In the past 10 days Mankwe has received over 250ml's of rain, it has arrived in heavy downpours of over 70mls at a time which has caused all the rivers to flood, causing extensive damage to our roads and fences. The team has been hard at work repairing the damage but with more rain predicted it will be an on going job.
The water levels at Waterbuck Camp were so high that the rain came up to the verandah of the chalet and 100's of barbel were seen swimming on the lawn.
At one point we thought that the lower cabins at Nkombi camp might be swept away the river was roaring past so fast.

Today we caught a glimpse of a new baby giraffe, probably the first calf for this shy Mum. She is separating herself from the herd and she likes to stay hidden in the thicket areas. Hopefully we will be able to get a better view of the baby when it is a little older. Watch this space for more photo's

We would like to welcome, Samantha and Brendon Schimmel to the Mankwe family. In the month you have been here you have showed us what you are capable of and we would like to thank you for coping so well with all of the challengers lately.

Juno is the young brown hyena that was found running through the streets of Johannesburg, she was brought to Mankwe 3 months ago for rehabilitation, she has gained weight and is now quite at home in her enclosure. It is so good to see the terrified animal that arrived here so calm and relaxed. She is frequently seen during the day which is an indication that she does not feel threatened.
We hope to receive the collar, that has been ordered by the SPCA, in the next month as she is definitley ready to be released. The 'drop off collar' that has been  made in Sweden will enable us to monitor her movements and hopefully assist her should she run into any trouble. The data collected from the collar will help us learn more about brown hyena behaviour and will hopefully help us make an informed decision should we receive another brown hyena for rehabilitation and release.

After the hottest and driest summer in many years the rains have finally arrived. All but 2 dams had dried up and the bush was tinder dry and the animals were starting to lose condition.. We were panicking that the rains were not going to come and that we were going to have to take off a lot of grazers. On the 24th of February the heavens opened and we received 70mls of rain in a coupe of hours. The reserve was transformed, streams and rivers were full and the dams started to fill. Motlobo dam at Waterbuck camp overflowed and the water levels rose up on to the lawn.

We were asked by a local vet to rehabilitate two young large spotted genets. We housed them at Nkombi camp for a couple of weeks until they had adjusted to their environment and they were older enough to hunt on their own. On the 26th February we opened the door to their enclosure and released them at the camp. They were hesitant at first but after a while they ventured out. They were later spotted sitting quite happily at the top of the tree. We will continue to feed them until we feel they can fend for themselves.

Otley College from Southern U.K have just spent 10 days at Mankwe on a field course. There were 11 students who were accompanied by their lecturing staff, Kevin and Vicky. This small motivated group was interested in all aspects of wildlife management and I was impressed with the amount of effort they put into their personal projects. 800 different dung beetles were collected in the dung beetle project and an interesting behavioural study was done at the waterholes using camera traps. The most impressive thing about this group was the empathy and passion they showed to the plight of the rhino in South Africa. 
They had excellent game viewing whilst at Mankwe and in the Pilanesberg including lion, black rhino and elephant.
They were also fortunate enough to see several different snake species as they are very active at this time of the year.
Thank you to the group for being such an interested group and for supporting us in our anti poaching efforts.