in the alien plant removal and collect data on herbivore age and sex ratios to assist in management, as well as many other activities. Highlights of my time here included spotting the rarer and more elusive animals on game drives, getting close to the Langa cheetah boys, learning so much about birds that ‘bird wars’ was played, being surrounded by a herd of elephants on sleepout, seeing camera trap footage of hyena cubs, getting an amazing sighting of leopard even if it was quite short, having an elephant come right up to the game drive car and play with the tracker chair.

Every day here is an adventure as you never know what you’ll see! Thanks for such an amazing few weeks.

A very successful day

It’s been a packed day with the wildlife and getting some good work done on the reserve too. Route drive this morning started a bit quietly due to cloud cover and cool temps but it was good fun still and a few of the usual suspects were recorded. We then saw African Jacana, malachite kingfisher and an African black duck (quite rare) at Lily pan dam. We headed off with Joe for a spot of road clearing having to winch a particularly large tree out the way. On route we also popped back via the dam but we could no longer see the African black duck, although the Jacanas were still happily sifting through the water. The afternoon led us back to Buffalo camp to see if we could find the poachers camp, with Joes detective skills and Rachels keen eye we uncovered the camp and bagged up all the rubbish left over. We then returned to the snared Eland to retrieve the camera trap which had lots of great pictures of feeding on the carcass. The visitors included leopard, civet, large spotted genet, black backed and the rarely seen SIDE striped jackal, honey badgers, hornbill and glossy starling. In the evening we went out for dinner and on coming back in saw a very young porcupine on main access followed by a spotted eagle owl with a kill just on the road. It flew off leaving its kill and Katie got out to inspect it finding that it was actually a barn owl which was all really interesting to see.

Cheetah encounters!

We got back from the sleep out and unpacked everything. Mid morning we then headed out to do a power line walk in Langa Langa – half we did on foot and the other half we did on the vehicle. This was part of the wildlife/electricity monitoring work that Askari is doing, we didn’t find anything. After lunch we then went to Buffalo camp for cheetah tracking and found female ‘Kusala’ on the Eastern fence line – we were able to adjust the tracking number in order to hear the sound more clearly next time. We walked into the bush and she jumped from the grass and ran away, but soon slowed down and actually back tracked slightly. She then walked out onto the road and lay down a distance away from us. On the drive back we also got a brief glance of a leopard at the Dam! It was lying down and jumped up and ran off.

Askari get a “behind the scenes” look at Kruger!

It was  5am on a cool Wednesday morning when the Askari crew set out for Kruger where we’d been invited to take a look at some of the work being carried out in the park. South Africa’s EWT (Endangered Wildlife Trust) and Eskom (the main electricity supplier) are working together looking at the interactions and conflicts between wildlife and electricity. Noticeable damage is being done by wildlife to the powerline poles within the park but the wildlife can often be injured as well. Fatalities vary from species of birds which land on or collide in flight wiht powerlines to giraffes hitting low wires. Camera traps have been placed on a number of poles identified as problem hotspots. The hope is that by examining the footage from these cameras, solutions for a more peaceful existence between the wildlife and the lines could be found.

So far observations show that buffalo, elephant and rhino are those causing the most damage. Interestingly the buffalo have even been observed stripping and eating the poles outer layers! Other animals use them to scratch against as an aid to removing external parasites. As you can imagine however, when animals of that power choose to use the poles it doesn’t take much for them to cause considerable damage.  With the way of an ever developing world, conservation really requires initiatives such as this EWT/Eskom partnership. Hopefully such projects can limit interactions between humans and wildlife and find realistic and sustainable solutions so both can co-exist as peacefully as possible.

At Askari we’ll continue to do our bit by walking the powelines here and recording and reporting any fatalities of injured animals that we discover.

Anti-poaching at Askari

Poaching continues to be a large problem in South Africa and so all reserves must be vigilant towards it. Askarians help out regularly with the battle against the problem and on a recent patrol a poachers camp was uncovered. Further investigations led to the sad discovery of three dead animals in abandoned snares. On a more positive note, the team managed to uncover and remove a further 5 un-triggered snares before more damage could be done.

One of the snared animals was just a couple of days old and there were signs of a large predator having fed on it.  In the interests of research and however unfortunate the circumstance, we took the opportunity to set up a camera trap to discover exactly what was feeding on the carcass. On collection of the camera we found a fascinating collection of visitors, including;  leopard, civet, large-spotted genet, honey badgers, black-backed jackals and amazingly the rare Side-striped jackal! Here are just two of the pictures captured, firstly the ever elusive and spectacular leopard followed by the less known but equally as brilliant  honey badgers feeding alongside the rarely seen side-striped jackal.

Askari continues with its efforts against anti-poaching  in the hope that we can prevent any more animals falling victim to snares in the future.

Giant Barbel in Askari Waters!

Whilst setting up for sleep out Joe headed down to the river for a spot of capture and release fishing. His initial catch was a reasonably sized barbel, yet he was pretty sure that something larger was lurking in the waters near by. Not long after, as the rest of us were chatting around the campfire listening to the ever nearing elephants, Joe appeared up the bank with his moster catch in hand. It’s a good point to mention that barbel are very capable out of water so no harm came to this 20kg heavyweight . It was fascinating to see as this magnificent fish with its barbed fins and thick whisker like barbs around the mouth as its not all that often that we deal with many many of the aquatic species in the middle of the african bush! The barbel was released shortly after back to the river where he swam off unharmed. Here you can see just how large it was!

Eddies aviary complete!

After several weeks of hard work; digging holes, relocating a leadwood tree, mixing concrete, cementing 15ft poles, sewing netting and some ninja like scaffolding moves – Eddies new aviary is complete! He moved in on Monday and seems to be settling in very well. As the days go on he seems to be attempting to head higher up the centrepiece leadwood tree. 

A massive thank you to ‘The Regulators’ for their hard work which has been much appreciated and has produced a new home for Eddie firmly cemented in the landscape of the Askari house sunrise.

(If you missed the start of Eddies story with us then you can read about it in the post titled “Eddie the eagle” in the ’Recent events & flash news’ section)

New arrivals – Spotted hyena cubs confirmed on Pidwa!

On Wednesday eagle eyed Joe spotted an active hyena den, which fitted with the high number of recent hyena sightings in the area. On closer inspection it was thought that their could be some cubs inside. A camera trap was quickly set in the afternoon and we are very pleased to report that on checking it yesterday morning we have atleast two cubs at the den.

Here’s a great shot that was captured on the camera trap yesterday morning and we’ll be sure to keep you posted on the progress as we discover more about Pidwas new arrivals!

Bush school

Today was quite adventurous…possibly more for Joe and Katie than for the volunteers as they happily taught us how to drive the game viewer up and down a steep hill through the Selati River. We all did amazingly well…even if there were a few stalls initially. In the same day, we learned to shoot a rifle. Surprisingly, we all managed to shoot several bullets within the target and only a few slightly off but still within the range on the platform. Three of the volunteers who have been here for several weeks went off with Katie to map area 6 of the hyena boma while the two others had a lecture. Area 6 is the only block in the middle of the boma which doesn’t have any borders along the fence. We noticed much less pasting in this area. Katie discovered a very thick, long piece of regurgitation … much like a cat hairball only much larger and thicker and it contained hooves! Later in the afternoon, all of the volunteers and Joe went with Phil to witness the brown hyena feeding. Only two of the four came out for us. This day was quite cloudy and it rained off and on though toward the evening the rain was more steady and included thunder and lightning which has postponed the hyena calling activity for another day.

Rachel Bishop – England…..Click here

I stayed at Askari for four weeks and it was the best adventure I could have ever hoped for. Every day was different and we learnt so much about the bush and all its amazing wildlife. In our time here we helped to dart and release Nyala, took part in a mass capture of over 100 impala and build an aviary for Eddie the Eagle. We tracked the cheetah and saw them many times – once on a fresh kill. We learnt how to shoot a rifle and even had the chance to drive the game viewer down a ravine into the river! We saw rhino, lions, warthogs, eagles, snakes and were even lucky enough to see a pangolin. We fed the brown hyenas, we slept under the stars, we did everything we’d hoped for and more. The staff were amazing and made us feel like this was our home, they taught us so much and made sure we all had a great time. It has been a wonderful adventure and one that I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to experience the ‘real’ bush. Askari is a rare and special place.

Matt Bishop – England…..Click here

My four weeks at Askari have been at times exhausting, at other times breathtaking, but always inspiring and rewarding. The dedication and enthusiasm the team here is very contagious. They lead by example, always challenging you to work harder and become better and the rewards for your hard work are experiences that you can sometimes scarcely believe. Spending time with the Askari lion pride or watching as the cheetah brothers devour a fresh kill while I stood eight feet away.

 I wish the Askari team at Pidwa the very best for the future and hope that maybe one day that I can come and help them again.

Barbara Maingon – France…..Click here

My time at Askari was amazing! I really want to come back and stay longer. The surroundings are beautiful and you really feel like you are doing something useful. The programme is very good and things are done the right way. It was great to work with people who are so enthusiastic about their job. Katie and Joe are both amazing and do a wonderful job! The rest of the staff is just as great.

I really enjoyed by time here and it made me realise how much I liked Africa. Thank you very much guys for making our stay so amazing!

Chris Greenhill – Wales…..Click here

Askari is an excellent volunteer programme right in the heart of South Africa. It’s a very hands on programme and you actually feel that you have helped and are making a difference to conservation which is rare as most volunteer programmes are not like this. If you are reading this you need to stop now and book a place at Askari as this is the only way you get to know what it is really like here, and trust me you will not be disappointed.

Ana Heredia – Spain…..click here

My time here was even better than expected. All the staff is really nice and helpful, and willing to make you have a good time. The activities are always useful and I’ve learnt how to conserve an area. It’s a great programme and the fact that we are able to stop and enjoy all the animals around us from  the smallest spider to the huge elephants. It’s fantastic because we are not only working but enjoying the wildlife of the place and the staff are always able to answer every question and explain you the features of the animals. I felt really comfortable here and I was able to learn and enjoy the beautiful place.

‘Cooper’ the Rhodesian ridgeback arrives at Askari

There’s a new arrival at Askari….in the form of a dog called ‘Cooper’! Joe and Katie picked him up on Sunday from a rescue shelter in Johannesburg and now he is settling into his new home at Askari. Cooper is 6 years old and a Rhodesian ridgeback which is the only official ‘indigenous’ dog breed in South Africa (it’s not just the indigenous plants we like!). He is still very nervous and wary, possibly having been mis-treated in his past life? But he’s quickly catching onto the fact that he’s onto a good thing and some good people at Askari. The garden is a VERY exciting place to explore and he’s got plenty of freedom to run around having been kept in a cage for the last 6 months. There are plenty of interesting smells and sounds….you should have seen his ears prick up when the spotted hyena called last night! Welcome to Askari Coops!

First ever baby Sable to be born on Pidwa

There was great excitement on the reserve today when a tiny baby SABLE was spotted. For those of you who have not been to Askari, the reserve first purchased a group of Sable antelope in September 2008. Just to start us off we bought 14 young males, hoping to add to the population at a later date to begin breeding the magnificent antelope. Unfortunately the species was hunted out of existence in this area in the past so we aim to put them back where they belong. Little did we know that in fact we weren’t buying 14 males, but 13 males and 1 female! By a stroke of luck, due to a vets slip up, we were given a female instead of one of our males. When we realised, the female was moved into a separate camp with one of our biggest males. 10 months later and we have a baby sable! While checking a fault on the fence this afternoon Joe saw a small body dash through the grass. We returned in the vehicle for a closer look and sure enough….there was a tiny baby jumping in front of mum. This is a great success story and the first of what we hope will be many sable, successfully bred on Pidwa.

Michael Fraser – Canada…..Click here

For me, it all started the minute we met Katie & Brian at the Phalaborwa airport. You know immediately that the decision you made to commit a portion of your time and energy to an organization that is truly interested in conservation was a wise choice. You feel so welcome and you feel as though you have known these and all the other key players within one or 2 days of your arrival.

If you feel there are no answers to the global environmental challenges then you need to travel to Pidwa and see what a team of people with like minds can accomplish. Take part in what Askari has to offer, it will change your lives. If you are skeptical you will leave optimistic, if you are negative you will leave positive and if you are already optimistic and positive you will leave with a sense of hope, inspiration and a great friendship with two classy people, Joe & Katie. Thanks for all your hard work and commitment to our team and the natural world.

Barb Elliot – Canada…..Click here

My time at Askari has been nothing short of inspirational. I deeply respect and admire the commitment that Mr John McCormick and his entire team have made to protect, conserve, restore and sustain the South African lowveld ecosystem, with its incredible biodiversity of flora and fauna. The Pidwa vision is bold, and the commitment admirable. To have been an active participant in this most important work has renewed my commitment as an ecologist, as a teacher, and as a student of nature. It has restored my faith in the power of the human spirit and given me hope for the future. To Katie, Joe, Brian, Garth, Phil, Elecia, Evelyn, Cedric, Bongani, John and everyone at
Pidwa/Askari, I am honoured to have had this opportunity to meet you and contribute in some small way to this place. Till we meet again, my deepest and most sincere thanks, you are all wonderful!

Lyndsay Shular – Canada…..Click here

Working at and with Askari was a phenomenal experience. It allowed me to see and experience first hand what wildlife conservation is like and I got to see it in another country so I also got to see different cultures. Being part of the Brown hyena research and monitoring was probably one of the biggest highlights for myself. Seeing and trying to understand their behaviour is becoming a big interest to myself. I would really like to see how the study goes and the end result. Also, cheetah telemetry was really fascinating to experience and actually perform the task of using the tools. I really enjoyed my time here and working with everyone as Askari and the Pidwa reserve. Thanks for a great lifetime experience.

Scott James – Canada…..Click here

Askari is a program that provides and exceptional environmental setting in which to learn about and participate in practical conservation and restoration work. The staff are exceptionally nice and the accommodations are clean and safe. I would highly recommend this program to any person looking to participate in environmental work abroad. This was a top notch experience.

Richard Goetz – Canada…..Click here

This place is great! I strongly recommend considering Askari especially if you legitimately like to work and get dirty. Askari is one of those places you don’t come in contact with unless you have a true interest. Which makes it very specialized yet essential to have around. The training for the first week is very reassuring towards what you will be doing as it will take care of al your questions and concerns. If you want an amazing experience that gives you perfect environmental background knowledge, then pursue Askari!

Stacey Jarrett – Canada…..Click here

I leave you well knowing that this experience will be a part of me forever! I can’t thank you enough for making me feel more alive and grateful for having the opportunity to come here. Everyone on your staff is truly amazing. I am returning to Canada with great hope that there are other people in the world that care as much I do about ecological conservation and working endless hours to achieve that vision. Again I thank you for your kindness, trust, teachings and most of all your friendship. I am now and will forever be an ellie girl

Askari rocks!

‘The Magnificent 7′ put in a solid effort this month towards our ’protection of sensitive trees project’. Recently the elephants have caused damage to 2 huge Weeping boerbean trees on Boerbean road. The stunning specimens both had large pieces of their bark removed by the elephants which is used for roughage in the large herbivores diets. During 2 long sessions, the Magnificent 7 team collected a good few tonnes of rock from the old mica mine in the buffalo camp. There were some absolute monsters loaded onto the truck and plenty of smaller and pointed rocks as well, all used to deter the elephants. By forming a ring of sharp rocks around the base of a tree the elephants, with their highly sensitive feet, are not able to reach the trunk and remove any bark. The bark is like the skin layer of a tree and if it is removed, it opens the tree up to the risk of infection. If enough bark is removed then the entire transport system of the tree can be cut off leading toits  eventual death. The many hours of rock collecting and placement by the Magnificent 7 was a great effort and one of the 2 giant Weeping boerbeans is now completely protected from further damaged by the elephants. Great job team.

Cobra vs Mongoose

The team was lucky enough to be witness this month to one of those ‘once in a lifetime, special sightings’. While watching an elephant breeding herd, we received a call to say an amazing scene was unfolding between a slender mongoose and snouted cobra just down the road. We arrived at the spot and settled in to watch the stand off play out. The pair had come across each other in the middle of the road and neither seemed ready to move away. While the mongoose danced around, the cobra would intermittently strike. With lightening flash reflexes, the mongoose would somehow manage to evade the cobra every time! We watched for about 15 minutes before finally the cobra moved off into the bushes….chased by the mongoose! We suspect that the mongoose may have had some young in the grass nearby which maybe it was trying to protect. There must have been something worth staying for in order for the mongoose to stick around like that!

© Askari Wilderness Conservation Programme

Wildebeest release – April 2011

This month, more than 100 wildebeest have been released onto Pidwa. The animals came in two truck loads, first of all 49 of them and then another 56 the following day. On arrival, the truck was guided in through the gate and to the northern plains. Here the team set about work to assemble the off-loading ramp and place it in position, up against the trucks side. It always take s a while to persuade the animals to leave the truck, probably not helped in this instance by the vocalising lions early one morning! All animals were eventually off-loaded and ran away swiftly into their new habitat.

The new additions will help re-stock the slightly low wildebeest numbers on the reserve and also introduce new genes to the genetic pool of the current population

© Askari Wilderness Conservation Programme

‘Project Impisi’ – Brown hyaena focus

‘Project Impisi’ is a new and important study being carried out by the staff and volunteers at Askari Wilderness Conservation Programme. It involves the translocation of Brown hyena from farming areas where they are at risk of being shot and killed to a conservation area and safe environment for them.

Below you can read about the research which is due to start in mid 2011

Motivation 

Members of the hyaena family perform an intricate role in most African ecosystems and are an essential component of a natural and functioning system. The Brown hyaena is classified as ‘Near threatened’ by the IUCN. Population estimates suggest there are between 5000 and 8000 individuals remaining worldwide and numbers are suspected to be in decline. Large carnivores are generally regarded as flagship species on global and national levels but this is not always the case on a local scale. Inevitable interactions with humans, often in farming areas, can lead to intolerance and the deliberate or incidental persecution of animals, in this case Brown hyaena.

Translocation is a technique that has been used or many years as a method to reduce the damage caused by large carnivores on livestock. Translocation has proved both seccesful and unsuccesful in a variety of cases regarding large carbiores around the world. In some situations however it merely moves a problem or creates conflict elsewhere. Data regarding the translocation of brown hyaena is severely lacking as translocation attempts in the past were not supported with adequate monitoring. In the majority of cases, the fate of the individuals was unknown.   

 The Research

The four hyaenas removed by farmers have been released onto Pidwa Wilderness conservation area following time in a holding boma at the release site. Each hyeana is fitted with a GPS collar to allow monitoring of their movements post-release. Along with GPS point collection, additional investigations are carried out in the field. These include visiting GPS sites recorded by the collars to make habitat assessments. Habitat type, signs of other predators such as tracks, faeces and carcasses are monitored to establish why the hyaena may have selected to move through that position. Hyaena movements are also be compared to incidental sighitings of other predators to compare spatial utilisation and possible inter and intra specific interactions.  

The Results

Results collected from the research aim to provide a better understanding of the general ecology of brown hyaenas in an area on the edge of their range. It will be the first, detailed recorded study into translocation of brown hyaenas and, if succesful, could provide a possible strategy for balancing carnivore conservation with human concerns

Conservation importance

Brown hyaenas are little known amongst both local communities and visitors to South Africa. Many people are not aware of the species existence as they are over shadowed by their more numerous, charismatic and commonly seen relatives, the spotted hyaena. Any research furthering knowledge of brown hyaena id valuable in highlighting the decline of this vulnerable, large carnivore in African ecosystems.

Findings may be useful to those involved in conflict management to establish whether translocation is a viable option for reducing conflict problems. While there are many conservation reserves willing to receive ‘doomed’ brown hyaenas, research is needed to establish whether translocation is a viable and succesful option or whether is merely moves the problem elsewhere. If succesful, information can be utilised in future translocation efforts to reduce farmer conflicts. Recommendations can be made regarding suitable release procedures, viable numbers and group make-up so that if reserves do attempt translocation, they can make informed decisions and increase the likelihood of success with the hyaena move.

 ©Askari Wilderness Conservation Programme

Specials & discounts

Return volunteers:

All returning volunteers to Askari will receive a 15% discount on the total price of their second stay. Bring a friend along as well and the discount goes up to 20%.

Extended stay discounts:

Please enquire with us directly to conservation@askariwcp.com for details on the reduced rates available if you would like to be at Askari for more than 3 months