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.