Arriving at Skukuza

Finalmente chegamos em Skukuza, um campo bastante diferente de Pretoriuskop, mas muito bonito, com uma bela vista do rio, até mesmo do restaurante. Foi um prazer inesperado comer ao som dos hipopótamos no rio. Hipopótamos parecem estar sempre reclamando uns com os outros...

E o que dizer dos morcegos frugívoros de dragona de Wahlberg (a tradução literal de Wahlberg's Epauletted Fruit Bats) sob o telhado da loja? Fantásticos!

Esta é uma foto da entrada de Skukuza, o que já mostra o capricho!

Aqui está uma lista do que vimos em Skukuza: Hipopótamos (Hippopotamus amphibius), 1 Estorninho-grande-de-orelha-azul (Lamprotornis chalybaeus), 1 Rola-do-Senegal (Streptopelia senegalensis), Morcegos Frugívoros de Dragona de Wahlberg  (Epomophorus wahlbergi), Macacos-verdes-africanos (Chlorocebus pygerythrus, anteriormente Cercopithecus aethiops), 1 Agama-arborícola-do-sul-de-cabeça-azul (Acanthocercus atricollis), 1 Skink-listrado (Trachylepis striata), 1 Gecko-anão-do-Cabo (Lygodactylus capensis).

Vale a pena começar mostrando fotos do bangalô em que ficamos em Skukuza, exterior e interior. Realmente confortáveis, com preço muito justo!

Em seguida, uma visão geral do campo.

O rio Sabie em frente ao restaurante é outra coisa bonita de se ver!

Aqui está uma foto de um dos hipopótamos reclamões.

O animal mais perigoso na África! Mata mais pessoas do que todos os usuais suspeitos. Uma história que lemos foi a de um cara que saiu do carro próximo a Hippo pool, perto de Crocodile Bridge. Ali as pessoas podem sair do carro se um guarda estiver presente. Mas esse cara saiu do carro sem qualquer guarda à vista. Quando um guarda apareceu e lhe perguntou o que ele estava fazendo, avisando do perigo representado pelos hipopótamos, ele apenas disse que eles pareciam animais tão simpáticos. Há realmente algumas pessoas que não sabem onde estão quando visitam o Kruger.

Sempre penso que é notável quando eles abrem suas grandes bocas dessa maneira. Realmente mostra quão poderosos eles são. Quando fecham suas bocas, são mais de uma tonelada de peso. 

Finalmente, a colaboração do hipopótamo para o calendário de bundinhas. Vejam a ferida recentemente curada em seu flanco. Provavelmente, resultado de um outro hipopótamo. Embora vegetarianos, hipopótamos podem apelar para o canibalismo, como foi recentemente descoberto. Mas não é o caso aqui. Mais provável que tenha sido uma briga.

Infelizmente, esses fantásticos animais são vulneráveis de acordo com a Lista Vermelha da IUCN, com populações decrescendo.

Também foi muito bom ver mais uma espécie de estorninho no restaurante de Skukuza, um Estorninho-grande-de-orelha-azul.

As populações desta ave são estáveis e, por essa razão, sua classificação na Lista Vermelha da IUCN é de menor preocupação quanto à extinção (Least Concern).

Este estorninho come uma variedade de insetos, frutos e pequenos invertebrados, forrageando em árvores e no solo, mas certamente aproveita comida de graça fornecida pelos humanos. É por isso que nós o encontramos nos campos, tentando roubar o pão que deixamos inadvertidamente sobre a mesa!

Tiramos apenas uma foto dessa bela Rola-do-Senegal, no chão de madeira do restaurante de Skukuza, enquanto nos divertíamos olhando os hipopótamos. Esta é de fato uma bela ave.

Esta pequena rola tem ampla distribuição, sendo residente e procriando na África tropical sub-Saariana, no Oriente Médio e até mesmo alcançando o  subcontinente Indiano. Ela também chegou a uma parte específica da Austrália Ocidental, ao redor de Perth e Freemantle, como aves introduzidas, provavelmente viajando em navios ou algo similar. Elas são abundantes no sul da África, onde são encontradas em todos os lugares exceto na costa de Moçambique.

É difícil diferenciar machos e fêmeas em termos morfológicos. Eles são muito similares.É possível distinguir juvenis de adultos, contudo, porque os primeiros são mais castanho-avermelhados e têm manchas mais reduzidas na garganta.

Por que em língua inglesa são chamadas de Laughing Doves? Escutem aqui:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:S-senegalensis.ogg

Talvez estejam gozando de nossa cara! Brincadeira, claro...

Estava ave não está ameaçada. Suas populações são estáveis e podem estar até mesmo aumentando, devido ao fato de que se beneficiou bastante da perturbação do habitat pelos seres humanos e das mudanças no uso da terra. É um animal extremamente comum, encontrando em todos os tipos de florestas, bem como em parques e jardins. É um dos animais afortunados que se beneficiaram de nossos ambientes antropizados.

Nós havíamos lido sobre os Morcegos Frugívoros de Dragona de Wahlberg (Wahlberg's Epauletted Fruit Bats) que ficam na loja em Skukuza. Então, quando chegamos na loja, estávamos ansiosos para vê-los. Valeu a pena! Eles são incríveis dormindo sob o telhado do lado de fora da loja, como essas imagens mostram.

Este morcego não está ameaçando, possuindo populações estáveis, de acordo com a Lista Vermelha da IUCN. É uma espécie de megamorcego classificado na família Pteropodidae. O nome da espécie deriva das estruturas formadas por pêlos eréteis que se assemelham a dragonas e se formam ao redor das grandes glândulas de cheiro dos machos. Podemos vê-las claramente na segunda foto. Olhem as estruturas brancas em frente das orelhas.

Também é possível diferenciar machos e fêmeas examinando os sacos aéreos no pescoço dos machos, que podem aumentar o volume dos chamados de corte.

Eles são encontrados através do sul da África em habitats de floresta, arbustivos e de savana. A distribuição se estende do nível do mar até 2.000 m. Também podemos encontrar populações em áreas urbanas vegetadas e formando ninhos em estruturas construídas por nós. Temos aqui, desse modo, outra espécie que pode ajustar-se a nosso ambiente modificados e tem, portanto, maior probabilidade de sobreviver às nossas perturbações.

Este é um morcego frugívoro (não surpreende, isso é dito em seu nome vulgar), comendo figos, goiabas e vários frutos de espécies de Diospyros. Eles também comem folhas de espécies de Balanites e vários insetos.

Finalmente, uma coisa curiosa sobre esse morcego é que seu voo é relativamente lento e meio desajeitado. Eles frequentemente se batem em outros indivíduos e em obstáculos.

We finally arrived in Skukuza, quite a different camp from Pretoriuskop, but very nice, with the nice view of the river, even from the restaurant. It was an unexpected pleasure to eat while listening to hippos down in the river. Hippos are always complaining with each other...

And what about the Wahlberg's Epauletted Fruit Bats under the roof of the store? Fantastic!

This is a picture of the entrance of Skukuza, which already shows how it is well looked for!

Here is the list of what we saw in Skukuza: Hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius), 1 Greater Blue-eared Starling (Lamprotornis chalybaeus), 1 Laughing Dove (Streptopelia senegalensis), Wahlberg's Epauletted Fruit Bats (Epomophorus wahlbergi), Vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus, previously Cercopithecus aethiops), 1 Blue Headed Southern Tree Agama (Acanthocercus atricollis), 1 Striped Skink (Trachylepis striata), 1 Cape Dwarf Gecko (Lygodactylus capensis).

The two first pictures are of the bungalow where we stayed in Skukuza, exterior and interior. Really confortable, for a fair price!

Next a general view of the camp.

The Sabie river in front of the restaurant is another beautiful thing to see.

The first picture is of one of the complaining hippos.

The most dangerous animal in Africa! It kills more people than all the usual suspects. We read this story about a guy that got off his car near hippo pool, near Crocodile Bridge camp. People are allowed to leave the car there when a ranger is present. But this guy left the car with no ranger in sight. When a ranger appeared and asked him what was he doing, warning him about the danger posed by hippos, he just said that they looked such sympathetic animals. There are really some people that do not know what they are into when in Kruger.

I always think it is amazing when they open their big mouths like that. It really shows how powerful they are. When they close their mouths, it is more than 1 ton in weight. 

In the last hippo picture, the hippo’s collaboration to the butt calendar. Look at the recently cured wound in his side. Probably, it is the result of another hippo. Although vegetarians, hippos can also resort to cannibalism, as recently discovered. But it is not the case here. It is more likely that this was a fight.

Unfortunately, these fantastic animals are vulnerable according to the IUCN Red List, with decreasing populations.

It was also nice to see one more starling species in the Skukuza restaurant, a Greater Blue-eared Starling.

The populations of this bird are stable and, for this reason, its classification in the IUCN Red List is Least Concern.

This starling eats a variety of insects, fruit and small invertebrates, foraging in trees and on the ground, but it certainly enjoys some free food provided by humans. That’s why we find it in the camps, trying to steal the bread we leave unattended in our table!

You took only one picture of this gorgeous Laughing Dove, in the wooden floor of Skukuza restaurant, while we were having fun watching the hippos. This is indeed a beautiful bird.

This small pigeon has a wide distribution, being  a resident breeder in Sub-Saharan tropical Africa, the Middle East, even reaching the Indian Subcontinent. They also reached a specific part of Western Australia, around Perth and Freemantle, as introduced birds, probably traveling with ships or alike. They are abundant in southern Africa, where they are found everywhere except coastal Mozambique.

It is difficult to differentiate males and females morphologically. They are very similar. It is possible to tell juveniles from adults, however, because the former are more rufous and have reduced throat spotting.

Why are they called Laughing Doves? Just listen here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:S-senegalensis.ogg

Maybe they are mocking us! Just kidding...

This bird is not threatened. Their populations are stable and may be even increasing, due to the fact that it has benefited greatly from habitat disturbance by humans and changes in land use. It is an extremely common animal, found in all types of woodlands, as well as suburban parks and gardens, one of the fortunate ones that benefit from our humanly impacted environments.

We have read about the Wahlberg's Epauletted Fruit Bats at the Skukuza shop. So, when we got to the shop, we eagerly looked for them. It is worth doing so. They look incredible sleeping at the roof outside the shop, as the pictures show.

This bat is not threatened, showing stable populations, according to the IUCN Red List. It is a species of megabat classified in the family Pteropodidae. The name of the species comes from the erectable hair structures that look like epaulettes and form around the large scent glands in the males. We can see them clearly in the second picture. Look at the white structures in front of the ears.

We can also tell males from females by looking at the air sacs in the neck that may increase the volume of courtship calls.

They are found across southern Africa in forest, shrubland, and savanna habitats. The range of distribution goes from the sea level up to 2,000 m. We can also find populations in wooded urban areas and roosting in man-made structures. So, here we have another species that can adjust to our modified environment and is, thus, more likely to survive our disturbances.

This is a frugivorous bat (really not surprising, it is a fruit bat), eating figs, guava and various fruits of Diospyros species. They also eat leaves from Balanites species and several insects.

Finally, a curious thing about this bat is that its flight is relatively slow and somewhat clumsy. They often bump into other individuals and obstacles.

Vervet monkeys are also abundant in Skukuza. They are always a guarantee of a good time. In the first picture below, we can see my wife, Carol, looking at one of them.

I was astonished with the color of their genitals. This blue even looked human-made. I had never read before about that and was really surprised to see.

And, finally, one of the guys eating.

Vervet monkeys are not in danger of extinction. When I discover this of a primate, I am always happy. Their populations are stable and, thus, they are classified as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List.

It was just recently that the classification of vervet monkeys was updated, with all of the species being moved from the genus Cercopithecus to a new genus, Chlorocebus (See Cawthon Lang KA. 2006 January 3. Primate Factsheets: Vervet (Chlorocebus) Taxonomy, Morphology, & Ecology . <http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/vervet>. Accessed 2012 October 12.).

This is a sexually dimorphic species, with males being larger than females. They are equally comfortable on the ground and in the trees, being regarded as semi-terrestrial and semi-arboreal. During the day, they feed and travel on the ground and at night they retreat to the trees in order to sleep. Finally, I’d like to mention that their lifespan has not been conclusively ascertained due to the high rates of predation in the long-term study areas. However, between 11 and 12 years, serious health problems are seen in captive vervets, what can make us think that this is probably the upper limit of their lifespan.

The picture is not good, but, as far as I remember, this was the only time we saw a Blue Headed Southern Tree Agama. So, it is worth including it here.

This lizard is listed in the IUCN Red List as Least Concern due to its large distribution across eastern and southern Africa, its tolerance of anthropogenic environments, and the absence of any major widespread threat. They live in a wide range of habitats, from forest to savannah, including human-modified areas. It can often be found scaling the sides of plants, as we saw this one. Normally a male displaying his colors, as the one we saw, won’t be far away from several females. These lizards tend to live in colonies with one dominant male and a group of females and other subordinate males. However, we did not see other individuals, just this one.

Another nice lizard we saw in Skukuza was this Striped Skink.

This is a Scincidae lizard widespread in southern Africa. Their tails are often missing due to predators. It feeds on small insects and other small invertebrates. This lizard is a great exception in the world fauna: it has not been assessed in the IUCN Red List. But, as it is able to explore human environment, I would guess it is not threatened.

A última parte da Napi Road

Na última parte da Napi Road, antes de chegar a Skukuza, não vimos muita coisa: um grupo de Impalas machos, probavelmente jovens, mais 6 girafas, o que é em si muito bom, e 1 Águia-cobreira-castanha juvenil (Circaetus cinereus). Nosso plano inicial era parar em Matekenyane Koppies, mas decidimos fazer isso no dia seguinte, indo direto para Skukuza, para fazer check-in e ter tempo de percorrer o Sabie loop.

Entre as fotos de Impalas, gostamos dessas, que mostram um deles comendo.

In the last section of Napi Road, before arriving at Skukuza, we did not see much: one group of male Impalas, probably young dudes, more 6 giraffes, what is in itself great, and 1 juvenile Brown-Snake Eagle (Circaetus cinereus).  Our initial plan was to stop at Matekenyane Koppies, but we decided to do this the next day, going directly to Skukuza, to check-in and take our time to make the Sabie loop.

Among the impala pictures, we like the pictures showing one of them eating.

Our second encounter with giraffes in KNP was still magical. We couldn’t cease getting astonished about these animals, 5-6 meters in height, an average weight of 1,200 kg in the case of the larger males, while the females weight around 830 kg. It was great to see a couple with a cute young giraffe.

Evidently the necks are most amazing, over 2 m in length, nearly half of the animals’ height.

It is interesting that the length of the neck is due to the size of the cervical vertebrae, not to the addition of more vertebrae. The giraffe pays physiological costs for its long neck, which is associated with several adaptations that evolved in these animals, for instance, in their circulatory system. The role of these adaptations becomes clear when we consider that their hearts are 2 m above their hooves and 3 m below their brains. The size of the brain is relatively small – it has only just 680 g of weight –, probably due to the length of the neck, since too much energy would be needed to furnish oxygen for a larger brain at the end of that long neck.

When feeding on twigs, leaves, fruits and, rarely, grasses, the giraffes use their tongues, lips and palates, which are tough enough to deal with the thorns of trees like the acacias. Their highly mobile muscular lips help in efficiently stripping the leaves from the spiny branches. Their blue gray tongues are about 45 cm long and are prehensile and powerful, facilitating that they aptly grasp the leaves and pull them into the mouth. In the picture below, we can see a giraffe using the tongue for other purposes, probably to clean its fur. It is a funny thing to see as the picture may translate.

Although they are commonly found together, they do not stay together for more than a few hours, with the group composition being more fluid than in other social ungulates. In Napi Road that day we saw 6 giraffes together, one of them the juvenile mentioned above. In one of the pictures we see three of them.

The animals tend to move freely from one group to another, and the only more stable associations are between females and their calves. Adult males tend to be solitary and nomadic, moving between female groups in order to verify the reproductive receptivity of females in the different groups. This happens all the time, since there is no fixed breeding season. Subadult males can be found along with the females, or can form groups of males, which can be seen engaged in non-combative necking behavior, as a way of learning for future combats for the females.

Finally, we show the contribution of a giraffe to the but calendar, with the extra charm of the tail swinging to shoo flies or mosquitoes away

In one picture, not so good, the Brown Snake Eagle we saw in the last portion of Napi Road before arriving at Skukuza. It was the first time we photographed this animal we would see other times in KNP. This was a juvenile and this is the reason why we put the picture here, despite its quality. How can we know it is a juvenile? Although the bird is similar to an adult, it is slightly paler, showing a faint scaled effect.

This is a widely distributed eagle, being found across much of the sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of the lowland forest of West Africa. As the name indicates, it mainly eats snakes. It stay perched, as this one we saw, and dropping onto prey from above, smashing its spine with its feet. If the prey is a snake, the eagle tries to crush the head to discharge any venom. Its legs are thickly scaled as an adaptation to protect it from snake bites. The eagle is not immune, however, to the snake venom, and is in fact sometimes blinded by spitting cobras.

The Brown Snake Eagle is not threatened, being classified in the IUCN Red List as Least Concern, with a stable population trend.