Everything/Anything and…Chess…"Despite the documented evidence by chess historian HJR Murray, I've always thought that chess was invented by a goddess"–George Koltanowski: from the foreword to:"Women in chess, players of the Modern Age"
Read HERE more about South Africa’s wildlife and also about the Rock Jumper! The Klipspringer (‘rock jumper’ in Afrikaans) is a small African antelope that lives from the Cape of Good Hope all the way up East Africa and into Ethiopia.
Reaching approximately 58cm at the shoulder, klipspringers are relatively small animals compared to some of their larger antelope cousins. Males have fragile horns that are usually about 20-25cm long. With a thick and dense speckled patterened coat of an almost olive shade, klipspringers blend in well with the rock outcrops on which they can usually be found.
Klipspringers are herbivores, eating rock plants. They never need to drink, since the succulents they subsist on provide them with enough water to survive.
A dik-dik, pronounced “dĭk’ dĭk”, and named for the sound it makes when alarmed, is a small antelope of the Genus Madoqua that lives in the bush of southern and eastern Africa and Southeast Asia. Dik-diks stand 30–40 cm at the shoulder and weigh 3–6 kg, making them the smallest of the ruminant suborder. They have an elongated snout and a soft coat that is grey or brownish above and white below. The hair on the crown forms an upright tuft that sometimes partially conceals the short, ringed horns of the male.
The Dik-dik is one of South Africa’s smallest antelope. The Suniis the smallest. I haven’t seen both in their natural environment, I think they are too small! On the links you can read more about these two small animals!
The king of the jungle doesn’t frighten the lion whisperer.
Animal behaviourist Kevin Richardson has such an intimate bond with big cats that he can spend the night curled up with them without the slightest fear of attack.
Richardson, 32, who is based in a wildlife conservation area near Johannesburg in South Africa, works his unusual magic on other species too. Cheetahs, leopards and even unpredictable hyenas hold no threats for him.
So instinctively in tune is he with these beasts, whose teeth are sharp enough to bite through thick steel, that mother hyenas even allow him to hold their newborn cubs without pouncing to the rescue. But lions are his favourite. He lavishes them with unconditional love, he says, treating each individual differently, speaking to them, caressing them and, above all, treating them with respect.
A former student of human physiology who once worked with pre and post-operative human patients, Kevin turned to animals ten years ago when he came to the conclusion that he could trust a lion over one of his own kind every time – well, nearly every time.A close encounter with an aggressive four-year-old male in the early days taught him a lesson he has not forgotten. The animal pinned him to the ground and started biting him until something about Kevin’s passive attitude stopped him in his tracks.
Kevin says he is most confident with animals he has known since birth, but claims he can become close friends with any lion less than a year old, when it is still flexible enough to accept him as part of its own pride.
I have to rely on my own instincts to gauge an animal or a situation, and I will not approach a creature if something doesn’t feel right, he says. I don’t use sticks, whips or chains, just patience. It may be dangerous, but this is a passion for me, not a job.
Read and see more pictures HERE ….– links will open in a new window.
This next news report is about White Lions in South Africa, the only White Lions in the world that live in the wild without anyone feeding them. The link will open in a new window and it’s in Afrikaans only. These white Lions are from the Sanbona Wild Reserve in the Klein Karoo – Little Karoo…this is their link which will open in a new window.
Met net sowat 300 witleeus wat wêreldwyd nog voorkom, is die Witleeu-projek in die Sanbona-wildreservaat in die Klein-Karoo ‘n suksesverhaal wat ook vir ‘n wêreld-eerste gesorg het.
Die witleeus wat op dié reservaat van 54 000 ha tussen Montagu en Barrydale voorkom, is die enigstes ter wêreld wat nie in aanhouding is nie en self vir hul kos jag.
Die oorspronklike witleeus het in Timbavati, ‘n private natuurreservaat teenaan die Krugerwildtuin, voorgekom, maar is daar verwyder.
Witleeus is nie albino’s nie. Dit is ‘n eiesoortige en baie skaars leeuspesie wat draers van wit gene is en dus ‘n kleurvariasie van die gewone bruin leeu is.
Die eerste witleeus – ‘n mannetjie en ‘n wyfie – is in 2003 in die reservaat losgelaat om die eerste selfonderhoudende witleeus te wees sedert dié spesie in die 1970’s uit die Timbavati-gebied verwyder is.
Die leeus het saam met gewone bruin leeus geleef om sodoende te leer jag. Hoewel die twee witleeus gereeld ‘n bok platgetrek het, is hul vermoëns onderdruk deur hul vroeëre kontak met mense.
Die broeipaar is uit die veld onttrek en in ‘n kleiner kamp aangehou. Hul drie welpies is in 2006 saam met bruin leeus vrygelaat. Ná enkele weke het die leeus as ‘n trop gefunksioneer.
In 2007 is nóg drie welpies van die oorspronklike paar – een mannetjie en twee wyfies – gebore en dadelik in die reservaat vrygelaat met so min moontlik menslike kontak.
Die langtermyndoel van dié projek, wat sover R35 miljoen kos, is om ‘n hele trop van wit- en bruin leeus te vestig.
Volgens mnr. Andrew Slater, wildbewaarder van Sanbona, dra hulle geen kennis van enige witleeus wat die afgelope 30 jaar wild in die veld gebore is en oorleef het nie.
” ‘n Leeu het ongeveer 7 kg vleis per dag nodig, en met die 5 000 diere op Sanbona behoort hulle darem nie honger te ly nie,” sê hy.
Die witleeus in die reservaat dra almal bande met ‘n opsporingstoestel om die nek. “Dis sodat ons kan weet die diere beweeg rond en dat hulle gesondheid nie verswak nie,” sê Slater. For those people constantly thinking I have Lions on my blog mating…here is now a link for you guys!! I get it often that people get directed to my blog via a search with search terms like: “lions mating” or “lions having sex”…hahaha..now you have a link to follow! I don’t know why they’ve thought I’ve had that info here, I was getting tired for those searches..ok, help yourself now and see how they do it in nature! The link will open in a new window. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/984860/amazing_footage_of_male_lion_talking_while_mating/
Huberta: the wandering star of the Eastern Cape
One of King William’s Town’s most famous residents is Huberta the hippo. In November 1928, for reasons known only to herself, Huberta began a long trek from St Lucia in Zululand to the Eastern Cape. For three years, she took a 1 600km wandering path southwards and her adventures captured the imagination of the nation and the world.
Huberta was not shy of strangers – she crossed roads and railroads and visited towns and cities. She ate her way through parks, gardens and farms and trampled over golf courses. Wherever she went, there followed journalists, photographers, hunters – and the interest of thousands of people. She became quite famous and her story appeared in South Africa’s newspapers, as well as international publications such as Punch and the Chicago Tribune.
Read HERE on my blog more about Huberta and her journey! with more links too.
Spoken by great men:"Give me 20 divisions of American soldiers and I will breach Europe. Give me 15 consisting of Englishmen and I will advance to the borders of Berlin. Give me two divisions of those marvellous fighting Boers and I will remove Germany from the face of the earth." - Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery, Commander of the Allied Forces during WW2.
"The Americans fight for a free world, the English mostly for honour, glory and medals, the French and Canadians decide too late that they have to participate. The Italians are too scared to fight, the Russians have no choice. The Germans for their Fatherland. The Boers? Those sons of Bitches fight for the hell of it." American General, George 'Guts and Glory' Patton.
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Chessalee 