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I have heard of hyaena pulling a grown man from his tent and sleeping bag in Satara.

I have been reliably informed that hyaenas are removed from Skukuza every single night. Once they start to become a nuisance and repeatedly enter the camp they are shot as they would continued entrance to the camp poses a hazard.

My SO and I booked into Pretoriuskop for a couple of nights. We love walking to the fence at night and looking to see what animals we can spot. We saw a few Hyena walking all along the fence waiting for someone to do the unthinkable! While we were taking a leisurely walk back to our hut we saw a beautiful Kudu bull walking around in the camp. We stood there for a few minutes admiring this stunning creature, then off to bed we went.

The following morning we woke up early as usual, trying to be the first ones to leave the camp and as usual we are always 2 or 3 cars to late. So we accepted our fate and waited for the gates to open. About 3 minutes before the gate opened there must have been at least 10 cars. Too our surprise, we watched this amazing Kudu bull stroll past all the cars at the gate and wait on the grass for the gate to open. As the gate was opened we all watched this beautiful animal walk out of the camp as if he owned it. I turned to my SO and said “you would swear he owns this place" and her reply was “He does."

Apparently he did this often.

Fantastic stuff CD. These guys know what's good for them...apart from the Bushbuck that were nabbed inside letaba by mr leopard..

Speaking of which, this topic may have been brought up already, so apologies if so. What are people's views on such populations living in the camps? I was fine with it until I saw kids running up and trying to pet mommy bushbuck who'd given birth (in a corner she couldn't get out of no less) literally about an hour or so before, now I'm not so sure. Bad news for both parties..a cornered bushbuck, horns or no horns, can't be a safe play thing for little ones..and I don't even want to think about the mental trauma the two buck had to endure.

thoughts?

It was discussed but a while ago wondercloak.

Leopard shot in Letaba camp

Another good link is Animal Feeders

And (apart from the very first page of this here thread) more on the issue:
Leopard kill at Timbavati Picnic Site

Try this thingy, wondercloak. You'll love it!

Re: animals entering camps - I know hyena's use disused burrows (and drains under roads) of other animals, but can they dig? Basically, would they dig under a fence?

Leopards must be the hardest to keep out though..one jump and they're over the gate.

Just wandering through open gates during the day can't be out of the question. Only a few camps have grids in the road & bush camps don't have manned gates...

Yeah, sorry, didn't see the Letaba connection

In Punda Maria i saw the open "back" gate at the camping area and was a little bit nervous, because i heard the night before the hyenas. And there is no grid. Also in Shingwedzi back gate.

At Balule the gates always closed. You must wait for the staff, they opened it for every single car.

I love sleeping under the stars. Did so while I camped alone for 3 nights in southern Kruger in March 2005. I once nearly myself were stamped cancelled and became cat chow for an old lioness in Lower Sabie. Lucky for me Oom Tas dissuaded her from the idea with perhaps a distinct idea that my red wine marinated chops would give her a serious bout of heartburn.

As far as I remember this specific hyaena incident in Satara had the man sleeping in his tent with the flap open.

I also know of an oke that got a 20+ stitches nab from a leopard in Berg-en-Dal when sleeping next to his tent. I have slept outside my tent at BnD on numerous times. The dappled one first had a 1-on-1 with his buddy in the tent and only turned on the outside man after he got an elbow from the inside of the tent. The walk on own risk at the Matjulu dam pathway after dark is not there as a xmas decoration, take a good look at it next time.

There are many such documented cases on this forum.

They are a problem in Satara. Have seen a couple of BIG males walking around the camping sites.

Forgot your tent at home again
We also had some warthogs in the camping area in Skukuza over turning dustbins etc in search of food. There were a couple of huge males in the group which can cause serious injury to a child (or adult for that matter) if approached.

Hi,

Ths is intended for fenced camps only

We have seen
Bushbuck at Letaba,
Warthog and bushbaby at Skukuza
SS genet and civet at Biyamiti
BB Jackal at Twee Rivieren, Nossob, Skukuza
African wild cat and babboon at Tamboti
Impala at Pkop

To begin with, if I think of more I shall edit this post

Hyaena at Lower Sabie and Satara
Impala at Pretoriuskop
Genet at Berg-en-dal
Honeybadger at Lower Sabie
Baboons and vervets at most camps

BB = My list compares with yours, except, duiker in Shimuwini and Genet in Mopani. And before I forget - you have never seen any pink ellies in any of the camps...

Oh yes Freda, you reminded me - Impi in Pretoriuskop.

Does sightings in the staff village count?

We saw,

Puff Adder in Pretoriuskop Camp site
Bushbuck at Letaba
Bushbuck and Duiker at Shimuwini
Warthog at Crocodile Bridge
Large-spotted Genet at Mopani
Baboon at Tamboti, Lower Sabie, Skukuza and Punda Maria.
Vervet Monkey at Berg-en-Dal, Lower Sabie, Skukuza, Tamboti, Letaba and Punda Maria

That is what I know for now

And oh ja thanks Impala at Pretoriuskop