Invader plants at Amatigulu Nature Reserve - November 2014

Much work has been done at Amatigulu Nature Reserve in the last year or two, to eradicate invader plants. In 2013, the alien plant eradication team worked on several large blocks in the reserve, removing Lantana and Chromolaena. This is a very expensive program, but  these invaders had taken over vast tracts of land in the reserve.

Follow-up programs ensure that the invader plants do not recur.

Unfortunately, the Lantana is growing back in many parts of the reserve, and appearing now in other stands as well.

Bugweed is currently covering large stands of land in the sections along the 4x4 trail.

This illustrates the difficulty in managing these invader plants in our reserves.

Large stands of bugweed in the forest sections along the 4x4 trail.

Lanata regrowth in many parts of the reserve

The grasslands are also suffering from bush encroachment by Acacia species. This can be kept at bay by bulk grazers or by burning. The grass load on this section of grassland indicates that burning has not taken place on this piece of grassland for some time.

 

Kudu at Amatigulu Nature Reserve November 2014

We have often wondered how many Kudu we have left at Amatigulu Nature Reserve. We have seen small groups in the forests on the 4 x 4 trail in the past. The largest of these groups was 7. On other occasions we have 3 very large adult males together- also on the 4x4 trail.

Yesterday (Sunday 2 November) we encountered a group of 10 kudu in the grass near the Matshangulu Pan. Most of them were lying down in the grass - some were browsing.

There were 9 females and one young male. All of them are particularly large animals - similar to those we see in the Eastern Shores Nature Reserve ( and those are bigger than the ones we see in the Kruger National Park).

Interestingly the mature adult males were nowhere to be seen. It is interesting that they allow the young male to remain in the presence of the females at this time of the year. The young male looks as if he might be at the age where he could breed with the females. In that case, are the adult males still around or have they disappeared?

We should probably now use our camera traps to see if we can locate the adult males and confirm their presence in ANR.