Day 2 - Because of the bad weather, the helicopter could not fly to Bontebok National Park so we had a lay day. Bontebok National Park is a small reserve in south West Cape, established in the late 60's to protect the endemic bontebok. There are currently about 200 in the park. Also, there are around 50 mountain zebras. There is a high incidence of sarcoid in the zebras, a cutaneous transmissible tumor linked to bovine papillomavirus. Wildlife veterinarians and managers plan to immobilize all zebras, and
remove all affected animals. About 20 clean zebras will be translocated to a reserve about 4-5 hours north, where currently only 4 mountain zebras remain. The rest of the healthy animals will be left in the reserve.
I went around the park with Eric Herrmann, a wildlife conservation manager with SAN from Kimberley. Over two hours, he showed me a lot of species of birds, more than I can keep track of, including: african fishing eagle, African darter, black headed heron, african stonechat (Sax cola torquatos), common fiscal, fiscal flycatcher (Sigelus silens), and many others.
remove all affected animals. About 20 clean zebras will be translocated to a reserve about 4-5 hours north, where currently only 4 mountain zebras remain. The rest of the healthy animals will be left in the reserve.I went around the park with Eric Herrmann, a wildlife conservation manager with SAN from Kimberley. Over two hours, he showed me a lot of species of birds, more than I can keep track of, including: african fishing eagle, African darter, black headed heron, african stonechat (Sax cola torquatos), common fiscal, fiscal flycatcher (Sigelus silens), and many others.
In the end, we saw all 4 species of hoofstock in the park: bontebok (Damaliscus pygarcus), red hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus) , grey rheebok (Pelea capreolus), and mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra). It was very windy and a bit cool, but overall nice.
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