By Hailey Everett (University of Vermont)
My face is leaning out the window, my body is pressed up against the car door, and the fresh breeze is rolling through car as we drive past the dense vegetation hugging the road. But I’m staring at the red sand road that is passing below the car, not the Zambezi teak (Baikiaea plurijuga) or cape turtle doves that fly in front of us. We don’t stop to count the greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), or wait to watch the double banded sandgrouse. Today we are on a different type of transect. Today we are looking for tracks, carnivore tracks.
In every concession we complete at least one spoor survey, and this week since we are in both of the Chobe Enclave’s concessions (CH 1 and CH 2), we have gotten to do two. Spoor surveys consist of waking up before the sun rises for an early breakfast of oatmeal, and then piling in to the back seat of one of our vehicles which will be driven by either Vehi or Sixteen, our resident trackers. We drive down designated routes for 20 km looking for any sign (spoor) of a carnivore. While we learn about the herbivore spoor too, we are looking for wild dog (Lycaon pictus), lion (Panthera leo), leopard (Panthera pardus), spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), and cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) spoor to collect data on.
During spoor surveys, we will stop at a print, identify it, and take some time to study it. It is incredible to think that only a few hours before a leopard was standing in that very spot. Out here in the Chobe Enclave it is unlike any concession we have been to before. Our campsite is by far the most ‘wild’ yet. When we pulled up it was nothing more than shrubs and tall grasses, with a few remains of an old hunting lodge. Within a couple hours of hard work we had cleared space for us to set up, and now it feels just like home. The rest of the concessions are also completely new. We have a whole array of new vegetation to learn including the Zambezi teak, Grey Jessebush (Combretum elaeagnoides), and silver leaf terminalia (Terminalia sericea). The landscape here consists of dense shrubs with some occasional open grassland, and the nearest permanent water source is over 40 km away. It is exciting to be in a completely new place, and provides plenty of opportunity to expand our perspective.
The majority of the Chobe Enclave used to be used for hunting tourism up until Botswana enacted the nationwide hunting ban in January of 2014. It is because of this that we believe the animals are more skittish here than anywhere else. Despite the fact that we drive far with our eyes peeled for animals, we don’t end up seeing many here. For example, while on a transect with Lindsay just the other day, we started off much too eager. Within the first minute of our herbivore transect I called out that there was for sure a python in the road that we were about to run over while Lindsay tried to get our attention that there was an ostrich (Struthio camelus) in the field next to us. It turned out we were looking at an old pipe and funny shaped log respectively…Bekah could only laugh at our eagerness to see some wildlife. During the rest of the transect we were able to see some African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), two male elephants (Loxodonta africana), greater kudu, burchell’s zebra (Equus burchelli), and some impala (Aepyceros melampus) so we really can’t complain!
What we do get to see plenty of is spoor. On our spoor count the other day I saw tracks for at least seven different animals! The spoor surveys here are extra exciting because since we only get fleeting pictures of a common warthog (Phacoecerus aethiopicus) running away with its tail raised into the grass, we get to see plenty of signs that it was there. On our spoor survey we got to see giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) tracks, plenty of antelope tracks (probably impala, eland, and greater kudu), huge elephant tracks, black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) tracks, honey bager (Mellivra capensis) prints, aardvark tracks, and also spotted hyena and leopard tracks. So while we don’t always get to see the animals, we know they are there, probably hiding just out of sight. At night we also get to hear the animals.
After spending over a week in the bustling town of Kasane, we were all very happy to get back out into the bush. At night we get to hear the pearl spotted owlet, lions calling to each other, elephants trumpeting, and my personal favorite, the spotted hyena’s ‘whooping’ call. Being in the bush is amazing, and as our time in the Botswana bush is almost over, we appreciate it all the more. We are all eager to make the very best of our dwindling time, and every day is an adventure out here in the field. We can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds!