“Did the lockdown during the global pandemic affect the wildlife?”
A question that has seemed to come up several times over the last two years since the controls and regulations were eased. Many of the people asking had never visited Londolozi, some had been once or twice and others had visited numerous times, every year for years.
With a monumental change in human behaviour seen across the world during 2020 and in the wake after, an obvious question to many was: what impact did the Lockdown have on wildlife? Going from 100% occupancy and many of the animals being exposed to a game viewer most days to nothing. No guests in camp, only a small skeleton staff keeping things afloat and a tiny team of rangers seeking out wildlife content to share with the world. Was the sudden absence of the vehicles filled with guests noticeable to Londolozi’s wilder inhabitants, did their behaviour change, territories shift… anything?
The 2020 Lockdown consisted of rangers and other staff members spending ample time out in the bush capturing content and watching wildlife carry on as normal with the rest of the world coming to a complete halt.
The Short answer is, No.
Before harping on about the past and the once dreaded Covid 19 virus and all that accompanied it, everyone must realise that although we have a presence out here in the wilderness, there is little to absolutely no impact on the wilderness in terms of the behavioural aspect, even when the lodge is back at full capacity.
Let’s use the Ximungwe Female as an example as she is one leopard who we probably see the most on Londolozi as her territory sits entirely on Londolozi. In other words, she spends 100% of her time within the borders of the Londolozi. A normal week for her probably involves hunting, feeding off a kill for a few days, hunting again, marking territory, and maybe looking to mate if she was in heat (although she is possibly pregnant at the moment, having been seen mating recently with the Maxim’s Male), and then back to hunting. She might be viewed by rangers, trackers and guests a few times a week, say on four or five occasions, but for the most part, she goes about her business unobserved.
The Ximungwe Female descends a fallen marula tree as a vehicle full of guests has front row seats to this amazing scene.
A week is 168 hours long. Let’s average out a game drive to about 3 1/2 hours (mornings can be longer, evenings a bit shorter).
Two game drives a day equals 14 drives a week, therefore 49 hours during which Land Rovers are actually out on the reserve looking for animals. If it’s pouring with rain it might be less, if photographers are on an all-day safari it’s more, but we’re working off pure guesstimates here.
49 out of 168 is only 30%. So on the ridiculous assumption that for the entire drive, every drive, the Ximungwe Female is viewed, she’s still a completely free agent for over 70% of the time (rounded up).
We can say pretty confidently that she is most certainly not viewed that regularly, or for as long. Maybe four or five times a week, let’s say for an hour at a time. That’s five hours out of 168.
The Ximungwe Female and her cub (now independent Ntomi Male) walk up a dry river bed straight towards our vehicle. We sat patiently waiting in this beautiful river bed hoping we’d get this exact view of the two of them. With the magnificent afternoon light, they slowly moved past us and disappeared into thicker vegetation. Sometimes just 10 minutes with these beautiful animals can be all you need to fulfil your soul.
That’s 3% of the time. 97% of the time the Ximungwe Female is left to her own devices and the area around her is devoid of human presence. Now why this is a fascinating thing to think about, is the fact that we often see some pretty amazing sightings of these animals while we are with them, which is a minuscule amount of time in the grand scheme of things. Imagine what is going on for the rest of the time while we are not out and about observing them.
All in all, the reserve is wide, the wildlife is plentiful, and if we were to pack up and leave tomorrow, things would continue on as if we were never even here in the first place.
I agree with you Dan, that the impact on the animals is kind of zero. They are free to come and go as they please at Londolozi. Sometimes I even have the feeling that some animals enjoy being watched and appreciated.
However, that’s only true for Londolozi and other good areas that protect the animals and their lives.
Sadly there are still too many areas where this is not the case. In Africa, Europe, Asia, the Americas, you name it.
It is an interesting observation as to how little time we as humans actually spend with the animals in the bush. Thank you for your insight Dan.
You make a good point, I hadn’t really thought about that.
I’ve always found it odd that the fauna just learn to ignore the jeeps and not just wonder off as we approach them.
Hi Dan, it is surprising to hear the times spent observing the wild animals on Londolozi ground. A person does not realize how much time is used up driving around and viewing these incredible,stunning leopards and other animals. The Ximungwe female and her male cub the Ntomi males are the two leopards that I love seeing in the images we get from Londolozi. Ntomi male with his spek in his eye is such a stunning leopard.
I’m surprised if none of the animals came closer or walked through camp investigating the difference of noise levels.
Thank you for presenting that information. That is pretty amazing to think as often as you see animal interaction-predator activity on each drive it is such a minuscule percentage of their activity. How did the cubs and other babies differ in their behavior after 2020 if there was less human/jeep animal activity? Anything notable?
Terrific blog Dan. It is amazing to think that whilst one is observing a leopard for an hour or so, perhaps on a kill or moving through its territory, there is no guarantee that during following drives, you will see that leopard again. From personal experience I know this to be true. And so I’m satisfied with the knowledge that in spite of all the daily visits by vehicles in the reserve, there is no impact to the wildlife or environment.
Dan, Thanks for your mathematical analysis! It was incredible to us that the ranger team kept up with the videos and images throughout the pandemic. It was one of the things that helped us with a little bit of normalcy during those challenging times.
Great blog post.
This is because Londolozi is strict about controlling the vehicles and movements of vehicles. So many locations do not comtrol this. And therefore the effects on a cat’s daily activity is much more pronounced. Thankful for your excellent management!
You all respect the wild life there I have zero doubt! The wonderful film The Year the Earth Changed does answer the question of human impact on wildlife in less ‘wild’ environments. Must see watch if have not already.
Great blog Dan, agree 100% with your calculations. Perhaps it may be a different story with some of the migratory bird species – some interesting papers on the impact of low aircraft activity during the shut down!