Today is the 3rd of March; it is also World Wildlife Day.
For those of us who call MalaMala Game Reserve home, this is a day to celebrate the ones we spend more time with than our families, those whom we thank for our livelihoods, and those who impart profound lessons simply by being themselves. We’re talking about wildlife.
Interactions between species make for some of the most thrilling game viewing. When prey species ingeniously evade predation, one is left marvelling at the distinctive adaptions to each animal that make survival possible. Let me share one such sighting with you - a sighting that has gone viral on almost every social media platform! View the video at the end of this blog.
Anthropomorphism is a fancy word used to describe the practice of ascribing human characteristics to animal behaviour. All that being said, we do name our lions and leopards. But at MalaMala, the names are certainly not born out of anthropomorphism.
Time flies… we are already 25 episodes into the 'Rangers in Isolation' series and it feels like we started yesterday. From the pristine bushveld of South Africa’s original private game reserve to the comfort of your living room, we have been able to share amazing sightings of the incredible wildlife at MalaMala!
Placing offspring in foster care is not limited to human society. Certain bird species, like cuckoos, have evolved to put their chicks up for adoption. The only difference being that the adoptive parents have no consent or knowledge about the agreement. This phenomenon is known as brood parasitism and several of these ‘free-loaders’ can be viewed on MalaMala Game Reserve.
While out on your next safari, take a closer look at the eyes of the animals you are viewing. Take note of the shape of the pupils. You may notice that lions have very different eyes to those of your cat at home. You’ll see that the pupils of a zebra are quite different to those of a crocodile. So, why the variation?
MalaMala Game Reserve is one of the few reserves on the continent that not only records what our guests are seeing on safari but also publishes those records. These numbers truly are remarkable yet MalaMala delivers them year after year. It’s all about the wildlife.
Speak to any ranger that has worked at MalaMala Game Reserve, past or present, and ask what keeps them here and, in many cases, what brings them back. You will get one simple answer: “It’s all about the wildlife…” So, one has to ask what makes the game viewing so special at MalaMala? There is no single reason but rather the culmination of a number of factors which result in the ‘Magic of MalaMala’ that so many have revelled in over the decades.
The aardvark (or ant bear as it is also known) is arguably one of the most peculiar creatures on MalaMala Game Reserve and it is probably the one that you are least likely to see. Most people don’t know very much about this odd looking animal besides the fact that its name is always the first word in a dictionary and that it has often been portrayed in kids cartoons over the years.
