Page 19 - Thola Issue 17

records for Entumeni, with a total of
six bat species recorded, including
the extremely rare and endangered Swinny’s Horsehoe Bat (Rhinolophus swinnyi). This diminutive bat species was only known from 5-6 localities within KwaZulu-Natal. Our survey work in KwaZulu-Natal has uncovered at least three new occurrence sites for this rare species.
My team then joined researchers from UKZN and Stellenbosch University in surveys of Ndumo Game Reserve, Hlatikulu Forest Reserve and Border Cave, all located in north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal. I last visited Hlatikulu Forest Reserve and Border Cave in 2012. I was delighted to see that the resident population of Egyptian Tomb Bats (Taphozous perforatus), a new species for South Africa discovered in 2011,
has grown in number and that the individual bats are fit and healthy.
The Mammal team were then invited to participate in the bioblitz
of the Mgobezeleni catchment area, situated near Sodwana Bat National Park. The bioblitz was organised by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife in the hopes of generating baseline biodiversity data for the region and to determine, where possible, the impacts of anthropogenic activities within the area. Zama
and I were accompanied by Kirstin
and Natasha from the Entomology Department. We collected eight species of small mammal. There were notable differences in species abundance between areas that are frequently grazed by domestic cattle and those that are protected and/or pristine. As the area is still fairly undersampled,
we hope that we can conduct another survey of the area in the near future.
During October and November, we decided to shift the focus of our surveys
from the KwaZulu-Natal province to that of the Eastern Cape. We spent three weeks sampling four sites within the province. Zama, Mpumi and I were accompanied by ornithologist Professor Gary Voelker, and Heather Prestridge (Texas A&M University, USA) and Dr Sergei Drovetski (Smithsonian Institution, USA). It certainly was a fun- filled three weeks and I was able to collect much needed samples from Egyptian Free- tailed Bats (Tadarida aegyptiaca) towards Sylvana’s studies into the evolutionary history for this rare species.
First on our itinerary was a visit to Allendale Farm near Graaff-Reinet. Striped mice were by far the most dominant small species, occurring in most habitats that we sampled. We then moved our activities to Clifton Lodge near Cradock, where we
were kindly hosted by Marion and Richard Holmes, founders of the Cat Conservation Trust operating out of
17
thola: VOLUME 17. 2014/15