Courting Warthogs

By Kakae Saiteu, Guide - Greystoke Mahale

Warthogs are often one of the first animals seen upon arrival at Greystoke Mahale, resting near the tents or in the shade of trees on the beach. They are also frequently observed at the front of the tents, drinking from the water bowls that the guests use to wash the sand off their feet.

On 10 December, 2008, a pair of warthogs were seen courting in an open area, 15 metres from the mess building. The boar (male) spent much time sniffing the sow’s (female) genitals, grooming her coat with his mouth, and making mouth-to-mouth contact (which could be perceived as kissing). When the sow was laying on her side, the boar kept on grooming and nudging her flanks---apparently in an attempt to get her up, but he was unsuccessful. He then gave up and laid down beside the sow. About 1 minute later the sow got up and groomed the boar’s coat for about 2 minutes. He responded by standing up, and again groomed the sow and sniffed her genitals before stretching and repeatedly attempting to rest his chin on her rump. The boar’s chin resting on the sow’s rump is the final step/stimulus prior to mating. Fully receptive sows then typically stand for the boar to mate her.

On this occasion, despite all this courtship activity, the sow never stood for the boar, but kept darting away. The courting that we saw lasted for about 40 minutes, after which both warthogs walked into the nearby bush and out of sight.

Obama's narrow escape

By Vianney Jacob Kabwine, Guide –Greystoke Mahale.

Yellow baboons, vervet monkeys, red tailed monkeys, warthogs, and bushbuck and blue duikers are some of the animals that are found within Greystoke Mahale. They normally spend much of their time feeding on fruits, grass, leaves and insects as well as anything they can find that is edible around our kitchens and sometimes even taking food from the mess. They can get very close to people, sometimes as little as one meter away, but if they see you coming with anything in your hands they usually run away.

On 13th December a bushbuck (once known as George, now known as Obama) was feeding around the camp area at around 5:00pm. He used to be seen with his family but nowadays he is all alone, no one knows where the rest of the family are. He often feeds along the mess building and from room number one to room number three where grasses are suitable for him.

That evening as night fell he was looking for a place to sleep. He stayed near the office for some time and he then disappeared. At around 10:00pm we heard something running in the bushes behind the mess building. It was Obama, being chased by a leopard. He went straight out on to the beach and he stood there for some minutes looking back to see if the leopard was still coming after him. Once he realized that he was safe, he slowly walked into the mess building where he often sleeps and spent the night in safety there. Sometimes the warthogs and even yellow baboons and vervet monkeys will go to the mess building if they feel that they are not secure enough when a leopard is in camp.

Palm nut vultures at Mahale

By Gabriel L Mushi - Guide, Greystoke Mahale

Vultures are birds of prey that typically depend on carrion for food. In Mahale there is only one species of vulture, the palm nut-vulture. The head, neck, back, rump, upper tail converts, and undersides of the adult birds are white, while the scapulars, secondaries, and greater upper wing converts are black.

The palm nut vulture is the most common large bird that you are likely to see when at Mahale. Their presence and abundance is linked to the oil palms, the fruits of which are their main food. This bird feeds on the brown-orange outer flesh of the oil palm fruits, as well as on the fruits of the wild date palm. Oil palm trees cover parts of the lowland areas of the Mahale rain forest. This tree is not native to Mahale, it was introduced by the Tongwe people who lived in this area before it was established as a national park. Palm nut vulture also scavenges dead fish from Lake Tanganyika, hence removing carrion. Since carrion can harbor diseases, the presence of palm nut vultures in Mahale is one good indicator of a healthy environment.

Unlike other vultures, the palm nut vulture often catches live prey---both on land and from the water. On several occasions I have seen them grabbing fish with their feet from the lake surface and then carrying the fish to a tree or to the lake shore to feed on it. Palm nut vultures also practice ‘kleptoparasitism’, that is, the behavior of stealing food from other species. They are known to steal food from white-napped ravens. Twice I have witnessed a palm nut vulture that was carrying food being chased by a white-napped raven. Presumably the vulture had taken the food from the raven.

Most of the time palm nut vultures are silent but they do call from their nest sites in the forest. They give a surprisingly loud, distinctive barking call. They lay one egg. Both sexes incubate the egg. Nestlings are covered with brown down. The presumed primary predators of the eggs and nestlings are vervet monkeys and yellow baboons.

Picture - Tom Butynski

Pay attention to Christmas the chimp

By Hassani Rashid, Tracker - Greystoke Mahale

On your visit to Mahale Mountain National Park, you will see many chimpanzees. Among these is one chimp known as “Christmas”….one of the adult males of the M-community. He was born on Christmas Day.
Christmas likes to play a game whenever he sees trackers, guides, clients, or researchers. During this game he gives an impressive and funny display…dragging logs, and hitting trees and the ground. When he sees people are laughing and watching him, he continues to do this, but if he realizes that no one is watching, he stops, look at the people, and waits for them to pay attention to him. When that happens he continues his performance. When other big males are present he always stays calm until they disappear at which time he restarts his play display. His behavior is one of the most interesting things that our clients observe….and enjoy.











Christmas, picture by Dave Christensen