Addo Elephant National Park - The Circle of Life

The first few times we went to see indigenous wildlife here in South Africa, we went to private game reserves.  This was our first time to a national park.

The difference between this National Park and the 2 game reserves that we had been to, is that the national park allows nature to take it's course within the confines of the park.  Addo is home not only to elephants, but also lions, buffalo, black rhino, spotted hyena, leopard, a variety of antelope and zebra species, as well as the unique Addo flightless dung beetle, found almost exclusively in Addo. 

At the 2 game reserves we visited the carnivorous predators were in separate enclosures from the herbivores that would be their natural prey.  We arrived at the park in the late morning and stayed until late afternoon.  Predators like lions and leopards generally come out at dawn and dusk to hunt, so though we didn't see either, we saw evidence of their presence in the park.  What we saw gave us plenty of opportunity to discuss the circle of life.

Just at the side of the road I took this shot.

From the shape and width of the spine we think that this is a partial skeleton of an elephant.  It was just at the side of the roadway, far from any watering holes or flat plain areas where you would normally see lions.  So we wondered, was it caught by a leopard hiding in the trees nearby? Or maybe it was dragged there by a group of hyena's or jackals after the lions had finished with it?  We'll never know of course, but it was interesting to discuss.

We saw more evidence of the big cats at one of the watering holes, just below a lookout point.

This was a watering hole with a herd of kudu grazing nearby.  I believe this is the spine and skull of a kudu.  The position of the skeleton suggests that it was taken down and flipped over onto it's back in order to expose the throat for the final kill.

These were the only two skeletons that we saw on our trip, but there were more things to ponder in the circle of life.  Towards the end of our drive we came across this lone male kudu.

It was strange that he was all alone, as kudu are herd animals and usually travel in groups.  As we observed him we realized his rear right leg was damaged in some way and he was unable to put any weight on it.  DS #1 piped up "We should call him dinner".  Cruel, yes, but it shows his understanding of the circle of life.  It is the young, the old, the weak, the injured that are targeted by predators.  But why was this kudu on his own?  Was it his choice or did the rest of the herd leave him behind because he was injured and couldn't keep up?  What would the children do if a friend was hurt, would they leave him/her behind? More interesting discussion points for the family.

The circle of life isn't just predators and prey.  It's all animals and how they need each other within the circle.  Like this flightless dung beetle.

This particular dung beetle is found primarily in Addo.  It lays it's eggs exclusively in the dung of elephants.  They are a protected species.  Which is why the yield signs.

Not only must you yield to the beetles if they are in the road, but you are not permitted to drive over dung on the roadway as it may contain dung beetle eggs or larvae. 

But, perhaps my best lesson of the day came near the beginning when we came across a group of warthogs.

A while back when we had visited Seaview Game Park I had an "aha" moment.  We were driving through the reserve and came across a family of warthogs.  I remember thinking to myself, it's just a warthog, I've seen them before.  I told dh to drive on, I didn't need another warthog picture.   But, as we drove away I thought a bit harder about my decision.  By the second game drive had I really become complacent about seeing a warthog? I decided that just wasn't right.  How often do we take for granted what is so close to us? How could I be so laise faire about this amazing opportunity?  So, the next warthog we saw I asked dh to slow down so I could take a picture.  I resolved to take pictures of all the animals, even if I had photographed them before.  Really, I was resolving to slow down and appreciate all there was to experience on this adventure. 

So, we came across this little family of warthogs at Addo and I asked dh to stop so I could take a picture.

Apparently, I got too close.  Old momma warthog wasn't putting up with it, so she charged the car leaping towards the camera in my open window. 

This was the picture that I took as my finger spasmed on the shutter button in my panic to move the camera back into the car.

She scared the beejeebers out of me.  I'm sure it was 10 or 15 minutes before my heart rate returned to normal. 

I got to thinking about the fact that, outside of the car, in a one on one with momma warthog, I would lose.   I won't carry a gun or any other "safety tools".  So, I have come to terms with the fact that I'm really just a hairless weakling in the circle of life and this adventure of ours is best viewed from a safe distance or the inside of a car at the very least.

Addo Elephant National Park - The elephants

Addo Elephant National Park encompasses about 180 000 hectares (445 000 acres) of property.  Established in 1931 as a national park, it was home to the 11 elephants remaining in the area.    

The elephant population was decimated back in the early 1900's after farmers had killed off the majority of the elephants natural predators, and the elephants became a problem, eating crops and drinking precious water supplies.  Major P.J. Pretorius was hired to exterminate the elephants.  He called the bush they lived in, hunter's hell.  He described it as being so dense and thorny that you could only see 2 paces in front of you.  It took him 3 months to kill his first elephant.  Even with the conditions he was determined and managed to kill 114 elephants in 2 years and captured 2 calves to sell to a circus.  They killing stopped when the 16 remaining elephants took refuge on the farm of 2 sympathetic farmers, but they had an intense fear and distrust of humans.   In 1925 some land was set aside for an elephant park, but the elephants didn't want to move from their safe farm.  Eventually, a plan was created to herd them with warning gunshots and fires (to prevent their retreat), to the new park, but it was hard to keep them there, creating a risk to the bordering farms and inhabitants.  In 1933 park staff began feeding the elephants, the primary food source being oranges from a local co-operative, to keep them within the park boundaries.  In 1954 an elephant proof fence was constructed out of railway ties sunk 1.8 metre into the ground and held together with 3 lengths of  lift wire.  Though the fence kept the elephants in the park area, they would not stray from the feeding spot and they decimated the vegetation in the feeding area so that there was nothing left to eat except what was provided for them.  The elephants would approach the feeding truck screaming and roaring and grabbing oranges. The feeding was stopped in 1979 and the elephants left to eat their natural foods.  Given the long life of the elephants (approximately 70 years), citrus fruits are prohibited from the park, for fear that the older elephants will revert to their aggressive behaviour to obtain the fruit from visitors vehicles.

It became apparent how dense and tricky hunting in this type of brush must have been when our vehicle turned a slight left around a bend and we just about ran smack into the back end of this young bull.  The first elephant we saw that day.

We could neither hear, nor see him until we were just about on top of him.  Elephants are very quiet creatures.  The bottoms of their feet are thickly padded like cushions and they only lift one foot at a time to walk or run.  Later, we came across two even younger bulls.  They were play fighting.  The only sound you could hear as they fought with each other was the clash of tusk hitting tusk.  There was no other sound at all.

The landscape in the park is very hilly allowing for some pretty spectacular lookout points. 

I was completely oblivious to what this particular view was hiding until dh pointed it out.  Here's a zoomed in shot of the same brush.

If you look closely, in the middle of the shot, there is a large grey elephant head. I had thought that it was just one dead tree in amongst all the green ones.

After lunch we visited the information centre at the park.  This is Hapoor.  Well a cast of him at least.

Hapoor was the dominant bull of the Addo elephants for 24 years. On the plaque next to the head it says that the name Hapoor is related to his nicked ear, though I'm not sure what exactly Hapoor means or from what language.  It is believed that the nick was caused by a hunters bullet.  It was well known that Hapoor had a deep seated hatred for humans.  He was extremely aggressive.  He fathered the majority of the calves from 1944 - 1968 and increased the population of the herd from 20 to 50.  In 1959 he was challenged by another bull and killed his challenger in the fight.

In 1966 Hapoor killed one other elephant, a cow, this time.  Park staff had noted that the cow had a large abscess and had tranquilized her to attend to the abscess.  As the effects of the tranquilizer took effect Hapoor and another cow tried to keep her up and moving.  When they were unsuccessful and the cow fell, unable to get up again, Hapoor stabbed the cow 4 times with his tusks, apparently all brain shots.  No one knows why exactly, but I would like to think that it was a natural compassionate response that she not be left to suffer predators, which would speak volumes about the intelligence and social nature of elephants.

In 1968 at 44 years of age Hapoor was deposed of his patriarchal crown, by the son of the cow he had killed.   Which makes me wonder about the phrase, elephants never forget, and whether they have the capacity for revenge or if was it just coincidence.  Hapoor became a loner and before long broke out of the park through what was thought to be an elephant proof fence.  Due to the inability to contain him and his aggressive nature towards humans, the Nature Conservator of the park had no choice but to shoot him.  In his honour they named the largest watering hole in the park after him. 

Though not aggressive by nature, bull elephants in musth (those looking for a lady elephant, if you know what I mean) can become a little bit crazy and aggressive.

As we were watching the two young bulls play fighting they moved closer and closer to our vehicle.  At one point a much larger bull decided that our vehicle was too close and began to walk directly at us, with his head swinging back and forth and his ears flapping.  Dh took that as an aggressive, back off behaviour and backed up the vehicle slowly until the older bull stopped, apparently we had reached an acceptable distance.  It was a bit of a tense situation.  To give you a sense of how big elephants are, here's another photo I took from the lookout. 

Needless to say elephants have the right of way at Addo.

Addo Elephant National Park - The Circle of Life