- Gondwana Cañon Park/ News



		News 2007News 26.03.07


		Leopard’s Kill within Sight of Lodge - 26.03.07 Numerous young springbok, Oryx and ostrich have been seen in Gondwana Cañon Park. The 25 Burchell's zebra which were released in the park last July are also raising foals. During the weekend Park Manager Otto von Kaschke found one which unfortunately had lost its mother. He took it with him and tried to bottle-feed it, but he was unable to save it; the foal died the following day. Usually nature is not interfered with; this case was an exception because it concerned a small group of newly released animals. Even though the foal did not make it, the fact that the zebra have been breeding suggests that they have settled down well at the canyon; they are from the NamibRand Nature Reserve, some 120 km south of Sossusvlei.



		A Hartmann's zebra stallion (in front) has adopted a group of Burchell's zebra mares.

		In January staffers of the park came across a group of female Burchell’s zebra protected by a mountain zebra stallion. There could be offspring, but since two different species are involved the young would be sterile, as in the case of mules.

		The appearance of large feline predators has given rise to particular joy. In late January Otto von Kaschke found the carcass of an Oryx antelope and the tracks of a fully grown cheetah at the road some 10 km north of the Roadhouse. This is quite a sensation for two reasons: on the one hand, cheetahs have been persecuted and drastically decimated by small livestock farmers in southern Namibia for decades; on the other hand a single cheetah usually does not attack an Oryx because the antelope will defend itself fiercely and can cause nasty injuries with its long horns. This cheetah, however, pushed its victim against the fence along the road, giving it very little room for defence. In addition the Oryx was female and pregnant and therefore probably less agile. During the weeks that followed Otto von Kaschke found the carcass of an ostrich 10 km further east at Holoog Mountain, and the tracks and droppings of a cheetah at a watering place another 15 km to the south.



		The carcass of an Oryx in a dip near the road. Tracks found in the sand suggest a single fully grown cheetah.

		During the last few days leopards have caused excitement at the Cañon Lodge. Staffers of Cañon Village, 2 km away, spotted a leopard while looking for two runaway donkeys. The big cat had apparently killed a springbok. Shortly afterwards tracks were found which ended at a granite top – just a stone's throw away from our 'own' mountain to which guests are taken for sundowners. A few days later a staffer was surprised when a group of kudus did not take any notice of her car at all but stood stiff as a board on the side of the road and stared into the same direction. The reason for the strange behaviour was also a leopard. It seems likely that two of these big cats have moved into the area. Leopards are known to attack human beings only if they feel cornered or if they see their cubs in danger.

		As it happens, the joy about predators in the area is by no means shared by all. Farmers in the vicinity of Cañon Park complain about increasing losses among their goats and sheep and view our park as the hotbed of all evil. Every now and then staffers from the park meet with the neighbours to discuss problems and possible solutions.


		- For more on the reintroduction of Burchell’s zebra see News 23.08.06 - For details about the NamibRand Nature Reserve see - www.namibrand.com