Marakele: ANIMALS

[Marsupial Wolf]

Hello and greetings from germany to my favorite holiday destination

there was a report in TV about the translocation of 2 black rhinos from zoo Franfurt to Marakele (one in the late 1990th, the 2nd in 2003). That was a good reason for me to drive to Frankfurt and visit the mother of the two "blackies" last saturday. (you can see her here: link Isn´t she wonderful...


Does anyone know if they are doing well ? Did they have even offspring? How many Rhinos live at Marakele?

I´m very curious

[naomi c]

On our first visit to Marakele - years ago - one of these ***'s was still in a boma and we had the privilege to go and see it. Have never seen a black *** there again, but white ***'s are a common sight.

[Fhatuwani]

Hi Marsupial

Good to here from you in Germany and your interest on the black rhinos in Marakele. The rhinos are in good hands and they are currently having one offspring. Black rhinos are not always easy to spot during the aerial census. the total number of black rhinos taking into consideration of the previous aerial census and record by Field Rangers is plus minus 20 in the Park.

Regards
Marakele

[Pikkie]

Hope I'm not duplicating a topic;

but I'd like to know about lions in Marakele:
1) Are there any lion in Marakele?
2) Numbers?
3) Area?
4) Will I as a day visitor be able to see them?

Same with wild dog and are they roaming free?

Michael

[Boorgatspook]

Hi Pikkie, here's some info:

Marakele National Park
Mammals
Marakele is home to most of the large mammals synonymous with the African bush, including elephant, black and white ***, and leopard. Large Predators such as brown hyena, leopard and now also lion, occur in the park.

Marakele
What the lion population numbers are, I unfortunately don't know.

Marakele: Animals are a old thread, but worth reading.

Hope this helps a bit

[JoelR]

...but I'd like to know about lions in Marakele:
1) Are there any lion in Marakele?
2) Numbers?
3) Area?
4) Will I as a day visitor be able to see them?

Same with wild dog and are they roaming free?

Marakele LIONS
1) Yes, there are lions in Marakele.
2) A year ago there were about six, but two females were pregnant so maybe a few more.
3) They mainly roam in the lower, sweetveld part of the reserve (which is full of plains game) which is not accesible from the SANParks roads. Marakele NP is a viable conservation area thanks to private funding, but this also means half of the reserve is only accesible for people who are staying in the privately ran part of Marakele. SANParks staff refers to this part of the reserve as the "PTY-area".
4) Not likely, but in theory they can roam anywhere in Marakele's Big 5 area. Ask at the reception if they have been seen in the SANParks area recently.

Here are some photos of a Marakele lioness and the Wild Dogs when they were still in the boma (more info on them below)

Marakele WILD DOGS
1) No, they have been removed because they kept breaking out and killing sheep and goat on adjacent farms.
2/3/4) With a lot of luck the pack CAN be seen in one of the SANParks. The Wild Dogs have been moved to Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana, which lies on the other side of the Limpopo river from SA's Mapungubwe National Park. (read more...)

[JoelR]

I just discovered that the field guides in the PTY (Marataba Lodge) section of Marakele keep a Rangers Diary. It might give you some clues where certain animals are...

Last news on the lions: "The lions are still moving around a lot and have fragmented again. It’s been difficult this week to keep track of them as they are covering such large areas of the park. We have been hearing them in the vicinity of the lodge and there has been a lot of evidence of their presence."

Lots of movement, so maybe a chance to see them after all... Reading through it there seem to be at least two males (brought in from Kgalagadi if I remember correctly) and a few females, one of them tugging along four cubs!

[JoelR]

The field guides of the Marataba lodge in the privately managed part of Marakele are keeping a weekly Ranger Diary. Great to read that one of the Marakele lionesses is caring for four cubs at the moment! All animals described in these reports can also wander in the National Park side of the reserve, but a lot of the plains game (and therefore also the lions) prefer the low-lying sweetveld in the privately ran "PTY-area". Marakele visitors should keep an eye out for the four cubs though!

[Imberbe]

There is some reports of black leopards in the Lydenburg area as well, but it has not been verified. It is not really "black leopards" but probably melanistic individuals, with increased amounts of dark pigmentation.

[petgei]

Hallo,

I've been told, that Marakele NP also hosts some Roan. There are no informations concerning Roan in Marakele at SANParks-Website. Who knows if the informations I've received are correct? Who knows about Roan in other parts of the Waterberg-area?
Thanks very much
Peter

[DuQues]

Marakele does indeed have roan, see this post.

[hush]

I have seen a black leopard near Olifants camp in Kruger, the leopard walked across the road about 20meters in front of my car, and the 9am morning sun was behind the leopard which made the leopard appear completely black, actually it was a silhouette, but I thought I was seeing a black panther crossing the road in Kruger! Then I drove closer where the sun was shining on the leopard's other side and the leopard magically changed from a black leopard into a leopard with normal colours! I think this phenomenon accounts for all black leopard sightings!

[Rooster]

Thank you all for the replies!!!

Maybe just one last question, what type of wildlife can I expect?
Is there lions, leopards, elephants,Hippo exct?

Once again thank you to all!!

[Eagle Owl]

Rooster, I can't think that I have read a trip report where somebody saw leopard or lion...but as far as I know there are suppose to be lions in the region where the elephants are. As for leopard...we saw spoor that belongs to a big cat (not as big as lions, but probably leopard) in the vicinity where the rhinos are...and near a picnic spot. In the picnic spot itself ( I can't recall the name...shame on me) there were lots of fresh footprints of much smalller cats like the African wild cat.

Have you seen some of the Marekele tripreports?

There are definitely elephants, we only saw dung, but there are beautiful pictures of them on some of the trip reports.

[stelliegp123]

However 3 lion made there way over the mountain and gave people opening the gate on the way into Tlopi the fright of their life.

Imagine that.

WHAT a story to tell your grandchildren