Category Archives: Wildlife
How to find animals in kruger (more advanced guide)
This is an update and more advanced article on how to spot animals in Kruger national park or any other wildlife place for that matter.
You have senses and you will be using 2 of them most of the time to spot animals. You will be using your eyes the most, then your ears. First of all it is
important to know your environment. In other words if you are around Lower Sabie in Kruger National park for example you must know that the animals you will see there most often are : Giant Kingfisher, Baboons, Impala, White Rhino, Hippo’s, Lions and Goliath Heron.
When you know more about the animal that you want to see you will also know when you have bigger changes to see them. For example most predators are nocturnal animals but you still see them during the day. Going to Kruger when the plants and bushes are very dense decreases your changes of seeing animals.
It really helps a lot to talk to game rangers in the camps, watch the sightings boards, talk to fellow campers, stop people while driving. From these alone you might get great hints on where animals were last seen for example where a fresh kill is as mentioned in the previous article.
When you want to see a specific animal learn more about it. For example learn that Lions hunt at night mostly although they have been seen hunting during the day especially on cooler cloudy days and also in early mornings, late afternoon. When you see Hyena’s remember that they are not only hunters but also scavengers therefore they might follow a leopard to steal it’s kill.
The more you learn about the bush and the animals the easier you will know what animal activity are happening right before your eyes Continue reading
How to tell the difference between a white and black rhino
Black Rhino (Also known as Hooked-lip Rhino)
* The Black Rhino is smaller than the white Rhino.
* A Black Rhino bull is about 1 ton average in weight and a White Rhino about 2 and a half ton.
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* The black Rhino feeds of trees and shrubs and it’s head is ”naturally” upwards
* You can find small thorns and twigs in a black rhino’s dung.
* A black Rhino’s baby walks behind the mother.
* Black rhino’s are more often than not found in thick vegetation.
* The Black Rhino is very aggressive and short tempered and are more likely to attack (see how to escape a Rhino attack here)
* Black Rhino are very solitary animals
White Rhino (Also known as Broad-mouthed Rhino)
* The white Rhino is much larger than the Black Rhino
* White Rhino feeds on grass and you will see the big head downwards most of the time. They have a broad flat mouth designed to feed on large quantities of grass.
* White Rhino’s have a hump above the shoulders.
* White Rhino have ”folded skin” a the lower parts of the shoulders
* a White Rhino’s baby always walks in front of the mother. (In African cultures a black mother would have her baby on her back – This is a way to remember that a Black Rhino’s baby is walking behind the mother, so she can protect him in the bushes that are often dense and Rhino’s don’t have great eye sight and will often charge at strange sounds Continue reading