Friday September 18, 2009
The elephant research project at Mashatu is world-renowned, and the Ivory Drive gives Mashatu guests a flavor of their painstaking yet rewarding work. Jeanetta Selier, the principal researcher on the project, usually leads the Ivory Drive but unfortunately, she was away during our visit so we were accompanied by her associate Mark Hardon.
Mark did a noble job, even though the elephants weren’t “cooperating.” Our goal for the morning was to track an elephant named Agatha, but we just couldn’t find her.
Luckily, though, another large and well established herd was nearby, and the matriarch Hestelle let the herd come fairly close to us. Mum has an excellent description of the drive over on Mashatutiger.com, including a brief and amusing incident when a young elephant got so wrapped up in flirting with the impalas that he failed to notice that the herd had moved away. You’ve never seen an elephant move as fast (and as loudly) as that baby trying to get back to his momma.
Another highlight of the morning was a young leopard in a tree, who attracted the attention of some male baboon intent on protecting their territory from an interloper.
Some of my favorite shots from the morning.
Hestelle
More photos from the morning on Flickr.