Discovering a kudu carcass

Examining the kudu carcass

 

Once in a while we'll try to ground truth some of the movements from our collared lions data (Buffalo carcass). We check the data every day and look for multiple days or points where the lions are moving within a very small range. It's pretty rare for an area to be in an accessible and safe environment so whenever we have the opportunity we take it. 

 

Movements that suggest a carcass

From November 26th to December 1st we noticed a lioness moving between two distinct areas. After she cleared out we decided to pursue as the site as itwas close to an old disused air strip and relatively accessible. We geared up and headed out, hoping for the best.

Unfortunately the rains had just begun and the area was prime tsetse fly territory. Swarms of tsetse flies can be annoying and anxiety-inducing and I found them to be dangerous in this situation as they took my focus off the environment. We do not live in an open savanna landscape as many people imagine Africa. Rather our area is dominated by a bushy and thick landscape that requires one to be alert when on foot. By focusing on driving tsetse flies off my face, I was taking valuable attention away from the environment. 

It because apparent early on that the area was prime tsetse fly territory and that they would not relent. You just gotta endure and hope for the best. They can bite through nearly all clothes and they frequently bite in odd and sensitive places like fingertips, palms, neck, and face. Many times you can't feel them land and they are extremely agile making it rare to kill them if you swat at them. We've experienced several bad tsetse fly infestations but this day was among the worst. 

At least we achieved our objective by finding the carcass. The first point that we went to only had a lone bone but the second point had a spine and femur of a kudu. We suspect the lioness possibly has cubs and brought food to them nearby. Due to the tsetse flies we did not stick around and look for more tracks and signs. We took a different route back to the car and found several skeletons of impalas and kudus along the way. I suppose the great kudu and impala population helps to sustain that healthy tsetse fly population as well!

A "latrine", basically a place where impala and dikdik defecate regularly. An impressive pile !