The Garbage Collectors

Botswana is home to five of the eleven vulture species found in Africa. Common vulture species found in the reserve include the Cape vulture, White-backed vultures, Hooded, Lappet-faced and the rare White-headed vulture, more or less in that order. Whenever our rangers find vultures patching on trees and the ground, they immediately investigate what is it interesting those vultures. One late afternoon, our senior guide John, called our anti-poaching rangers to some vultures patched on the trees near the Cabbage Dam waterhole. Researcher manager Botilo responded immediately with the rangers to investigate the site. It was not long before they discovered a zebra carcass that looked a day old. A grim discovery of a fetus stuck in the birth canal led to the conclusion that maternal mortality was the cause of death… There were also no predator bite marks to suggest otherwise. Read more (link in bio)… The team immediately decided to set up two camera traps to see any further scavenging activity after dark as it was almost dusk. To their surprise, as they were setting up the cameras, a pack of wild dogs made a grand entrance to investigate the stench smell of the decomposing carcass. They immediately left the carcass for the wild dogs to satisfy their curiosity. The wild dogs were not amused and moved out soon after to look for fresh blood. Wild dogs hardly scavenge and prefer fresh kills as highly successful hunters. Several hours into the night a brown hyena discovered the windfall and feasted to its satisfaction. Lions also picked up on the smells and displaced the brown hyena in the early hours of the next day. Like the wild dog, the lions did not eat and proceeded with their night as they had come in with full stomachs anyway. If you would like to be a part of our conservation efforts, do call on us. For discreet information on share sales, contact generalmanager@limpopo-lipadi.org. To book a safari, request our rates via reservations@limpopo-lipadi.org or via WhatsApp: (+267) 76770191.