Call in the clean up crew.

For more than 2 years I have been contributing back page articles to this magazine and I have also completed a couple of online courses with them.

My biggest Wildlife Campus achievement to date?

Probably the fact that I started a course with them about 20 years ago…and I have yet to complete it!

That being said, I have never missed the monthly deadline for my articles.

This article first appeared in The Wildlife Campus magazine in February 2021.

Visitors to our local reserves are often focused on the predators, there are those animals without which the plains would be littered with rotting carcasses and piles of dung that were left behind as a result of natural causes or successful hunts.

Included in the clean-up crew of the bush-veld are hyena, jackal, vultures and even the humble dung beetle!

And then there is the dung…a crappy job, but someone has to do it. And that very specific job falls to the almost 800 species found in South Africa. They seem to have a nose for fresh dung and will descend on it in swarms while it is still warm. There are a variety of species in this genre. Some roll dung into round balls and those are used as a food source or breeding chambers. There are tunnelers, who do not roll but bury the dung wherever they find it. And then there are the dwellers, who do nothing except living in the dung! All of them are important for the breakdown and recycling of dung into the soil, enabling the nutrients to cycle through the ecosystem.

“I love animals, but I can’t stand the behaviour of hyenas. They live off of others’ efforts.” Mitta Xinindlu

It seems that thanks to Disney, Hyenas have a bad reputation. If you consider that for many international guests the only knowledge that they have of these apex predators is what the 3 cringing individuals in the Lion King portray. But the traits that Shenzi, Banzai and Crazy Ed portray could not be further from the truth. Hyenas, although seen as scavengers will take down prey if given the opportunity.

They can be belligerent at a kill and will often chase lions away to enjoy a ‘free’ meal. However, only the brown hyena and the striped hyena are primarily scavengers. Spotted hyenas are highly efficient predators, killing 95% of the food that they consume.

Although capable of being fierce competitors for food around a kill and fearless hunters when they have to, hyena can be loving and caring especially where their young are concerned.

And it looks like the feeling is mutual…

Jackals on the other hand are like the hit men of the bush…they will dart in and grab if given the opportunity and they have been known to harass predators far larger than themselves to obtain a ‘free’ meal, ganging up on a lion pride to distract while they steal. And all this at their peril for predators become fiercely jealous of carcasses and will guard them conscientiously.

Jackals are nocturnal, omnivorous scavengers. With their long legs and curved canine teeth, they are well adapted for hunting. Jackals, normally hunt alone or in pairs but they will gather in larger groups to scavenge at a carcass or to hunt larger prey.

Vultures play an essential role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. These misunderstood birds fly in from huge distances to pick decaying carcasses clean, thereby helping to prevent disease outbreaks. A world without vultures would be a foul-smelling place filled with disease and carcasses across our landscape.

How important are vultures? Vultures play a vital role in the clean-up of the environments in which they live. Often referred to as ‘Nature’s Clean-Up Crew’, their scavenging ways help to prevent the spread of diseases, such as rabies and tuberculosis by clearing away carcasses. What would happen if vultures became extinct?

According to National Geographic, these endangered scavengers are crucial because “without vultures, reeking carcasses would likely linger longer, insect populations would boom, and diseases would spread – to people, livestock, and other wild animals”.

And what of the Vultures? They too have their pecking (pun intended) order as the various species have a specific role to play in how they tackle the remains of a carcass.

The etiquette at a carcass is determined by the shape of their beaks, with the Lappet-faced Vulture first in line. White-backed Vultures are next in line followed by White-headed Vultures who don’t enjoy jostling for food and would rather wait patiently until they can pick off a piece of meat and walk off to eat in peace. And finally, after all of the other vultures have feasted, the critically endangered Hooded Vultures, the smallest and least vigorous of the species will carefully dig out the more tender portions. Their beaks enable them to remove tiny bits of flesh that the others are unable to reach.

The next time you are in a clean, dung-free ecosystem, you will know who you have to thank.

Now, if only we could get them the clean up the urban areas as well…

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