The Karkloof Conservancy held their 17th Annual Game Count on the 5 July 2013. This year the weather conditions were superb, with the moon shining brightly over the Karkloof Valley and the wind behaving itself for a change.
We are overjoyed with the brilliant participation we had from our farmers, foresters and landowners in the Karkloof. Being strategically planned to coincide with the schools holidays, we are able to encourage family participation to ensure that the younger generation can be included in the excitement of the evening.
Carolyn Goble, Chairlady of the Karkloof Conservancy, welcomed everyone to the Karkloof Country Club with warm cup of Gluhwein after their count. Janine Smith, of the Lions River Honorary Officers (HO), assisted us once again to collate all the data for a comparison with previous game counts so that everyone could see how the numbers were doing. Janine also rallied some extra HO's to assist some of our farmers with their game count. Pieter Duys, representative of Rockwood Lodges which is situated in the Karkloof Nature Reserve, remarked that the help he received from the HO's was invaluable. He was so happy to have had them join him and their keen eyes even spotted a Bush Baby!
Our numbers were up for many game species such as our Common Reedbuck, Bushbuck, Duiker, Bushpig and Jackal.
Our Waterbuck, Oribi, Porcupine and Hares numbers were down, although they remain stable according to the trends. We had some other interesting sightings such as Wattled Cranes, Stanley Bustards, Samango monkeys, Serval, Caracal, African Wild Cat, Otters, Mongooses, Owls and Nightjars.
We would like to thank all our members, SAPPI, Mondi, UCL, KZN Wildlife and the Lions River Honorary Officers for their support, enthusiasm and participation which makes our Annual Game Count the success it is today.
We encourage everyone to participate in their local Conservancy's game count no matter how small your land is, because it really is a fun community event, and you'll be surprised what you see when you're actually looking!
Pictures and news kindly supplied by Midlands Conservancies Forum
