Close Encounters in South Africa

April 2010

The School’s MSc class in Biodiversity & Conservation have recently returned from a very successful field course held in the Welgevonden Private Game Reserve in South Africa.  Located some 220 km north of Johannesburg, Welgevonden is a 37,000 ha reserve created by the amalgamation of several properties, and contains large tracts of undisturbed natural habitat.

Our expert local guides Gerhardt and Hannah drove us around the reserve and introduced us to the biodiversity and ecology of bushveldt.  We had some memorable close encounters with wildlife – the lioness stalking around the safari vehicle in the dark will stand out for many, as will the very real looking ‘mock’ charge by a musty bull elephant which had several students cowering.  We came face to face with thorny conservation issues – poaching, habitat degradation, grazing and browsing pressures, predator control etc. – which generated some frank and interesting discussions with the reserve management team. 

We also got see some of the local community conservation initiatives, and the extreme poverty which many of South Africa’s population have to contend with, and we heard about political problems of dealing with the land claims of some of these communities.  The spontaneous ‘MSc song’ and dance by the people of the Telekishi Cultural Project will provide another lasting memory of a wonderful trip.

Male Cheetah with Impala kill, a few hundred metres from the student camp.  The kill was made in late afternoon, the Cheetah fed until the middle of the next morning, then skulked off to digest.

Bull elephant in initial threat display – spreading ears and shaking head.  After a further period of ‘indecision’ with front foot lifted, this bull then went to phase two with a mock charge.