Chairman's report for 2014 AGM

Neville's report for the forthcoming AGM can be found here.

SOME UPDATES FROM OUR CAMTRAPS

Rob and I have been hoping to catch a Brown Hyaena on one of the CamTraps since I first got here. Until now,all we had to show for it is one very blurred photo that may or may not be a Hyaena. Then, about a month ago, Rob noticed a new Hyaena midden located at the junction of the Razorback South road and the new cycle path. I promptly set a CamTrap up at this spot and it has turned out to be one of the best spots so far. In the first two weeks a Brown Hyaena visited four times; a Serval visited three times and, amongst a bunch of general animals, a leopard cub (perhaps around 7 or 8 months old) visited the site twice!

Our first shot of a Brown Hyaena sniffing droppings at the midden

Three quarters of an hour later, another (or the same?) visitor.

This was the last shot taken before the CamTrap was ripped off it's anchor by the above culprit. Fortunately, the CamTrap was found nearby with minimal damage that was easy to repair.

This is the better of the two shots of a leopard cub that visited the CamTrap a week apart. Yesterday I found tracks of our big female leopard and one cub (Female about 7-8 months old) coming from the gorge between houses #24 and #25. In fact, Rob and I saw a young leopard on the road between the same houses on Saturday. The tracks headed into the gorge alongside house #9 so we should be getting sightings of Mom and Daughter around central for the next while.

This Serval visited a number of times over a period of a few nights. In this shot it is clearly entertained by the CamTrap. I love the way it lies like a domestic cat.

Just one of the many day-time shots to let you see the view from the CamTrap. According to the time stamp, the Eland on the right lay in the same position for more than two and a half hours, from when it was dark till the sun had risen.

Now for a selection of other CamTrap shots. This is a shot of a Warthog male rooting at K24.

A poor shot taken between K24 and K23 of, what appears to be a young female Leopard. Perhaps the previous daughter of our big girl.

This is the young but now big male Leopard that I just missed on the Miner's Hut path in one of my previous blogs. I call him Funny Boy because of his comical face, although it is not so comical anymore. In fact, I think he may just be taking the area over from our Big male. This was taken at K24.

The same male Leopard (Funny Boy) just over four months later also at K24. Definitelygetting bigger and meaner!

A lovely shot of a Large Spotted Genet with her baby taken at M14.

A Honey Badger taken between K23 and K24.

I don't know about anyone else but this sure looks like a Red Duiker to me. This was taken at K24.

And finally, a shot of a Civet that is expressly diurnal! She hangs around the central area and along the Whisky River. She is easy to identify with her scruffy hind quarters and very pretty face. We have no shots of her in the night time from the camtrap that was at W9, but many of her during the day! She is so commonly seen that Rob has christened her "Cedric the Psycho Civet"! 

Help has arrived!

HELP HAS ARRIVED

Well, after over a year of negotiations and persistence, the Working on Fire's High Altitude Team (HAT) has finally arrived! My little team and I are in the foreground of the photo and the HAT is in the rear.

The arrival of the team has had a very positive effect on the fight against alien plants at Finsbury. The HAT team has started where my team has left off in the Upper Majubaan and they have already cleared more than 40ha in that area.My team and I can now concentrate on areas that need urgent attention.