It's one of the most distinctive sounds on safari- Hyenas laughing and cackling in the night. It reminds me of sitting around a camp fire or waking up in the night in my tent. In fact as I type I am reminded of my brother waking my parents up in Botswana many years ago:

"Dad, there's a hyena in the tent".

"No Kenneth, it's Grandad snoring".

(and Grandad wasn't even in the same tent as us.)

It seems the giggling sounds of hyenas are being decoded and contain important information about the animal's status.

US-based research by Professor Frederic Theunissen from the University of California at Berkeley, US, and Professor Nicolas Mathevon from the Universite Jean Monnet in St Etienne, France, has been published in the journal BMC Ecology.

• Pitch of the giggle reveals a hyena's age
• Variations in the frequency of notes convey information about the animal's social rank.

This may allow them to establish feeding rights which is probably why you hear it alot while they are scapping over food.

There's more about this on the BBC website here.

Whatever it all means it's one of my favourite bush sounds. There are probably only three other sounds that make me feel more nostalgic: hippos grunting, the emerald spotted wood dove call, and the cry of a fish eagle.

Amiee and Craig Pollack captured this amazing footage in Botswana. A leopard nonchalantly climbs a tree. It's hard to distinguish a plan emerging, but it clearly has something on it's mind. After surveying the branches above it from a fork, there's a moment's hesitation. It looks like it might jump but it changes it's mind opting for more height. Then it's all action....

It's a brazen approach. I find it incredible that it seems so unhurried. We realize after the fact that it had spotted it's prey in the other tree already and was using a very creative outflanking maneuvre. If it had attacked from below the animal would've just retreated to the treetops out of reach. Or run circles around the truck, hiding behind it. As for accurately crashing through another tree, making the kill, and landing safely on the ground.....priceless.

The prey:

I'm not sure what the unfortunate kill was. Possibly a Tree/Bush Squirrel; Paraxerus cepapi. It is known as the mopane squirrel becuase it is common in mopane woodlands. Interestingly they retreat up trees specifically for safety and position the trunk between themselves and the hunter. It seems they need a new tactic to avoid being a quick snack for leopards.

After numerous clients of ROAR AFRICA have shown great interest in elephants, having heard about their plight and or after inter-reacting with elephants, we have decided to spread the word on collaring elephants by Save the Elephant Organization.
Heated debates based on fact, assumptions and emotion take place around the world concerning elephants, their numbers and the sale of ivory. Facts based on sound scientific results become essential.
Save the Elephants (www.savetheelephants.org) operates in four countries in Africa. Greater Kruger National Park is the principle area in Southern Africa. Save the Elephants is based in the Timbervati area near the town of Hoedspruit.
One is able to follow what is being done by going onto the webpage. But better still is to become involved by sponsoring or joint sponsoring the collaring of an elephant with your name on it. Through Google Earth your can follow your elephant hour by hour while the device records humidity and temperature on the elephant’s neck.
Below are the collar sponsoring details and options.

• Please note that in the table below you have ten types of sponsoring options to choose from.
• Most satellite collars are deployed at our Northern or Eastern Study sites in the Kruger National Park as these elephants could potentially move into Zimbabwe or Mozambique where cell phone reception would be a problem.
• Elephants collared in the Associated Private Nature Reserved (APNR), which represents our Western Study Site are fitted with GPS/GMS collars (cell phone collars)
• If you sponsor collars you get to name the elephant
• All sponsors of GPS/GMS collars as well as collar deployment costs receive a Google Earth link where they can follow their collared elephant as it moves across the landscape
• Sponsors of deployment costs only, can attend a collaring operation free of charge but will have to cover their own travel and accommodation costs if need be.
• Your contribution will be acknowledged on our website
• Your name will be added to our Elephant Newsletter distribution list
• Orders for collars need to be made at least one month in advance
• We prefer collaring elephants during our cooler months as the heat risk for the elephants are diminished over this time
• We prefer to collar more than one animal on one day so we often like to synchronise collaring operations
• Please remember that you can only sponsor a refurbished collar if we plan on removing an existing collar from a particular animal
• Please note that helicopter costs depend on the hours spent locating the animal and represent estimates only
• All prices are subject to change

click table image to enlarge

For further details contact Geoff:
Email: geoff@roarafrica.com
Tel: +27 72 3479904 or +27 33 2510673
or on www.roarafrica.com

Gorongosa is back in the headlines. This time it's coming to you in HD with the release on March 24th of the National Geographic documentary "Africa's Lost Eden".

Gorongosa was known as “the place where Noah left his Ark:” 4,000 square kilometers of wilderness covering floodplains, mountains and forests in central
Mozambique. It was packed with wild animals but 15 years of civil war took a heavy toll. Now conservationists are restoring the magnificent park and this has been captured on film. The world premier of "Africa's Lost Eden" will be in Washington DC on March 24th followed by a discussion moderated by Chris Matthews.

Film Trailer:


Bob Poole who shot the film over the past two years explains that it was challenging filming in the thick bush of Gorongosa. However, they captured amazing footage using a Phantom HD camera that shoots up to 1500 frames a second. You'll see fantastic super slow motion of eagles plucking fish out of the water and fighting mid air battles, waterfalls, elephants, and crocodiles hatching.

For the aerial shots they used a helicopter fitted with a Cineflex camera - the granddaddy of aerial cinematography with its long lens and a gyroscope stabilizer.

Here's a link to a short film on the making of "Africa's Lost Eden".
The making of Africa's Lost Eden

If you're interested in visiting Gorongosa, have a look at the Explore Gorongosa Tented Camp on our website or give us a call.

You might also be interested in the other posts on this BLOG including the 60 minutes documentary: click here

It's great to see the beautiful country of Mozambique getting the publicity it deserves.