Tomorrow we leave Skukuza and head to Wits Rural, then Hamakuya, then Shingwedzi, Jo-burg, and Cape Town! We won't really have internet for the next three weeks, but I haven't really had it the past few weeks here either, so nothing new. I'm really excited because our homestays are in Hamakuya (ten days away)!!! And Cape Town is going to be awesome for our mid semester break - we definitely will need it after having barely any days off this semester!

Here are some more pictures:

baby zebra!

this guy trumpeted at us when we drove past

(Moholoholo)

(This was from the day we had two leopard sightings!)

Apple leaf tree project and Camera trapping project

Hello! We are in Skukuza for another week before heading off to Wits Rural, Hamakuya, and Shigwedzi.  I just completed collecting field data for my second field project and we are working on finishing the report for the ecology of big trees project. For the ecology of big trees project, we looked at one of the most dominant species of big trees in the basaltic region- the species is commonly referred to as the Apple leaf tree because the leaves crunch like an apple when you crush them. We collected data and tagged 175 trees and then began analysis on the elephant impact on the species, as well as the demographic resiliency and individual resiliency of the trees. We then compared the Apple leaf results to two of the other big trees in the area (Marula and Knobthorn) because there has been extensive research already on those species. From some of our initial results, the species responded well to elephant damage (bark stripping) on an individual level, but we found that larger trees are more likely to have canopy breakage (caused by elephants) that may be causing a bottleneck in the population. We found a majority of smaller seedlings and saplings, but it seemed that the species was struggling to get from the subadult to adult stage (within the contexts of our study). The primary reason for our study was to determine if these trees were in trouble or not because there seems to be a decline in big tree numbers in the region that we collected data. From our findings, it appears that the struggle to get to adulthood may be caused by fire disturbance (because the basalts have a high grass biomass and is rather open, so the intensity and frequency of fires is high) or elephant disturbances, but it is probably a combination of both.

I also have started my FFP (faculty field project) on Camera Trapping.  Camera traps were invented in the 19th century by George Shiras and he became famous for having some of the first wildlife photos ever published in National Geographic. He developed a camera trap using a trip wire and magnesium flash bulb. Camera traps are great because the goal is to capture the animal in their natural habitat, without the influence of human disturbance. However, we (and George Shiras) discovered that it is much harder to take human impact out of the field. Shiras became famous for photos like the ones shown below because the flash bulb he used was so loud that it scared the deer away - so all of his photos look like flying deer:

We found in our study that almost all of the animals (except impala) noticed the cameras because of our smell, which made it harder to truly capture them in their natural habitat. So, as much as I would like to use this project for a behavioral study, without a long term camera trap, we are unable to look at behavioral studies. Our main objectives include determining the effectiveness of camera traps and deciding methods that seem best for setting up the different types of cameras. We used field scanners that took photos on one minute intervals as well as motion sensor cameras and set 2 of each type up at 5 different watering holes. We have A LOT of data and are working on going through some of it now, hopefully to be working on analysis tomorrow.

We did get to see some really amazing things, even though the camera traps changed the behavior of some animals. I'm hoping to get one myself and set it up at home to see some of the wildlife in our backyard. Here are some of the photos we've gotten off of our cameras:

these lion cubs knocked our camera over (it was buried in a pile of rocks)- cried when I saw this photo because it's so cute

the king

baboon selfie

And there are about 25,000 more photos that we have had to go through and record data. It's insane, but really awesome.

Hi! Internet here is hard to come by, but we took a short side trip to Blyde River and took a boat ride, hiked to a waterfall (jumped off rocks!), and stopped by Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Center. It was an awesome experience, but sad because a lot of the animals won't be able to reenter the wild.  I'm going to try to upload some photos, but I don't have a lot of time...

honey badger don't care...

FINALLY IN KRUGER!!!

Yesterday we left the Barberton Mountains and drove to Kruger National Park! On our way into the park, we saw so many animals, including: kudu, impala, zebra, elephants, white rhinos, cape buffalo (3 out of the 'Big 5', more giraffes, lots of beautiful birds, etc. We are staying in a tourist camp called Skukuza in large dorms (each room has around 20 beds in it) and we are able to walk around in the enclosed area at all times, but during the day we are able to run out of the gates (in groups) to the research village (which is really cool- lots of incredibly intelligent researchers all living in one little suburb within Kruger). Last night we settled in and took a tour of the camp while planning our first bigger projects.  We did a mini field project at Pullen Farm, but the one we are working on now is part of a long term research initiative for the park. My group is studying the ecology of big trees. In the basaltic region of Kruger, they are worried about the loss of many of the bigger tree species and a lot of work has been done to monitor 2 of the bigger species, so we are focusing on the third big species in the area- commonly referred to as "Apple leaf trees."  We will be collecting data for three days- we started today.

This morning we woke up early to drive the 1.5 hours to our site and then began tagging trees, collecting demographic data, and then we collected data about the bark stripping from elephants (where their tusks rub up against the trees and strip the bark). So it's a really interesting project and such an incredible opportunity to be able to get out in the field (researchers are able to leave their cars in the park because we have game guards with us, but tourists have to stay in their vehicles- so we got a lot of strange looks). We were able to tag fifty trees today (which is a lot!!) and stayed out in the field for 5 hours or so. Other groups are looking into water fowl biodiversity, termite mound ecology, song bird biodiversity, and there is another big tree ecology group.

On our way back to camp, we had a brief leopard sighting and saw a pride of lions!!! As well as many other animals - I'm going to try to post pictures, but we don't have much internet here and I'm only allowed to stay at the office for an hour. Tomorrow we will have another long day of data collection and in a few days we head to Blyde River for a short break and then return to Skukuza!

bark stripping from elephants

More giraffes!

This morning I went on a sunrise run and saw 6 giraffes! I kept running in the other direction because I didn't want to scare them away and then a little bit later during the run I heard a weird noise and stopped to listen. It sounded like something breathing, so I peeked my head around the corner and saw a herd of wildebeest! They were really close (less than 25 meters- I have to use the metric system now). After I saw them I turned and ran back to the house and got my camera to take a few pictures of the giraffes.

After lunch walk + GIRAFFES!

After lunch today we went for a quick walk and I noticed the dog pointing at something- it was a giraffe! So I sprinted back to get my camera and finally got some good pictures!

This is Benji- he lives here and is really cute and chases kudu all the time.

Now back to stats lecture. We go to Kruger on Friday- so I'm obviously very excited to see WAYYY more animals there! :)