Gallery - Askari

Askari Gallery

This video is especially for the amazing sounds! O

This video is especially for the amazing sounds! Obviously a little confused and scared, Rumi and Rae had plenty to say to each other as they ended their journey on Friday and left their crates in the boma

We did it! SUCCESS! Yesterday the team achieved th

We did it! SUCCESS! Yesterday the team achieved the logistical nightmare of returning our cheetah girls Rumi and Rae back home 🥳🥳🥳. You may have followed the events as, a few weeks ago, they got trapped on the wrong side of the flooded river then relocated themselves to pidwa east.
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After weeks of searching, driving, getting stuck in the mud and walking.....everything finally came together to attempt the move. The girls were found together for the 1st time, they were relatively accessible, there was no flood and the vet was available.....we had to take our chance!
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The hot, 30 degree +, conditions were far from ideal but it was the only chance we had. All went well and we were able to dart and relocate both the girls together. They travelled in crates through gates, across the reserve and through the flooded river and are back on Langa langa, their original territory. For now they have gone back into the boma. Rumi especially has been struggling, so we now have the chance to feed her up a little and reset ready to go again. It also gives us the chance to repair fences now that the water is finally receding.
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An amazing team effort and also many thanks to Dr Peter Rogers and his team for helping us with the rescue mission. We are so relieved to have them back 😊😊 #askariwcp

The Askari team spent the morning working with bre

The Askari team spent the morning working with breeding manager Andrew and Dr Peter Rogers with some sable antelope. We collected a new bull and put him into the breeding camps, therefore changing the genetic bloodline. We also re-darted the female who had the foot injury a few weeks ago who is looking much improved

So lucky to have this beautiful and rare 'Carmine

So lucky to have this beautiful and rare 'Carmine bee-eater' drop in at the reserve recently. They are summer migrants and only seen in quite specific areas when they visit so it's great to have seen one our side

Removed this little one from the road this morning

Removed this little one from the road this morning. The smallest Flap-necked chameleon I've ever seen in the wild in all my years

After a long leave of absence, the Askari pride ar

After a long leave of absence, the Askari pride are back in the area! Photos are limited due to extreme vegetation; but here, the pride of 9 were feeding on a wildebeest carcass

Can you believe it.... an entire 36 hours without

Can you believe it.... an entire 36 hours without rain! We took our window and made our way back to Pidwa east this morning to check on the cheetah girls. We had much better success but unfortunately a darting operation to bring them back was still not possible today. The area is still very inaccessible and wet, plenty of walking involved today.....but no mud....YAY 🥳. We were ecstatic however to find 'Rae' with her own food, a baby impala. Rumi was also seen, a kilometre or so from her sister and is doing ok too

Lots of spotted hyaenas around at the moment. We s

Lots of spotted hyaenas around at the moment. We saw these 3 out and about this morning inbetween more torrential downpours

Well, it has been a long, tough & slow few days fo

Well, it has been a long, tough & slow few days for the Askari team & assistant manager Andrew. While the rain from cyclone Elosie was amazing for the bush, it also brings many challenges to our work. As the water caused the Selati River to come down, unfortunately female cheetahs 'Rumi' and 'Rae' found themselves stuck on the wrong side of the flooded river with very few options for finding food & with no way for us to reach them.

Those clever little ladies made a plan though & used the break in the fence (washed away by the river) to find new and drier ground. They made their way onto Pidwa east! Now unfortunately for us, as their monitors, there are multiple reasons why we didn’t choose to put them there in the first place. It is far away and the terrain makes telemetry tracking very challenging and what we have learnt in the last few days……it is EXTREMELY WET!

Conditions are tough and far from ideal but the work still needs to be done. Following the cheetah also means you can’t choose your own route, you have to go where they go. And so situation 1 of being stuck in the mud ensued! We found ourselves in an area which initially looked fine on the surface until you drove there and very quickly sunk! After 1.5 hours of digging, we made the decision to call for rescue. Our 3 rescue vehicles also got stuck but finally…..6 hours later we were free!

But the show must go on, there were still cheetah to find. So yesterday we set out again, into the vast wilderness (and very wet soils) of Pidwa east! We initially found ‘Rumi’ but on her own calling for her sister. ‘Rae’ was located a very inaccessible 1 kilometre away. We made the decision to at least give Rumi food but of course, by the time we had found an impala meal, she had moved! Missioning far into the bush to deliver the meal….we were stuck again! This time we managed to dig ourselves out (hence the very proud faces in the photo!).

Exhausted and sunburnt, we have done what we can for now. With more heavy rain today we will have to wait until we can go back to the area. With some awesome determination, team work, experience and perseverance we achieved our goal, finding the girls & making sure they're fed

Recognise this? Who's keen for their turn on the A

Recognise this? Who's keen for their turn on the Askari 4x4 course today?!

An amazing sighting of a Vine (or twig) snake for

An amazing sighting of a Vine (or twig) snake for the team. This species is extremely harmful and carries a haemotoxic venom which causes the blood of a bite victim to flow freely and not clot

The rain is so torrential we can barely make it ou

The rain is so torrential we can barely make it out of the garden today! So instead I re-found this comical baby ele from an Askari Kruger trip for some Sunday entertainment! Demonstrating the "I'm not sure what" move 🤣

The Selati runs through the northern section of Pi

The Selati runs through the northern section of Pidwa and is a perennial river. Our section actually has a very specific catchment area so it doesn't flow every year. Yesterday however we had some big, big rains in exactly the right spot and as a result the river has come down overnight. A beautiful sight to see and now uncrossable for at least a few days to come!

Such an exciting discovery this week of a new brow

Such an exciting discovery this week of a new brown hyaena den, notoriously impossible to find! In fact the cheetah girls led us to find it on one of our daily tracking sessions when we found them feeding on an impala right outside. We suspected it was an active den and set up a secret camera trap to check if we were right. Here is a short clip from one of the den residents :)

As you may be have seen on the news, South Africa

As you may be have seen on the news, South Africa has been bracing for cyclone Eloise over the weekend. It arrived here at Askari on Saturday night after tracking its way across Madagascar and making landfall in southern Mozambique in the early hours of Saturday morning. Sadly the storm has caused plenty of damage and displaced many families and destroyed homes and crops in its path. Here on Pidwa, we were fortunate to avoid the strong winds and even the rainfall has been lower than expected. That meant however it has been a perfect combination of rain to fill our river and dams but with relatively little structural damage. The Selati is not yet flowing but there are nice pools forming and there is more rain to come. To date we have received 88mm of rain from storm Eloise. Here are some photos from around the reserve

This morning the team worked with Dr Peter Rogers

This morning the team worked with Dr Peter Rogers and breeding manager Andrew to treat 2 sable with bad limps. Upon darting this female, it was immediately obvious why she was having trouble walking. We are not sure what might have caused this injury but it is unlikely to have healed without our intervention. The wound was cleaned (many maggots removed) and dressed. She was also given pain killers, vitamins and antibiotics. The prognosis for her recovery is good

We bumped into a WHOLE lot of buffalo on this morn

We bumped into a WHOLE lot of buffalo on this morning's research drive 🐃🐃

A few snaps from the team's morning in the bush. C

A few snaps from the team's morning in the bush. Checking in on all our recently released cheetah (male 'Luca' photographed here), removing stands of alien plant 'Common thorn apple' and admiring the beauty of an 'Elegant grasshopper'

Beauty in the little things 🦗🦗. How stunning

Beauty in the little things 🦗🦗. How stunning is this short-horned grasshopper? Found today while checking in on our cheetah girls

A VERY impressive kill made by recently released f

A VERY impressive kill made by recently released female cheetah 'Rae' this morning, that she was guarding closely. What a superstar 🌟🌟

With a little splattering of rain earlier this wee

With a little splattering of rain earlier this week, the chameleons have been very active. Ed captured this incredible close up of one he met today

A 1 minute round-up of our final month of 2020 at

A 1 minute round-up of our final month of 2020 at Askari - all the action from December

Another special bird spot for the team, this time

Another special bird spot for the team, this time on Pidwa itself. The 'Lesser moorhen' is a rare intra-African breeding migrant seen between December and April but usually in the far northern parts of South Africa. We think that maybe the good rains we are experiencing so far this season are helping us with all these unique sightings!

Bringing in the new year with our top moments from

Bringing in the new year with our top moments from 2020. Happy New Year to all and thank you so much for the support (from afar). We can't wait to see you in the bush this year

The Askari team is signing off from 2020 in style

The Askari team is signing off from 2020 in style today with this awesome sighting of a 'Lesser Jacana'. Not on Pidwa itself, we had to travel about 20km down the road to a newly formed water source to find this one! Hundreds and hundreds of kilometres out of its normal range, this was one very special spot and a great end to the year

Just imagine the excitement!!! With this amazing s

Just imagine the excitement!!! With this amazing sighting of a Flap-necked chameleon that we picked up off the road. Chameleons change colour due to either mood or temperature or to attract a mate. They do this with special pigment cells called chromatophores which they expand and contract using nerves to control the amount of pigment inside

Sticking with the 'giant' theme. Today a giant Afr

Sticking with the 'giant' theme. Today a giant African land snail! You may well remember finding the empty, white shells scattered in the bush during your time at Askari? Only a lucky few see the real, live thing...shortly after rains

Does this about sum up how you feel after your Chr

Does this about sum up how you feel after your Christmas dinner?! We hope you had fantastic festivities with friends and family. All our recent rain brings out these awesome Giant African bullfrogs

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all our families, friends and v

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all our families, friends and volunteers. Thank you all for your continued support, even through this very challenging year. We hope you have a lovely and safe festive season and we can't wait to see you all in the new year back in the African bush

Sunset from my favourite sundowner spot on the res

Sunset from my favourite sundowner spot on the reserve - the Northern plains

A stunning blue-headed tree agama sighting today.

A stunning blue-headed tree agama sighting today. These males use the bright blue colour along with a head bobbing display to attract females

Not a great photo but a great sighting....of this

Not a great photo but a great sighting....of this migratory kingfisher species, a pygmy kingfisher. As the name suggests, these guys are very small and identified by their purple ear patches. You are also unlikely to confuse it with the similar Malachite kingfisher as they use completely different habitats. The pygmy doesn't eat fish and instead takes insects so is found in the bush and not at water

Two giant-plated lizards bask on a rock using the

Two giant-plated lizards bask on a rock using the sun's energy to warm up. All lizards are ectothermic meaning they can't produce their own heat like us mammals

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