Die Ekologie

Leeu mannetjies raak seksueel aktief rondom 26 maande oud. Hulle word dan uit die trop geskop deur die dominante mannetjie/koalisie van dominante mannetjies. Daarna vorm hulle ‘n troppie op hulle eie of sluit aan by mannetjies van min of meer dieselfde ouderdom wat uit ‘n ander trop geskop is in gebiede waar ‘n hoë digtheid van leeus is. Hulle bly dan alleen totdat hulle sterk genoeg voel om ‘n dominante mannetjie/koalisie aan te vat. Die dominante mannetjie/koalisie merk baie meer aktief hulle gebied en brul meer gereeld as hulle die reuk of tekens van ander leeumannetjies optel. 
 

As ‘n leeumannetjie/s sterk genoeg voel vat hulle die dominante mannetjie/s aan en ‘n gewelddadige bakleiery volg. As hulle suksesvol ‘n trop oorneem deur die dominante mannetjie/s te verslaan in ‘n geveg, maak hulle die welpies wat nege maande of jonger is dood. Die wyfies sal dit probeer voorkom, maar gewoonlik misluk. 
 

Dit kom wreed voor, maar daar is ‘n goeie rede vir die kindermoord. Leeumannetjies is in hulle fleur tussen 4 en 5 jaar oud en begin dan kondisie verloor. Hulle het dus gewoonlik net twee jaar om hulle gene voort te plant. Leeuwyfies soog welpies tot lg omtrent nege maande oud is, maar kom net min of meer elke twee jaar op hitte. As die nuwe leeumannetjies nie die welpies wat nog soog doodmaak nie, kan hulle dalk nie kans kry om hulle gene oor te dra nie.  
 

As die welpies wat soog wel doodgemaak word, kom die wyfies vinnig weer op hitte. Die wyfies kom ook op dieselfde tyd op hitte. Hulle kan egter op vals hitte kom en onvrugbaar wees tot hulle seker is dat die nuwe mannetjies wel die sterkste is wat beskikbaar is in die omgewing. Daarna sal hulle dragtig raak en die nuwe koning/s se kleintjies kry. 

Baie mense maak grappies oor hoe die leeu mannetjies te lui is om self die jagwerk te doen, en dan eerste vreet wanneer die wyfies iets vang. Daar is egter ‘n goeie rede daarvoor. Eerstens is die mannetjies swaar, en nie so rats soos die wyfies nie. Die wyfies is meer suksesvolle jagters. Verder is ‘n leeuvangs gewoonlik ‘n raserige besigheid. Die prooidier word meestal verwurg nadat dit gevang is. Een wyfie sal haar kake sluit om die prooidier se nek en vashou totdat die dier dood is. ‘n Leeu vreet tot 40% van hulle eie gewig in een sitting. Dit baat dus nie ‘n groterige trop om iets kleiner as ‘n koedoe te vang nie. Hulle sal te veel energie vermors vir te min belonging. Dit is terloops ook waarom leeus meeste van die tyd wat mens hulle sien slaap. Hulle verbrand vrek baie energie wanneer hulle jag, en baie van die jagtogte (waarskynlik 60%) is onsuksesvol. Nadat hulle iets gevang het, vreet hulle dat hulle pense amper op die grond sleep. Dan rus hulle gewoonlik vir 4 dae terwyl hulle die hompe rou vleis verteer en energie opbou. Maar ek dwaal af…

Wanneer ‘n groot prooidier soos ‘n koedoe of buffel gevang word en verwurg word is daar uiteraard roggel geluide en ‘n gekerm. Dit lok vinnig enige hiënas binne hoorafstand, en dit is hoekom die groot leeu mannetjies eerste vreet. Navorsing het getoon dat hiënas leeu wyfies van ‘n vangs kan afjaag as hulle 4 tot 1 of meer in verhouding tot die leeus se getalle is. As daar egter net een volwasse leeu mannetjie is, sal die hiënas dit nie probeer nie. As hulle dit probeer is daar ‘n goeie kans dat hulle met hulle lewe sal boet. Ons het eenkeer naby Mathekenyane koppie op die Skukuza-Pretoriuskop pad op twee groot maanhare afgekom wat met bebloede gesigte in die pad gelê het. Terwyl ons vir hulle kyk kom ‘n derde een uit die bos geloop met ‘n hiëna se kop wat langs sy bek uitsteek. Dit word toe duidelik dat hulle die hiëna vrek gemaak het, en opgevreet het.

Terloops is leeus ook nie kieskeurig oor wat hulle vreet nie, en ontwikkel nie ‘n smaak vir ‘n spesifieke prooispesie nie. Beskikbaarheid en grootte van prooi is belangriker oorwegings. Ek het bv in Moremi gesien hoe twee leeu mannetjies ‘n seekoei vreet wat al so gestink het dat ons gesukkel het om asem te haal. Die seekoei is waarskynlik deur ‘n ander bul gedood, en het in die water in die son lê en ontbind. Dit gebeur egter wel dat leeus soms fokus op ‘n sekere prooispesie, maar dit het niks te doen met hoe die prooi smaak nie. In die konsessie naby Linyanti waar ek vir twee jare gewoon en gewerk het, was daar ‘n leeutrop wat gespesialiseer het daarin om seekoeie te vang. Daar was 16 leeus in die trop, so hulle het baie vleis nodig gehad om almal te voed. Hulle het snags gewag tot ‘n seekoei die water verlaat om te wei. Terwyl ‘n paar wyfies die seekoei bekruip het nog drie of vier tussen die seekoei en die water stelling ingeneem. Wanneer die seekoei vlug na die water toe is dit oorrompel. Ons het gereeld op die trop afgekom waar hulle aan ‘n seekoei smul. Die idee van mensvreter leeus is ook ‘n mite. Ek weet dat daar ‘n trop in die wildtuin was wat gereeld Mosambiekers gevang het. Dit was bloot omdat die mense op ‘n kaplyn onder ‘n kraglyn geloop het om in SA te kom, want dit was ‘n gerieflike pad wat in die regte rigting gegaan het. Die leeus het natuurlik agtergekom dat daar gereeld van die stadige diere langs die kaplyn loop, en daar begin rondhang om ‘n maklike maaltyd te kry.

Wanneer die leeu mannetjie vreet sal dit onvolwasse leeus van dieselfde trop nog duld naby hom, maar ander volwasse leeus wegjaag met ‘n grom en ‘n hap. Wanneer hy klaar gevreet het, sal hy ‘n entjie van die karkas gaan lê waar die hiënas hom kan sien. Die res van die leeus sal dan inklim en om die beurt vreet. Dis egter elkeen vir hom/haarself, en ouer leeus met stomper tande gaan sukkel om genoeg te kry om te vreet. Die leeus begin gewoonlik van die prooi se agterent af waar die vel dun is, en maak die karkas oop. Die ingewande val dan uit en word nie gevreet nie, dit los hulle vir die aasdiere. Leeus vreet ook nie sommer bene nie, hulle is lief vir vleis. Die hiënas ruim die bene op.    

ek was onder die indruk dat  roof diere nie aan ander roof diere vreet nie?

Ek het iets nog vreemder gesien naby die Harry Wolhuter gedenkteken. Twee leeu mannetjies het ‘n wyfie gedood en aan haar gevreet. Eintlik het ‘n mede-veldgids dit gesien en my laat weet daarvan. Toe ek daar kom het die twee mannetjies, wat op die oog af in goeie toestand was, onder ‘n bos gelê naby haar karkas. Hulle het haar toe reeds oopgevlek nes hulle met prooi maak. Haar ingewande het langs die karkas gelê en haar ribbes was skoongevreet aan die een kant. Dit was nogal ontstellend, maar wys net weer dat diere nie boeke lees wat ons skryf oor hoe hulle veronderstel is om op te tree nie...

Aangesien ek na hom verwys het, hier is sy verhaal in sy eie woorde as jy dit nog nie gelees het nie:

In August 1903, Wolhuter, new to his game ranging duties, was returning from a patrol along the Olifants River. He was near the Lebombo Mountains on the eastern boundary of the Sabi Game Reserve when this encounter - the most terrifying in all African big - game narratives - took place. 

Although it became dusk very soon I continued to ride along the path - as I had often travelled that route by night during the Boer War to avoid the heat of the summer sun. I gave no thought to lions, as I had never before encountered these animals in those parts. Most of the herbage had been recently burnt off, but here and there a patch of long grass remained. While riding through one of these isolated patches I heard two animals jump up in the grass in front of me.

It was by now too dark to see, but I imagined that the animals in question were a pair of reedbuck, as this had always been a favourite locality for these antelope. I expected them to run across the path and disappear; but instead, and to my surprise, I heard a running rustle in the grass approaching me. I was still riding quietly along when two forms loomed up within three or four yards, and these I now recognised as two lions, and their behaviour was such that I had little doubt but that their intentions were to attack my horse. Although, of course, I had my rifle ( without which I never moved in the veld) there was no time to shoot, and as I hastily pulled my horse around I dug the spurs into his flanks in a frantic effort to urge him to his best speed to get away in time; but the approaching lion was already too close, and before the horse could get into its stride I felt a terrific impact behind me as the lion alighted on the horse's hindquarters.

What happened next, of course, occupied only a few seconds, but I vividly recall the unpleasant sensation of expecting the crunch of the lion's jaws in my person. However, the terrified horse was bucking and plunging so violently that the lion was unable to maintain its hold, but it managed to knock me out the saddle. Fortune is apt to act freakishly at all times, and it may seem a strange thing to suggest that it was fortunate for myself that I happen to fall almost on top of the second lion as he was running round in front of my horse, to get hold of it by the head. Had I fallen otherwise, However, it is probable that the lion would have grasped me by the head, and then this would assuredly never have been written! Actually, the eager brute gripped my right shoulder between its jaws and started to drag me away, and as it did so I could hear the clatter of my horse's hooves over the stony ground as it raced away with the first lion in hot pursuit; itself in turn being chased by my dog Bull.

Meanwhile, the lion continued dragging  me towards the neighbouring Metsimetsi Spruit. I was dragged along on my back, being held by the right shoulder, and as the lion was walking over me his claws would sometimes rip wounds in my arms and I was wearing a pair of spurs with strong leather straps, and these acted as brakes, scoring deep furrows in the ground over which we travelled. When the "brakes" acted too efficiently the lion would give an impatient jerk of his great head, which added excruciating pain to my shoulder, already deeply lacerated by the powerful teeth. I certainly was in a position to disagree emphatically with Dr. Livingstone's theory,  based on his own personal experience, that the resulting shock from the bite of a large carnivorous animal so numbs the nerves that it deadens all pain; in my own case, I was conscious of great physical agony; and in addition to this was the mental agony as to what the lion would presently do with me; whether he would kill me first or proceed to dine off me while I was still alive!

Of course, in those first few moments I was convinced that it was all over with me and that I had reached the end of my earthly career. But then, as our painful progress still continued, it suddenly struck me that I might still have my sheath knife! I always carried this attached to my belt on the right side. Unfortunately, the knife did not fit too tightly in its sheath, and on two previous occasions when I had had a spill from my horse while galloping after game during the Boer War it had fallen out. It seemed almost too much to expect that it could still be safely there after the recent rough episodes. It took me some time to work my left hand round my back as the lion was dragging me over the ground, but eventually I reached the sheath, and, to my indescribable joy, the knife was still there! I secured it, and wondered where best first to stab the lion. It flashed through my mind that, many years ago, I had read in a magazine or newspaper that if you hit a cat on the nose  he must sneeze before doing anything. This particular theory is, of course, incorrect; but at the time I seriously entertained the idea of attempting it, though on second thoughts I dismissed the notion, deciding that in any case he would just sneeze and pick me up again - this time perhaps in a more vital spot!

I decided finally to stick my knife into his heart, and so I began to feel very cautiously for his shoulder. The task was a difficult and complicated one because, gripped as I was, high up in the right shoulder, my head was pressed right up against the lion's mane, which exuded a strong lion smell ( incidentally, he was purring very loudly, something after the fashion of a cat - only on a far louder scale - perhaps in pleasant anticipation of the meal he intended to have) and this necessitated my reaching with my left hand holding the knife across his chest so as to gain access to his left shoulder . Any bungling, in this manoeuvre, would arouse the lion, with instantly fatal results to myself!

However, I managed it successfully, and knowing where his heart was located, I struck him twice, in quick succession, with two back - handed strokes behind the left shoulder. The lion let out a furious roar, and I desperately struck him again: this time upwards into his throat. I think this third thrust severed the jugular vein, as the blood spurted out in a stream all over me. The lion released his hold and slunk off into the darkness. Later I measured the distance, and found that he had dragged me sixty yards. Incidentally, it transpired later that both first thrusts had reached the heart.

The scene, could anyone have witnessed it, must have been eerie in the extreme as, in the darkness, I staggered to my feet, not realising how seriously I had wounded the lion whose long - drawn moans resounded nearby. I thought first to frighten him off with the human voice and shouted after him all the names I could think of, couched in the most lurid language. Suddenly I remembered the other lion that had chased my horse. It was more likely that it would fail to catch the horse, once the latter was at a full gallop, and then, what was more probable, it would return to its mate and find me there, quite unarmed except for my knife - as of course my rifle had been flung into the long grass when I fell of my horse.

At first I thought of setting the grass alight to keep away the second lion; and, getting the matchbox from my pocket, I gripped it  in my teeth, as of course my right arm was quite useless, not only on account of the wound from the lion's teeth in my shoulder, but also because its claws had torn out some of the tendons about the wrist. I struck a match and put it to the grass, but as there was by now a heavy dew the grass would not burn - fortunately, of course, as it turned out, else my rifle would have been burnt.

My next idea was to climb into a tree and thus to place myself beyond the lion's reach. There were several trees in the vicinity, but they all had long stems, and with my one arm I was unable to climb them. Presently, However, I located one with a fork near the ground, and after a great deal of trouble I managed to climb into it, reaching a bough, some twelve feet from the ground, in which I sat. I was now commencing to feel very shaky indeed, both as a result of the shock I had sustained, and loss of blood; and what clothes I had left covering me were saturated with blood, both my own and that of the lion, and the effect of the cold night air on the damp clothing considerably added to my discomfort, while my shoulder was still bleeding badly. I think I might faint, from loss of blood, and fall off the bough on which I was sitting, so I removed my belt and somehow strapped myself to the tree. My thirst was terrible; and would have offered much  for a cup of water. One consoling reflection was that I knew my boys would find me as I was not far from the path. 

Meanwhile I could still occasionally hear the lion I had stabbed grunting and groaning in the darkness, somewhere close by; and presently, resounding eeriely over the night air, I heard the long - drawn guttural death -rattle in his throat - and felt a trifle better then as I knew that I had killed him. My satisfaction was short - lived, however, as very soon afterwards approaching rustles in the grass heralded the arrival of the second lion which, as I had surmised, had failed to catch my horse. I heard it approach the spot where I had got to my feet and from there, following my blood - spoor all the time, it advanced to the tree in which I sat. Arriving at the base of the tree it reared itself up against the trunk and seemed to be about to try and climb it. I was overcome with horror at this turn of affairs, as it appeared as if I had got away from one lion, only to be caught by the other: the tree which harboured me being quite easy to climb (Had it not been so I could never have worked my way up to my perch), and not absolutely beyond the powers of a determined, hungry lion! In despair I shouted down at the straining brute, whose upward - turned eyes I could momentarily glimpse reflected in the starlight, and this seemed to cause him to hesitate.

Fortunately, just then, my faithful dog Bull appeared on the scene. Never was I more grateful at the arrival of man or beast! He had evidently discovered that I was no longer on the horse, and was missing, and had come back to find me. I called to him, and encouraged him to go for the lion, which he did in right good heart, barking furiously at it and so distracting its attention that it made a short rush at the plucky dog, who managed to keep his distance. And so this dreadful night passed on. The lion would leave the tree and I could hear him rustling about in the grass, and then he would return, and the faithful Bull would rush at him barking, and chase him off, and so on. Finally he seemed to lie up somewhere in the neighbouring bush.

Some considerable time later, perhaps an hour, I heard a most welcome sound: the clatter of tin dishes rattling in a hamper on the head of one of my boys who was at last approaching along the path. In the stillness of the night one can hear the least sound quite a long way off in the veld. I shouted to him to beware as there was a lion somewhere near. He asked me what he ought to do and I told him to climb into a tree. I heard a rattling crash, as he dropped the hamper, and then silence for a while. I then asked him if he was up a tree, and whether it was a big one: to which he replied that it was not a tall tree but that he had no wish to come down and search for a better one as he could already hear the lion rustling in the grass near him! He informed me that the other boys were not so far behind, and I then told him all that had happened - a recital of events which, to judge by the tone of his comments, did little to reassure him of the pleasantness of his present situation! After a time, which seemed ages, we heard the little pack of donkeys approaching along the path, and I shouted instructions to the boys to halt where they were, as there was a lion in the grass quite near, and to fire a few shots to scare him. This they did, then as they approached to the tree in which I sat, I told them first of all to make a good fire, which did not take long to flare up, as some form of protection in case the lion returned: and then they assisted me down from the tree. It was a painful and laborious business, as I was very stiff and sore from my wounds, and I found the descent very much harder than the ascent.

The first question I asked my boys was whether they had any water in the calabash which they always carried with them. They replied that it was empty, and so the only thing for us to do was to set out for the next waterhole, which was about six miles further ahead. Before leaving, they searched unsuccessfully for my rifle in the long grass. To arm myself I took one of the boy's assegais, and then, with the donkeys, we set forth. Before leaving the place we took some fire - brands from the fire and threw them into the veld in the direction where the lion disappeared: nonetheless, he followed us for a long way, and we could hear him now this side of the path, now that; but we had three dogs with us now, and they barked repeatedly at him, successfully  keeping him off.

At last we came to one of my old pickets of the Steinacker days where the huts were still standing. Here, formerly, there had always been a large pool of water, so I sent two of the boys with the canvas nosebag which was the only utensil we took for carrying water. My disappointment can be measured when they returned to report that the pool was dry, for you must remember that not a drop had passed my lips since the previous day. I said that I must have water, or I would die, and told them to take  a candle from among my baggage, place it in a broken bottle and with this rough lantern to go and search for water. They were two good natives, and off they set once more. They seemed to be away for hours but when they did finally return they had the nosebag half full of muddy fluid; and this they set on the ground in front of me. It was pretty filthy - looking stuff: still it was water; and I knelt down beside it and drank until I could drink no more - leaving just a little with which they could wash my wounds. They proved to be too awkward and clumsy over the latter job, however, and after a few minutes I could bear it no longer,  and ordered the boys to desist. Actually the wounds received no dressing of any kind ( I could not see the largest wound, which was on my back) until I reached Komatipoort - four days later!

I then told the boys to unroll my blankets so that I could lie down. My arm was so painful that I instructed them to strap it to one of the poles in the roof of the hut, thinking thereby to ease the pain, but it did no good, and afterward I had it undone again. I need hardly add that there was no sleep for me that night, and next morning I was in a raging fever; and though I had walked six miles on the previous evening, I was unable to walk - or even stand - now. We remained over in the camp that day and I sent the boys back to skin the dead lion. I instructed them to return to the tree in which they found me, follow my blood - spoor until they came to the place where I had stabbed the lion, and then to follow its blood - spoor for a short distance when they would find its carcass. I could observe that they were a bit dubious about the reality of my having actually killed the lion ( though they had politely refrained from hinting their scepticism ) as it was an unheard of thing for a man to kill a lion with a knife.

All my orders were obeyed, and in due course they returned with the skin, skull, and some of the meat, and the heart to show where I had pierced it with the knife. The boys told me that when they opened up the lion they found the stomach quite empty, which proves that it had not had a meal for some days, and accordingly must have been very hungry. It would not have been long before that lion and his mate made a meal of me - in spite of the fact that I was pretty skinny and hard at the time.

Ek lees in n KNP boek dat leeus in droogte tye....tye wanneer kos min is, hul eie welpies vermoor en eet.

Ons besoek vroeer die maand aan KNP het ons skielik op n hyena af gekom wat vreelik vinnig hardloop. Veld was lekker oop, so ons kon hom goed volg. Kort kort stop hy, dan kyk hy in die lug. Ons sien toe hy kyk vir die aasvoels wat in die lug draai, dan hardloop hy vinnig in daai rigting want hy weet seker daar is kos......was amazing gewees om dit so te kon ervaar

Baie dankie Wildehont, 

Ek is nie iemant wat sulke lang storie lees nie, maar hierdie een kon ek nie ophou nie.  Ek sou dit beslis nie gemaak het nie.

👍

Ons sien toe hy kyk vir die aasvoels wat in die lug draai, dan hardloop hy vinnig in daai rigting want hy weet seker daar is kos

Dis lekker om diere te sien, maar dis soveel meer interessant om die wisselwerking tussen organismes te sien. Kom ek kyk of ek die verskillende soorte simbiotiese verhoudings kan onthou:

• Kommensalisme: een organisme word bevoordeel en die ander word nie geäffekteer nie. Die aasvoël en hiëna is 'n voorbeeld daarvan. Laasgenoemde trek voordeel omdat hy rigting aangewys word na kos, terwyl eersgenoemde nie voordeel of nadeel uit die interaksie kry nie.
• Mutualisme: albei organismes trek voordeel uit die interaksie. Dink bv aan 'n renostervoël en rooibok. Eersgenoemde kry kos (bosluise) en laasgenoemde se parasiete word verwyder.
• Parasitisme: Een organisme trek voordeel en die ander word benadeel. Dink aan die rooibok en die bosluise. Eersgenoemde kan siektes optel terwyl laasgenoemde hom dik suip aan die bloed. Die verhouding lei nie altyd tot die benadeelde se dood nie, maar kan soms. Mens kry ook 'n kleptoparasiet - dink bv aan 'n hiëna wat 'n rooibok by 'n luiperd afvat. 
• Predasie (direk vertaal): Een organisme maak 'n ander dood om dit te vreet. Dink bv aan 'n luiperd wat 'n rooibok vang.

Johan Fourie het oor ekologie geskryf dat interrelationship is everything and everything is interrelated. Dis soos die gesegde dat geen persoon in besigheid 'n eiland is nie. Alles in die natuur vervul 'n rol, en sonder menslike inmenging is daar 'n balans tussen al die rolspelers. Sodra ons inmeng versteur ons die balans, en moet ons aanhou inmeng om dinge te laat aanhou werk.

Maar voor ek nou meegevoer raak, laat ek volstaan daarmee dat dit enige besoek aan die natuur soveel meer lonend maak as mens interaksie sien tussen diere, soos wat Geert se verwondering oor wat hulle gesien het getuig.

Ek is nie iemant wat sulke lang storie lees nie, maar hierdie een kon ek nie ophou nie.

Dit is 'n aangrypende verhaal. Ek het sy verhaal al 'n paar keer gelees, omdat ek dit 'n paar jaar gelede vir Chris Jnr vertel het in die wildtuin en dit sy verbeelding aangegryp het. Ek moes dit oor en oor vertel. Toe ek hier bo vertel van die leeus wat ek naby die Harry Wolhuter gedenkteken gesien het, het ek gedink dit sal goed wees om die verhaal te deel vir mense wat dalk nie die besonderhede geken het nie. Ek soek toe op die www en kry vir die eerste keer die verhaal wat ek hier bo gedeel het in sy eie woorde. Die ander weergawes was min of meer dieselfde, maar was tweedehands vertel - nie uit sy eie pen nie.

Hier is die gedeelte wat hy nie vertel het nie, en wat verder gebeur het:

The next morning, Wolhuter was running a fever and he ordered his men to construct a rough stretcher from branches, which they used to carry him to Komatipoort. The journey took two days. When he arrived in town, the district surgeon was away, and a delirious Wolhuter was sent by train to Barberton. He finally arrived at a hospital nearly three days after the attack. His shoulder was lacerated and his arm was black and swollen from blood poisoning.

The doctors dressed his wounds but didn’t think that he would survive for much longer. But never underestimate a game ranger! The hardy Wolhuter pulled through and made a full recovery. He later returned to his post and continued to work in the park for the next 40 years. The only physical reminder of the encounter was a stiff shoulder.

The site of Wolhuter’s attack can be found on the S35 gravel road, a short distance from the Tshokwane picnic site. The tree that he climbed is still there, although it is long dead with only a small remnant of the trunk propped up in a concrete plinth remaining. A memorial plaque has been erected on the site which describes the dramatic events of a century ago. The lion’s skin and Wolhuter’s trusty knife are on display in the Skukuza library.

Die Nyl krokodil is die spesie wat in Suider-Afrika voorkom. Hulle speel ‘n belangrike ekologiese rol, deur die baber getalle te beheer. ‘n Krokodil is die enigste roofdier in die water wat ‘n volwasse baber kan dood. Babers vreet natuurlik ander vis, en sonder krokodille gebeur dit dat die babers al die ander vis opvreet. Die ander vis is weer ‘n voedselbron vir ‘n verskeidenheid voëlspesies. As die ander vis opgevreet is sal die voëls elders kos gaan soek, en hulle mis sal nie meer in die water val as hulle op ‘n tak oor die water sit of in die water loop nie. Dit versteur die balans verder, want hulle mis is kos vir organismes in die water. In die Malawi meer is 40% van die seekoeie weens konflik met mense doodgemaak. Toe neem hulle ‘n soortgelyke afname in die visbevolking waar. Dit is omdat die seekoeie nie herkou nie, en daar baie voedingstowwe in hulle mis is. Hulle bring hulle dae meestal in die water deur, en mis in die water. Toe daar minder van hulle is, is daar minder voedingstowwe in die water.

Maar terug na die krokodil. Dis natuurlik ‘n koudbloedige dier, en hulle beheer hulle temperatuur deur bv in die son te lê om warm te word. As hulle te warm raak, maak hulle hulle bekke oop. Dit laat die bloed wat in die netwerk are binne die mond vloei afkoel. Kleintjies vreet insekte en klein vissies of larwes. Grotes vreet baie vis, maar begin ook soogdiere vreet. Omdat hulle koudbloedig is, is hulle metabolisme veral in die winter baie stadig. Die hart gee maar ‘n paar slae per minuut en as die water koud is kan hulle tot vier ure onder water bly deur die bloed toevoer af te sny na die ledemate en aan die gang te hou na die organe. Hulle spandeer ook baie min energie, omdat hulle tussen maaltye nie veel beweeg nie. So kan ‘n krokodil na ‘n groot maaltyd vir tot ses maande niks eet nie. Hulle is opportunisties, maar het ook die vermoë om patrone te identifiseer en uit te buit. So sal hulle bv onder ‘n keerwal (weir) lê met oop bekke en die vis wat oorspoel vang. Ek het dit jare gelede (omtrent toe ek laas in daardie omgewing was) naby Laer-Sabie gesien. Hulle kan ook bv die patroon identifiseer van ‘n mens wat elke dag (of gereeld) op dieselfde plek kom visvang. Die dag wat die krokodil weer reg is om te eet, wag dit die niksvermoedende hengelaar in. Hulle kan binne ‘n oogwink en binne die afstand van hulle lyf se lengte van stilstaande versnel tot 100 km/h. ‘n 4m krokodil wat onder die water vir jou wegkruip 4m van die oewer af, sal jou dus gryp voor jy besef wat aangaan. Omdat hulle vir so lank onaktief is, en dan baie energie gebruik om prooi te vang, ontwikkel daar sulke hoë vlakke melksuur in hulle spiere dat dit ander diere sou vergiftig. Krokodille kan dit egter hanteer.

Krokodille se tande op die bo- en onderkake pas tussen mekaar in, en is gemaak vir vashou – nie vir kou nie. Die krokodil gryp dus groter prooi, swem daarmee onder die water in en begin vinnig rol rondom die as wat die lyf vorm. Dit doen hulle om die prooi te versuip. Wanneer hulle voel die prooi veg nie meer terug nie, skeur hulle dele af wat hulle kan en sluk dit heel in. Groter dele van die prooi word soms geberg deur dit bv onder ‘n rots of stomp in te druk, sodat dit sag kan raak in die water en later uitmekaar getrek kan word. My ouers het ‘n groot hardeband boek van Readers Digest gehad oor diere. Daarin is vertel hoe ‘n man deur ‘n krokodil gevang is en sy bewussyn verloor het. Die krokodil het hom onder ‘n boomstomp ingedruk om later te vreet. Die man het sy bewussyn herwin na die krokodil weg is, en geleef om die verhaal te vertel. Mense en troeteldiere word ongelukkig gereeld deur krokodille gevang. In die landelike gebiede is baie mense afhanklik van riviere vir drinkwater, om te bad en om klere en skottelgoed te was. Mens hoor gereeld dat seekoeie die dier is wat die meeste mense dood in Afrika. Dis nie waar nie, die krokodil dood vir seker meer mense. En die muskiet indirek nog baie meer agv malaria en ander siektes.

Wanneer hulle teel raak die mannetjies taamlik aggressief teenoor ander mannetjies. Na paring grawe die wyfie ‘n gat waarin sy die eiers lê voor sy dit toekrap met grond. Die posisie in die nes en die temperatuur waarteen die eier uitbroei bepaal die geslag van die kleintjie. Wyfies broei by kouer temperature uit as mannetjies. Die ma sal die kleintjies soms in haar bek hou na hulle uitbroei om hulle te beskerm teen roofdiere (wat ander krokodille insluit). Krokodil boerdery is natuurlik ook baie winsgewend, meestal vir die velle wat vir leerprodukte gebruik word. Die vleis is ‘n by produk. Ek het dit al ‘n paar keer geëet. Dis omtrent soos iets tussen hoender en vis gemeng, maar is baie ryk.

Ek kan ook nie saam praat nie maar lees elke stuk op die hele forum.

Ja dis baie insig gewend die onderwerp ek wonder hoeveel hienas en wildehonde jaarliks deur leeus gedood word

 ek wonder hoeveel hienas en wildehonde jaarliks deur leeus gedood word

Leeus is eintlik boelies in die opsig. Dis nie asof die kleiner roofdiere vir ‘n trop leeus ‘n bedreiging is nie. Dis nou afgesien van ‘n trop wat nie ‘n volwasse mannetjie/s het nie, want hiënas pes hulle. Ek het dit gesien toe ek in die Linyanti omgewing in Botswana gewerk het. Die dominante mannetjie is geskiet nadat die trop ‘n kelner wat by ‘n naburige kamp gewerk het doodgemaak het. Binne ‘n week of twee was daar skielik baie meer hiënas en hiëna aktiwiteit in ons omgewing.
 

Ek weet nie of daar syfers beskikbaar is vir hoeveel van die kleiner roofdiere leeus doodmaak nie, maar dis waarskynlik ‘n hele paar. Luiperds en jagluiperds loop ook soms deur, en baie keer is dit die kleintjies wat gedood word. Daarom sal wildehonde hulle den gewoonlik skuif sodra die klein hondjies groot genoeg is om so ver te loop.

Waar ek in Linyanti gewerk het was daar ‘n wildehond den 900m van ons kamp af. Die watergatjie wat ons voor ons kamp volgehou het uit ‘n boorgat was die naaste water, en hulle het elke dag kom drink daar. Daar was altyd honde by die den, so ons kon elke dag vir hulle gaan kyk ook. Dit was ‘n ongelooflike ervaring. Hulle het hulle den twee keer geskuif voor die werpsel groot genoeg was om saam met die trop te hardloop. Gelukkig het die leeus hulle nie gekry nie, en die volgende jaar was hulle terug by die den naby ons kamp. 

…. volgende keer na 'n krokodil kyk.

Dankie vir die leersame info. 

... jy kan maar voortgaan met hierdie tipe insette. Ek put groot waarde daaruit.