Safari Live - Day 146 | National Geographic

Viewer discretion is advised. Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to the Sunday Sunsets of Fari: a quiet contemplation of the week that was and the week that is to come. We have some starlings: they're a mixed flock of Greater Blue Eared and Cape Glossies. My name is James Henry. I'm waiting for the strap. Has it ever been strapped, do you think? It has... Ah, good! And our on-camera today is Senza Keyes, who is wearing a shirt of such magnificence that I can barely describe it to you. She has a lion underneath and an occasional Tillis tree on it, and it is in the manner of... well, I suppose we would call it the Mandela shirt, wouldn't you? Correct style! It even has tassels underneath it. It really is a thing of haute couture, I think that's the correct term.

We also have David K. To joining us on this vehicle. On the other car, we have Steve, or I think he's heading towards Tandy, being filmed by Sebastian. And on foot today, we have got Ralph Kirsten. No Gators for him today. It was very tough to actually make him go out; he's convinced he's going to be savaged by ticks. He's probably correct! And he's being filmed by David East, or the other David. Semi-new David's around the place at the moment.

My plan was probably to go down towards Chitwa Dam and see if we can't find the Avoca males that were on there today, as explained to me by David Goehr. Who has now learned which dam is which; it's a good start, I'd say, after just a few days here.

Okay, let's have one last look at the birds. The reason I stopped at these birds is that they tend at this time of the year, as we go into the winter, to start to flock. For some reason, I'm not really sure why. Nobody really knows why, I don't think, but in the wintertime, they tend to flock much more than they do in the summer. Probably because they are not breeding and so they are not particularly competitive over mates or territory. So I think that's what's going on.

We're gonna make our gentle way down towards Chitwa Dam on this Sunday afternoon, but blustery apparently, around about 27 degrees. Everything's quite... So hot at 71, or was it 75? Actually Celsius, Fahrenheit? Rush! Before I waffle myself into a hole, let's go across to Mr. Ralph Kirsten on his large elephant feast.

Well, thank you, James! And I tell you what, I'm not going to be getting bitten by any ticks today. Welcome aboard on the afternoon bush walk. I say welcome aboard, but we're out on foot, and what a wonderful day it is this afternoon! A little bit blustery, as James has said a little bit earlier, but it's quite warm; it's definitely not cold. My name is Ralph Kirsten, and on the camera, we've got Davi Howser. Davi, please don't forget to join us in the hashtag Safari Live on Twitter and on the YouTube live chat. Send us your questions and your comments and get involved in this reality bush walk!

Now, the first thing I wanted to do was obviously get up a termite mound, because that's the best thing to do when you're out in the bush. Get a little bit of heart, scan the area, see what's around, get your ears out, get your senses working, let your eyes feel for any movement. And the first little bit of movement that I spotted was on one of my favorite trees: Acacia in the field. It was actually in this little hole in there. There were a couple of squirrels that I think have made their home in here.

Now, they were having a family tiff, and some of them scuttled off into the grass, and I think they might be one or two of them down there at the moment. But what a wonderful tree this is! Have a look at it; it is so characteristic. And the bark of the leadwood, or the cambree tum—or leadwood being very indicative of how heavy the wood is and dense the wood is. These trees can live for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, and once they die, they remain like this for pretty much the same as long as they've lived—so hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

Squirrels and vultures and lizards and all sorts of animals will use this as their home. For me, one of the special characters that we do have is our Chaya. It's not all about the spotted cats and the lions and the hyenas; we've got to look a little bit closer, some of the big characters that have been through it all. They've seen world wars come and go; they've seen people come and go; they've seen different animals move in and out. And well, elephants, they're not gonna be pushing this guy over, so I think I really like the leadwood.

Now, I think we're going to see what small little things we're going to be finding today. I'll always be happy if I can find some hyena tracks, and we'll try to follow up and see if we can find that elusive hyena den. But let's see what we can find in the meantime or just off to Steve, I think, was to say hello.

Good afternoon, everybody! How are we doing this afternoon? My name is Steve Falcon Rich, and I'm joined on camera by the impeccable Sebastian, and we are out on Drive. Guess what we are going to do? We are in our way to Tandy. Was this morning? I have not seen her or Columba in a very long time. So apparently, Rob said hyena, Ralph said there's a little bit of meat left on the steer marked this morning, so hopefully when we get there, we're going to see it! So we're very excited!

Please don't forget to send through your questions. Hashtag safari live, or follow us on the YouTube stream. Either one will do. Okay, I wasn't expecting to see that, but this is clearly where the Avoca males came through last night. Let me just move over and get it just there, Sebby. Okay, we just saw a track, just going to jump out real quick. Can you see that? Okay, so we had them right up in the north last night on the show, right up of Buffaloes, look down. They probably came walking straight down sort of this western sort of side and all the way straight through.

As I mentioned this morning when we were looking for all sorts of tracks just behind us, as Milwaukee weird—this other tributary drains—it’s very dry riverbeds at the moment. It's the highway IND room at the moment. All the cats are moving through!

So I'm on a better Lee Road. I thought I'd just come up here on our way to Tandy and I don't think anyone drove here this morning because they would have seen these cats. But all these tracks—nevertheless, they were farmed this morning. Anyway, and you got to see them, which is marvelous! But we are going to continue. I'm sorry for that quick stop—beautiful big male lion track, and there's more in the red. Yes, definitely, the three boys that came down south!

Mmm, Ally, very good question. The Birmingham boys seem to be dominating the entire Sabi Sands at the moment without any competition. We're right up in the northern Sabi Sands, and so their focus seems to be carving up this piece of territory. So I don’t think anything will become of the Avoca because if I mean of the Birmingham’s—if the Avoca established—that just might sort of push the Birmingham’s down. A bit, they've got plenty of space to maneuver. They're being a little bit greedy, to be honest. They're taking up as many lion prides as they can, as much territory as they can, which is unsustainable.

I mean, if you look at the Roman army back in the day, it eventually lost because it was too spread out. You know, it's very difficult to defend a frontier that is enormous, that encompasses the entire Europe and East Asia and North Africa without some expense. So the four males need to patrol regularly. If they can't patrol, they're going to lose out those territories because territory holders need to be active in those areas. And I mean, we don't see the Birmingham's often enough for me to think that they could hold on to this.

But obviously, something happened in the South—the males moved out. I don't really know the dynamics too well. There's a cuckoo, looks like the valence cuckoo, I think, just over my shoulder here. A little bit of a late bloomer. You see the stripes on the chin on the chest, the beautiful crest, long black tail. Here we go, the valence cuckoo, they like to parasitize on the Aramark babblers, I think. Aramark gebe is just living here, and he's obviously a late fledging... fledgling, and I doubt he's gonna migrate back north with the rest of the cuckoos that have already left. So he might be strategizing and overwintering. I wonder if he's gonna enjoy a diet of something other than caterpillars, which is what the cuckoos enjoy.

Okay, well, we're gonna continue on, as I said, heading into the area of Tandy from this morning, and in the midst, I'll miss go to Mr. James Henry and see how he's doing.

Oh, I'm doing fine. I am doing as I was doing before I saw you lost. I'm looking for animals—that is what one does on a game drive—and enjoying the general atmosphere of the autumn. There are two interesting birds here. The first one, however, is the most colorful, and that is the orange-breasted bush shrike calling from this gardenia bush over here. Now, the sister of this... there it is! Okay, since it's gone into the edge of that completing bush there. You see it? There you see it. Oh no, it's to the right, left of that! Left? Yeah, that bush right in there, the green bush. Now, I think that's about right where it was, but it's obviously gone now.

Can you see the Oriole perched upon the tall tree beyond? Hopeless effort from me now. The Oriole is still there; it will not fly away as we focus on it. Yeah, very nice bright yellow juxtaposed with the bluish hue behind it. And that is the black-headed Oriole, slightly less fancied cousin and the European golden Oriole—and the most beautiful Oriole, which is the African golden Oriole. The African golden is basically just a flying blob of gold!

James, you say that's very beautiful? And obviously, that's not me; that is somebody watching the show called James. Beautifully named person you are—you said it's very beautiful; it is certainly one of my favorites! And I think they would be known as lovely call—they've got a horrible alarm call. Yeah, they've got this gorgeous liquid kind of them, sounds like molten liquid being dropped.

I'll play it for you! Feel like those Rockets ends on, and I thought you might—that's why I suggested! Here we go—beautiful whistling liquid call. And just now, I'm sure it's going to give us the alarm call, which is very unpleasant. This bird is new. 60, sir, you can see that trend was beak, and he's not a shrike! And, Lily, there are probably about a while till either. So we go through the list of the shrikes together! Lily, you can then count them. We've got the lesser gray shrike, the red-backed shrike, the white-crowned shrike, and the gray-headed bush shrike, the orange-breasted bush shrike, the magpie shrike, the red-seas helmet shrike.

I suppose that could be a shrike, the white-crested helmet shrike. So that's eight. Then we also have the Chad gross species. They're both shrike: so the crown shrike and the brown-crowned shrike— that's 10. You’re going to have to start using my toes now. I think we may have run out of frikes—which is a good thing because I've run out of fingers! Shall we say 10 shrikes?! And we'll ask David to give me the books just so that I can make sure he seems to be sitting on my book.

David! This book is very old! Okay, if it has survived many, many years, and if it doesn't survive this game drive because you've been sat on it, I shall be deeply upset! Let that be a stern warning to you, Lily! One second! One second here! We go. Okay, let's see if I was right. Great bull shark! We have there! You got them—there's a great gardenia! You've got one of those and we've got two of the helmet shrike, so that's two! We have the orange-breasted bush shrike, so that's… sorry, that's four.

And they're the two shrikes, so that's five and six. Then we have all the boo-boo shrikes. I forgot about them—southern boo-boo, so that's seven! The fiscal—we can find that here sometimes, so that’s eight. The brew brew—I forgot about him too! That's nine. The puffback—I forgot about him too! That's ten! Magpie shrike, we said 11, red-backed shrike, 12, white-crowned shrike, 13, lesser gray shrike, 14! 14 shrikes, Lily! That's a lot of shrikes! Really, isn’t it? Good! Very nice question! Thank you for that! I'm just gonna go and have a little look around treehouse water all because Steve said he had tracks of a leopard around there yesterday and so let's go and find out what Ralph is finding on his own two feet.

Well, everyone, I've just come to this area—it's sort of around the area of Rebecca's Road, Zoe's Road—because I've been intrigued by this some silver cluster leaf forest here, and it's always nice and cool in this area as well because of how many trees there are in this area. And I'm pretty sure it's down to there being a lot of mineral salts in this particular zone because they like to grow a net. And the silver cluster leaf I'm talking about are these trees here.

Now, there's been a lot said about them, but this particular area here is where there is a lot of them, and that, in fact, is like a forest of sort of cluster leaves. And as I was saying, a lot of mineral salts are in the soil, and that's normally down to there being an acquit plant, so where the water is coming out and dispersing here in this particular area, resulting in evaporation and leaving behind all those mineral salts. It's very impressive, and I just thought we'd come through and have a look.

Um, this one in front of us seems like it's starting to seed; it's got those nice sort of pink-looking seeds on it. And a lot of the locals there actually, along with the purple pod cluster leaf or the low felt cluster leaf, they actually make a very nice tea out of it! Now, remember the other day we were watching the Impala actually feeding on these leaves, which is very strange because it makes your mouth very dry! But like we were, I was saying with Darby when we were up there, I was thinking maybe they're trying to, you know, solidify the stomach a little bit if they've got a bit of a loose bowel.

So that's what I was thinking, but I haven't spoken to anybody that knows any reason why the Impala were doing that. They must know something we don't, but I think that it’s definitely down to something like that. Now not he comes through and have a look and just see if there's anything interesting about a particular tree. Jason, the tallest trees here in the Juma concession itself or in our traverse are probably things like the jackal berries, some of the nyala trees. But I would say jackal berry probably being, you know, next to the river on areas they’re probably one of the bigger ones. And that’s where we do get a lot of the biggest trees.

We do have some last big marulas. There’s not too many paler beds; they seem to be a bit more north up in the Kruger Park itself. But, um, here along this particular area, I'd say definitely jackal berry, some nyala trees as well, and maybe some of the marulas— the false marulas too. And as we go past there, there’s another weeping wattle. And do you know why it’s called a weeping wattle? Anybody? I’d like to know if anybody knows why it's called a weeping wattle.

There are three trees that we call rain trees—one of them being the African weeping wattle, another one being the apple leaf—the apple leaves with us, very big leaves. I will show you one. And the other one being the Bulbine Scotia species. And they've all got particular reasons why they are called rain trees. This weeping wattle, down to a lot of the flowers and things, the drop of the nectar, as well as the Scotia tree also, when they're flowering, extreme nectar that drops off.

But there's something very important about these trees why they really called the rain tree is because they get a spittle bug, which the lava lives on the branch, and they encase themselves with a lot of, it's like spittle. They make a foam around themselves to stop them from drying out. It’s not the right time of year for that, but they make so much of this foam that it drips off of the tree itself. So if you walk underneath, you can feel like it's raining. So those three trees being the rain trees.

Good answer there, also! Thank you for joining us on the under on the walk and saying that the leaves turned down when this rain—rain on the way—and obviously when they do turn down like that, then it also collects a lot of rain and starts to pour off of those leaflets! So, compound leaves, very interesting! The three rain trees; remember that is the Bulbine, the African weeping wattle, and the apple leaf. That’s very interesting about those three trees!

So, we're on the road! Yeah, that we're just jumping onto now; we're gonna see if we can pick up on any hyena tracks and what else is around! Okay while we hit off and try and get some checks, I'm also gonna get back into this silver cluster leaf forest. It seems James got a very big animal to show off to him!

Well, here is a small herd of elephants—just three of them—so you can see, you can probably count to three unusually. Sort of small herd and unusually led by a youngish cow. I find it always very interesting when there's a small herd like this to figure out why. Why are there so few of them? This is—this magic people that have them—this close to us is absolute magic! And they're not reacting in a negative way at all. Be very kind about being with us. Thank you! Don't do anything silly there; you'll just stay right where you are, lovely elephant!

You're taking legal photograph of you throwing sound on, coming right past! Oh, she's got a nasty gash in her tusks! There isn't that fantastic? This is just brilliant! So, I wouldn't say she's much more than maybe 20 years old, and I think she's pregnant again. Jamie, you say this is amazing? It is! And you know, some of the most profound experiences I've ever had out here have been with elephants like that. She's just watching us till now.

She's just giving a little bit of a head shake, saying, "I'm not gonna move!" It’s just kind of saying, "Stay where you are; let me get away a bit!" Protecting her calves! I don't think the smaller one definitely is. Now suddenly, she's reacting in a manner that is— is it unpleasant? Well, not unpleasant—she just lifted her head and she’s showing alarm!

I will try and show to you, and I wonder if it isn't because the wind may be switched, and she got a whiff of smell of us. But the wind is coming from the southeast, so it's coming from behind her. And I think that's the reason. I think it was because she saw Senzo's shirt! And she actually wanted it! Alicia, the only thing that triggered that reaction from that elephant is the same thing that triggers aggression in any other animal, and that’s fear. There’s almost nothing else that will trigger an aggressive response from an animal other than fear.

And so she is feeling threatened by us. She's feeling that maybe her little calf is threatened by our presence. And so she reacted by doing that. David, why are you trying to contort yourself into a small Kathy? You’re wondering if this is a cow and two kids? I'm looking at them thinking that the older youngster is possibly a little bit too old to be her calf. You see I'd put that one at about 10. If she's 20, it's possible she might be a bit more than 20. What's quite telling, though, is that the older calf has got very similarly shaped tusks to this young matriarch, and I wonder if that doesn't say something about a genetic connection between them.

So it's quite possible that they're both her calves. The tusks of the younger one did straight like that. The calf's got a bit of a wound on her backside, you see about the tail there. She's also got the same kind of thing behind her ears. That's either a skin disease, or she's been spiked in the bum by, can only think of tusks. I'm always fascinated by small herds like this because I don't really understand how they form. She would have left a much bigger herd, or maybe her herd has kind of died around her. You know, she ended up as the oldest female in a small herd as the rest of the older females stopped giving birth and died off.

Now, you saw her moving her trunk around there, extending it towards us, and in fact, all three of them did that. Yes, Becca! They are absolutely trying to smell you when they're doing that! That is the beginning of the nose for them, she's gonna give them a little bit of distance.

I don't want to give them a big fright! So, nice to spend a bit of time with elephants! I'm looking at her now thinking she's not maybe as young as I thought she was. I think she's probably about 25. So that other one, almost certainly her calf as well. Now I think that the older calf is a female. I'm not sure about that younger one. And Alicia, the older one, if she is a female, which I think she is, will stay with her mother probably for most of her mother's life. And if the younger one is a little bull, he will move away eventually as he gets older, but he'll stay within this herd and with his sibling until he's probably about 14 or 15.

I'm going to see if I can get into a different position. And Steve Ovo has had some success! Yes, we have! And we have found Tandy, and she is back up in the tree with apparently a Steinbach kill. I can't really see too much of it, but there is no sign of Columba! I think she's going to make me wait a little bit longer before revealing herself! The little bundle of joy was her old name! Now she's officially been named Columba, the playful one! And Tandy is very relaxed! You might hear the sound of a vehicle! We have just been joined by one of the landowners from Boulders!

The typical leopard pose, isn't that marvelous? So I'm gonna put a little quiz out there to all of you wonderful viewers now. You know I enjoy my trees, so I wonder who can tell me what tree Tandy is in? If you could tell me what tree she is in at the moment with her carcass, hashtag safari live! And she's being shy—she's not showing her face at the moment. Hmm, I'm super stoked! Tandy’s taped as well! We haven’t seen her! I can’t remember the last time I saw her!

I have seen her since I'm here back from Kenya but I haven't seen Columba yet, only on the screen, but that’s not the same thing! I need to see her jumping around in the grass, and apparently Ralph said she kept bringing the carcass down the tree for Columba to feed on, and then hyenas would come and then she would take it back up and then she'd take it down and back up and down. Because Columba was finding it difficult to eat it while suspended in the tree! Ralph knows not a tamarind tree, I don’t think! We get tamarind trees here, and it’s not a leopard tree either.

Folks, if you're going to guess that there’s a very common tree—if you've been watching our drops—you'll know we have spoken about it on many occasions! There’s the leaves, mmm, Linda! You are correct! But I’m going to let a few more viewers get the answers in. Lin is 100% correct with her answer! It’s a tree that we find so many times with animals shading underneath. Allen Node is not a marula tree! Very fine leaves, very, very, very fine leaves, lots and lots of shade!

We've had the young Tambor up with his crew, kill, his Kuruvita skills, should I say. We've had Hosanna many times underneath. I mean, I've had that one Kahuma pride with the kudu kill underneath one. See those pods? Mmm, Dale! And Paula does not indication. It has no thorns but it does look like an acacia limb! So FAR's got a correct, isn't that just the most marvelous light? We just need Tandi to turn her face a little bit towards us so you can get some marvelous screenshots!

Molly, it is indeed the toilet-paper bush! The poor man’s toilet paper! Bear in mind, not the rich man’s toilet paper! Somalian! And well done! The toilet paper tree—the African weeping wattle—and is a very important tree! Our cheerful for shade! It is browsed upon! The pods will give you a bad tummy if you eat them!

And the shade element that it brings them! Just in the time I've been here since January, how many times have I seen not only a leopard in them with the kill but shading underneath them as well as lions? A very, very important tree, definitely giving me a new outlook on these trees! And I'll never look at them the same! Whenever I see one, I’m always looking for the elusive spotted cat perched in the branches!

Oscar! Yes, Tandi knows me! I'm the newest member of the team, but I spent a lot of time with her in January, especially when Columba was very young. It was about three months or so! We're very, very close to camp! We got to see her two or three minutes out of camp! She was there to see almost every day, so very, very spoiled! I just got a whiff of the Steinbach; the wind just changed! It smells lovely!

So Tandi is a very relaxed cat! Every now and again, she can be quite moody, but I mean that’s just part of her personality! We've had some wonderful sightings with her! I’m hoping in the next little while... I'm sure she’s gonna make us earn her a little humble! She’ll come out of the woodwork in proper, proper form! Because the way she’s positioned with this afternoon light, if Columba goes up that tree, it's going to be gorgeous!

Aidan! Seven years old! She climbs up this, she’s got very, very sharp claws! And if she is a cat, she’s just a very big one! And they are very, very good at climbing trees! And that's not even a difficult tree to climb! I've seen leopards go straight up, probably vertically, about 20 feet—just straight up! But before getting to the branch, and I've seen them do that with a fully grown female impala in their mouth!

So pound for pound, the strongest cat! Very sharp claws designed for grabbing onto branches, pulling themselves up, and also designed for pulling down prey much bigger than themselves! Undress? No, I don’t say I ever feel at risk! But every now and again, you do get this feeling in the tummy like one time we had Tandi! We were parked pretty much as we are!

Tandi walked behind our car and hoisted a water warthog up a tree! And then, because we don't have any doors in the car here! And then Columba tried to follow her! And then they kind of got—we got between her and Tandi, and she tried to walk around the car! And I remember turning my head and looking at Tandi, and she was about a metre from my foot. She was looking at me with a very unhappy look on her face! But we hadn't done anything wrong! Cabin hood just kind of walked around our car and gotten a little bit separated! And then she looked at me as if I was to blame!

But it is indeed... has made my heart race a little bit. These are still wild cats! I mean, we assume that they're never going to jump on the car! That is the behavior that they have exhibited for many, many years! But there's nothing really to stop them from doing so apart from the fact that they don’t see us as food!

So as long as we can maintain that discipline in that balance, we are perfectly safe on the car. Marcy, I am looking everywhere but I can't see Columba! I'm sure she's just having—she's lying flat somewhere here! I mean, there’s lots of grass everywhere, lots of bushes!

One thing I do remember, we were in this area was actually with Youssef the last time I saw Columba, and Tandi had a kill! She had a warthog and, I know, a day care and a water bucket! She was just up the road, up a marula tree, and I mean, she was about 70 meters away from Columba, who was two months younger than she is now!

And she was just sort of on her own mission and a mum would look at that at all! Hmm... that little call! And eventually she came back! But, um, so I don't think she's too bothered by her! Leopards are very independent little animals! And she’s probably missing around looking for some Franklin or chasing ants or grasshoppers or something! Something that young leopards do!

But I wouldn't worry! But I'm sure she's here somewhere! Hmm, Aaron! Favorite tree species to see a leopard. Well, that's quite hard! You know, Aaron, to see a leopard in a tree and it’s all about them! Like for example these trees—these African weeping wattles—are often very, very bushy! But the way she's positioned now makes it a perfect tree! But if she was on the other side, that would be a very bad tree.

My rule is often very, very good! Leadwoods are very, very good! And in my pastime up in sort of the middle of Kruger, we saw a leopard in a dead leadwood! And that was probably the most spectacular thing! Not a leaf or small branch on the tree whatsoever! And a leopard just sort of lying there in this grey sort of crocodile skin bark with a very blue background!

So I've probably said dead leadwood tree is my favorite to see them in! But just seeing a leopard in the tree, for me, is very special! It's a very popular and common sort of part of the Sabi Sands! If you want to see a leopard, this is the place to come! And you can almost pick the tree you want to find them in! I've seen them in so many different trees!

Well, we are going to stay here in hopes of Columba materializing! And Tandi maybe getting up and showing us some activity! While we do that, let's go to someone who's walking vigorously in the bush, Ralph Kristin!

Wow, everyone, we're still on the lookout for anything special! And it's a little bit quiet still in that just often that day, you know! Sometimes it can be a little bit quiet, and when it's quite warm out in the bush! But I'd like to ask you, what would you guys like me to look for while we're out here on the bush walk this afternoon? You know, I've spent so many years arching in the bush, and Sam Davy is just trying to negotiate his way down there to Martin.

Don’t fall, Darby! And I've spent so many years out in the bush that sometimes you all must take a lot of things for granted! So, and also, you know, we feel sometimes that we repeat ourselves on many different topics! So I’d like you to throw some topics to me—things that you'd like reminding on! Things that you'd like new information on—whatever you like!

And just as we're walking here, you know, one of the biggest things as we're walking through the bush— it all just looks like grass, doesn't it? But we've got, if we can just stop right here, we've got a lot of different species of grass here! This one is the little blue grass that I've spoken about before! I mean, the little blue wax bull uses that as nesting material!

Yeah, there's little seeds give a little blue tinge to it. That's why it’s called that! Not a very impala table grass, but still a grass all the same! Now, Alicia, I'm going to try and find you lots of cool little insects! I will do that! Another one here that we have—this is called finger grass for obvious reasons! You see what it looks like? They up like the fingers pointing up! Okay, so nice and easy, that one! Also not a very palatable grass!

So once again, we're getting an indication that this is not a particularly palatable area for animals. And this one, being the Hay-in-grass, looking very much like on the cartoons when a little cat catches a fish and pulls the barn out pretty much full netted and clean! So that's why it's called a Hay-in-grass! Also not very palatable.

And then the nasty buggers that we don't like, which also is one of the reasons why we wear Gators! Apart from the ticks, these guys here—this is Aristotle and Jester, or the Tzatziki—three or nuts waving around a bit! Castle three or! And it’s called that because of these little seeds that they have—they have three little horns on them; you see? There are one, two, three, as I turn it sideways! But it's like a little spear that goes into your socks and really irritates you.

And look at the gràffiti; it is completely full of this stuff! So when you walk through here, these tassel ills really get into your socks and really irritate you! So wearing gaiters is one of the things it really helps—fighting instead among apart from the ticks! That's one of the reasons why we use that! And there’s my guy says, "Yes, you can see these tassels three horns just sticking into my shoes as well!" Lots of them—they're starting to irritate me already!

And part of my shoes! And very well protected! But that's what we do! So, and this Davi, he's got hardcore canvas ones! Rogue! He is a road man! Yes! Okay! And I hear that somebody’s also looking for an art for call—that's something I'm going to look for! So two things I’m going to be looking for: interesting insects and an art fork! I think that’s fantastic! So let's do that, Davi! That’s the mission now!

Beth! There's a couple of plants that are exotic and considered nuisances! One of them being the blackjack, which I think came over from Europe in with the horses! And a blackjack in Afrikaans, we call it very descriptive, "komupsik," which is the black seeds quite similar to the Arsenic that irritability that they give you! But very straight seed black, and they literally stick on all your clothes! They stick on all your socks, and you've got to pluck them out like quite a lot!

And it's all these irritating plants like that! They are pioneers but normally also alien! So they were brought across from other countries that really become a problem! And their seeds are spread so easily! Because then they only get stuck on the wool of the animals. United in the southeast—in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, where I'm from, we get this—it’s a jointed cactus. So it's a cactus that goes very close to the ground! Very close to the ground!

Look at, but it’s got a lot of thorns on it! And as the animals walk past, those thorns go into the legs, and you almost don't feel it! And, but their legs can be full of this stuff! And then obviously they bite it and pull it out and but they spread that so much that it's really, really bad stuff! And another one being the Queen of the Night, which is also a cactus-like plant! Very tall cactus plants that you would think it would come from Mexico as things! They might even come from Mexico! And they flower at night!

So that's why it's called Queen of the Night! Very good for ornamental plants! And that's why they were brought over! But they also encroach into areas quite prolifically! Another one being the prickly pear—very, very bad! The elephants love to eat it! And all of those cactus-like plants! As soon as you break a piece off of it, it falls on the ground; it can grow another one from there! So people think that elephants are eating those prickly pears and decimating them! It’s far from the truth!

That prickly pear will go through in their dung, and wherever they've broken a piece down on the ground, it will grow all over the place! So it literally spreads like wildfire! It's terrible stuff—really, really terrible stuff! So there are quite a few exotic plants! Another one here that we get is wild tobacco, which we generally find in the riverbeds, and it makes quite a pretty flower as well! Not good for smoking at all! I don't know why they call it a wild tobacco—I think it's just in the same family!

Okay, I'm off to try and find some art fork and interesting insects! And while we do that, let's head you back to Steve, who’s got Tandy!

Mmm marvelous! Oh! You could find an aardvark in the day! I've never seen that before! Ralph, good luck! And you can see the claws that she uses to climb up the tree—they are what we call in lions and leopards, we call protract tile floors! Some people mistake them for retractable claws; they're not retractable! They're able to be extended, which means they're protract art! And then they go back in as normal position!

So by extending their wrists, they actually extend the claws out! And then when they relax, they come back in again! So not retractable—protractable! And then you can see she's revealing one of them for us now! Sorry, Julie, only got the last bit of your question there: Ravinder, no, she's still got some up there! I can't see much of it!

I wonder if you can see the leg behind her back leg there again—if you just punch in there, Davi, you can still see the leg of the Steinbach! Up there we go! So there's still some up there, but we haven't seen too much of it! There's not too much... Apparently, Ralph, we left this morning; there was still quite a bit behind the hindquarters of the Steinbach visible!

And for her to be up the tree kind of defending it means there's still enough meat to see her through another little while! Tandi's about 12 years old, I believe! Somewhere in that range! She's been around for a long time; she has been the mother of many cubs! So she is the new queen of Juma, after Karula passed, who was her mother! I believe Murad sip? Yeah, yes!

So Shadow and Tandi—shadow hasn't been seen in some time; they were sisters, and shadow hasn't been that apparent! She hasn't been the best mom; I don't know how many of her cubs have survived, but Tandi's done very, very well! Very, very well over the years! But, as Tristan has told me—Tristan is up in the Mara, and I said that Tandi's getting to the stage where she's gonna stop reading, and this might even be her last litter.

So this last legacy of hers, Columba, which is awesome because it is a young lady, and the young ladies are destined to stay within the area, and it means you'll be able to document and follow this youngster as it comes of age and sort of moves into the space of her mother, the queen of Juma! Okay, well! We've got one of the big five that I'm not doing too much! Let's go over to someone who's got a big animal of the big five, I think!

We're live—hang on a second! Okay, are we live? We've just gone live—okay, good! I will carry on! Our elephants, you please, as you were! Squeeze past! But I will—sorry about that, everybody! I was beating some friends! I do have some there they are! I do apologize for that! The elephants have just gone into the raw—the large thicket over here—and oh no, no! That's not your fault!

Luke's just saying sorry; it’s my fault entirely! Let's get one last view of them! I've been sitting here trying to do what we call an end board for school Drive! And it basically means I just have to deliver two lines or so to the camera with the elephants in the background! You can't believe I talk for a living! I cannot believe how long it takes me to learn two lines of script!

There we go; my matriarch friend! There was talk of there being rain today! Slightly strange withered afternoon! I don't think it's particularly wet; I don't think it's going to get wet! But there's definitely a front coming through, and I suspect tomorrow morning will be quite chilly!

Now, I made the assertion that I thought this cow was about 25 years old! I thought the youngster was probably... that youngster didn't actually give an estimate of! I think probably about four! And probably wondering how I managed to do that! Well, what you do, Paula, is you count the veins on the back of the ear! And that gives you an idea!

I can’t believe you actually believe me as well! I'm talking rubbish! It's through guessing, Paula! It's through guessing and experience! So I've learned from people who'd been not here for much longer than I had! And I'd say, "How old is that elephant? How's that elephant in there? Tell me!" And basically that's how I guess! And so it's very inaccurate! I mean, it could be entirely inaccurate!

I don't think she's older than 25; she could be thirty, but I think it's very unlikely! And basically it's from size, skin condition, the shape of the back, and the head! They get much more angular as they get older! And they also tend not to stop growing! I mean, they will slow down going towards the end, but they do get taller and bigger for their whole lives! You can see an old elephant—an old elephant looks like an old human being!

There's that little wound that I told you about earlier! Now I think that's a spike from a tusk! I think something's had a goad her there! Marvelous to have some elephants again! Sometimes in a situation like this, Paula, when there are three elephants... I mean, if some fate was to puff before the two calves here, she might live a solitary life!

But most likely what will happen is that you would join another herd when they get very old! However, then they do tend to leave the herd and go off towards softer foods on the rivers, where they eventually die! But that’s the only kind of real reason a female would choose to live on her own! It would be very unusual for a female in good health to decide to live entirely on her own!

Oh, look! There we go! He’s just trying to test his strength! Now I know that my parents and certainly many of you on a Sunday afternoon would have had a substantial nap! The elephants' Panza is—that the name? Panza! The elephants tend not to have an enormous sleep during the afternoon, and in fact, they sleep very little!

And it seems to be that the bigger a mammal is, the less it will sleep! And so I don't think that they sleep often for more than 2 or 3 or 4 hours a day! And when they're smaller, they sleep for much longer than that! So, no, I don't think they would have—they would doze much during the day! I have seen big bulls sitting on very hot days; they'll stand in the shade, and you can see they're just not with it! They're flapping their wings, their wings—their ears—and then they're just fast asleep!

So that's what they do! But they don't sleep fully during the day! And in fact, a big bull elephant will sleep very little compared to a human being! All right, they've gone off into the thickets! I think we're going to press on! See what else we can find! You might see if we can head towards there are big male lions at Chitwa Chitwa! Ha! Till one gear! Ha!

I believe Steve has done very interesting things! He has changed position! Yes, well, Sandy got up and moved! And she's now hugging her little carcass! And for the sensitive viewers, you might not want to look at this now, but to look away if you need to! But here is the steam box face, which has been badly munched on by Tandi! Such an evil looking look on it now!

There's obviously very dead, but it's a prize for a little female Steinbach who's fallen victim to the claws of this very good and professional hunter! She's repositioned now, having a nice sort of sit down in the tree! She's looking a little bit more comfortable than she was! Good! Better water! Queen! Had! What a queen! Alexandra fibers! Old, no leopards, I don't believe, get more spots! They just grow into the spots more!

And the spots begin to spread out! As you have Asee, Columba, you’ll see how many spots she's got! And those spots, just like the fur in the body, that everything just expands and stretches! They’re very spotty at birth! And if anything, they get more golden in between the spots; they're quite dark when they're younger! I think it aids in camouflage and also keeping them a little bit warmer! Because darker fur is more insulating than lighter fare!

What is she spotted? She’s calling me! I wonder if she was looking to call! Pink Columba moved off sort of northeast from where we are! Now she's not looking in that journal direction! But it's a good chance that she's circled around this! Maybe coming back! Definitely interested in something! But there were also hyenas this morning! Sandy might have spotted hyena! She might have even spotted another animal too! To prey on, such as the Dacre, another Steinbach! More than Paula, who knows? She's definitely showing some sort of interest there!

Pam, Jackie, leopards can hunt daily! They don't need to, but I mean they can hunt twice a day! Three times is that all depends on the conditions with the animals that they are hunting! I've seen a leopard up a tree with the baby zebra and two warthogs! And we saw it catch that zebra in the morning, and then successfully, we didn't see it catch the warthogs, but they were up in the tree with the zebra from the morning! So, they can also go days without hunting!

So condition plays a big part, not just the condition of the leopard but condition of the prey animals! As winter gets more and more dry and more and more harsh, your prey animals are weaker and much easier to catch! But then, at the same time, the cover is blown a little bit for the leopards! And they have to work a little bit harder to hunt!

Oh, that was a beautiful yawn! So there's nothing to stop her from hunting with a kill! I mean, for example, I'm really surprised that she’s still got... well, she’s still got meat, yeah! Because she knows she's eating again now! Because a Steinbach is not a huge animal, and she's been with it for what, two days or something?

There we go, she's calling. So I think she was already full when she caught this! There she’s busy calling her cub! It's listen, sorry you might hear a vehicle! They're getting a little bit stuck over there! It's very sandy! They just need to engage in their low-low range! She’s coming down the tree! Should I move forward, Seb? You want me to stay there? What’s there?

Right there! I'm just going to move! See how she disappears in the long grass? They’re very difficult to spot! The spots so well—they're camouflaged! They’re opportunistic hunters! They will hunt as many times as they need to! And if something just comes around while they're in a tree with a kill in a fool, there’s nothing to stop them going down and stalking and hunting again!

Listen, she’s calling! No, Lily! There's not too much left—there’s still a little bit! She's not giving it up yet! She is calling her daughter to come and eat! The daughter, she should not leave the table without finishing her meal! Here she comes! Hip! Yeah, she comes! Just in the long grass there! She’s about to come! Oh, yes!

Give me my meat, mum! That's what she's just said! Giraffe! Go, my heart is bursting with happiness! As well, I'm so happy to see you! This cub alive! There was some doubt for some time! We weren't able to see her! But then being out here in the area, it’s very hard to find her! Not yet! Look at this vegetation! They're right there! They're right there!

And unless a zoom zooms in, you can't even see it now! The cub’s in the long grass feeding on that—Steinbach! And you can’t even see her there! She is! Sorry about my brakes! Hello, gorgeous! This is the best thing ever! If she has grown so much, she is so cheeky! She’s been off gallivanting! And she's still little! I was thinking after two months she would have grown more, but I mean, I went to see her in the open! But she's still very little!

There are definitely becoming little Lepidus! Just going to get Aubree, one of their game viewers. He's just coming in to join us—oops! You can just come around the side! Okay! Well, it looks like Ralph has found! And we're looking to make a promise to all of you—let’s go see what he's found!

Then I have indeed everybody! Here we are next to a termite mound, but a termite mound that's got quite a big cavity in it over there! Now, there is nobody else that could make a cavity like that other than an aardvark! So, whoever was looking for an aardvark burrow, here’s one! And, well, let's have a look inside there!

It is quite deep! That goes in for at least a meter and a meter and a half as I put the light on it! And then it goes up and around the corner! Now, the reason behind that is you want—you have that little Baldy at the bottom so that it goes up! So when it rains, the water will obviously sit in that little bowl! And you can then get up and be high and dry!

And that's what the aardvark has done! And afterwards, warthogs can also use this burrow! And they do something similar as well; they’ll also make a little lead like that! So especially the piglets can sit up on that little ledge! Because they don't have as much meat on them as mummy does! And they need to sit up nice and warm out of the water!

Sometimes mummy will sit in that bowl, and she will sit, but she's got enough meat on her to stay even when she's wet! But the little piglets are on the dry stuff, and there's a lot of animals that will use aardvark burrows! So they are the unsung heroes of the bush! Because not only warthogs will use them—jackals will use them too! Dunnans—we’ve seen that many times before! Hyenas—we’ve seen that here on Juma plenty as well! Leopards will put their cubs in these aardvark burrows too!

I'm sure lots of you have seen that! Even lions will do that as well! Honey badgers! Cannot think of any other mammals! If we go on to reptiles, we talk about the monitor lizards; they can use that as their home! Black mambas and other different snakes will also use that to hibernate in! And then we also talk about birds—there are a couple of birds that will use this as a nesting site, one being the blue swallow and another one being the South African shell duck!

So there is a number of animals that really rely on aardvarks! And you know what? This—some that even don't exist where you don't get aardvark! Now, Paula, this kind of hole here is generally the size of an aardvark burrow, but the question remains how big does it get on the inside? Well, it all depends on how many the little aardvark has in his family, or if he's making it as a den site!

Mostly they dig just an evening shelter that they'll go in overnight and then they'll move on, but when they make themselves an actual den site, it can be rather large on the inside. So they are fascinating! And I tell you what, you don't get many warthog where you don't get aardvark because they're almost solely reliant on an aardvark for their burrow! Yes, they will excavate a little bit more around it and on the inside that they cannot dig that with this nut which is what they use to excavate!

So just imagine trying to excavate this massive hole yer, entirely, which is not! Now, Kathy, I've seen quite a number of aardvarks in my life, mostly at night. And being quite lucky here in the Kruger Park, but I haven't seen most of them here in this area that we're in right now! I've seen one or two at night, and in the Eastern Cape where I am from, it is quite unusual; there you see a lot of aardfox!

And one of my friends and a mentor for me as well—he's held mice that I used to work with! I try and say that one shall deny! He's a very good friend of mine, and he's more experienced than me! He had been working in the bush for almost 20 years and he had never seen an aardvark!

He’d seen the checks, and we used to laugh at him because we often had the checks going past his tent in the morning! And he'd say, "Al, didn’t you see that one?" But now, so they're very secretive and very difficult to see! But they leave the signs all over the place! And such wonderful burrow diggers! They're very important for the ecosystem!

Atiyah, now there is one little thing I do want to show you—just before you go off to all the other exciting things! And this is just one of the things that is so impressive in the bush! When a little bird finds a buffalo thorn, which is full of thorns there, and he makes his little nest up in there! Now, I'm sure this is something like a terrestrial brown ball or something along those lines! Because it’s a very sticky nest! But I can't, I'm not gonna attempt to climb in the tree because I think I might disturb it!

But I'm pretty sure there's a cup or a bowl on the inside, so it looks a little bit haphazard on the outside! But I think on the inside, there it is quite ball-shaped and quite organized! And maybe there's even some spider web to make it soft on the inside! And that's something looking like a little terrestrial brown ball! What a clever way to defend your nest! Nice inside a buffalo thorn tree!

It's just absolutely fascinating how nature works! Huh! So we go from one amazing thing—the aardvark burrow—and we've spotted now a little, I think, the terrestrial bramble mist in this bath zone! That is absolutely fantastic! Now for folder one promise! We need to start looking for some special insects! Country Columbus has come out! And Tandi has provided here with the remainder of that Steinbach!

But now, they are both Tandi's life! Let’s see what these two can do! Oh! I'm going to have to bring them up. I'm not quite sure what it will be! So this… let me just try and start again. Okay! Let's see if I can move! Hey—hey, look at that one! He’s showing us a great picture of Tandi!

And he’s right there! That's the second time today that Tandi made me go ooh—I think she might be grooming away! Yes, that is lovely! There we go! Everybody, we are going to finish! So we've seen some of the marvelous cats! Really! And we will say goodbye for now! So we'll see everyone—we’re going to stay here until the very last minutes until we say goodbye! Thank you!