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Nothing in the Kalahari goes unnoticed, least of all by its inhabitants. And as the young Camelthorn tree  (Acacia erioloba) begins to make headway, filling out its branches and trunk, all manner of creature decends upon its vicinity, eager to take up a piece of its prized real estate. Out here the Camelthorn tree could [...]

Almost every organism shares an acute ability to perceive its surroundings through the application of sensory organs. We as the human species, are endowed with an ability which goes beyond the instinctive and sub-conscious perception. And it is this ability which gives us the edge in much of our dealings with the world around us. [...]

There is a certain kind of appeal in choosing to visit this most remarkable landscape. Forged over 55 million years ago, it is one of the driest and oldest deserts in the world. The silence of this place can rather paradoxically, be quite deafening. But this is exactly what travellers to this land seek — [...]

Much like our seasons, the Earth works with cycles of warming and cooling, bringing the associated changes in vegetation and animal distribution. Today there is much hype and speculation surrounding the current warming or cooling event. Some speculate we are in fact not entering a warming period, but a cooling one. Others say computer models [...]

Why is it an animal may be found orphaned. What would cause a parent to abandon a youngster, when seemingly it looks healthy. I suppose these questions have some merit, but my thinking is they are also anthropocentric, or based around a human approach to a situation. Therefore, in some situations where a youngster is [...]

Among the oldest of social organisms, the humble termite has lived for about 250 million years, beginning with the dinosaurs as a cockroach-like insect of the order Isoptera. And is today one of the cockroach’s closest relatives, much like the ant is a relative to the wasp. Furthermore, the termite is known to have the [...]

Thinking of this bird the mind conjures images of some nether-world creature living off the flesh of the newly fallen. But is this really how one should look at this bird. People readily eat crab meat, but seldom stop to think what it does to survive. I suppose the answer lies in the fact we [...]

Everything was fine…we had been travelling about 3 hours in our vehicle, and had stopped to view a herd of elephant. After about 15 minutes we thought it time to move on, and started the engine. Nothing!
The driver tried again, still nothing. The battery seemed to have died, or perhaps the alternator decided now was [...]

Among the oldest known living ancestors of present day humanity, the San or Khoi people have a history rich in living close to the land.
Like many other indigenous groups, the San or Khoi lived as hunter gatherers, never staying too long in one place. Upwardly mobile and always alert, these people have learnt a co-existence [...]

The life of a predator can be unforgiving, so it is no wonder that the jackal has had to learn to be one step ahead of the game. Being one of the smaller canidae or dog/wolf predators, the jackal is extremely adaptable.
And it is not uncommon to find him trotting along a fenceline searching for [...]