THE WARTHOG POST - African Impact
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THE WARTHOG POST
december | 12
• From the editor’s desk
• Last Month’s Top Shot Winner
• African Impact Foundation Report
• Volunteer Encounters
• Rangers Report
African Impact Conservation Projects - Greater Kruger Area, South Africa DECEMBER 2019 • Behind the Frame
• Community Focus
• Reflections And Focus
• Update And Focus
Noelle Hamoen, Photography Intern, Netherlands
FROM THE
EDITORS DESK TOP shot of the month
The year has come to an end. What a wonderful past
12 months it has been here at the Lodge!
I would like to use the chance to thank everybody
that allowed us to have that big of an impact and a
time worthwhile here at Dumela Lodge! Of course,
without so many passionate volunteers, we couldn’t do
what we are doing. But also the guides and project staff
members put in a lot of work to create a great
experience for everyone. Not to forget those behind the
scenes, our fantastic lodge, operations and business
managers, and also the kitchen, maintenance and
housekeeping staff that run the day-to-day business at
the lodge. Thank you!
This year’s Christmas and New Year’s was one away
from friends and family back home for many of us.
However, as “Dumela Family” we stuck together and
made the best out of it. With great food and many
activities, both events were a lot of fun for everyone. I
Photography volunteer
mean, there are worse ways to spending Christmas Day
than on a game drive or with a pool party!
Christina Joy
With the start of a new year – and a new decade –
we’re all very excited to see many new people come and
USA
join us – and have a great African Impact!
Max Knoop
Photography Assistant
Germany
VOLUNTEER ENCOUNTER
Background
Archie finlayson Leopard
research volunteer from england
Hello, I’m Archie, a 25-year-old Marquee Rigger
from Yeovil, England. I have wanted to come to
South Africa for years so when African Impact
came up it looked like the perfect opportunity to
learn about the Big 5 as well as the habitat
conservation they undertake.
Katherine Dominguez
On my first day at Dumela lodge, we went for Leopards are very
our first game drive which featured buffalo, opportunistic animals and
rhinos and a leopard! On the second day we were have an extremely flexible
off for our first overnight camping trip, spotting diet. They will consume
elephants on the way. After a meal of burgers protein in almost any form,
cooked on an open fire, we started our night game from beetles up to antelopes
drive. After an hour we received a call from the twice its own weight. It caches
other game viewer, reporting a sighting of lions. sizeable kills in trees, returning
Our guide immediately turned around and headed nightly to feed on them. Their
towards the sighting! main diet consists of over 30
different species including:
We found the other group and started medium sized antelopes
scanning the ground with spotlights, and there (reedbuck, impala, Tommy’s
they were. Lions. Nine lions. Nine lions hunting at gazelles) and the young of
midnight. My fellow volunteers and I had ticked off larger species (wildebeest and
the Big 5 in 48 hours. zebra) as the primary food
sources, with hares, birds and
small carnivores rounding out
the list.
Oscar Dang
VOLUNTEER ENCOUNTER
On day 4 the physical work began, cutting branches with machetes
and uprooting tree stumps. It was hard work but also really enjoyable as a
bit of competition developed within our group. On our way back the guide
stamped on the brakes and quietly reversed the truck and told us to look
under a tree. Two cheetahs were resting in the shade. I’d expected to see
lots of animals but to find them when you haven’t been searching for them
is incredible, because it’s completely unexpected.
All the staff and volunteers come from a wide variety of backgrounds,
but there are two common traits that really bring us together and make the
experience all the more enjoyable; a can-do attitude, and a sense of
humour. The variety of work we partake in is a great way to keep you
motivated and interested.
Ralf Baumann
But its not all hard graft, there’s plenty of time to relax, jump in the
pool or watch a movie. And to cap off the experience, the staff arrange
weekend activities when you sign up for them. I’ve now been on a drive
through the Kruger National park and my wildlife highlight has been
watching a family of elephants playing and trumpeting in a water hole.
Brigitte Bernard
The Greater Kruger region of
South Africa experiences
severe unemployment, with
15-24 year olds making up
COMMUNITY FOCUS
70% of all those unemployed
in Mpumalanga. The cycle of Every now and then we have
poor education, poverty and the pleasure of being involved
health issues create an in a brand-new project
environment in which development. Over the past 6
communities struggle to months we have been working
escape. hard at creating a sustainable
and impactful vision of our
Even if the youth in the area Farmers of the Future Business
receive an education they Training Program. Farmers of the
are often without the skills Future (FotF) is a training
to be able to get jobs and program that teaches
create a stable income. This agroecology business
further contributes to the development skills in order to
unemployment in the area empower potential
and an increase in poverty entrepreneurs within the region
levels. Our goal is to equip and stimulate the economy
young adults to theoretically through business development.
and practically apply their As our program has seen many
skills to a career and identify successes over the past year the
Claudia Busch
and establish time has come to expand.
entrepreneurial
opportunities. We will create At the start of December, we opened our second training facility near Segagula Village in
a community garden to help Bushbuckridge to support economic development in that area. Segagula is a very rural outlying village
local community members near the Kruger National Park. Our program has been set in that location as a collaboration with the
sustain themselves and their professional development team at Nourish Eco Village. The aim of the program is to help develop a vision
families and increase of economic development within the region to assist in conservation efforts through alleviating poverty
income generation. and minimizing the need for reliance on poaching.
To help out, visit:
africanimpactfoundation.org/ donate
COMMUNITY FOCUS
Our training program is set up to teach value added product
development through conservation agriculture techniques,
specifically Agroecology. Agroecology is a farming methodology that
utilizes techniques we can learn from natural ecologies i.e. Working
with nature, not against nature. Agroecology has been shown to
provide higher yields providing higher income, healthier food and is
exceptionally climate resilient using natural ecological systems and
variety of species included.
We’ve started preparing our new property firstly through water
harvesting with Swales and Berms; a system of trenches cut on
contour to keep rainwater locked in the land and maintain natural
water tables. Our 12 new participants in the program have also been
cultivating some native tree species to support insect in bird corridors
through the property, and finally we will start building up the soil
quality through building biomass within the ground. Claudia Busch
This is a big step for the program. Within the year we will have our
first graduates that will continue by presenting and building their
businesses. We are very excited to see where we can take this
development, the impact on the local economy it will have and the new
lives that will spring from some amazing local businesses.
Johann Nortje
Community Engagement Manager
South Africa
Claudia Busch
Photography Reflections
We had 73 photography volunteers and interns come
and join us in the last year, all of whom made not only
their definitive impact but also progressed and
developed as photographers in astronomical ways. One
of the purest pleasures of living and working at Dumela is
seeing that progression each individual makes and watching
them leave as a completely different person compared to
when they first arrived.
However, one individual stood above the rest that I want
to make tribute to. Frances ‘Toodie’ May volunteered with
us initially in 2017, and then again in 2018, before coming
back as an intern in the first quarter of 2019.
Her project was to develop a children’s book, utilising
her own photography, that spoke about animals and
conservation in a fun and endearing way. By the end of her
placement she beat all expectations by not doing a single
book, but a series of five, all focused around the adventures
of a baby elephant called Nzinga. The books were tried out in
our community reading club sessions where the kids’
feedback helped shape the narrative, and fundraising
brought about the means to get them printed.
Sophie Brown
Photography Reflections
Once Toodie left, she didn’t stop. She printed the
books, hundreds in total, and just recently visited
Dumela with boxes in tow. The books are now being
sold in Dumela’s shop, with all the proceeds going
toward supporting our projects, and has also got
them selling in our town, Hoedspruit, with a few
books stores snatching them up.
Considering the initial idea of this project was to
create a book simply for her grandchildren, it’s
incredible to see what this venture has turned into –
and she’s now developing her website and tackling
the logistics of international shipping to meet the
high demand of her beautiful creations.
As her internship supervisor and mentor, I
consider it a true pleasure to have worked alongside
Toodie on this project, and the future is looking to be
incredible exciting for both herself and Nzinga! We all
look forward to her return visit in the New Year,
where she’s looking to get stuck in and develop the
second series of her books!
Toodie May
Sam Cox
Photography Manager
England
Animal of the Month:
LION
Photography focus
Marius Winkler
Photography volunteer from germany
Using a frame-within-a-frame is a
beautiful way to lead the viewers’
eyes into a photo as well as
drawing its attention on a defined
point. One of the best reasons to
Cristèle Aubry use a frame is to provide depth.
Lions are the largest predators The distance between the nearest
in Africa. They are also the most and furthest points in which an
sociable of the cat family and object will be in focus is called
can live in prides of up to 20 ”Depth of Field”. A longer distance
and more. Males are territorial means the „Depth of Field“ is deeper,
and will defend their pride and and a shorter distance means the
territory against intruders - „DoF“ is shallower. The key is to
some fights could end in death. place one farther away than the
There are usually between 1 and other, to show the relation of the
4 adult males (a dominant male subject and its surroundings. The
and other adults or often attention can also be directed Marius Winkler
brothers of the same litter) per towards the middle by adding a This method is effective for drawing attention to a point
pride depending on the size of vignette, mechanically or digitally. It in an image. Also, it’s good for directing the attention away
the territory and the size of leads the viewers eye to look from a rather unimportant part, like the tree in the
their pride which consist of through „a window“. foreground. The shape of it even helps “lead” the eyes to the
females and their cubs as well as main subject.
young males.
Photography focus
This is a perfect example to create a „window“ to line around the most
important subject. The viewers’ attention is lead automatically to the hyena in the
The
middle of the picture while also showing the nature of the bush – how thick it can be
with all the twigs and weeds.
Marius Winkler
The blurry bottles in the foreground
are creating depth in the picture and
the bottles on the sides are leading the
eyes to the plant in the middle of the
frame.
Choosing the frame-in-a-frame
composition is a great way to make
your photographs stand out while
directing the viewer’s attention to the
most important parts and still showing
the surroundings!
Marius WinklerAfrican Impact Foundation
As we get to the end of the year, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about our
developments this year and thank the people involved. Farmers of the Future (FotF) is our
business training program we run at our location with the support of the African Impact
Foundation. The FotF program has seen many developments over the past year, we’ve gained new
facilities, recruited new participants, had amazing support from our Internship program and had a
successful year of fundraising.
We have completed our first draft of training manual. Over the past six months the Social
Development and Business Entrepreneurship Interns have been working closely with me and local
professionals to create the first draft of our training manual. As we get ready for a new season of
participant intakes in January we are locked and ready to go.
Our business training program is split over 3 active phases; Basic Business Skills, Product
Development and Business Kickstart incubator, each covering 6 months. We have had 3
participants complete the first phase this year moving on to product development and we have 15
new participants starting in January for Phase 1.
This new group of participants will be split over our training locations. We have had the
privilege this year of partnering with two new locations that has seen us expand very well. Our first
new location is a collaboration with Nourish Eco-Village. Here we are working with the professional
development team to train a group of participants to become trainers themselves within the
program, with the vision that the program will become self-sustaining within the next year. The
second location that we will start to work on in January is a collaboration with the Tribal Council of
Greenvalley/Acornhoek/Arthur’s Seat. This municipality has identified the need for a training
facility, and we are excited to see how this program expands.
As the program grows, we now can create and develop a large body of knowledge within
African Impact which allows us scope for new products to be developed within our repertoire. We
are currently very focused on Study Abroad options with international universities to create shared
learning opportunities for both international students and our program participants.
Claudia BuschAfrican Impact Foundation
On one side we have study abroad options for Business Students
and on the other a Climate Resilience through Agroecology program.
Through both we hope to engage with students, gain knowledge from
the academic world and provide a platform for learning right here in
Africa.
Fundraising has been a big focus for our program this year. As the
program grows, we need more resources, and more resources cost
more. We have established a new structure for our fundraising and how
we allocate resources to various components of the project. We now
have three very specific categories that we have identified to make the
most use of allocated funds; Supporting a participant journey through
the program, supporting one property with logistical costs for a year
and finally, Kickstart funds to launch one business. Social Development
and Entrepreneurship interns have been working on a new video
campaign as well that we will be releasing in January.
Renske Breur
It has been a busy year, and our program would not have
developed as fast if it was not for the amazing support and hard Current Fundrasier
work from our interns within the program. They have contributed a Check out and share the Farmers of the Future Fundraiser
very large body of work and our program is now very robust. I am very
excited to see what the next year holds in store for us, for the new Facebook
participants that will be coming through the program and the budding You can also check out Facebook for our latest updates
young entrepreneurs we are letting loose on the world to take it by
the horns and make it theirs! Book Your Place on Project
If you would like to volunteer with us you can get in touch with
Nicole who will be able to tell you all about all of the wonderful
Johann Nortje projects we have on offer and answer any questions you may
Community Engagement Manager
have. Book your front row seat: Nicole@africanimpact.com
South AfricaVOLUNTEER ENCOUNTER
Christina Joy
Research volunteer from the USA
In the early morning hours we leave our tented camp in the Balule Reserve. The rain
we had overnight made everything heavy. The trees hung lower, the grass laid down and
the colors were richer. Together with the smells in the air, the bush felt fresh and new.
We cleaned up camp and left on our morning game drive, eager to find wildlife out in
the cooler temperatures.
Unfortunately, none of the wildlife had their alarms set as early as we did. The bush
was extra quiet, as it was last night on our nocturnal drive. We hadn’t seen a predator in
a couple days other than mongoose and an eagle on our way here. Still, I would much
rather have these animals in their own environment, free, not knowing when or if I will
see them, than in a cage.
Part way through the drive our guide asks if we would like to have breakfast, or more
importantly, coffee. We all answered with a resounding, “YES.” He drove us to the top of
a hill with a great 360 degree view of the entire valley along with adjoining hills. The
clouds still plump with rain, looking moody and hanging in the air, it made for a
foreboding scene, but beautiful with contrast.
The coffee is bliss together with the chocolate muffin, warming my insides with every
swallow. With bliss in a cup in one hand and my wide angle lens in the other, I start
capturing the spectacular view. Rain clouds are one of my most favorite subjects. The
texture and deep colors together with the shapes they create light a fire in my creative
brain.
Annelinde HolwerdaVOLUNTEER ENCOUNTER
As the sparks are flying, I hear something. Immediately I hush Prior to coming Africa, everyone told me to be careful,
the group standing further off next to the vehicle, when it is silent, everyone. I got to a point I was tired of hearing it, along with
we hear it. From what seemed like just at the bottom of the hill everyone else’s horror stories of a friend of a friend who came
came a magnificent roar, not just one but many, continuous, earth to Africa and was accosted by an animal. I found that people
shaking roars. The sound carried throughout the valley and was who had actually been to Africa told me, unequivocally, it
so powerful I could feel it under my feet. would change my life. The people who hadn’t been to Africa
told me gruesome tales of people they didn’t even know having
horrible experiences in Africa. Fear is not something I felt,
ever. Well, maybe when the solifugae showed up the first night
I wanted to run, but that primal fear for my life, I have never
felt. That being said, I am fully aware of the enormous respect
the wildlife and the people living with it deserve.
I would have expected those booming roars to cause an
instinctive fear, for my feet to itch with the need to run in the
opposite direction. To my surprise, all I wanted to do, at that
moment, was fall to my knees. The power in that call, the
demand for respect, was visceral. It rang in my ears bringing a
clarity so real it heightened my senses and cleared my mind. It
is one thing to say I respect something ten thousand miles
away that I have never seen or experienced. Hearing that
seemingly never ending roar compelled me to realize what
respecting this country and everything in it meant. Standing on
that hill in reality, being on my knees in spirit, I vowed to use
whatever means I possess to protect this place and all the
living creatures in it.
Roar on lions, we hear you.
Christina JoyRESEARCH FOCUS Backgrounds
giraffe
Eva Verhagen
research intern from the netherlands
My name is Eva Verhagen, I am coming from the
Netherlands and I am 25 years old. I am studying
Applied Biology on the HAS University of Applied Science.
Right now I’m in my 20th week and in a few days, sadly, I’ll
be going home. But before that I want to give you an
update about my internship. I have done research about
the social networks of giraffes in one of our research Helen Williams
areas: Buffaloland.
Giraffes feed mainly on the
Buffaloland is a small reserve of 1500 ha in Limpopo. In leaves, buds and seeds of
this reserve lives, among many other species, the giraffe. prickly acacia. Their long and
Because Buffaloland is a fenced reserve, the giraffes nimble tongue allows them to
cannot migrate into other areas. To create appropriate effectively remove most of the
conservation, is it important to investigate the social leafy vegetation from a shrub
networks of the giraffe for population management and or tree while avoiding its
habitat maintenance. To understand how diseases may sharp thorns. Giraffes deposit
spread through a population or for a possible around 70kg of dung every
day. A giraffe can survive for
translocation of giraffes. For this research I have the
weeks without drinking water
giraffes in Buffaloland identified by using the ID-kit to find
and can withstand times of
the right giraffe by recognizing the patterns of the giraffe. drought due to their ability to
After the identification of the giraffes I looked which extract moisture from plants.
giraffes are together in a group. This connection between They will ring bark trees when
two individuals is named an encounter. food is limited.
Eva VerhagenRESEARCH FOCUS
The results of my research show that the
different individuals of giraffes show different
amounts of encounters. The giraffes in
Buffaloland show less stable groups than
expected. It was known that the relationships
between giraffes are loose and unstable but To properly understand
groups were expected to be seen together more population densities and
often than what actually was the case. Female distributions of leopards
giraffes show more encounters than male we must conduct camera
giraffes. This is also found back in the existing trap surveys, record spoor
literature on this topic. The data of sightings with and signs of predator
a male or female alone show that there is the presence.
same number of sightings alone for both sexes
Ultimately, this focused
than the percentage of the males and females in
research is vital to the
the population. In contrast to the literature what
good development of
shows that males most of the time are found sustainable conservation
alone. solutions that will protect
I’m so happy that I had the opportunity to do the future of this iconic
this great internship at African Impact and I apex predator.
will especially thank the guides for all the
Sign up for regular giving
information about the animals. I have learned so
or a one – off donation
much more about the bush than I could have below to help support the
imagined! protection and better
understanding of leopards
in Southern Africa.
globalgiving.org/projects/leopa
rd-research/RESEARCH UPDATE
Motion triggered camera traps are an essential tool in wildlife
research, as it allows to monitor and survey animals in a non-
invasive manner, meaning that human interference is reduced to a
minimum. As a result, rare, secretive and nocturnal species can
finally be observed. Many of these species receive little attention
from the public, resulting in a lack of resources and hence
insufficient research and conservation initiatives.
At the moment, our camera traps located in Rietspruit Game
Reserve (one of the locations we work in, hereafter called
Rietspruit) are mainly aimed at helping us collecting data on brown
hyenas, but also other nocturnals indirectly, such as the African
civet, genets, porcupine, white-tailed mongoose and aardvark.
Most of these species are listed as “Least Concern” on the IUCN
Redlist, meaning that there is no urgency in terms of conservation
strategies. However, it also states that with further research on
population trends and level of threats, this status is very likely to be
inaccurate.
This is something our team wants to look into. So, as you might
have read in previous issues or fundraising campaigns, we have
made a big push earlier this year to increase our number of
camera traps. Thanks to generous donations, we rapidly doubled
our stock of camera traps, which were able to be put out in the
field in September. Now that we are getting our first results back
in, let’s see how it benefitted us in Rietspruit.RESEARCH UPDATE
From January to September, we have operated with 5
camera traps in Rietspruit, scattered across only 3 to 5
locations, mainly dams. We got very interesting results,
including many spotted hyenas, and rhinos going for a
drink, beautiful civets and genets, as well as the occasional
brown hyena, which was a very nice surprise for us, seen
how rare this species is. As mentioned above, in an effort to
increase our understanding of the local brown hyena
population, we were able to drastically develop our survey
methods, with now a total of 13 camera traps! In a 4500ha
reserve, this is a very decent coverage. Most of these
camera traps are located at hyena latrines (set places where
they come back to defecate), or at cross-roads, which are
often used as territory boundaries that are regularly
patrolled by predators.
From September to the end of November, we have
already obtained over double the amount of camera
trap results for all our nocturnal species! We are very
excited to analyse this new data and can’t wait to share
these amazing images with you.
A very promising new year ahead for the research team!
Fleur Visser
Research Intern Supervisor
FranceRANGERS REPORT
?
One of the better known characters of the bush are the chacma
baboons. They can live in a wide variety of habitats, flourishing
wherever
The there are trees to sleep in and an accessible water source
for drinking. Being highly curious and quite dextrous, their diet is
varied consisting of fruit, vegetable matter, insects, small mammals,
and birds if they are quick enough to catch them.
They spend most of the day foraging on the ground nearby trees
to escape to from predators such as leopards, larger eagles and
crocodiles near water, often leaving some as treetop lookouts. They
are also known to associate herbivores such as impala that benefit
from fruit dropped by the baboons and the baboons by insects
disturbed by the impala, along with more eyes for predator detection.
However, during the lambing season, around Nov-Dec the impala do
not tolerate the baboons, as the large males are very opportunistic
and will steal and eat a new-born impala.
The troop is highly social with relationships forming via mutual
grooming sessions, group dynamics follow an oligarchic system
whereby a group of dominant males hold power and work together to
protect the females and each other. Dominant males are usually
young in their prime and often immigrants to the troop and will
display their dominance by yawning to show their very large long
canines. Being largely terrestrial they deter predators by living in large
troops and males being larger in size and with dangerous canines
mean that predators think twice about hunting them.
Clemens LukasserRANGERS REPORT
?
Given their social structure and emphasis on breeding rights of the
dominant group, you might expect them to be territorial, but they
The
generally are not due to their habit of roaming over large areas in search of
food and water. Home ranges of troops will overlap and on meeting one
another may engage loud vocalization, but don’t really get aggressive
unless there is a dispute over a sleeping site, as a valuable place to avoid
predators at night.
Baboons like many primates have a wide range of communication
from vocalization, to body language, touch and highly expressive faces
they utilize these to maintain the troop bonds and survival of the group to
ensure enough food is found and predators are kept at bay.
Baboon's interactions with humans vary, from being pests that steal
Shilla Patel food around farms and in places like Kruger National Park, to troops that
live inside of private game reserves and flee at the first sight of humans.
Jack Broadley
Field Guide
England
Hillary RhodesDECEMBER | 12
THE WARTHOG POST
African Impact Conservation Projects - Greater Kruger Area, South Africa DECEMBER 2019
BEHIND THE FRAME
Annelinde Holwerda
Photography volunteer from the Netherlands
"I find it quite hard to photograph birds partly by the limits of my lens and the fact
that some of them rarely sit still - and fly away when you least expect it. With this
photograph, I finally managed to take a proper photo of a flying bird, which is in
focus and from an interesting angle. Last weekend, we went to Kruger and saw
this beautiful lilac-breasted roller.” 1/1600, f5.6, iso200
Just uploaded to our stock site
Check out our newest
submissions
for this month on:
africanimpactphotography.comYou can also read
