Gemsbok

[botspur]

At the turn of the year we visitied the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in SW Botswana.
At first the game were elusive. These Gemsbok were sheltering from the heat of the sun and our viewing was restricted to distance.


At this time of year the animals were dropping thier young mainly Springbok, Wildebeeste and Hartebeeste. The Springbok would leave their young in a creche, whilst the adults fed on the open plain. This youngster was lying by the side of the road under a large Acacia.



C&C Welcomed

[jeeperman]

Nice to see you posting again, Clive. I have missed your wildlife images. I am a little surprised to see such a young one lft on his own. It looks so....at risk/vulnerable.

[Bobobird]

Nice shots Clive. Good to see you back.

Paul raised an interesting question. Is there an answer?

[davidedric]

I wasn't there, of course, but in general these young animals are a lot less visible than it would appear from Clive's picture. Gemsbok are pretty formidable, but for other species, a few adults surrounding young would be much more visible and not offer any real protection against most predators. Young deer of some species in the UK are born almost odour free so they are much harder to track down. They are also left alone for much of the day. I'd be very interested to hear other comments.

P.S. Great photos Clive, especially #2

[Ken MT]

Reminded me of a photo taken in Etosha park a few years ago using Velvia 100. (Using film dates me!)

[botspur]

Many thanks for the positive comments and time taken to view.
From my own observations; I found that single young were quite content to stay where they were and not give their position away (if you look closely in the blue eye you can make out the reflection of my Land Cruiser), whereas the creche would generally walk around and slowly move off. When the adults came towards the creche there was lots of grunts as the parent tried to find their offspring. I also saw single young animals lying bang in the middle of the open ground in the scorching midday sun. I will now read some literature to try and explain the behaviour.