Dung Beetle Warriors

After a visit to Limpopo-Lipadi some weeks ago, co-owner Lucy was contemplating what keeps her and the family coming back to the Reserve? Read her notes here:

“No doubt the warm welcome from the staff, the heat of the African sun, the amazing dawn chorus and the smell of the rain on dry ground all play their part, as do the many memorable moments with the larger wildlife. But it is often the smaller wildlife that give us jaw-dropping surprises and lasting memories.

On a recent trip we stopped the game drive vehicle beside a heap of rhino dung, teeming with dung beetles of different sizes and colours, all of them very busy at their task. Within a few minutes there were four keen photographers laying on the ground with their lenses pointing at the working beetles. We expected some great shots of the beetles rolling their dung balls away, scampering up on top of the dung balls to get their bearings before continuing with their efforts to roll the ball away from the heap.

Then we noticed a very large ball of dung being moved with a lot of beetle activity around it. That’s when we had a real eye-opening moment: the beetles all wanted possession of this prize ball and were fighting over it. There were beetles being shoved off the sides and chased away, only for them to fly back. Some of the wrestlers fell completely off of the ball and continued fighting amongst themselves, only for the wrestlers to realise that they’d been left behind and had to hurry back into the fray, whilst others were being flicked off the top of the dung ball into the air. What an amazing few minutes it was and so unexpected. Another fantastic memory to take away with us from Limpopo Lipadi.”
Want to be a part of Limpopo-Lipadi’s adventures? 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