25 November was the day I saw my first baby warthogs for this season. This is particularly early, as they are normally kept in their burrows for the first few days before emerging. Also, they tend to appear after the impalas started giving birth. The impalas normally give birth in November. However, I heard from another guide that he saw his first impala baby on that exact day. These are the first records of the season that I know of for these animals. Both are early, and one has to conclude that it’s because the rains started earlier than the previous few years. Although we haven’t had proper rains yet, a few drizzles occurred, greening up the far west (near Pretoriuskop) of the Park. That’s also where the babies were seen. It is believed that impalas can alter their gestation period depending on the rainfall. If the rains are late, so will the babies be. I’m not quite sure whether that is true. It can be practical, but for an animal with a 6 month gestation period, 1 month extra could mean a tremendous growth difference and therefore a difficult birth. Perhaps they can judge 6 months in advance whether the rains will be earlier and therefore mate earlier. Needless to say, it’s the start of an exciting time when more and more babies will decorate the bush and join the vervet monkeys, who already have produced a lot of their offspring by now.
Simon Vegter
Wild Wings Safaris
No comments:
Post a Comment