Today we present the third batch of our favourites from the camera trap survey. Variety was the name of the game here, and although there were multiple leopard shots captured (the aim of the survey), in this series we wanted to focus more on the unusual denizens of the reserve. The last picture of course, was one we simply couldn’t leave out. We’re sure you’ve seen it before…
Without further ado, let’s dive right in…
This is Ranger Jess Shillaw, learning the Londolozi roads during her training period. Our concern is that Jess was only meant to walk past this particular camera trap once during her week out there, so why is she going past it in two shots in the same direction? She was pretty adamant that she found her way around the reserve just fine (she does have the map in hand, after all), but the photos speak for themselves, and I think Jess might have been a little more lost than she suspected…
Despite looking rather nondescript, this is an incredibly rare mammal. It’s a Meller’s mongoose, a small, solitary member of that family that rangers who work here will be lucky to see once or twice in a decade! Google it and you’ll struggle to find a better picture of one than this, so elusive are they. Although the camera traps caught a picture of a leopard taking down an nyala (see end of post), the picture above is just as rare and special in its own way.
Honey badgers aren’t seen too often, and a photograph of one carrying its cub is practically unheard of. This is one of my favourite photos from the study, as it captures an incredibly intimate moment between mother and offspring. Photographers are desperate to capture a photo of a lion or leopard carrying its cub, but I don’t think anyone would ever hope to capture a honey badger doing the same, knowing how small the chances are.
One would have hoped that this kudu bull would be hunkered down for the night, minimising his movements so as to be able to listen for any approaching predators. Maybe the temptation to investigate this strange new object in his territory was just too much for him to resist…
One of Africa’s Secret 7; a serval. Another very rare cat of which sightings are few and far between, servals prefer rank grassland, and their nocturnal nature means most of their lives are conducted in secret. Ranger Nick Sims recently got a brief sighting of one during morning game drive, but it was running into long grass before he had a chance to lift his camera.
The world’s tallest animal was never going to fit in the frame of a camera trap set at ground level. This camera station was near a prominent pan about 50m behind it, so it’s fair to assume this giraffe (I’m guessing a bull from the slightly darker colouration) was on its way for a drink.
Some sort of rodent. My rodent identification has never been up to scratch, mainly because the little critters seldom sit still long enough for you to get a good look at them, but this one looks like a bushveld gerbil.
Looks like some sort of rhino playdate. White rhinos are more sociable than many people think, although mothers with small calves aren’t often seen in groups. I imagine that this meeting was quite brief, and each calf and mother pair simply went on their separate ways after this serendipitous moment right in front of the camera trap.
We’ve mentioned black-backed jackals in the previous camera trap posts, but this is the side-striped variety. Although these jackals are slightly bigger than their black-backed cousins, they are apparently out-competed when they meet face-to-face. Having never seen interspecific jackal confrontation, I can’t speak for the veracity of this statement, but I’m happy to accept it until I see otherwise. One can see a second camera-trap in the background; every station had two cameras placed, angled to cover a chosen point from two sides.
This is certainly an owl, but exactly what species I can’t say for sure. Going on size, plumage colour and head shape it is almost certainly either a Barn, Grass or Marsh Owl. Marsh owls I think are slightly darker overall with more uniform colour, which narrows it down to Grass or Barn. Since there are two Barn owls living above the deck at Varty Camp and I’ve ticked them on my bird list, but I’ve never seen a Grass owl, I’m going to choose to believe that this is the latter species, and hope that it’s out there still, waiting to be seen.
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Another amazing set of camera trap photos, didn’t even know Mellers mongoose occured in South Africa!!! And nice work with the honey badger family and the serval!
Wonderful images from the camera trap. The last one was leopard taking down a kudu?! Honey badger with baby is awesome. See you next week……
Cracking shots of serval and honey badger. Alas no caracal
Hi James. Just LOOK what happens when no-one is around! It is quite amazing. Have enjoyed every shot from your camera trap but the Mother Honey Badger with Junior is my favourite. Have taken quite a few for my Screensavers. Cheers. Wendy M
I love these posts from the camera traps, so informative and interesting. I had never heard of a Serval before, such a beautiful cat! Oh and has Jess made it back to camp?? Hope so!
I’m simply amazed by the breadth of wildlife that calls Londolozi home! While the shot of the honey badger mom and baby is fabulous, the Ndzanzeni Young Male taking down the nyala is beyond amazing!
Good day, James,
That one-in-a-million photo of the young leopard catching the nyala ewe in the open still amazes me. Leopard are not to be underestimated – we had a 48″, 300 kg. kudu bull that was taken down by a male leopard 300 metres from my home.
I re-posted your kind comment and photo of Jess in a US forum. Being the US of A , 80% of the discussion was about how dare you and I hurt her feelings like that, and that shows just what kind of people we are. I told them that SA girls are not snowflakes, and a lady who carries a big bore rifle, training to be a guide and knowing how to use it if required will laugh with all her peers about being snapped in a camera trap and not whine about her photo being taken!
Kind regards and respect.
Dries
Wow! Great capture of the smaller animals. Love the mongoose and serval.
What animals are in the secret 7?
Hi Linda,
It’s the Aardvark, serval, porcupine, pangolin, african wild cat, civet and large spotted genet…
Thanks, James. Haven’t seen any of those, but there is always next time! We tracked an aardvark when we were there last week, and there was talk of putting a camera there. Do you know if that happened?
So interesting to learn about the “secret seven” James.