NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE UPDATE. June by Hans Schmid. Warden

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Giraffe snared On Friday 12 June Ian Owtram reported a young male giraffe with a snare just above his left hoof.

as he couldn't support his weight on his injured leg.

1 NEWSLETTER June 2015 Photograph: Rainer Schmid COMMITTEE UPDATE by Hans Schmid Warden We again thank Theunis Trollip for volunteering as the acting warden for Grietjie during this transition stage. Giraffe snared On Friday 12 June Ian Owtram reported a young male giraffe with a snare just above his left hoof. The giraffe was attempting to drink from the waterhole on plot 39 but was unable to lower himself to reach the water as he couldn't support his weight on his injured leg. After a few phone calls we decided with the Balule head warden that a vet should be summonsed to dart the animal and do a physical examination of the leg. Unfortunately vets in Hoedspruit and Phalaborwa were unavailable on Friday.

On Saturday morning Hendrik and Nelson followed the spoor, finding that the injured giraffe had been chased by lions, then met and joined up with a group of giraffes causing the lions to back off.

2 On Saturday morning Hendrik and Nelson followed the spoor, finding that the injured giraffe had been chased by lions, then met and joined up with a group of giraffes causing the lions to back off. The chase aggravated the injury causing significant blood loss. The giraffe was located drinking from a water reservoir on northern Grietjie and was darted, but did not survive. On examination it was ascertained that the steel cable snare had severed all ligaments to the hoof and euthanasia would have been unavoidable. According to Stefan of the Mambas, steel cable snares which are utilized by poachers to snare large game, have been previously removed from Doreen. Wire snares are still being found on Grietjie, mainly on properties along the river, where the owner is either absent or does not control his employees. We will catch the culprits and hand them over to the SAPS. It is the owner s responsibility to control his/her employees. AGM As previously mentioned, the date for the 2015 AGM has been set for Saturday, 29 August. We have not received any proposals from the MIGS for constitutional changes. The committee is currently considering two changes that will be distributed once finalized. We cannot have a long and drawn out meeting like that of We will distribute the matters arising from the previous minutes well ahead of the AGM. We can therefore be better informed and only short discussions will be allowed. Committee elections if you are a member who is critical of the committee, this is your opportunity to rectify your concerns; stand up and commit yourself to bettering Grietjie for at least one year. There are also those of you who are community minded and wish to participate in managing and making positive changes to our reserve. Please join the committee. You don t have to be a permanent resident on Grietjie or even reside nearby to join the committee as a productive member. Maxine has proved this beyond all doubt. You just need commitment. It is also not only the registered members in good standing who are eligible for election; their partners or spouses can also serve. Ranger accommodation The upgrade of the ranger accommodation has been on the cards for the last 3 years. Permanent upgrades were envisaged at plot 64, but Forever Resorts could not give us an indication of how long GPNR would be able to occupy this plot. The risk of a permanent structure was therefore not feasible when compared with the investment return. In the newsletters we have requested a long term lease or donation of land from the Grietjie owners; we had only one response. The van Zyls offered to build a hostel, ablution block, a cooking and a storage facility adjacent to the entrance gate. A long term lease was on the cards, but the monthly rental was deemed excessive by the committee. The only other option was to purchase prefab buildings that can be relocated at minimal cost should that be required.

3 We have investigated Wendy Houses and the modular FSM system. On a five year term with one relocation, the FSM option was more beneficial and we have placed a R113,000 order with FSM to deliver a 31m2 building to us. The facilitation fee accrued from the sale of Chris Albert's properties will be utilized for this expense. Grader ordered We have also ordered a new tow-behind grader for our tractor at a cost of R26,000. This will enable us to be independent of ONGR and allow us to grade our roads whenever necessary. Blackie de Swardt is still looking for a suitable tip trailer. Rates and taxes update The meeting at the municipality on 25 May was a disappointment as no direct answers were given to questions that had been tabled in advance - discrepancies in rates charged on Grietjie, reasons for charging the same rates on Grietjie as those in town where services are provided, 45% increase in rates. The 45% increase will be applied over the next 3 years with rebates of 75%, 50% and 25% respectively. The valuation will remain unchanged for a period of 5 years from date of implementation. We are still waiting for the minutes of this meeting as well as the explanations for the unanswered questions and the mechanism of applying the stepped rebates. UPDATE FROM THE GPNR RECRUITMENT SELECTION SUB-GROUP by Maxine Smith We are pleased to report the recruitment process to attract a new Warden for GPNR is progressing towards the final stages. As you all know, our previous Warden, Johan Grobler, resigned from his role on the 20 th April and as I'm sure you can all imagine there have been quite a few tasks the Committee has had to take care of in order to keep GPNR protected and organised, whilst doing everything necessary to attract a new Warden. Here is the flow of progress so far: End of April resignation notified May GPNR Committee make a holding plan of cover in the absence of a Warden o Recruitment Selection Sub-Group formed (Maxine Smith, Mike Clulow and Paula Shine) o Position circulated to specialist circles within Game and Reserve Management o In total, received 14 enquiries for the vacancy o Interviews will be conducted over the 1 st and 2 nd July o Candidates informed by the 6 th July of outcome o Warden to commence role, subject to notice period (tbc) The GPNR Committee wishes to extent thanks and appreciation to Grietjie owner Paula Shine for her input and contribution to the Recruitment Selection Sub-group, which has been most useful.

4 RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURE STATS by Ian Owtram

5 CREATURES OF THE NIGHT by Jane Burd Every night 1 in 4 mammals takes to the sky. Bats make up 25% of all mammals. These little known creatures are still feared by many, misunderstood and surrounded in myth. Bats do not get caught in your hair, they are not carriers of rabies although they can get rabies type viruses just like other mammals, they are not blind and can see better than humans at night, bats are very clean animals. Bats are not flying mice, they re not even rodents, they are more closely related to humans than mice. There are over a 1000 different species of bats worldwide with at least 56 species being found in South Africa. Of the bat species in South Africa more than half are either critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable or near threatened. So while you may look up at a night sky abuzz with bats, their numbers are declining. For many South African bats the Lowveld is the place to live, with river frontage being prime real estate for some species. This puts us in an ideal position to make a contribution to helping bats. Bats have always helped us. Insectivorous bats are the primary predator of nocturnal flying insects. One adult Cape serotine bat (only 8cm long) can eat up to 600 mosquito sized insects in an hour. Bats also provide farmers with pest control, studies done in the USA estimate the pest control services of bats is valued between $3,7 billion to $53 billion per year. The South African bat colony at De Hoop Gauna Cave, numbering around bats, eats 100 tons of insects per year many of them crop pests. Fruit bats also provide services in the form of pollination and seed dispersal. Without the fruit bats we would have no baobabs and no Agave plants (which would mean no more Tequila), they are also pollinators of mangoes, bananas, peaches and guavas and around 300 plant species. Some fruit bat

species regularly travel 60km per night while one was found to have covered 370km in a single night while on migration. In the African tropics 95% of forest regrowth has been attributed to fruit bats.

They use sounds to make sentences and the order of the sounds can change the meaning of the sentence.

Bats are designed to survive. So what s changed? Why are their numbers decreasing?

persecution by humans. Increased understanding and tolerance of bats will go a long way in helping theses incredible animals.

6 species regularly travel 60km per night while one was found to have covered 370km in a single night while on migration. In the African tropics 95% of forest regrowth has been attributed to fruit bats. Bats are highly intelligent; researchers working with Mexican Free-tailed bats found that the bats use language like we do. They use sounds to make sentences and the order of the sounds can change the meaning of the sentence. Bats are long lived, they ve been found to live over 40yrs in the wild but are also the slowest reproducing mammal for their size with most bat species giving birth only once a year to a single pup. Bats are designed to survive. So what s changed? Why are their numbers decreasing? Habitat loss, poisoning through insecticide and liquid rodenticide use, wind turbines, unnatural hazards such as domestic cats, exposed electrical wiring in roofs, ceiling fans, fencing and persecution by humans. Increased understanding and tolerance of bats will go a long way in helping theses incredible animals. Angolan free-tailed bats (Mops condylurus) Cape Serotine (Neoromicia capensis) To learn more about bats: Contact Jane Burd or jane.burd@wol.co.za I do a fun and educational talk on bats for groups of 10 or more people. These talks are offered at no charge in the interest of promoting bats and helping them improve their image. This article contains just a few facts on bats, in the talk you can get to hear about their fascinating social and sex lives and much more. TRACKING ELEPHANTS FOR CONSERVATION We've included data on Yvonne (Grasses Herd) and Shoshangane, the collared elephants that move across GPNR. If you wish me to forward the full report to you, please contact me at sharonaschmid@gmail.com Tracking Animals for Conservation Elephant Tracking Report November 2014 April 2015 Early and Late Wet Season We would like to provide you with an update of the movements of some of our collared elephants within the Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR), Kruger National Park (KNP) and the

7 Limpopo Transfrontier Park in Mozambique (LTP). As we move into the dry season, we are updating you on our various collared elephant s movements during the wet seasons and are now able to add movements for Intwandamela and Shoshangane whom we re-collared in October and November The elephants collared within the Pafuri-Makuleke Concession of the KNP have unfortunately been affected by an anthrax outbreak and Colleen (one of the collared cows) and Mapimbi (a young bull who we were still following) sadly passed away due to this outbreak. Our APNR elephants still for the most part stay within the same areas as during the previous seasons and Summer continues with her large movements between Southern Timbavati and the Southern part of the Kruger National Park. We have re-collared Umbabat (cow from Parks Herd), thanks to Dr Allan & Gail Kelly who sponsored the operation. We will be able to report on her movements in detail in our next report. We hope you enjoy this latest report. Save the Elephants South Africa/Elephants Alive Report prepared by Michellene Munro P.O. Box 960 Hoedspruit 1380 Tel: +27 (0) ASSOCIATED PRIVATE NATURE RESERVES ELEPHANTS: COWS (HERDS) YVONNE GRASSES HERD This herd have continued with their movements across the Reserves to the North East of Timbavati Private Nature Reserve and thus more than double their home range during the wet seasons. They equally spent their time in Balule Private Nature Reserve and Timbavati Private Nature Reserve.

ASSOCIATED PRIVATE NATURE RESERVES ELEPHANTS: BULLS SHOSHANGANE This tall younger adult bull whom we were able to recollar in November last year, has spent the majority of the wet seasons within the

8 ASSOCIATED PRIVATE NATURE RESERVES ELEPHANTS: BULLS SHOSHANGANE This tall younger adult bull whom we were able to recollar in November last year, has spent the majority of the wet seasons within the borders of Balule Private Nature Reserve with only a small excursion into Klaserie Private Nature Reserve. Shoshangane is well known and recognised within Balule and is known to spend time with another locally known bull called Izulwini..

Mammal Only flying mammal Small. Nocturnal Live in caves Eat insects and fruit Live in caves. wildirdarden.inc.

Mammal Only flying mammal Small Nocturnal Live in caves Eat insects and fruit Live in caves wildirdarden.inc http://www.flowstonenews.com Blind Vampires Fly into hair Dirty Carry rabies Mice Big Brown