Archive for Our animals

Did You Know – Large Striped Swordtail Butterfly

Lacey / October 5, 2011 / No comments

See below for the latest in our ‘Did You Know’ educational factsheet series.

Sword tail butterfly Scientific name: Graphium antheus Identificaton: Upperside: Black with turquoise bands and spots. Transverse bands in forewing are wavy. Underside: Similar pattern but grey/brown with pale green markings. Behaviour: Flight is high and rapid. Both sexes visit flowers. Males tend to be found in hundreds on wet mud. Larvae and caterpillars are diapausal meaning that if the environmental conditions are not right they will continue to 'sleep'. Wingspan: Male - 65-70mm Female - 70-75mm Male/ female: Similar markings on male and female Diet: Adult butterflies do not need to eat as they obtain most of the food they need as caterpillars. They do however drink. Using their proboscis (mouth-piece like a straw) they suck nectar from plant flowers and tree sap. Males will also suck up salts from the drying mud. Larvae feeds on various leaves, flowers, and fruit dependant on region. Communication: Communicate with chemical signals Distribution: Within South Africa: From, coastal lowland forest from Eastern Cape to savannah in KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo province. Habitat: Forest edges and flatlands. Predators: Varied predators from Chameleons to birds. Roughly summarised to 'anything that can catch them' Did you know: - You can tell moths and butterflies apart by their antenna. Butterflies have straight antenna whilst moths have ones that resemble TV aerials to help them fly at night. - Butterflies only fly in the daytime

Category: Albizia camp, Bushwire, Environmental Awareness Course, Our animals / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Did You Know – Purple-Crested Turaco

Lacey / September 21, 2011 / No comments

See our factsheet below for more information about the purple-crested Turaco (formerly known as the purple-crested Lourie).

Purple crested turaco Formerly known as the Purple-crested lourie Scientific name: Musophaga porphyreolopha Description: Colourful African forest bird with red underwings and distinctive call. It differs from the other Turacos due its very dark purple crest, and the lack of white around the eyes. Diet: Feeds almost exclusiely on fruits Habitat: Tends to be found in coastal and riverine forests, sometimes also found in broad leaved woodland. Inhabits a large portion of Eastern African continent including; South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Male/female/juvenile: Adults the same. Juvenile is duller in colour. Call: Loud 'kok-kok-kok-kok' call Nest behavior: Both sexes build the nest. Usually one will return with sticks to give to the other who will place it in the nest. 2-4 eggs are laid which are incubated by both parents for approx 3 weeks. Chicks are ready to fly at 38 days. Did you know: Despite being brightly coloured, the purple crested turaco is hard to spot. It is mostly noticed by the bright red feathers of their underwings as they move from tree to tree.

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Sunbird Building Nest

Lacey / September 16, 2011 / No comments

Spring is in the air at Umkhumbi Lodge. The birds are singing and soar through the air as they fly in search of nest building materials. One such bird is the Sunbird. Using spiderwebs to secure their nest materials the Sunbirds ensure that their eggs have the very best chance of survival.

In the video below you can observe the female sunbird adding grasses to her nest.

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Did You Know – Cocktail Ant

Lacey / September 7, 2011 / No comments

See below the factsheet for the South African Cocktail Ant
Cocktail Ant Scientific Name: Crematogaster peringueyi Description: Small ant species indigenous to South Africa. Habitat: Diverse habitat, usually found in a forested area. Distribution is along the East Coast of South Africa. Predators: Surprisingly few due to red colour and irritant fluid. Tend to be preyed upon mainly by birds. Food: Worker ants tend aphids and coccid insects for honeydew. Social structure: Like all ants they form colonies which comprise of a queen and worker ants. There are many different types of worker ant - some work in the nursery, some collect food, some protect the colony e.t.c. Communication: Unknown, presumed same as standard ant - Using pheremones (scents). e.g. an ant that finds food will leave a scent trail on his way to the colony for other ants to follow. Male or Female: This doesn't really apply to Ants.Two types of ant instead; Queen - Body length 6mm Worker ant - Body length 3-6mm, 2 segmented waist, head, thorax and legs reddish brown and black. Life Expectancy: Unknown, presumed to be the same as a standard ant - 90 days (worker ant) Did you know? Cocktail ants will build their nests near birds nests so that as the birds protect their own nests from predators they inadvertently protect the ants. Cocktail ants are called that because they cock their tails in the air and squirt on the bite.

Category: Albizia camp, Bushwire, Did you know?, Environmental Awareness Course, Our animals / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bella the Impala

Lacey / June 13, 2011 / No comments

Here at Umkhumbi Lodge you are likely to see Bella wandering around the rooms munching away at the grass.

Bella is our hand-reared Impala.

Bella cannot have been more than a couple of weeks old when she was brought to us. Unfortunately Bella’s mother was attacked by a predator and young Bella was found nearby with cold, wet and weak with her head stuck in a fence (even today you can still see a slight scar).

Little bit by little bit we were able to feed Bella from a bottle, and were overjoyed to watch her get stronger. As she got stronger so did her personality, and she was all to eager to come stomping into the house to cry and cry until she got her bottle.

To our delight as Bella got older she began to venture further and further into the bush exploring and looking for food although she did still follow all of the staff and guests when she couldn’t find anything she fancied.

Far from being the tame little impala she was when she wandered freely in and out of the house, Bella no longer seeks out human interaction (it would appear the Nyala are more fun).

She is however perfectly content to block your way on the path, moving only at the last minute. Rest assured you can get some amazing photographs as she wanders freely around the paths instead of hiding in the bush.

 

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