Tag: Reserve

aaa Malamala reserve, Greater Limpopo transfrontier park – between Sabi sands and the Kruger

Malamala reserve, Limpopo Transfrontier park

Established back in 1927, initially as a hunting reserve, it has been purely with a camera since 1964. Relatively small, only covering 62 square miles, it is sandwiched between the Kruger and the Sabi sands game reserve. As such, the game is incredibly dense.

There most luxury suites in each camp is 10, across all three camps so  if every single one is inhabited, a large so called traffic jam would not stop you seeing the wildlife. Unlike in the Kruger itself, you are not restricted to roads, which means often very close encounters., it also make 62 square miles an enormous area to explore with your guide.

aaa Skeleton coast, Namibia

Skeleton coast, Namibia

Lioness with cape fur seal it hunted, on the beach

The skeleton coast in Namibia, is one of the few people where the desert runs right down to the sea. This desert area in Namibia is quite strange, as many species that do not usually live in desert region, but here they do.

Here freshwater springs permeate the barren sands to create life-sustaining oases for small pockets of wildlife in the middle of the desert. Hartmann’s mountain zebra, gemsbok, desert-adapted elephant, brown hyena, giraffe and – occasionally – cheetah may all be found in this wild and rugged landscape. This part of the coast hosts a several large cape fur seals  colonies, which leads to fascinating moments like the above with lions hunting on the beach.

Below is a video, of a hyena deep in the desert, something not likely to be seen elsewhere.

This huge area of wilderness is actually made up of 4 reserves: Skeleton Coast national park, Dorob National Park (which contains Cape cross seal reserve -this is the largest of the 24 cape fur seals breeding colonies, with 80,000 to 100,000  on site at its height. Fur seals are more closely related to sea lions than to seals), Namib-Naukluft national park and Tsau Khaeb national park. Any links will appear below as this site grows.

aaa Tsingy of Bemaraha, central western Madagascar

Tsingy of Bemaraha, central western Madagascar

Lemur rock climbing

Located 50 miles west of the coast, the majority of reserve is covered by sharp ridged limestone pinnacles (Meaning of Tsingy in Malagasy). This is the only country where these limestone formations formed – evolved over a long time through acid rain falling on a limestone plateau. This is fantastic for the animals who live there. It is true that this is not easy for anything to live there, but given that humans cannot move into this area, any animals who can have a free field.

There are 8 different lemur species within the reserve which include Golden-crowned sifaka, mongoose lemur, western forest rat, golden-brown mouse lemur, northern rufous mouse lemur, western rufous mouse lemur, and the perrier’s sifaka.

 

aaa Niokolo-Koba national park, Senegal

Niokolo-Koba national park, Senegal

River Gambia Niokolokoba National Park Credit: United states Government

A fascination reserve with a wide range of wildlife, this is a place well worth a visit. With a variety of habitats, the range of wildlife that can be seen is not usually available in one reserve anywhere else.

 The national park is known for its wildlife. The government of Senegal estimates the park contains 20 species of amphibians, 60 species of fish, 38 species of reptiles (of which four are tortoises). There are some 80 mammal species. These included (as of 2005) an estimated 11000 buffaloes, 6000 hippopotamuses, 400 western giant eland, 50 elephants, 120 lions, 150 chimpanzees (It is inhabited by a banded forest in the park (Lower Rim) and Mount Assirik. (north-western limit line where chimps are distributed.)), 3000 waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus), 2000 common duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia), an unknown number of red colobus (Colobus badius rufomitratus) and a few rare African leopards and West African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus manguensis), although this canid was thought to be wiped out throughout the rest of the country.[4]

 

Other mammals include roan antelope, Guinea baboon, green monkey, patas monkey, warthog.

 

Around 330 species of birds have been sighted in the park, notably the Arabian bustard, black crowned crane, Abyssinian ground hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus), martial eagle, bateleur (Terathopius ecaudatus), and white-faced duck (Dendrocygna viduata).

 

There are also reptiles such as three species of crocodiles, four species of tortoises

 

aaa Pantanal Biosphere Reserve which includes Chapada dos Guimarães, Serra da Bodoquena, Pantanal Matogrossense, and Emas national parks

Pantanal Biosphere reserve, including Chapada dos Guimarães, Serra da Bodoquena, Pantanal Matogrossense, and Emas national parks.

Pantanal jaguar, credit: Jan Fleschmann

Pantanal Biosphere reserve covers 725 square miles of land at the entrance of the Pantanal, and should we wish to continue to protect the Pantanal we also need to protect its head waters.

However, this area also has an essential conservation status of its own, protecting a wide range of wildlife within its borders. mammals found here include troupes of monkeys, giant anteaters, tapirs, Capybaras, Armadillos, wild dogs, maned wolves, foxes, herds of deer, cougar, and ocelots. There are also over 350 bird species which include Aplomado falcons, burrowing owls, Yellow-faced parrots and maccaws.

Termite mounds litter the landscape and stand as much as 2m high. These are used by a variety of other wildlife. In particular, the larve of the Cumpinzeiro which is a luminescent beetle. If you are lucky, at night, you might get to witness the strange site of vast numbers of these beetles, emerging after rains. They light up the mounds transforming them into strange looking christmas trees.

aaa Semuc Champey, Guatemala

Semuc Champey, Guatemala

A small reserve in Guatemala, lying deep in the forest, this place consists of a natural 300m limestone bridge. The Cahabon river passes under this bridge, whille above there are a series of stepped turquoise pools which visitors can swim in.

However, this is merely a tranquil place to pause, and lies deep in the rainforest

As this image shows the area is still largely forested, Semuc Champey lies in the middle of the screen

A variety of wildlife frequents the site and the surrounding rainforest. Varying from a wide range of bright birds such as toucans and humming birds, to howler monkeys which are often around the entrance to the site.

aaa Sian ka’an biosphere reserve, Monarch butterfly migration Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Sian ka'an biosphere reserve, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

 

 

Bottlenose dolphin, Sea green turtle, Caribbean manatee, Central American Tapir, Forest condor or real condor, Jaguar, Howling monkey, Ocelote in Sian Ka’an, Western manatees can all be found in this reserve. 

 

The reserve is made up of tropical forests, mangroves, marshes and a large area of ocean.  The reserve’s name can be translated as gate of heaven. 

 

The reserve covers over 5000 Square km, Part of which is land and the rest is in the coral sea and includes a large area of coral reef.

 

This is an 8 minute video of someone exploring some of this reserve

aaa The black forest, Germany

The black forest, Germany

This is a large forested mountain range in southwest Germany boarded by the Rhine valley to the west and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. Both the source of the Danube and Nekar river is in this mountain range. With a length of around 100 miles at an area of over 2,300 square miles it is a significant patch of wilderness.


With wolves just returning to the country, their migration into the black forest is only just beginning. Indeed, while in recent years it was known that there were a couple of lone males in the reserve, a lone female has recently been seen – suggesting that it is highly likely young wolf cubs will arrive in the next few years. Other than the wolves there are boar, lynx, otters, foxes, red and roe deer and a variety of other animals.

aaa Table mountain national park, South Africa

Table mountain national park, South Africa

While relatively small at only 85 square miles or 221 square kilometres, due to its proximity to Cape town it is one of the most visited national parks in South Africa.


A surprisingly large variety of wildlife is found there, given the size of the reserve. Apart from a sizable and growing colony of African penguins, there is also bontebok antelope, and a large population of baboons. Other species include rock dassies (hyrax), porcupines, mongoose, snakes, lizards, tortoise and a rare species called the table mountain ghost frog which is only found here. While once a big 5 reserve, only the leopard is ever present, and this is only an occasional visit by the roaming cape leopard. The current apex predator is the Caracal, which is a relatively small cat when compared to the Leopard.


Other than this the retrogresses and a handful of wild ostrich. During the meeting season between August and October it also can be a good place to watch southern right whales which come here to breed.

aaa Zhangjiajie sandstone peak forest reserve, China

Zhangjiajie sandstone peak forest reserve, China

This reserve covers a complex to trevane covered in ravines deep canyons and has a mild climate with abundant rainfall. As a result much of the area is covered by rainforest and there is a great deal of wildlife. It is a total of 1,400 square miles or 3,600 square kilometres.


Animals of particular interest include the leopard, the clouded leopard, the pygmy slow loris, the yellow belly pheasant, and long-tailed pheasant, the giant salamander, five step snake and many more. Others include the stump tailed macaque, the suman sheep, the pangolin, the black bear, the lynx, the otter, the forest musk deer, the samba deer, the jackal, the mandarin duck, the sparrow hawk and a few more.

Rare species include the bison, the wild goat, the wild boar, the wildcat, the civit cat, the flying squirrel and several more.


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