A lesson learnt!

It was an uncharacteristically cold and rainy day in the Lowveld, and even though the weather resembled that of England rather than Africa, we went on a drive to look for some game, even bringing our cameras. The drive started slowly  (animals generally are not keen on the cold, wet weather either), but eventually we came across two young lions at the edge of a dam.

The two young lions exploring the edge of the dam

Many would think that a cold overcast day would be bad for photography,

 it’s actually quite the opposite, it makes metering and exposure much

 easier. So we started snapping away.

Whilst watching the youngsters we noticed something approaching on

 the opposite side of the dam. “Yes!” we all shared the same excitement. 

A cheetah, this was amazing, we had two big cats right in front of us.

The cheetah coming down for a drink

The lion takes a vantage point to see the cheetah more clearly

At the edge of the bush the cheetah notices the lions

Now we were  assuming that the cheetah would flee the scene in a cloud full
of dust, for fear of the adult lions being around but to prove us wrong he
 did the opposite and continued his course in a bold fashion. This sparks
 a reaction from the lions and we soon see a confrontation fast approaching
 “Get your cameras ready folks, this is going to be good!”

The lion decides this is a challenge and comes down

Things where fast becoming interesting as we watched the event unfold unsure
of what was going to happen. This is where our passion for wildlife really
comes peaks, seeing animals in unusual circumstances and watching it all
play out in front of your very eyes. We watched in anticipation…

The cheetah reaches the waters edge but crouches down as the smaller of the lions begins circling

The lion and cheetah soon get within a few meters of each other and the Cheetah
shows signs of submission, crouching he senses the danger of her younger, but
 much stronger stranger. The larger of the two lions makes the first move.
 She rushes in with a sudden burst of energy, showing her superior strength
 and gives the Cheetah (and us) quite a fright. From the ground the cheetah
 looks to be in trouble, but with a swift movement he swipes at the young
 female lion taking her by surprise and highlighting her inexperience in such
 conflicts.
Within a few clicks of the camera we spot the second, smaller lion who rushes
onto the scene to help his sister. Now the cheetah is outnumbered and
overpowered, seems like the only option here is to forget the fight and
 consider flight.

Suddenly the larger lion rushes in!

But the cheetah holds its ground and swipes at the inexperienced lion

Sensing an opportunity, the second lion joins in and they gang up on the cheetah

I am outta here! The cheetah makes a break for it

We are still silently watching the scene unfold in front of us with open mouths and white knuckles.

Defiantly the cheetah does not dash off but hisses and snarls at the cubs as they run parallel to him.

After he made his point the thirsty cheetah takes off into the bush with lions close behind.

The Cheetah has a moment of confidence (or madness) and stands his ground against the male cub, snarling and hissing.

The stand off lasts a few moments before the Cheetah puts on his running shoes and exits the scene with the lion hot on his heels but soon realises the game is over. The cheetah flees into the bush leaving the lions and us in his dust.

This all happened so fast and looking through the camera eyepiece, we found it hard to comprehend what actually happened till we looked at the images. Relieved that the confrontation turned out with no injuries, a good lesson was learnt by both cats. This experience also taught us a good lesson - always pick up your camera no matter what the conditions.

Drones Will Soon Monitor Endangered Animals in Africa

Belgian research team says there are still kinks to work out before drones replace airplane surveillance

Elephants in Burkina Faso are photographed from a height of 300 meters using a drone.

Scientists recently completed one of the first unmanned aerial surveys of wildlife in Africa, which could one day lead to endangered animal protection and poacher prevention.

The survey was completed in Burkina Faso's Nazinga Game Ranch, one of the few areas of Africa where the African elephant population is growing, says Cedric Vermeulen, a researcher at Belgium's Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech.

Vermeulen says drone monitoring has several advantages over typical plane-based surveying: drones are cheaper and can be launched more easily than a plane. But the model the team used, the Gatewing x100 was only able to fly for 40 minutes at a time and its camera couldn't zoom in far enough to see any animals besides elephants.

"We were a little disappointed because we couldn't see antelopes or baboons, but it was good for counting elephants," he says. "But in order for this to be an effective alternative to planes, we have to be able to identify all three."

Drones also offer a security and logistics advantage over plane monitoring, Vermeulen says. In Burkina Faso, fuel used for airplanes is often siphoned out of the plane, and finding someone to fly one can be problematic.

"In this part of Africa, it's difficult to organize a plane," he says. "The idea with drones is that they are less expensive and less dangerous because if they crash, there's no one on them."

But in order for drones to be truly useful, Vermeulen says the team needs an aircraft that can cover hundreds of kilometers at a time.

Vermeulen's team isn't the only group looking into using unmanned aircraft to monitor endangered wildlife. In December, Google announced it was giving $5 million to the World Wildlife Fund for anti-poaching drones in Africa and Asia. Those drones will be able to track poachers more easily than park rangers located on the ground, according to the WWF.

Catastrophic Loss of Wildlife in Okavango (Botswana)

All is not well among the 50 000 islands, clear channels and countless creatures in one of the most bountiful wildlife areas on earth.

An aerial survey commissioned by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, and undertaken by Michael Chase and Kelly Landen of Elephants Without Borders has found 11 species in serious decline in the delta. Comparing surveys going back to 1993, wildebeest numbers are shown to have shrunk by 90%; giraffe by 65%; tsessebe by 83%; lechwe by 58% and zebra by 53%. Also down about 80% are warthog, kudu, roan and ostrich. From 1999 to the present - only 10 years - the running average for total species decline is about 61%.

"There's a catastrophic loss of wildlife," said Chase”,and we cannot be certain about why. But one thing is clear from the survey -- the delta's wildlife is in trouble."

According to the report the species decline is the result of "a complex mixture of local causes", including human encroachment, game fences and poaching. Another factor could be fire.

Much of the area surveyed in the late dry season was burning, the report says. 

“The most potent factor, however, is seen to be drought. With torrential rain and flooding across the region this year, it's hard to imagine this being the cause. But using rainfall data from the 1920s, the survey found that the decline of animals coincided with the onset of a long, dry cycle starting in 1980 -- the most severe ever recorded -- which has only just broken.

During that time the Okavango River water flow rates were the lowest since records began,” says the report.

But elephants and hippos are bucking the downward trend. Hippos have increased steadily at 6% a year, and the elephant population is holding steady. "We found the number of elephants in northern Botswana has stabilized at about 130,000," Chase is quoted as saying. "One reason is that they're returning to Angola."

Jonas Savimbi's troops are thought to have slaughtered about 150,000 elephants for meat and to finance Angola's civil war by selling ivory. All the rhino went the same way. When Elephants Without Borders the surveyed strife-torn Luiana National Park in 2001 there were 38 elephants; in 2005 it had jumped to 3 000, and by 2008 the count was 8 000.

How did they know it was safe to return to Angola? "The country is remembered by a generation of elephants still alive today," said Chase. "They recognise the pathways to food and water and the timing of seasons. They remember where the hunters are. In a sense, they're Angolan refugees returning home.

"The bulls are the scouts, leaving the vicinity of Botswana's conservation areas on exploration journeys. They move from the delta up the Kwando River, streak across the Caprivi at night and into Angola. They find it’s pristine, with few people. There are thought to be millions of landmines in south-east Angola. I don't know how they avoid them -- probably by smell -- but they do. Then they return and fetch the family herds."

The distance elephants walk is staggering. Chase and Landen have tracked a collared elephant that covered 32,000km in two years, the greatest distance ever recorded for the species. "They look for food and water," said Chase. "But they're also searching for peaceful sanctuaries far from humans.

"For elephants to survive, we need to identify safe corridors, linkages between areas, networks, dispersal areas, Transfrontier Parks. We need to let their movement draw the lines which define wildlife ecosystems. There's not much time left. Their future is in our hands. We have to get it right and do it now, while we still have the opportunity."

The survey suggests that many of the threats to animals come from hunting, fence-related deaths, habitat fragmentation and poaching outside the reserves. It notes that if the current problems persist, the populations of large plains game in northern Botswana are likely to remain low, while the wildebeest and tsessebe populations could collapse altogether.

The only way to monitor the situation, it says, is to conduct regular aerial surveys; in this way wildlife managers will be able to track population dynamics, set priorities and focus on the species that is most in need of attention.