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Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Blue Flag status - Blue Flag status
Hippo on the move
 | October 29, 2007 | Zululand OBSERVER |
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Zululand Shore Angling Association
 | October 29, 2007 | Zululand OBSERVER |
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Not one of our bokke
| | October 29, 2007 | Zululand OBSERVER |
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Sunday, October 28, 2007
St. Lucia Estuary Water Levels
Fishing Conditions.
After 175 days of fresh life giving ocean water washing into the system marine life has been replenished in the St. Lucia Estuary. Fishing is generally good from vessels all round up to the Narrows.
Access with boats on the estuary during low water level conditions that where experienced before 09 March 2007 was the main obstacle for anglers. Currently the water levels are high and the estuary is fairly accessible for boats.
Launch permits must be obtained from KZN Wildlife and there is a few new inland water laws to adhere to. Contact your closest boating club for more information. It is less troublesome to belong to an accredited boat club.
The St. Lucia Estuary mouth closed naturally during a strong South Easterly spell in August. Good inland rainfall has stabilized the water levels but much more rain is needed in the catchments of the St. Lucia system for the Estuary and ocean to breach naturally again.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Suspension of Wild Abalone Commercial Fishing
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Wednesday, October 24, 2007
GO AMABHOKOBHOKO GO!
| | October 19, 2007 | Zululand OBSERVER |
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Zululand Observer staff, along with the entire nation, have contracted a severe dose of World Cup Rugby fever and are looking forward to Saturday's battle against the English for the William Webb Ellis trophy. May our united spirit lift the men in green and gold to emulate Francois Pienaar's 1995 heroes and play a vital part in nation building
Saturday, October 20, 2007
St Lucia mouth closes - Friday 24 August 2007
St Lucia mouth closes
October 15, 2007;
Thursday, October 18, 2007
| | October 19, 2007 | Zululand OBSERVER |
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Huberta rules the waves
| | October 15, 2007 | Zululand OBSERVER |
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Appeal to all South Africans and Springbok Supporters:
This is a patriotic appeal to Springbok supporters and proud South Africans all over the world, and particularly those in London and England. This is a very important message and requires your support to spread the word and make it happen.
This Friday, 19th October, we call upon all South Africans abroad to wear green and gold in public, especially on their way to and from work. Whether it is your Springbok rugby jersey or just a South Africa t-shirt - make sure it's visible. If you are required to wear a suit - wear it over your shirt and tie on your way in to work. If you work casual - wear your green and gold!
This is in response to a similar call made by Thabo Mbeki earlier in the week to South Africans at home, to show our very proud support and solidarity for John Smit and the team as they take on England this Saturday in the Rugby World Cup final.
Let us show the world that we stand as one - 100% behind the men in Green and Gold. Wear your colours not with arrogant pride but with a sense of unity and how far our nation has come!
Most importantly: as a matter of urgency please forward this message by email, SMS or word of mouth to all the South Africans you know. Time is of the essence. Send it back home to family and friends so they can send it on to others abroad. Let's show the world.
This is not only for a bit of fun - press and other organisations have been informed to capture the day. This show of support will hopefully be broadcast and the boys in France will gain a sense of the immense support behind them.
All the best, and most of all, enjoy the game on Saturday!
Come on Bokke!!!!!!
Monday, October 15, 2007
Fishing Report 15 October 2007
Fishing Report 15 October 2007
As predicted, it was a great fishing weekend, some grunter came out at the narrows and some at the mouth area. Not many people where fishing.
Deep-sea:
The guys where catching nice bottom fish and the hopes are up for Dorado during November. Currently the wind is blowing strong South Westerly and the dirty water is pushed passed Mission Rocks and will only be clear again over the weekend.
Best fishing days for the coming week will be from Friday onwards.
North of swimming beach… al the way to the slides.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Wetland Park welcomes rains
| October 12, 2007 | Zululand OBSERVER |
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White pelicans at St Lucia
Work From home...
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Travel Destinations and Holiday Accommodation
National Fishing Report
South Africa
Accommodation Album Contact Details Fishing Report
Elephant Coast StLuciaOrgZa News Archives KZN Wildlife
Fishing Report 10 October 2007
Some good old Zululand rain has been experienced since Sunday. We are running into the 100 mm at some places along the Eastern Shores. The end is not in sight yet.
With the iMfolozi River flowing again anglers has made some good catches around this river mouth.
People fishing at Cape Vidal where less fortunate. It seems that the bad weather has scared the rock dwellers into deeper waters. No Reports where heard from Mission Rocks.
Best Fishing for the next week….
Small rods and light tackle along the bay at Cape Vidal and around the sand banks at the Estuary mouth of St. Lucia. See our article about drop shot vs bait.
Rock and Surf will be best at the lighthouse South of Cape Vidal and at the river mouth south of St. Lucia Estuary.
Ski Boat fishing will be great at the turn of this weather front. This should happen at around Friday.
St. Lucia Estuary mouth status:
Currently close….status will only change with human intervention or a cyclone.
There is currently no human intervention planned from the Park Authorities side.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Captive Wild Animal Workshop
Captive Wild Animal Workshop
October 9, 2007;
NEWS ITEM No: 2007 - 10 - 09
KZN WILDLIFE TO HOST CAPTIVE WILD ANIMAL WORKSHOP
For immediate release
As part of a public consultation process with regard to formulating draft recommendations on a proposed policy relating to the management of "ex situ" wild animals, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is to hold a public meeting at its head office in the Queen Elizabeth Park, Montrose, Pietermaritzburg on 13 October 2007 starting at 09.30 and finishing at 12.30.
The purpose of this meeting is to allow stakeholders the opportunity to discuss recommendations for the management of "ex situ" animals in KZN for later submission to the KZN MEC for Agriculture and Environmental Affairs , and to discuss areas where norms and standards for such animals are needed.
"Ex situ" animals are deemed to be any wild animals (birds, mammals or reptiles), exotic or indigenous, kept in captivity or out of their natural, wild environment for which control of use and management is provided for in legislation.
In addition, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has arranged a series of four stakeholder workshops to be held at the Krantzkloof Nature Reserve during October and November 2007 to develop norms and standards for various "ex situ" taxonomic groups - ie birds, mammals or reptiles - and/or sectors, ie rehabilitation.
Interested parties and stakeholders are asked to contact Tracey Jacobs telephonically on 031-4670447 or by email on business-services@iafrica.com for further information and to confirm their attendance.
AJG/ MEDIA RELEASE: EX SITU WILD ANIMALS MEETING 04/10/2007
AJG/ News Item No: 2007 - 10 - 09
Monday, October 8, 2007
Traditional Hunting with Dogs
A classic example of the old established order clashing with the new democracy. Our new constitution gives every citizen rights, but sometimes how these rights may be utilized is unclear. African people have always hunted with dogs and in the past when these traditions were formed, both land and animals were almost limitless. Enter the colonial period when land is owned, fenced and the hunting of game is strictly regulated. There is immediate conflict and this hunting practice is classified as poaching and severely restricted except in tribal areas. Hunting with dogs goes underground and is practised illegally on private land with regular confrontations between land owners and hunters, usually ending up with the dogs being shot and the hunters being convicted and fined or imprisoned. There is a shift in emphasis in this practice, where the prowess of the individual dogs becomes more important than the hunting of meat and the value of good hunting dogs escalates enormously. C onflict, where very valuable dogs are destroyed by landowners, heightens the resentment of hunters who believe that they have a right to practise this tradition. This must be seen against the use of hunting dogs by white landowners for game and waterfowl shoots, destroying so called vermin with hunt packs and for hunting animals like bush pigs and leopard. All within the law!
1994 and a new South Africa. The rights of all are enshrined in the new constitution, especially African people and their traditions. Hunting with dogs comes out of the closet and there is immediate conflict where these hunts are being conducted with the police and the courts being caught between the hunters and the landowners. Finally, after years of standoffs, meetings, negotiations and studies, a set of guidelines and procedures is produced that recognises both the rights of the hunters and the landowners. Hunts must be well disciplined and organised and the number of hunters and dogs are strictly limited. Hunting with dogs may only take place during the hunting season and subject to the issue of permits by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the landowners written permission. These detailed procedures put the traditional practice of hunting with dogs on the same basis as all other forms of hunting, where it becomes a sport adhering to the principle of 'fair chase' and a viable economic activity for the landowner.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Poo, Droppings, Scats - Signs in the bush!.
There is an art to visiting game reserves which once learnt, enormously enhances ones enjoyment of the bush. I am not talking about how you camp or how you braai. Nor about where the best game viewing opportunities are or what to do if confronted by an angry elephant. I am talking about reading the bush news. How many times have you heard people complaining about not seeing any animals. And by animals they mean the 'big five' or certainly the big and hairy. They are driving around as detached observers without really seeing all the pieces of the beautiful and colourful mosaic they are moving through. Every plant, every insect, every pile of droppings tells a story about the things going on in that little patch of bush. Even driving a vehicle allows you to stop where you will and closely examine the things around you with the naked eye or close up with binoculars. Of course on foot you are very much a part of things (and if you do happen to get close to large animals you are v ery conscious of this indeed). You can take the time to examine the minutiae of the bush at close range: plants, insects, birds, tracks and the faecal remains or scats of animals that live there or have passed through. Animal droppings are extremely interesting, especially to other animals, carrying by means of scent a great deal of information about the animal which deposits them — size, status, gender and sexual condition among others. Humans, being olfactorily challenged, cannot decipher much of this, but there is a great deal droppings can tell us in addition to what we can glean from spoor. Droppings are also more easily seen in areas where the ground surface makes it difficult to see spoor.
Different animals deposit their droppings in different ways and for different reasons. Many territorial animals leave their droppings in heaps called middens which demarcate their territories — these include rhino, hyena and impala. Although it is the territorial male impala that starts a midden others may also use it which confuses the issue a bit — perhaps they are a sort of bush message board. Civets also deposit their droppings in middens known as civetries which may be used by several individuals. Civets produce quite remarkably large scats, as big as a lion's but easily distinguished by the contents. Although civets belong to the viverrids, considered to be the oldest family of carnivores, they are actually omnivorous; the civetries show that they eat insects, fruit (including figs), various diospyrus species and monkey fingers (Friesodielsia obovata), lizards and shongololos among other things — they are one of the few animals that are able to tolerate the noxious chemicals produced by millipedes. Hippos spray their droppings to mark paths and in a ritual to establish dominance among bulls (although legend has it that this is to prove to the creator that they aren't eating his fish). Many types of droppings provide food for other animals — the obvious example is the dung beetle, which feeds and acts as the bush's sanitary engineer at the same time, ably assisted by termites. They are not alone, however; fish feed on hippo dung and hyenas and hooded vultures eat the scats of lions, leopards and wild dogs. Scrub hares eat their own droppings in a process known as coprophagia, which allows them to digest plant matter more efficiently. Baboons, birds and rodents all recycle undigested seeds from various droppings. Elephants are the number one source for this. Elephants produce large quantities of droppings every few hours and they have a very poor digestive system — even a healthy elephant only digests about 40% of what it eats. One can see by looking at elephant dung exactly what it has been eating, unlike the thoroughly processed droppings of ruminants. Twigs, leaves, and, most importantly, a great many seeds pass through its digestive system virtually untouched, which has profound ecological implications. Most important is the role this plays in the regeneration of plants. The time these seeds spend in the heat of the elephant's stomach helps them to start germinating, and they are then deposited in a very fertile environment. A great deal has been said and written about the damage that elephants do to trees and not very much about how they replace them. One hundred and fifty years ago, when elephants could roam more or less as they pleased, they spent only limited time in any one area before moving on and because they had a virtually unlimited range it was some time before they returned; over time the seeds they dropped made up for the trees they damaged. Because they are being squeezed into ever-smaller areas by human population pressure this can't happen any more. We constantly talk about there being too many elephants and what to do about it, but in fact there are far fewer elephants than there used to be. The problem is not too many elephants but too many people. So the next time you plan to visit a game reserve, make sure you have a working knowledge of the language of the bush. It adds so much more to your pleasure!With grateful thanks to Roddy Smith and 'The Witness'.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Perreira hooks the winner
| October 1, 2007 | Zululand OBSERVER |
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WHALE WATCHING KZN
The KwaZulu Natal Coast is well known for viewing Humpback, Southern Right and Minke whales. Whales can frequently be seen off the KwaZulu-Natal coast from July to November - mainly Humpbacked Whales, and occasionally Southern Right Whales. From July to September the whales are moving north on their way to their breeding grounds off the Mozambique coast to mate, calve and rear their young. From September to November they return, heading for the nutrient-rich waters of Antarctica where supplies of krill are more prolific. The whales travel close to shore
on occasion, particularly along the lower South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal where the continental shelf is close to the land. The Southern Right makes use of extreme coastal waters and sometimes comes as far north as southern KwaZulu-Natal. Boat-based whale-watching, previously only associ ated with the Western Cape, is gaining momentum in the province with a greater variety of species being spotted off the KwaZulu-Natal coast. These include Bottlenose Dolphins which occur all year round in small groups of 30-60 animals. The influx of about 3000 migratory Bottlenose Dolphins following the annual sardine run makes for arguably the most spectacular dolphin viewing in the world. Common Dolphins occur in the winter months with annual migration of the sardines. They can number between 15,000 and 30,000 and can be found in groups of up to 2,000 animals at a time. There are boat-based whale-watching operations in most of our coastal resort towns and whale watching towers at Amatigulu and Umlalazi reserves. P.J. Viviers
0835847473
Thursday, October 4, 2007
| October 1, 2007 | Zululand OBSERVER |
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Monday, October 1, 2007
Drop Shot vs Bait
Drop Shot vs Bait
Many years ago I tried my hand at fly-fishing. Not having much luck choosing between floating, intermediate and sinking lines, leaders and tips, I approached one of the regions most successful fly anglers for some advice. After spending many hours talking to him in an attempt to understand all the techniques, he handed me a tit bit of information.
This was very insignificant to many people, but to me it made all the difference. He said that the most important thing about fly-fishing is the time that your fly spends in the water. Wow…what great piece of advice. My grandfather told me when I was still a wee little boy. " If you want to catch some thing you have to have bait in the water."
So I turned to drop shot…but it was in the early stages of the craze and very little was known about this method. Eventually my drop shot rod got damage en route on a fishing expedition. Out of pure frustration I took my small Shimano Reel and fitted it onto my fly rod, fixed a 25 lb trace leader with a number one Kendal round hook attached to it, I grabbed a sard and of I went.
Steadily I worked the sand banks around The St. Lucia Estuary mouth. It was not long till I bagged two fair sized sand fish and a reasonable sole amongst all the banana fish and glassy. Well not only did I have loads of fun but I had more live bait than one angler could need in a week. That Night the wife and I feasted like royalty on our gourmet dinner.I was hooked and never have I needed to dream up another expensive way to spend my leisure hours around the fishing waters. I always had fun and more often that none something to eat.
My advice too all the board anglers, spend more time with bait in the water rather than with a sales person in a tackle shop.
P.J. Viviers
0835847473
Opening Borders to Ease Cross Border Tourism
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VISITORS DIE IN BERG FIRE
Tourists die in RNNP fire
September 26, 2007;
MEDIA RELEASE No: 11 - 2007
VISITORS DIE IN BERG FIRE
For immediate release
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife reports that two visitors to the Royal Natal National Park section of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site died when they were caught in the flames of a runaway veld fire that had swept into the Park from across the Tugela River last week.
The two visitors appear to have arrived early at Thendele Camp and while waiting to check in, had gone for a walk along the path to Tiger Falls which lies between Thendele and the Mahai Campsite.
Unbeknown to them a runaway fire, fanned by strong winds, had swept across the nearby Tugela River and was heading towards Thendele.
The fire swept very rapidly up the slope towards the Tiger Falls area, where it apparently engulfed the couple who were at that stage still walking along the path, burning them to death.
Local Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife staff are working closely with the SAPS to confirm the identity of the two visitors and to determine the chain of events that led to the tragedy.
The fire damaged the thatched roofs of several of the Thendele Camp accommodation units but staff were able to prevent the flames from taking hold, and also entered a nearby indigenous forest where it penetrated the leaf litter.
Ezevemlo KZN Wildilfe staff battled for three days to extinguish the flames that continuously kept flaring up as wind fanned glowing embers hidden in the forest floor.
Drakensberg veld fires are notoriously dangerous when fanned by high winds as they move extremely rapidly, are intensely hot, and burn over a deep and wide front, the flames skimming swiftly along the grass tops in the front of the fire and then burning down.
Such a "fire-front" can be hundreds of metres wide, is extremely hot and can be tens of metres deep.
AJG/ Media Release No: 11- 2007
Media:
Cycad auction
Cycad auction
September 26, 2007;
NEWS ITEM No: 200 7 - 09 - 25
KZN WILDLIFE TO HOLD CYCAD AUCTION
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is to hold an auction of various species of cycads in Queen Elizabeth Park, Peter Brown Drive, Montrose, Pietermaritzburg on 6 October 2007 starting at 10.00.
The cycads on offer vary in size from seedlings to mature plants and the various lots include single specimens and groups of Encephalartos ferox, natalensis, lebomboensis, villosus, horridus, dolomiticus, ghellinkii, transvenosus trispinosus and altensteinii.
Potential buyers may get full details from Deon Botha of Omniland Auctioneers on 012 804 2978, cell 082 892 8355, or deon@omniland.co.za.
Buyers and interested parties should follow the signs past the Douglas Mitchell Centre to the auction venue.
Buyers may only remove their purchases from Queen Elizabeth Park after Monday 8 October 2007.
AJG/ News Item No: 2007 - 09 - 25