Using sightings groups/apps - good or bad?

[ossendryver]

It seems that everyone is blaming Latest Sightings for all the road kills seen everywhere. How can people prove this? Most reports of road kills are as gates open.

Lets also see how many animals would have died if it wasn't for Latest Sightings:
20+ Hyenas with snares. All removed.
5 Cheetahs with snares and man made injuries.
Loads of lions and leopard with snares and collars which are on too tight and are choking the animal.
Continuous help with Wild Dogs as they are very endangered and seem to get snares often.
We have also helped some injured rhinos recover.

Some other projects that Latest Sightings is involved with: Wild Dogs, Ground Hornbill, Pangolin, Leopard, bats etc...
If you run a project let me know and we will help you too.

[ossendryver]

When I first started I didn't think more than 10 people will be obsessed with Kruger enough to follow sightings, so I never thought I would make anything out of this. Money wasn't in my mind, I just hated it when people went to Kruger, saw nothing and said that they were never going back. Through this, it makes those people see more and end up going to Kruger often instead of only once.

[Bushbuddies]

I'm going to join in here. I have been to Kruger and used Latest Sightings before. I have used another Kruger sightings BBM group as well. I have also gone in the meanwhile, and didn't even switch it on during the whole visit. It is really a nice extra to add to a Kruger holiday - an optional. And I think it is great for those who want to use it and those who choose not to.

Latest Sightings is not all about the money - as Ossendryver has confirmed. It's about sharing a passion and enjoying sightings with others. Every single day, the first message that they post rings as follows:

Remember when at or driving to a sighting:
- TING IT!
- Submit leopard photos to leopardIDproject.com, Wild Dog photos to @KNPWildDogs & Bat info to @KrugerBats
- No going over 50km/h.
- No getting / hanging out of cars.
- No feeding animals OR littering.
- Not to park in a way where nobody else can see the animal or pass through.
- Switch off your engine.
- Not to play animal sounds.
- To share suspicious activity & dead animals.
- No sharing of *** locations.

Now after reading this - which they post absolutely every day - how does this app become the one responsible for all the bad behaviour in KNP? To me it seems as if they are out there informing and reminding people DAILY on the rules. If I am so friendly to stop and tell another car of a sighting I saw, and they decide to speed to the area to see it - is it now my fault? I agree with Lion Whisperer, let's not blame the wrong people here!

[john n poppy]

Ossendryver, firstly I apologise and congratulate you on your money donations, I am sure you are a very nice person and none of my comments are meant in a personal way.

Secondly, if people go to Kruger and see nothing it's because they aren't looking for the right things. Kruger is full of things to see, what you mean is if people don't see the big 5. Do we really want people driving ( note I didn't say speeding) from one sighting to another looking at their phone and not for what Kruger has to offer.

It's not just the speeding its the not looking, when your driving in Kruger you look and drive slower, you see things around you and respond to them. If your focused on seeing something that is 10 km away then your not looking at what's around and that's when accidents happen.

Lastly, on our trips before if we saw something we would tell the first 2 cars we met, we will now not do this in case they then post this on the app and in turn MIGHT encourage speeding or over crowding and endanger any animals.

John

[flying cheetah]

In my eyes the problem is the following: If you drive in the Skuzkuza-Lower Sabie area and you are following the apps and are trying to get to the reported sightings you have a very limited chance to see the reported animal if you are not speeding. Maybe you do that once but then you realize that there are many cars in front of you and you only wasted your time. Now you have to make a decision between two choices: You try to listen to the bush, learn from the experiences you make, feel the excitement when birds make alarm calls or antelopes are getting nervous, realize that there is much much more to see than the Big 5...or you carry on with following the apps and accept that you only see anything if you take part in the race!

@ossendryver:
I see that your app also is responsible for lots of good things and I don't want to accuse your app specifically but I still don't see the need why sightings have to be reported straight away. And if people leave Kruger frustrated because they didn't see anything then maybe the bush is just not the right place for them.
I understand that people who visit Africa once in their life and spend 1-3 days in the park want to see líons but we all have to accept that you cannot plan what Kruger has in store for you. And personally I'm very happy about that

[ossendryver]

I have now added an extra line in sightings when people report that there is a big traffic jam at the sighting like this:

11:35am
lionesss hunting buffalo
H1-4, 3km before satara
(Lots of traffic, so avoid going to this sighting)
Tinged by Karen

Maybe this will stop it getting worse.

[DinkyBird]

Guys and gals

This forum is not the place to discuss the merits of any one specific app/sightings group etc.
There are many such groups out there, please keep your discussion to a general one specific to the heading of this topic.
The forum rules do not allow for any one group to get exposure here over other similar groups, nor for assisting in building the apps or the groups.

[AndreaB]

We stopped at Skukza to get some cash when I was almost knocked over by a youngster screaming to his mates to hurry up there are lions 10km away on the whatever road. One of the group then started arguing he wanted to see if they could find the cheetah in the other direction. I dont know what they decided in the end but they jumped in their vehicle and went literally screeching off towards the entrance.

I wonder how many more visitors behave like this? I have personally never wanted to use these apps, for me they take the magic out of Kruger and encourage this kind of behaviour.

[Carol g]

Im not sorry that Im from the "old school" but my preference is to chug along at 15ks per hour listen to the bush, watch the animals reactions and when you get that special sighting that feeling of excitement lingers that much longer than when in a traffic jam. That's my opinion, use or loose it.

Sparrow I totally Agree with you, nothing is more exciting than finding the unexpected all on your own

[Crested Val]

Sparrow, l also agree with you wholeheartedly.

Each to their own, but I love every aspect of our National Parks.............the sounds, the smells, and all creatures great and small.

I still get a thrill to see cats and doggies, but I also get much pleasure in increasing my bird tally, and looking for the small five.

We enter the park with no expectations each time, and the bush shows us what she wants us to see, whatever that might be.

We spend most of our time in the Central or Northern parts of Kruger, so we don't see much evidence of the "sightings alert" groups.

Yes, I'm "old fashioned" but that suits me just fine.

[leander09]

My problem is the persons using all these apps/groups as guides. People entering the park and the first thing they will comment on the group/apps is "I am in the croc bridge area, are there any good sightings yet." or "Just entered through malelane gate, where is the good sightings.”

I think this is more the people every one is talking about and they are there just to see the animals like a zoo and not experience the wildlife.

When we were in the Kruger a few months ago some guy stopped next to us and ask what we were looking at. We said n leopard next to the road but in the bushes, after 30seconds he said I found it and then asked if we know about the lions 10 km up the road. We said no we do not and he then told as he only has to see lion then he have seen the big 5 in 2.5hours and sped off.

I think it is such people that just drive from one sighting to another as fast as possible that give the apps/groups and the Kruger a bad name and makes it less enjoyable for the other visitors.

[Bush Baptist]

Tickers.......

Pity that the marketing is 'big 5' orientated. It has certainly taken off.

I suppose most overseas tourists become 'tickers' if they have a limited amount of time here.

But it seems like there are a lot of locals who haven't 'matured' into the smaller but no less wonderful things that Kruger has to offer.

Maybe you should add bird sightings Ossie. Like "Black shouldered kite on the S28 just north of the lions".

[ossendryver]

We do share lots of bird sightings.

[Bushbuddies]

On our last visit - Latest Sightings helped me to see my first flamingo ever in KNP - at Ngotso dam. Somebody tinged it - but we did not see it there that day. 2 Days later, we scanned the area again and saw it! Bird sightings are often tinged and people actually get quite excited about it on the app.

Like I said, I don't always switch it on when I'm in KNP. I think using it is nice, but sometimes just relaxing, doing your own thing, not worrying about sightings is also great. But it is nice to have a choice!

[ossendryver]

On our last visit - Latest Sightings helped me to see my first flamingo ever in KNP - at Ngotso dam. Somebody tinged it - but we did not see it there that day. 2 Days later, we scanned the area again and saw it! Bird sightings are often tinged and people actually get quite excited about it on the app.

Like I said, I don't always switch it on when I'm in KNP. I think using it is nice, but sometimes just relaxing, doing your own thing, not worrying about sightings is also great. But it is nice to have a choice!

Yay, that's awesome news! I have still never seen one. But I would love to one day.