Carnivore’s Diet
Category: Radio Tracking | Date: Oct 23 2008 | By: okavangocarnivores
Part of my daily work involves getting up in the morning and going out radio tracking collared animals and recording behavioral data. On the 16th of October, I skipped the game count survey. “Today, I am m going to find the study animals,” I said to myself. The role of the day was to radio-track male lion, which have not been seen for weeks. Aerial fix revealed that he was far inside Moremi Game Reserve (MGR), north of our research camp. MGR has spectacular landscape that includes flowing rivers, swamps and open areas (floodplains) with tree islands, which accommodates numerous wildlife species. Exposure to the area, gives you a fantastic view- you see variety of wildlife species such as lechwe, buffalos, tsessebe, kudu, impala, elephants, etc. Tracking carnivores often lead to places you are unfamiliar with. Take a tour
Above: This lonely male lion was found resting under large fever-berry tree.
Picture above: A herd of 30 elephants crossing the road.
Most herbivore species often graze together
Above: Lechwe and buffalo.
Above: Zebra herd, and impala at the background.
Above:Zebra and tsessebe found 500m away from the location of the male lion I was following.
How do lions, leopards, cheetah and other larger carnivores survive?
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Oct 09 2008 | By: okavangocarnivores
What contributes the diet of the larger carnivore species in the Okavango region? The study of large carnivore species requires information about what they eat; what are potential prey species in the range area, and which species are most abundant. In order to answer such questions, we conduct game count surveys twice a year. The survey is performed during wet and dry seasons to determine population trends of animal (herbivore) species which occur in the southern part of the Okavango region.
The Game Count
The count is done for ten consecutive days in the morning only along a 36km road that has been selected for the count. A driver and two observers are required for the survey. A vehicle is driven at a speed of 15-20km/h; observers scan for animals on either side of the road and count all mammal species, of body size from as small as bat-eared fox, to as large as an elephant. We began the dry-season survey yesterday (8th October). Besides the struggle to get up from enjoyable sleep early in the morning, it is fantastic and enjoyable to see lots and lots of amazing activity during the first hour of the day.
Enjoy pictures of Day1?
Survey crew
Impala is the most abundant antelope in the area.
Elephants. Its unusual to see an elephant laying on the ground
Female giraffe with young
Male kudu crossing
A pair of steenbok watching in us with us with curiosity as we approach.
This this lonely male warthog posed nicely for the camera
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