While at Hazyview we had a fantastic day visiting two distinctly different wildlife centres. Unlike safaris, these centres allowed us to get right up close and personal,with many cool beasts. The girls loved it…and the adults too! This was a bigger hit with the kids than the natural wonders…
Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre
First stop was Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre which has a distinct plan to rehab animals caught or injured by poachers and farmers in traps, snares etc. They also try to teach farmers about the wildlife and ways to help avoid the wildlife attacking the livestock. It was a truly well run and organised facility. We are only allowed to see the Ambassadors – animals who will NOT be released. Viewing the ones to be released could acclimatise them to people which is not cool. However with these permanent residents we were allowed to actually touch a few.
First up was a cuddle with Kaia”s favourite – a cheetah!
She seems nice….
So cool! Yeah I am in the back…
We took a few so i could be in the pic.
All of us!
Hungry vulture
So its vulture feeding time!
These beasts are heavy! Luckily WIllow was there to help
Hello!
So close…Africa is a place where one puts a lot of faith in fences of all kinds….
Leopard in a tree!
Our guide Moses threw chunks of meat in the tree and we watched as the leopards were on it in a second.
YUM!
Bambi. With all the predators in enclosures nearly these little dudes must be scared all the time!
Black leopard. He is named Bagheera and has a melanin problem。
On closer inspection you can still see the rosettes of the leopard。
The crazy coloured African Wild Dog。
Looks remarkably like our awesome old dog Charlie！
The wild dlog hunts in packs and has the highest kill rate.
Odd looking critter – the hyena
I prefer to be close with the camera rather than in person
Stoffles the honey badger. He is the mascot of the place. Badgers are awesome – if bitten by snakes in battle they just sleep a bit and then get back up. They are scared of nothing.
Meat is meat and all must eat!
Stoffles is a bit of a legend. He and his family get into a fair bit of trouble here.
A lovely cerval – another African cat. We have been lucky enough to see these in the wild.
Another African cat – the caracal.
The Gound Hornbill. They can fly as. They sleep in trees at night but live mostly on the ground
This little chap marries for life but his wife died. To find another mate they offer things and if accepted – well then you are Mrs. Hornbill. He offered Skye a dead chick and was quite persistent. Skye is still with us.
Martial Eagle
Willow saying hello
Beauty
Fish Eagles
Gymnogene now called the African Harrier
M.C. saying hello to a bataleur
Just a little scratch please
These guys just wander around the place.
Hanging out
Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre
This spot gave us a chance to see lots of endangered animals but did not seem to have much of a plan for reintroduction of the beasts into the wild. It was good but not as well done as Maholoholo. As for the kids – they loved it! The adults learned a few things too – we had never heard of a King Cheetah. This beauty has a big black stripe from its head down its back – it looks awesome. In the real world these are quite rare and thus revered hence the name King Cheetah I reckon if Disney used a King Cheetah in its films it would be a bad guy as black/dark is always stereotypically bad in Disney. The black maned lion is also a favourite but Disney makes him bad. Even Aladdin and Jasmine are lighter than all the characters from the same city….but I digress. http://hesc.co.za
There was a group of endangered wild dogs. One female and three males. Each male knew his place in the mating order and it was obvious.
This was the female
This guy slinking around was last in line in the mating order
Rhinos are endangered due to Asian (mostly China and Vietnam) demand for the horn. It go’s for more than gold per equal weight. They think it makes them better lovers and has some magic medical powers. Now they use it just to show how much money they have. It is disgusting and if caught these people should be killed. The poachers are now shot on sight but they are just poor folks offered a lot of cash to get the horn for Asian buyers It is mostly made of hair and chitinEven here the centre cuts them off but they grow back
Lovely beasts
These two were chillin’ Under a tree to stay out of the African sun
Then they awoke
And were on the move
Yup – they wanted the shade we were parked in!They clearly wanted us to moveLeopards – we don’t go inside this cageLeopards are beautiful and deadlyYAWN!Good size. Bad focusFor our friend Ewan – with a cheetah!How about this truck and the person who should be its rightful owner?
