The Sacred heart school from Canada got in touch with us some time back and I thought it would be interesting to respond to their various questions via the blog so that the information can be shared with everyone. On an average yearly basis Haller park receives around 150,000 visitors from all over the world including tourists, students, scientists and even on some occasions it attracts celebrities such as the world cross country athletes. The park has a strict safety policy and on those grounds we do not have any poisonous or venomous animals. Not all the animals in the park have been named either. Most of the time it’s just those who were rescued like Owen and Mzee or brought in by their owners like Sally and Cleo. There are countless numbers of animals that live in the Haller Park since the majority do not live in the enclosures and are free roaming its difficult to give a precise number but someone at the park is currently doing a survey on just that.

This is Sita and one of the young giraffes browsing near Owen and Cleo's enclosure in the evenings.

Owen looking a little startled here, ooh, watch out there little fellow or you might lose your dinner.

It has been a while since I posted any news of Owen and Cleo on the blog and a few of you have been asking for an update. I have been visiting them regularly and the last time I was there Cleo and the giraffes were getting well acquainted with each other. The whole giraffe herd was hanging around the area near Cleo and Owens enclosure where Trinity the dominant male of the herd was feeding on the leaves of an acacia tree that was overhanging into the grassland where Owen and Cleo were grazing. Cleo’s reaction to the giraffe was to lift her head in a greeting and snort in his direction. It was almost as though the two of them recognised each other and were passing unspoken words of mutual understanding Owen didn’t acknowledge the giraffes and kept on feeding.

Sally and Potty feeding on their dairy cubes in the late afternoon surrounded by vervets and ducks

During Sally and Potty’s feeding time I noticed that Sally aggressive and assertive as she is, managed to scare off the two buffalo that were merely trying to get across to the other side, afraid they may be trying to steal some of her dairy cubes although she didn’t seem to mind the constant attacks on her food by vervet monkeys. Perhaps they have an agreement with Sally, a few dairy cubes to go and bully the buffaloes that she obviously doesn’t like very much.

Here is a picture of the two lovely ladies. One of which came into the park on her own accord. I have tried to picture a random buffalo walking around Mombasa many a times, making me laugh without fail. It strikes me sheer luck that no one got to her before she found her way into the park. The whole thing is a real mystery.

Contrary to common belief I think I have proven that dung can actually be quite pleasing to the eye when displayed as this dung mosaic. The top left hand corner is a dung pile, courtesy of an adult male oryx. The faecal pellets are almond shaped, very dark black coloured and distinctly separate from each other compared to the waterbuck dung which is larger, clustered and more compact. The age of the waterbucks also makes a difference in the way it looks. The bottom left dung picture is of an eland adult male. The faecal pellets are black, circular with slightly compressed edges and are larger than oryx pellets. The bottom right photo is tortoise dung. Looking carefully at the contents of the faeces you can make out what the tortoise had for his lunch…..dead leaves! I would have liked to show you what hippo dung looks like but unfortunately by the time Cleo or Owen are done flicking their tail over it there isnt really anything photo worthy left as well as the fact that they defecate in the water most of the time.

Last night I was at the Kaya feeding the bush babies trying to see what fruit they preferred to eat. I gave them a choice of banana, mango and tomatoe. They completely ignored the mango and the tomatoe but gorged on the banana often fighting amongst each other to get the small chunks of banana. There were at least 6 bush babies that live around the kaya and nest in the fig trees. One of the older ones is blind but has a really good sense of smell and sound. He doesn’t react to anything else I do unless its something to do with bananas. As you can see from the photo they have incredibly reflective eyes. One of them managed to sneak behind me and started going through my bag where I had kept all the bananas. I would never have expectedvervet monkeysort of behaviour coming from a bushbaby. My amusement was cut short by the heavy downpour of rain. Perhaps next time I may be able to coax one into eating something other than a banana.

At the newly rehabilitated quarry where the six giraffes are accommodated, I came across our oldest female Soy in a rather awkward position while drinking water. Normally giraffes have to spread their front legs really wide and bend their necks to enable them to reach the water. In this instance because of the wet terrain and slippery mud Soy had bent her front legs to get a better grip or else she would have done a giraffe version of a split. You can almost imagine how hard it would be for a flattened giraffe to stand up again. Soy is a pure Rothschild giraffe brought to the park from the giraffe centre in Nairobi. She was accompanied by a cross-bred female called Pansy who is half Rothschild and half Maasai. Pansy was moved to the Haller Park because the centre wanted only pure bred maasai giraffes. The giraffes are not kept inside the Haller Park because they are not suited to the forest environment and are therefore herded in the open grassland areas of the South Quarry adjacent to the Park. Interesting facts are that the giraffes are the tallest land mammals and an adult’s heart weighs around 7kg. Now that is what I call a big heart.

One of the male elands restingin Sally and Pottyenclosure

Oryx herd being let out of Boma in the morning

Eland and Oryx were introduced into the park as a domestication project and to regulate the vegetation by their feeding habits. Their meat was initially sold to surrounding hotels and distributors to bring in some extra money into the park, which was stopped during the change in Kenyan Law. The Herds are kept in a boma during the night and are released during the day. I often see them wondering around in the early mornings outside Owen and Cleo’s enclosure. Elands are the largest of the African antelope and a fully-grown adult male can weigh up to 700kg. Oryx are considered one of our most handsome species at the park with their distinct colour contrasts and long straight horns. As you walk around the park lands the most conspicuous features on the ground are normally the large piles of dung so generously donated by the antelopes to enrich the soil. Perhaps in the next blog we can explore differences in various animal dung. Its a good skill to have for animal tracking.

Two aldabra tortoises mating

While coming into work one morning I was distracted by a curious sound which was coming fromthe around the Oryx boma. Upon close insepection Ifoundthese two aldabra tortoises in the middleoftheir mating process. Maletortoises ofall species are very vocal during mating while the female is virtually silent. It is almost an amusing eventsince tortoises are normally mute except for the occasional hissing duringtheir dailyactivities.It takes a male a large amount of energy and quite a struggle to climb onto the females back. That isaround 250kgontop of the female. There have been no young aldabra tortoises produced at the park. This is because they lay eggs in dug out nest pits and the ground at the park is unsuitable for this.

Asfor our famous two Owen and Mzee,each one is happily going about their days. I saw Owen exploring new territories in the enclosure, ontop of the island in the centre of thepond, grazing on the grass. When I went to visit Mzee he was busy chewing on a pile of dairy cubes that had been laid out for him in the evening with a content look in his eyes.

Introducing our special guest......Dr Rene Haller, the agronomist who created Haller Park.

A picture of two remarkable personalities that are greatly respected by all and in Doctor Haller’s own words ‘a photo of Mzee with an old Mzee’. ‘Just like in the good old days’ were the first words he said as we jumped over the wall into mzee’s kaya. The kaya was the first section of the park to be rehabilitated and all around it was just barren land if you walked a few kilometres in either direction. As we made our way through the kaya in search of our old friend, the young female waterbuck I had posted a photo off stopped grazing and stared up at us. Next to her were Toto and Mzee intently feeding on the leaves they had been given and to their right was a female bushbuck. As we approached nearer Dr Haller lowered himself to ground level and called softly to the animals. The bushbuck slowly approached us but stopped short close to Mzee. As he knelt down beside Mzee and stroked his neck the tortoise’s immediate reaction was to extend his neck and body in acceptance of his show of affection. It was like two old friends meeting again after a long time.

Picture of the female waterbuck that lives in the kaya with Toto and Mzee 

The Aldabra tortoises were first discovered washed up on the beach by Dr Haller who initially took them to his home to care for keeping them in his garden but later, moved them to the park. He related the story of how Mzee was given to him by a man in Nairobi who had kept him as a pet for some years. The ruptures on the shell were the result of a truck running into him when he was in the care of his previous owner. He estimates that Mzee is between 120-150 years old, no one is certain of his precise age. When the aldabra tortoises were first introduced into the park Dr Haller was concerned about what they could be fed as on their native Aldabra Islands the tortoises only fed on a particular species of grass. Since then they have adapted and can feed on a wider range of vegetation. They are Haller parks very own lawn mowers since they used to feed on the grassy turf and as a result keep the grass short. The picture of the spider posted in the lastentry is indeed a Buffalo spider for all those of you who suggested that. It has a very unique looking torso with its spiney appendages on the abdomen. The spiders were among some of the Introduced species into the park to control the population explosion of Belonogaster wasps. The spiders managed to control wasp populations by trapping them in their webs. With that information ingested I would like to wish you all a good Easter.

Thankyou for all your appreciative comments, I try my best! I am sorry about the delay for this blog (computer issues) and although I hate to disappoint you as I am aware of how eager you are to see our suprise photo guest I’m afraid I am going to have to test your patience for our guest a little longer. Please bear with me. In the mean time I have accumulated a series of photos I would like to share with you from some of my routine wonderings of the park. I am glad to be able to finally display this clever camouflage trick displayed by a butterfly (a prize from all that chasing I did previously). Take a thorough look among the dead leaves…….can you spot it?

Ok so it wasn't too hard

This is commonly known as the African Queen. (Im sure the male butterflies have something to say about that).

The outer sides of the wings (when folded) blend perfectly with dead leaves and twigs therefore when a butterfly is perched with its wings folded on the ground it is not immediately obvious to predators. Some butterflies have large spots like painted eyes used to deter predators while some mimic other butterflies that may be known by predators to be foul tasting or poisonous so they are left alone. Whereas the brighter and more vivid colours of a butterflies wings on the inner sides (when folded) are used to attract mates. The males are more brightly coloured than the females, the same is true for most animal species.

This particular female was rather tame and allowed me to approach her at quite a close distance, giving me her version of a ‘dazzling smile’. I spotted her grazing outside Mzee’s Kaya. She is part of a family of eight individuals that roams free throughout the park. They can be seen during the day in most of the ponds feeding on the water lilies. Waterbucks are able to go into water frequently due to a ‘smelly’ secretion that covers their hides making them waterproof and are for the most part a last resort for many predators especially lions due to their repulsive taste. According to some sources they are not the most intelligent of animals.

I caughtthis Cleo moment on camera while she was playing with a branch. She usually picks branches from the bottom of the pond and on one occasion, much to my surprise a small tree trunk and grasps them between her teeth shaking her head from side to side much like a playful dog. She submerges with the branches and re-emerges with them resting on her back, thereafter she falls asleep only to reawaken minutes later to do it all over again. In the photo it looks like Cleo is preparing for a scuba diving lesson as she is holding one of these branches in a position that reminds me of a snorkel. Cleo and Owen have formed a whole routine which they follow on an almost day to day basis which shows that they seem to have accepted one another rather well. Talk about being like an old married couple!

To finish this edition of the update I thought it was about time to post a photo of a spider, something that has been much debated in the past. All the arachnophobes I advise you to look away now!

Can you identify which species this is?

Hello bloggers! After frantically chasing butterflies for a photo, I had a long visit with Mzee and Toto, perhaps to some degree outstaying my welcome when the tortoise outside the kaya began to move towards me (in tortoise lightening speed) hissing. I am glad to inform you that both Mzee and Toto looked well, going about their daily routine; Toto’s consisting of a day long mud bath and Mzee wondering around in his corner eating bits of grass, twigs and leaves. The next time I visited him he was in the middle of a mid-morning nap under the shade as the heat has been intense for the past couple of weeks here. Unfortunately bloggers you will have to be patient about receiving a photo of the old guy because a ‘special someone’ wants to be featured with Mzee in the next ‘photo shoot’. What I will show you is my ‘attacker’ at the peak of the potential assault.

Since there were requests to see certain animals in the upcoming blogs I have tried my best to satisfy the preferences as much as possible and included a picture of 2 vervet monkeys in the middle of a good scratch. They normally hang around the enclosure in abundance during the late afternoon prior to Cleo and Owens meal times eagerly awaiting any remnants from the hippo feast. Once in a while one may even get the chance to sneak a whole dairy cube right from under Cleo or Owens nose. Vervet monkeys are regarded as pests where they occur in urban areas and are by far the most skillful animal ‘Pick pockets’. The best advice I can give you is never, and I mean never, turn your back on your food when vervets are near.

Above: Owen and Cleo enjoying their dinner together.

In the heat of the morning sun Cleo rests at the edge of the pond with her sleepy gaze on me while next to her Owen every now and again bobs up to the surface for some air exposing two pink nostrils after heavily blowing bubbles from under the water. Things have been rather peaceful at the enclosure with Owen and Cleo. The pair have been getting along rather well and Cleo seems to be taking good care of little Owen since the move of his friend Mzee. Cleo restless as ever goes on her rounds of the pond in search of the ideal resting spot but never lingers too long in one place and is constantly returning to Owens side if only briefly, just to make sure that he is ok or so it appears that way. Although the pair seem like a tranquil duo in the water the bully in Cleo emerges when they are on land. This was quite obvious at feeding time. Cleo was the first to get out of the water cautiously followed by Owen. She began eating her pile of dairy cubes but when she had had enough of that she moved towards Owen, nudged him away and started eating his food making him eat her leftovers. I think she uses her size to her advantage a little too much. Owen is still shy and perhaps a little afraid of his roommate. If ever during the course of the day I want to find Owen there is a high chance he is either underwater by Cleo's side or  hiding in his favorite spot under the shelter of the mangroves while spotting Cleo, is almost an effortless job.

This past week saw a turn of events in the Owen and Cleo enclosure. Until now, Owen, Cleo, Mzee and Tortoise 11 were living quite peacefully together and it looked as though things were settling down into a routine. However we noticed that Cleo was beginning to harass tortoise 11 and push him around. She kept doing this until we became concerned for his wellbeing. When we removed tortoise 11, he had bruises along the edges and undersides of his shell as a result of Cleo’s rough behaviour. It takes quite a bit of pushing around to injure a giant Aldabran tortoise! We realised that it would be risky for Mzee to stay in there also. So as a matter of safety, we had to remove Mzee from the enclosure. This was a heavy decision for us to make in the light of Owen and Mzee’s friendship. A lot of our blog readers have also expressed concern about Owen and Mzee’s friendship being affected. Although we sincerely wanted nothing to affect the friendship, it would not have been correct for us to push the course of events and risk Mzee being injured by Cleo.

However we are pleased to report that Mzee and Tortoise 11 are doing well. We returned Mzee back to his old enclosure with Toto and surprisingly he has already settled right back into his old routine and locations. Toto seemed as though she had missed Mzee, and was happy to have him back.