Namibian Cheetah Gives Birth to 5 Cubs at Kuno

India's environment minister Bhupender Yadav on Saturday announced the birth of five cubs to Aasha, a Namibian cheetah under Project Cheetah, at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, taking India's total cheetah population to 35 and the number of surviving Indian-born cubs to 24. 

Sharing the update on X, Yadav said Aasha delivered the cubs on Saturday, marking the eighth successful cheetah litter in the country. 

Last week, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav announced 8 more cheetahs would be brought in from Botswana – the country is said to have about 20% of the world's cheetahs – on February 28. He said he held detailed discussions with Bhupender Yadav in New Delhi on arrangements for the next phase of the re-introduction program, along with tourism development, expansion of reserve forests and wildlife conservation in the state.

Project Cheetah is the world's first intercontinental large carnivore translocation program. It was launched on September 17, 2022, with the aim of re-introducing the species to India, where cheetahs had gone extinct since 1952.

Chinese Drones Bring Monkey King To Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A total of 2,024 drones brought the legendary #MonkeyKing, or Sun Wukong, to life in a dazzling sky display over Qionglai City in Sichuan Province, southwest China on Monday. As per Facebook.

Two male cheetahs, Agni and Vayu, were released into the wild at Kuno National Park in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh, India on International Cheetah Day on Wednesday. 

 

The release took place in the Palpur East area, located across the Kuno River, marking a significant milestone in India’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction project. These efforts aim to restore the cheetah population, which has been extinct in the country for nearly 70 years, and to enhance the biodiversity of the region. 

 

After spending time in large enclosures at Kuno National Park, the cheetahs were ready for their release into the open forest, where they will be free to roam, hunt, and utilize their renowned speed and agility. 

 

Following the release of Agni and Vayu, additional cheetahs will be introduced gradually over the coming months. The park officials will closely monitor their progress to ensure the cheetahs adapt well to the wild. 

 

Kuno National Park has been fully prepared to support the cheetahs in their new habitat, with the area secured to protect them from potential threats. The release also offers a unique opportunity for tourists to see these majestic creatures in their natural surroundings. Unlike previous releases, where cheetahs were only visible from a distance, the open forest setting at Kuno will provide closer, yet controlled, encounters, enhancing the experience for wildlife enthusiasts. 

 

Currently, Kuno National Park is home to 12 adult cheetahs and 12 cubs, bringing the total cheetah population to 24. This is a promising step forward in the cheetah reintroduction program, which began ith the translocation of cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa, supported by the Indian government ad wildlife experts.

Namibia Culls Wildlife for Meat

More than 700 wildlife, including hippos and elephants, are being culled in Namibia’s game parks to provide meat for the country’s hungry, the government announced, as the arid southern African region battles its worst drought in 100 years.

 

“This exercise is necessary and is in line with our constitutional mandate where our natural resources are used for the benefit of Namibian citizens”, a statement on August 26, 2024 from the country’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism read.

 

While the said territory is drought-prone, experts say the El Nino weather phenomenon which typically causes higher global temperatures, combined with human-caused climate change, is driving the current worse than usual dry spell. Namibia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia have declared drought emergencies.

 

And a spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday described the situation in Namibia as a “humanitarian crisis we’ve never spoken much of”.

 

About 84 percent of the country’s food reserves have been exhausted as a result of the drought, the UN said, with nearly half of the 2.5 million population expected to experience high levels of food insecurity during the lean season from July to September.

 

Like its neighbors, Namibia is dependent on agriculture and livestock which need rain to flourish. However, it has recorded several droughts in recent years, affecting food production. Authorities declared drought emergencies three times between 2013 and 2019.

 

The UN said the current drought is contributing to cases of acute malnutrition – and in some cases, death – in children under five.

 

And so, professional hunters and safari operators are being contracted to kill a total of 723 animals, according to Namibian authorities. 

 

The animals identified for culling include 30 hippos (Scientific name: Hippopotamus amphibius), 60 Cape buffalos (Scientific name: Syncerus caffer caffer), 50 impalas (Scientific name: Aepyceros melampus), 100 blue wildebeest (Scientific name: Connochaetes taurinus), 300 zebras (Family: Equidae, genus: Equus), 83 African bush elephants (Scientific name: Loxodonta africana) and 100 elands (Scientific name: Taurotragus oryx). 

 

Already, 56,875 kg of meat from 157 wild animals has been sourced for the government relief program, according to the government statement. 

 

It is not clear which animals have been culled so far and over what period. The culls are taking place in parks and communal areas that authorities believe have “sustainable game numbers” – that is, where the culling will not adversely affect the animal population, and where the animals may already exceed available water and grazing resources.

 

Parks in which culling is being carried out include Namib-Naukluft Park, Mangetti National Park, Bwabwata National Park, Mudumu National Park and Nkasa Rupara National Park.

This Is Not A Painting

This is not a painting above but rather a photograph taken by Anna Morgan of Namib-Naukluft Park in western Namibia, situated between the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the edge of the Great Escarpment. 

 

The painterly effect comes from the magical interplay of light and shadow. The clay pan appears blue from the reflection of the sky while the sand dune in the background glows orange from the morning sun. 

 

While the odd effect draws many visitors with cameras to this location, National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting captured the most famous image of the scene, "Ghost Trees at Dawn", the thorn trees of Namibia, which he explains below:

Cheetahs in India's Kuno: An Update

Twenty cheetahs were relocated from South Africa and Namibia to India's 74,200-hectare Kuno national park in Madhya Pradesh in September last year and February. 

 

Since March, six of those cheetahs and three cubs born in the park have died. (The ninth cat died on Wednesday). 

 

To be sure, cheetah experts say that losing half of the founder population in the initial year of relocation in unfenced parks is a common occurrence. There could be more deaths in the second year, they say. 

 

Based on previous reintroduction experiences in Africa, the founder population of 20 cheetahs in India "will further decline" to five or seven cats "before population recovery is initiated", according to a report by South African experts, led by Vincent van der Merwe, a cheetah conservationist involved in the mission. 

 

They also expect the first litters with "realistic prospects of survival to adulthood" will likely be born in 2024 – wild cheetah populations are sustained by a small number of fit and fertile females, also called 'supermums', and experts reckon only one of the seven wild females relocated to India is likely to be one. 

 

Yet, things don't seem to be going well in India. South African and Namibian experts involved with the project have flagged up "serious concerns" about its management. In letters to the Supreme Court of India, which are monitoring the project, they believe the deaths of the cheetahs could have been prevented by "better monitoring of animals and more appropriate and timeous veterinary care". 

 

Also, three cubs died 10 days after leaving their nest. Their deaths were attributed to a heat stroke – they died on a day when temperatures reached 47C. The Namibia-based Cheetah Conservation Fund, which have been involved with the project since its inception, believe "monitoring and information sharing" might have prevented the deaths. 

 

The foreign experts also talk about inadequate record-keeping in the parks. The CCF said they did not "see any daily records of the location, behavior, body conditions and dietary changes of cheetahs at Kuno". They appeared to suggest that the management at the park had "little or no scientific training" and the vets were "too inexperienced to manage a project of this caliber". 

 

Still, they admit cheetah re-introductions are arduous – nine of the first 10 attempts at cheetah introduction in South Africa failed.

 

That aside, India can clearly do much better.

Three Cheetah Cubs Born in India Die in Heatwave

Three cheetah cubs born to a big cat that was brought to India from Africa last year have died in the country’s Kuno national park in the past week as a heatwave in the region sent temperatures soaring. 

 

The cubs were the first to be born in India in more than seven decades. 

 

Once widespread in India, cheetahs became extinct in 1952 from hunting and habitat loss. Their mother was among the 20 cheetahs India flew in from Namibia and South Africa as part of an ambitious and hotly contested plan to reintroduce the world’s fastest land animal to the South Asian country. 

 

The first cub died on Tuesday, prompting veterinarians in the national park in Madhya Pradesh state to closely monitor the mother and her three remaining cubs. 

 

The cubs appeared weak on Thursday afternoon – a day when temperatures reached 47C (113F) – and authorities intervened to help the cats. 

 

They were “weak, underweight and highly dehydrated” and two of them later died, forest officials said in a statement on Thursday. 

 

The last surviving cub is being treated in a critical care facility.

 

And here's something to ponder. I read that only 5 percent of cheetah cubs make it to adulthood.

 

China's first domestically developed jet, the C919, has its inaugural commercial flight this morning. 

 

The China Eastern Airlines flight MU9191 departed from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport, a flight time of two-and-a-half hours.

 

Finally, the Boeing-Airbus duopoly is over. China's Comac may still need a little bit more time but the writing is on the wall for both of them.

Donald Trump Appeals Sexual Abuse Verdict

Former US President Donald Trump has filed a court notice of appeal two days after a civil trial found he sexually abused a woman, E Jean Carroll, in a New York department store. [Refer my post “NY Jury Finds Donald Trump Liable for Sexual Abuse and Defamation” published Wednesday]. 

 

According to BBC News, while the jury found Trump liable for sexual battery and defamation of Carroll, they did not find the former liable of raping her. To do so, the jury would have needed to have been convinced that he had engaged in non-consensual sexual intercourse with the latter. 

 

Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina had told reporters outside the courtroom that it was "a strange verdict". 

 

"They rejected her rape claim and she always claimed this was a rape case, so it's a little perplexing", he said. 

 

And he added that, in Trump's hometown of New York, where the former president is now unpopular, "you just can't get a fair trial". 

 

The case goes to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. 

 

Another female cheetah named Daksha has died in Kuno National Park in India's Madhya Pradesh state, taking the number of the big cats found dead to three since March. She was found injured on Tuesday morning and treated by vets but died at noon. 

 

Last month, a male cheetah called Uday died and officials said the cause of death was cardiac failure. He was one of 12 big cats brought to India from South Africa in February. 

 

And in February, a female cheetah named Sasha which was in the first batch of animals brought from Namibia died of a suspected kidney ailment. She was part of a group of eight – five males and three females – which were translocated to India last year amid much fanfare. 

 

Cheetahs have great symbolic value in India as they are part of many folktales. But it is also the only large mammal to become extinct since independence in 1947 because of hunting, shrinking habitats and lack of prey. 

 

The vast majority of the 7,000 cheetahs in the world are now found in Africa – in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. 

 

The Asiatic cheetah (Scientific name: Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) is critically endangered and now only found in Iran, where only a dozen members of the species are left in the wild, down from an estimated 100 in 2010.

Cheetah Moved From Namibia to India Gives Birth to 4 Cubs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

India has welcomed the birth of four cheetah cubs – more than 70 years after the animals were declared officially extinct there. 

 

Taking to Twitter, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav called the ocassion a “momentous event in our wildlife conservation history”. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi also welcomed the announcement, calling it “wonderful news”.

 

The country has been trying to reintroduce the big cats for decades, and last year brought eight cheetahs over from Namibia as part of the plan. Another 12 cheetahs were brought to India from South Africa last month. 

 

The cubs were born to Siyaya and Freddie, two of the eight rehabilitated cheetahs brought from Namibia to India’s Kuno National Park in the central state of Madhya Pradesh last September. 

 

The cubs were believed to have been born five days ago, but they were spotted by officials on Wednesday, the Press Trust of India reported. A park official told the news agency that the mother Siyaya and the cubs are fine and healthy. 

 

But the announcement of the new cubs came just two days after one of the other eight Namibian cheetahs, a female named Sasha died at the Kuno National Park due to kidney failure. 

 

When they were transported to India last year, it was the first time a large carnivore had been moved from one continent to another and reintroduced in the wild. 

 

Lawmakers from the Freedom Party of Austria (German: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) walked out of the lower house of the country’s parliament during a speech by Ukrainian President [V]olodymyr [Z]elensky. 

 

The comedian who became an instant president addressed the chamber via video link yesterday, thanking Austria for its humanitarian aid and help with projects such as clearing land mines. 

 

Austria says its neutrality prevents it from military involvement in the conflict and, while it supports Ukraine politically, it cannot send the country weapons in its fight against Russia. 

 

In fact, FPÖ had warned days before that they would hold some form of protest against [Z]elensky’s address. Party leader Herbert Kickl (right) said in a statement on Tuesday: “It is sad that the FPÖ (are) the only party in parliament that take our ever-lasting neutrality seriously, thereby also standing up for peace”. 

 

Note: Of the five parties in parliament, the FPÖ have the third-biggest number of seats in the lower house. They currently have a small lead in opinion polls over the opposition Social Democrats and Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s conservatives, who govern in coalition with the Greens.

 

European unhappiness with [Z]elensky and Ukraine is building.

Extinct Cheetahs Reintroduced Into India

Cheetahs are set to roam in India for the first time since they were declared officially extinct in 1952. At least twenty of them are said to be coming to India – and I had blogged about the country’s plan to reintroduce these big cats on July 21, 2022.

Eight of the acinonyx jubatus jubatus – five females and three males, aged between two and six years – arrived from Windhoek in Namibia to the Indian city of Gwalior on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday on Saturday. From Gwalior, the cheetahs were transferred by helicopter to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh state, where they were released. 

Spread over a 289-square-mile area, the Kuno National Park is a sprawling sanctuary with prey like antelope and wild boars for the wild cats. 

An electrified enclosure, with 10 compartments ranging in size, has been built for the animals to undergo a month-long quarantine before being released in the wild. 

Each cheetah will be given a dedicated team of volunteers, which will monitor it and keep tabs on the animal's movement. Satellite radio collars have been put on each cheetah for their geolocation updates. 

This is the first time a large carnivore is being moved from one continent to another and being reintroduced in the wild.

The World's Fastest Cat is Returning to India

Eight cheetahs are set to arrive in India in August from Namibia, home to one of the world's largest populations of the wild cat. 

Their return comes decades after India's indigenous population was declared officially extinct in 1952.

Classified as a vulnerable species under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, only around  7,000 are left in the wild worldwide. 

Officials announced the agreement after 2 years plus of negotiations and only after India's Supreme Court decided in January 2020 they could be reintroduced in a "carefully chosen location".

The first arrivals will make their home in the state of Madhya Pradesh at Kuno-Palpur National Park, selected for its cheetah-friendly terrain. 

"Completing 75 glorious years of independence with restoring the fastest terrestrial flagship species, the cheetah, in India, will rekindle the ecological dynamics of the landscape", India's environment minister Bhupender Yadav announced in a social media post. 

Despite the animal's lightning-quick speeds, a combination of hunting, habitat loss and food scarcity led to the cheetah's disappearance in India. 

The Asiatic cheetah (Scientific name: Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) could once be found in areas stretching from the Arabian peninsula to Afghanistan. It is now known only to survive in Iran. In 2022, government officials there reported that only twelve are still alive. 

Efforts have been made to revive India's cheetah numbers since the 1950s. An attempt to bring them from Iran in the 1970s – when Iran had around 300 of those animals – failed after negotiations ended when the Shah was deposed in the Iranian revolution. 

Indian officials are keen for this most recent attempt to succeed long term. 

In choosing the cheetahs for India, the animals' lineage  and genetic history will be scrutinized to ensure that they are not from an excessively inbred stock and are in the ideal age group, so that they make up a suitable founding population. India aspires to import at least 30 cheetahs in the next five years. 

In a document that explains India's rationale in bringing back the cheetah, the government have said they aim to achieve both the biological objectives, that are, reestablish the ecosystem function role of the cheetah in representative areas of its former range and contribute to the global effort towards the conservation of the cheetah as a species. 

"Simultaneously, we are hopeful that the project will boost and enhance the livelihood options and living conditions of the local communities in and around the landscapes where the cheetah is likely to be introduced through increased revenues from ecotourism and associated activites", the document notes. 

Note: Compared to the Southeast African cheetah (Scientific name: Acinonyx jubatus jubatus), the Asiatic cheetah is smaller but has a thicker coat, a more powerful neck and slender legs. Many believe that they could be faster than the African species with longer legs, but no tests have confirmed this theory.  

Omicron Shows Itself

In my post published November 01, I had highlighted a subvariant of Delta labelled AY.4.2 that has been detected in the UK and a few other countries. The good news is that despite its spread, it is not labelled a “variant of concern”. 

But now, another coronavirus variant has emerged.

It was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on November 24, and has already been identified in Botswana, Belgium, China Hong Kong and Israel. 

On Friday, the WHO declared the variant to be "of concern" and named it Omicron. They said the number of cases of this variant, initially named B.1.1.529, appeared to be increasing in almost all of South Africa's provinces. 

The first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection had been from a specimen collected on November 09 – and the WHO revealed it would take a couple of weeks to understand the impact of Omicron, as scientists worked to determine how transmissible it was. 

Not a few countries are already getting jittery. The European Union and other major destinations, including the United States and Canada, have moved to block flights from southern African countries – Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe – following the discovery of the said variant. 

Believe me, Covid is just a never-ending story.

I also read news that Merck’s experimental Covid pill has shown lower efficacy in an updated study. 

Following the release of a full analysis of trial results, the pharmaceutical company said on Friday the oral drug, molnupiravir, showed a 30 percent reduction in hospitalizations and deaths when compared with a placebo, based on data from more than 1,400 patients. 

Last month, the company said data from 775 patients had showed that reduction was “approximately” 50 percent. I had reported this in my post that was dated October 03, 2021. 

I don't believe Big Pharma. They are not exactly trustworthy. 

Remember how Pfizer brought out its Covid vaccine “at the speed of science”? Now a whistleblower has told the world that speed may have come at the cost of data integrity and patient safety. 

As was reported, Brook Jackson, a regional director employed at the research organization Ventavia Research Group had told The BMJ that the company falsified data, unblinded patients, employed inadequately trained vaccinators, and was slow to follow up on adverse events reported in Pfizer’s pivotal Phase III trial. Not to mention that staff who conducted quality control checks were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of problems they were finding. 

Pfizer's data fraud aside, Merck have speedily filed for a US authorization of the oral antiviral Covid treatment on October 11, following the interim data.

[Interestingly, Pfizer are already developing an oral antiviral drug Paxlovid for Covid-19, which requires patients to take three pills twice a day for five days]. 

Ever the follower, Malaysia has put in an order for molnupiravir that is said to force the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus to mutate itself to death. 

I venture a guess that even with our “high” vaccination rates, it is not giving us the results we are anticipating. Our infections are stubbornly clinging on to four digits – yesterday, that number was 5,501 cases and 45 deaths.

186 Million Cases and the White Flag is Desperately Waving

Covid’s caseload worldwide has surpassed 186 million cases. And yes, 4 million deaths.

Namibia is country #98 to reach 100,000 cases todate – and with Malaysia reporting 8,868 cases yesterday, again, we move up another step to #34 among countries with the highest tally of infections.

It is worth mentioning that Covid is not much different from wars, homelessness, hunger and other conditions that bedeviled humanity. Meaning, the poor, the underprivileged and the deprived are the ones who suffer the most. 

In fact, a Covid report by the Health Foundation charity in the UK found that the death rate from coronavirus was 3.7 times higher for working age adults living in the poorest 10 percent of neighborhoods in England compared with those living in the wealthiest 10 percent. 

Of course, we can grieve for those who succumb to Covid and died – but for those who are spared death, life could turn out to be really hard and difficult. Not excluding those who are untouched by Covid because lockdowns as an outcome of the pandemic are enough to wreak havoc in an economy. And when that happens, people lose their livelihoods.

For sure, we can find many victims who are caught up in the unpropitious throes of abject adversity. And we don't even need to look beyond our shores. 

The ‘white flag’ that is a community initiative in Malaysia is rapidly escalating – and this is heavy-hearted authentication that the suffering of the down-and-outs in the country is becoming heart-wrenching.

The 'white flag' is a simple idea. If anybody is in need of food and/or essentials, they just need to raise a white flag outside their abode to signal to others that they need urgent help.

And white flags are desperately waving to get attention because households are in distress. It is, therefore, heartwarming to see Malaysians responding positively and giving a helping hand to those in need.

In a depressing landscape of Covid devastation, acts of kindness bring a glimmer of hope and a spark of optimism to desperate lives.

#KitaJagaKita

200,000 Coronavirus Cases in Africa

The total number of coronavirus cases in Africa passed 200,000 yesterday, according to the World Health Organization’s office for the region. The continent had added 100,000 cases in eighteen days. 

According to the latest update by the UN health agency, 201,157 people have tested positive for the virus across the 54 countries in Africa, of whom 90,374 have recovered and 5,486 have died, the UN health agency said. 

The Top 7 African countries for confirmed cases are still the same as the list I had put out in my May 23 post (“The Covid-19 Situation in Africa”) – just that there has been a reshuffle in their positions, Nos. 3 to 7:

BTW, these seven countries constitute 72.3% of Africa’s total (or 1.9% of cases worldwide). 

Even for fatalities – where the Top 7 countries make up 81.8% of Africa’s total (or 1.1% of deaths worldwide) – it's the same seven countries as I last reported in May – except for a change in positions, Nos. 2 to 7. 

And just to compare with the Bottom 7 (i.e. the Least Affected countries):

The Covid-19 Situation in Africa

More than three months have lapsed since Egypt became the first country in Africa to confirm a coronavirus case. Since then, the outbreak has reached every nation on the continent of 1.2 billion people – with 100,666 confirmed cases and 3,105 deaths on Friday, according to Africa CDC. 

No doubt Africa recorded just a wee fraction of the world's coronavirus cases – a mere 1.9%. 

Also WHO modelling has predicted that Covid-19 would move more slowly through Africa than elsewhere. It's very comforting to know, that’s for sure.

Still, the fact remains that the virus is raging in pockets of the continent. 

And it has been hit hard by the economic fallout from global trade disruptions, falling oil and commodities prices and the lockdowns deployed to fight the disease's spread. That can be just as hurting. 

I read that the presidents of Ivory Coast, Kenya, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone on Tuesday are already complaining that wealthy countries are failing Africa, with pledges of financial support and debt relief falling well short of the continent's needs as it battles the coronavirus pandemic. 

But it’s not only Africa that is affected – but everywhere too.

Already, the global economy is shrinking by around 5%. According to World Bank estimates, up to 60 million people could be pushed below the poverty line in their latest apocalyptic prediction. 

World Bank president David Malpass (right) said they have so far loaned money for emergency programs in 100 countries, accounting for about 70% of the world’s population, in response to the coronavirus crisis. 

He said the money would “reinforce healthcare systems” as well as pay for medical equipment and supplies.

Many countries' economies are already in dire straits.

Namibia to Raise $1.1 Million from Auction of Wild Animals

Namibia is facing severe drought.

Last month, the government had declared a state of emergency and the country's meteorological services estimate that some parts of Namibia faced the deadliest drought in as many as 90 years. It's nothing new really because the country has seen a succession of droughts since 2013.

Declaration of a National Drought Emergency on May 06, 2019

The southern African nation of 2.4 million people, has previously made calls for aid to assist in the drought emergency that has already affected over half a million people. 

And in April, an agriculture ministry report said 63,700 animals died in 2018 because of deteriorating grazing conditions brought on by dry weather. 

Last week, Namibia’s cabinet announced that the government would sell at least 974 wild animals – the auction was advertised in local newspapers from Friday. 

The environment ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda explained: “The grazing condition in most of our parks is extremely poor and if we do not reduce the number of animals, this will lead to loss of an animals due to starvation”. 

From the proposed sale, they hope to raise $1.1 million that will go towards a state-owned Game Products Trust Fund for wildlife conservation and parks management.

I read in The Namibian on Friday that the UN has to date mobilized N$15 million to complement the government's response to the drought crisis. Hopefully, more financial assistance is forthcoming.

The animals identified include 600 buffalos, 150 springbok, 65 oryx, 60 giraffes, 35 eland, 28 elephants, 20 impala and 16 kudus – all from national parks. 

African buffalo (Scientific name: Syncerus caffer) 

Springbok (Scientific name: Antidorcas marsupialis) 

Oryx (Family: Bovidae; Genus: Oryx) 

South African giraffe (Scientific name: Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) 

Common eland (Scientific name: Taurotragus oryx) 

African elephant (Scientific name: Loxodonta africana) 

Impala (Scientific name: Aepyceros melampus) 

Greater kudu (Scientific name: Tragelaphus strepsiceros)