A Great Thirst In The Kruger National Park Leaves White Bones Of Carcasses Of Animals Everywhere
Each season has its own charm. Summer in the bush has its grey rainy days, its refreshing thunder showers and its various hues of green. Autumn is dressed in a kaleidoscope of colour. Winter evenings are calm with picturesque sunsets, cool nights and lovely days. Spring with its flowers and aromas give promise of new life.
In October the wild pear tree shows off its majesty like an almond tree in bridal array, the sausage tree displays a bloody red whilst the golden yellow sjambok pods bring a sparkle to the appreciative eye. Elephants Experiencing Conflict After The Kruger Fire and Wonder If Humans Are Animals Friends Or!!!
Winter also has its droughts and summer its floods. Mayafudi experienced each climatic change in his enormous body. One drought and one flood he will never forget – the carnage, loss of life and his own intense horror had made a lasting impression.
The worst drought in his life occurred just when he had completed his “apprenticeship” as an “askari”. He was back in his own herd as a full-fledged bull. Unfortunately his pleasure was tempered by an alarming deterioration of nature.
Since the previous September rain had been very scarce in the Kruger National Park.
The critical part of the rainy season only produced a few sporadic showers. Lightning in the distance brought some hope, but it was of very short duration. The fast, intense thunder showers, such an integral part of the normal pattern, remained absent. Day temperatures hovered above 40°C. On a few sweltering days in January, February and March temperatures rose to a boiling 45°C.
The gasping thirsty game gathered in shady spots and remained close to whatever water was available. Elephants flapped their ears continuously to cool off. They felt uneasy and anxious about the long winter ahead. Animals Feel Lonely and Isolated After The Fire Destroyed the Sabie Park and Left Nothing to Graze On
By July the veld had deteriorated sharply. It looked ominous. Bare patches everywhere. By August very little was left of the usual blanket of grass. Even the evergreen riverine bush had disappeared. It was grazed down to short yellow shafts. Evergreen trees were denuded of all foliage within reach. Pasture had become a luxury.
In August clouds of endless warm, dry gusts of dust sped across the park. Famished animals displayed pitiful ribs. The round, fat zebras wore sacks of striped coats. A feeling of despair took hold of man and beast.
By September large rivers had shrunk to narrow rivulets of stinking muddy pools. Fountains and other drinking holes were bone dry. Even boreholes ran dry. Windmills could hardly bring forth any moisture from below.
The few valuable wet spots became the scenes of sombre daily dramas in the Kruger Park.
Thirsty animals that wished to annex and guard drinking spots for themselves were prepared to defend their “rights” with unusual violence. Mayafudi watched an irate elephant bull demolish a kudu, breaking its back in nine places by using its tremendous trunk as a whip. He saw a deranged hippo killing its own calf in one bite. He witnessed three emaciated hyenas driving off a hopeful leopard from a tiny muddy pool.
Everywhere in the veld the white bones of carcasses of animals that lost the fight, became commonplace. Kudu, wildebeest, impala, warthog died in droves. Hippos collapsed in the mud and just stayed down. The stench of death permeated every living thing. Mayafudi Confronts Kruger National Park Perpetrators Who Were Obviously Amateurs and Cowards
Elephants were fortunate in that they could reach the last high leaves and also strip the bark from trees. As a last resort they could even eat the soft wood of trees like the baobab. Their favourite food, grass, however, had long since disappeared. Fruit, roots and herbs were unobtainable.
The citrus orchards and juicy vegetables of irrigated farms adjacent to the reserve became irresistible. Elephant excursions across rivers like the Sabie and Crocodile increased by the day.
Across the rivers they found food, but also frustrated farmers armed to the teeth to protect their crops. Many elephants that crossed the river for a feast never returned. Others, heavily wounded, returned, to die slow deaths on familiar soil…