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Stately

The Goliath Heron is very aquatic, even by heron standards, rarely venturing far from a water source and preferring to fly along waterways rather than move over land. Important habitats can include lakes, swamps, mangrove wetlands, reefs with cool waters, sometimes river deltas. It typically is found in shallows, though can be observed near deep water over dense water vegetation. Goliath herons can even be found in small watering holes. They tend to prefer pristine wetlands and generally avoid areas where human disturbances are a regular occurrence.

19 December 2018Picture of the day, Wildlife

Placid

Lake Panic is an earthen dam on the Mafunyana Creek (named after one of the nicknames of L B Steyn a Park Warden. Literally, the word means he who eats greedily. Lake Panic is close to Skukuza camp. Lake Panic is the name that was given shortly after construction was completed about 1975 when, during a major cloudburst, it was feared that the dam wall would give way. The hide is “L” shaped allowing a view east towards the bend in the dam and a view south across the short width of the dam close to the creek inlet. This section is heavily grown over with various aquatic plants including water lilies, reeds, and grasses of various sorts as well as trees. The far bank is heavily treed and slopes down to the dam edge. The hide is perfectly situated for close viewing of so many things with the Southern bank being about 100 meters from the hide itself.

17 December 2018Landscape, Picture of the day

Sedate

An elephant’s skull needs to be physically large in order to support the heavy tusks and powerful trunk. To minimize weight, the huge skull has a thick wall but contains large honey-comb like spaces. Male African elephants have a curved forehead. Females are more square in profile. Elephants have short necks and cannot turn their heads completely sideways. Elephant eyes are almost identical in size to those of a human. They are normally green or hazel in colour and are protected by long eyelashes. Elephants do not have tear ducts. In bright sunlight, elephants have poor eyesight. They can see best in dim light. An African elephant’s impressive ears are not just used for hearing. They help regulate the animal’s body temperature and may also be spread out wide in threat displays. Elephant ears contain a large number of blood vessels which are covered by very thin skin. When the ears are flapped, air flows over the blood vessels and the animal loses heat from them. Measuring up to 2m high and over 1m wide, 12 litres of blood can flow through each ear every minute and the animal’s body temperature can be reduced by three degrees. An elephant’s average body temperature is 35.9 degrees Celsius, just below that of a human (37 degrees). Elephants have excellent hearing and are thought to be able to communicate with other individuals several kilometres away. They can hear low-frequency sounds which are not audible to humans. The distinctive tears and nicks in elephants’ ears are used by scientists to help identify individual animals in the wild.

13 December 2018Picture of the day, Wildlife