NHACAINGA CONSERVANCY
WILDLIFE
Observations in the field over the last few years have shown a good variety of wildlife but numbers of all species are low. Species currently occurring in Nhacainga Conservancy are:
elephant
buffalo
sable
eland
Lichtenstein's hartebeest
zebra
kudu
nyala
waterbuck
impala
reedbuck
bushbuck
oribi
klipspringer
suni
red duiker
grey duiker
grysbok
bushpig
warthog
baboon
lion
leopard
spotted hyaena
jackal
caracal
civet
genet
Dassies (hyraxes) abound on the hills and there are also porcupines and antbears. Large numbers of cane rats are seen at certain times and their numbers appear to be very cyclical. Predators are present but appear to be at very low density. Male lion move through the area and there are a small number of females thought to be resident. Leopard tracks and sign have increased over the last two years and it is thought they had been particularly susceptible to the gin traps. Tracks for a small pack of African wild dogs have also been seen.
At the present there are thought to be about 350 - 400 elephant in 5 to 8 breeding herds together with the smaller aggregations of bulls. The elephant range throughout the Nhacainga Conservancy during the rainy season and are more localised around available water during the dry season. The estimated 100 buffalo show a similar pattern of dependency on water. The buffalo would often leave the Nhacainga Conservancy during the dry season in search of large bodies of water. However, with the provision of permanent water by five boreholes this is likely to help keep the buffalo all year round.
A 20% aerial sample count was conducted for the Nhacainga Conservancy in October, 2005 (see table below for results). It is important to realise that aerial counts will generally provide population estimates that are low and that the degree of inaccuracy increases as the species become smaller and more cryptic. For example, the current manager estimates that there are between 1500 - 2000 impala within the Nhacainga Conservancy and yet the aerial survey estimated only 14 impala. Also, no buffalo were observed as the herds had moved onto an adjacent wildlife area at the time of the count.
Species Number Population CI% Density
seen estimate (/sq km)
Baboon 86 392 68.2 0.18
Bushbuck 3 14 105.0 0.01
Bushpig 14 64 131.1 0.03
Duiker 13 59 59.2 0.03
Eland 20 91 112.0 0.04
Elephant 73 333 120.0 0.15
Grysbok 1 5 185.9 <.01
Hartebeest 26 119 119.7 0.05
Impala 3 14 188.1 0.01
Klipspringer 2 9 129.9 <.01
Kudu 121 552 34.4 0.25
Oribi 8 37 103.1 0.02
Reedbuck 1 5 186.7 <.01
Sable 21 96 179.1 0.04
Warthog 74 338 38.9 0.15
The Cessna 206 survey plane on the air strip at Nhacainga Conservancy
getting ready for take off. From left to right John Cadd (pilot), Drew Conybeare
(Survey co-ordinator) and Mike Bramford (Nhacainga Manager)