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These elephants are part of an initiative to establish a population of elephants on a new part of the reserve that has not had elephants for an estimated 150 years. This translocation forms part of broader elephant conservation measures within South Africa to expand the habitat available for elephants to thrive. As one of the … Continued
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Few trees have such a fitting name as does the Shepherd Tree. Both the Latin species name Boscia albitrunca and the Afrikaans name Witgatboom refer to the conspicuous white trunk. The English name also aptly describes this tree whose green canopy often stands out in the arid environments in which it thrives. The particular subspecies … Continued
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And so it is that we find ourselves in the second week of 2022. Quite how it is now almost two years since the start of the pandemic that still permeates our everyday remains a mystery to me. As anticipated, 2021 by no means returned us to a pre-COVID world. It remained a difficult year, … Continued
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We have long known that leopard exist on and around Samara, having seen the occasional track and other signs of these elusive cats over the years. In 2014, we captured a photograph of a leopard in a camera trap, and Master Tracker Pokkie Benadie had found tracks of a large male in the hidden kloofs … Continued
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A long, long time ago there was a hunter who had gone out to find food for his family. It was hot and the hunter was a lazy character. He quickly tired in the heat and sat under a tree, observing a herd of impala that was grazing close by. He wished that there was … Continued
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With thanks to David Bristow for the title of this essay, borrowed from a chapter heading in his book Big Pharma, Dirty Lies, Busy Bees and Eco Activists – one of the best books I have read all year. Well, we made it. Finally, 2020 is behind us. A tumultuous year in which we have … Continued
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What is culture? The United Nations agency UNESCO defines this somewhat intangible concept as: the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of a society or a social group, that encompasses not only art and literature, but lifestyles, ways of living together, values systems, traditions and beliefs. Put simply, culture makes us human … Continued
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Conservation is Samara’s raison-d’être. The reserve was born out of a conservation vision to restore and rewild a unique part of South Africa – a region that once witnessed the most impressive land-based migration on Earth, the springbok migration. Consulting expert ecologists throughout the land acquisition process, Samara’s founders sought to secure key conservation territory … Continued
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Collectively, The Long Run members help to conserve over 21 million acres of biodiversity, celebrating 120 different cultures and improving the lives of 750,000 people. By joining this movement, we have committed to a continuous journey of improvement towards excellence in sustainability by achieving a balance in the 4Cs – Conservation, Community, Culture & Commerce. … Continued
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However researchers from Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth were able to obtain permits to visit Samara during lockdown in order to conduct essential, time-bound research. The team, led by Professor Graham Kerley, serviced a large array of camera traps that have been collecting data on the use of grasslands by the populations of black … Continued
