Notes From My Botswana Journals by Leigh Kemp

Baboons walking upright

One of my most memorable moments was watching a Baboon literally ‘stand up and walk’ through a not-quite-Crocodile infested channel of the Okavango Delta. After much milling and nervous communication some of the troupe crossed in a hurried confusion of splashes and shrieks. I looked across to the other side as one got up on his hind legs. He stood for a moment before stepping confidently into the water and marched purposefully across.

Baboons and impala

Baboons and Impala generally have a symbiotic relationship, always seen moving together on the plains, but there is a time when this relationship seems non-existent. At the time of the Impala birthing the Baboons will often kill and eat the young Impala lambs. The killing is usually done by the adult male Baboon and they will seldom share the kill with other Baboons.

Animals mourning

We have all heard or read the stories of Elephants that mourn their dead and seen images of the interaction at a carcass. We are told that this demonstrates an Elephant’s intelligence. It adds to the romance attached to the largest land mammal in the world.

For those who think this is the sole preserve of the intellectual giants – it is not. I have experienced numerous incidents of species mourning the dead. Images of Baboons carrying their dead babies around are well recorded. I have watched a Zebra reacting to its deformed newborn foal. I have photographed a Bulbul reacting to its mate lying dead after flying into a glass wall. Sadly the mourning of other animals is not considered quite the same thing as elephants in mourning. It is not romantic to think that other animals mourn.

Meat-eating giraffe

Giraffe have been known to gnaw on bones they find in the bush. A bush legend goes that a certain guide who loved to spin yarns to his guests once told the story of the man-eating Giraffe. On a game drive some time after this they came across a Giraffe gnawing on a bone. The guests were nervous particularly when the animal started walking toward the vehicle. Needless to say the Giraffe simply walked past.

This behavior where giraffe gnaw bones is explained as a calcium deficiency in the Giraffe and they gnaw on bones as a supplement.

Red velvet mites

They are a smooth velvet in colour and look, alighting at a time when your being is tuned to the change of the seasons after the first rains and are usually passed by with only a mild interest, if any interest at all. They first began to attract my attention when I came upon a whole lot of them in an open area whilst walking back to my house one day.

The scent of the first rains filled the senses and my spirit was alive. I looked down at something that caught my eye and noticed many small bright red ‘bugs’. Upon closer inspection I realized they were Red Velvet Mites, a previously insignificant creature in my mind. I began to wonder at their life cycle and why they were seen so infrequently.

It is a phenomenon that happens once a year and is synchronized to another rare occurrence, the alighting of the Winged Termites from their underground chambers in a mad, and seemingly uncontrolled, rush. The Velvet Mites will attack and feed on the Termites. Despite hours of following them I only ever saw the results of these ‘kills’. After a frenzy of about a day they disappear back into the ground.

There are still many questions surrounding these creatures. Why are they such a colour at a time when predators are feeding on Termites? It is possibly a warning sign to ward off would-be attackers. Why do they spend so much time underground? What is their role in the greater scheme of things?

By Leigh Kemp