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We also came across this striped Skaapsteeker trying to devour a lizard. We unfortunately could not stay to see what eventually happened,

And we did get to see the mountains covered in snow.

Well done with the caracal! I reckon it is worth more than a cheetah??!
Thanks for sharing.

God bless,

Friedrich von Hörsten

Wonder how many Brown Hyena there are in the park. Are they being monitored and are some of them colored? Which area would be best to try and hope for a sighting.

Does anybody know which factors controlled the numbers of the Gemsbok and Eland in the past? I mean, before there were fences and human involvement? Does the brown hyena take down an eland or gemsbok? or were there other predators around those times, like spotted hyena or Lion?

I don't know the animal history of this area so well...

Brown hyena are primarily scavengers so would not target Eland or Gemsbok.They will also eat fruit, insects, eggs and rodents. Historically, predators would have been lion and possibly spotted hyena, but they would probably have occured in low numbers and been nomadic. Leopards would also have occurred in the area and probably still occur there, although they have not been seen.

Thanx Megan. Thats what I suspected.

Just a pitty the parks is still to small to sustain lion and brown hyena poppulations.
How is the expansion of the park going? anywhere near closing the huge gap between Camdeboo and MZNP? On my gps I noticed a green section outside the park that was also called MZNP, but was just an isolated piece of land.

I'm going to MZNP for a few days from this coming Saturday, so hopefully I'll be able to add some new animal pics for you all to enjoy! SO EXCITED

Oh wonderful Bartman! I'm going with my immediate family, my two aunts and two cousins - we'll be the group of 8 with 7 blonde girls - my poor dad is the only man on our trip!

See you there!!

Good luck, hope you have a wonderful trip

Long last we managed to visit this beautiful park for our first time after our circle route from Cape Town, Wildenis NP, Addo, MZNP, on our way back home via Camdeboo and Oudtshoorn. Our 2 days, 29-30 Jun'11, was most enjoyable and although it was very cold, the cottages very homy and comfortable and staff friendly. Following the tips on the forum, we headed for the Rooiplaat section and only observed wildebeest, springbok, zebra and blesbok. We went around and then on the corner of Rooiplaatloop and the Link road I observed a brown hyena in the long grass who went and lay down. We stood for a while hoping it will get up. Later he got uP and just dissappeared into the long grass. I just could not take a photo We travelled back via the Link road and saw blackbacked jackal, a number of dugga-boays resting under a few trees, then a few gemsbok and kudus.
The next day we went back to the cnr of Rooiplaat and Link road hoping to see the brown hyena again, but no success, then we did the picturesque Kranskop loop with its beautiful mountains and waterstreams, observed a few meerkat and ground squirrels near picnicsite as well as some beauifull birds i.e. woodland kingfisher and woodpeckers up and close.
Then we did the Ubejane loop and while we were on our way and still on the tarmac section, a young caracal appeared from the grass next to the road and walk towards us in the road. What a beautiful cat this is. We reversed to get a nice pic, and after a while she crossed and walked into the bushes. These unexpected encounters is just so exciting! We came across a herd of eland , cape mountain and the burchell's zebra who put up a beautiful pose for us and a number of gemsbok.
Late afternoon we headed for a last try to Rooiplaat and Link Road only to find that further down, a cheetah was walking next to the road. It is always wonderful to see them in the wild. On our arrival the cheetah was curling up on her back right next to the road, stood up, marked her area, looked around while and the posed for us for a few pics. This cheetah had a collar on, so someone might be able to identify her (I guess it is a she). Once again, our first trip to MZNP was most enjoyable and memorable.

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- Kruger 10 - 18 Dec'11

@Kaapsedraai - Brown hyena, caracal and cheetah!!! Sounds like you had a stunning trip! If you can, please post a few pix. Did you see the cheetah close to Rooiplaats loop as well?

You sure had more luck than we had. But Iw ould go back there immediatly. After KNP and KTP, this is my number 3 of all SANParks.

Haha your dad must be a legend
Awesome though...would love to know what you saw??

And Bartman what did you guys see?

Was there for 1 night in end-2009...great park!! Saw great antelope diversity and a cheetah and lots of interesting smaller mammals and birds. Certain mammals provided great photographic opportunities. Need to get back to this park soon and for a good few days!!!

Hey o-dog

Trip to MZNP was great tks, except for the evening game drive, it was flipin cold even with layers and layers of clothing. Morning temps were around -3

Managed to see Black Rhino twice, quite a few buffalo, couple of aardwolf, and the usual zebra, meerkats, squirrels and buck.

We also saw one of only two known warthogs in the park according to Michael (mznp guru). A lady on the evening game drive claims she saw a brown hyena on the Kranskop route but she never took any pics.

Unfortunately no cheetah for us this trip

I'll post some pics when I get to downloading them.

Never did see this bunch of blondes though!! I did however see a middle aged gent running away down the road pulling his hair out.... guess it was Bushfairies dad...

Not bad viewing I'd say!! awesome bout Aardwolfs though...one of my best animals to see!! And rhino and warthogs Interesting bout the warthogs though...cant believe there are only 2!!



Haha classic

Bartman! You had me in stitches!!

In our immediate family we are only 2 daughters, no sons, so my dad is used to being out numbered 3 to 1.... 7 to one was a bit much though, he just zoned out and ignored us, thank goodness we were in two vehicles or he might have jumped off one of those magical view points!

You are right, it was freezing, our vehicle had the temperature at -3 degrees and it stayed below 0 until 10:30am on sunday morning!! But what a wonderful camp, wood fires in the chalets so the evenings were cosy with hot chocolate and marshmellows

Here is the breakdown of what we saw (and where we saw them, for those of you who are familiar with the park ):
- cheetah (poor sighting faaaaaaaaar away) on the Sonnenrust 4x4 loop, we also saw brown hyena and cheetah tracks along the road
- bat-eared fox on the newest 4x4 loop near link road (can't remember the name )
- black-backed jackal EVERYWHERE!!!!
- caracal along the Kranskop loop between the two picnic sites. Wonderful sighting, we heard vervet monkeys and hadedas going crazy so we stopped, listened and waited and she appeared out of the bushes and walked along the road, then in the road and then hopped up the bank on the other side. MAGIC! We then spotted another one about 20min later along the main road after the river crossing - young male.
- aardwolf, many sightings. 2 along the Rooiplaat loop, 3 on Juriesdam 4x4 loop, 1 on the Ubejane loop, 1 Link road, 2 Sonnenrust Loop
- black rhino - a mother and calf along the unejane loop (fitting considering "ubejane" is black rhino in Xhosa)
- buffalo along link road (quite a nice herd), sonnenrust loop (breeding herd), main road (bulls), valley section of the Kranskop loop and along the Ubejane loop
- red hartebeest; kudu; grey rhebok; black wildebeest; blesbok; eland; springbok; cape mountain zebra; burchell's zebra; vervet monkey; rock dassie; ground squirrel; chacma baboon; common duiker; water mongoose; yellow mongoose; suricate; gemsbok; cape hare; and signs of aarvark, but didn't see one - next time

Will load some pics tomorrow!