IVP Newsletter

August 2023
“Let us permit nature to have her way. She understands her business better than we do”
_Michel de Montaigne _

Issue 19
By: Veronicca Khosana

Rhino dehorning initiative © IVP team

 THIS MONTH
TOP STORIES

Experience of a life time for the team

the IVP team assisting with rhino dehorning © Maria

With the severe poaching of rhinos in Southern Africa, most conservation experts, conservation bodies, and
governing bodies in the field all agree that dehorning is one of the only efficient strategies to help protecting
them. A recent increased in poaching in KZN is followed by an increased need of dehorning as this might reduce
the risks of poachers coming for dehorned rhinos. However, this solution is very expensive because the horn
regrows, and managers frequently have to repeat the process of engaging a vet and a helicopter’s pilot up to every
18 months! Because this is an expensive procedure, reserves that regularly dehorn their rhinos frequently request
donations, and another part of the donation process is paying to assist with the procedure. This month, the IVP
team had the incredible opportunity to be a part of this, working alongside with a remarkable team of individuals
working to conserve the rhinos’ population. It has truly been an honor to be a part of such an amazing crucial
event! Knowing we were a part of such endeavor is one of the most remarkable experiences we will have. We
were grateful for the invitation.
Mufasa could be on the loose...
We are a reserve that is mostly bordered by other reserves, and we are not far from one of the largest game
reserves: Hluhluwe-uMfolozi. Small private game reserves with the luxury of having the big five in their enclosed
territories are among those. Mawana Game Reserve also has two of the big five, the elephant and the leopard,
which have never been a problem in the project's 13 years. Having said that, all of the adjoining game reserves do
occasionally see wild animal breakage, and fortunately for these creatures, they are often caught before any
human-wildlife conflicts and returned to their respectful homes. During the last two weeks, a lion roar was heard
in the reserve in the direction of the reserve manager's residence, which also happens to be the Lemon Tree
territory. All of the researchers were ordered to leave the field for the day. Mike and a few of the more confident
researchers went out for three full days at dusk and morning, listening and searching for any evidence of the lion
on the reserve. Fortunately, none were discovered, and only scats could possibly belong to a larger predator.

TEAM UPDATES
Khayalami's journey of meeting individuals from all around the world continues this month with the arrival of:
Claire des Pallères (from London, UK), Fanny Aguilera (from Biarritz, France), and Elena Belle (from Italy).
They will all be assisting Dr. Charlotte Canteloup on her research project, which will investigate risk-taking
behaviour in vervet monkeys using predator experiments. Dr. Canteloup will be joining the team shortly to begin
working on these projects. We are very excited to have you back on the project with us. In the midst of
welcoming people, we are thrilled to announce the return of Loïc Brun, a PhD student in charge of collared males
and who has supervised both Lou and Jonas. Welcome back after being unable to travel to South Africa for a year
due to visa issues. The team is looking forward to your amusing personality, good dancing, and strong sense of
spirit, as well as your hardworking disposition. Welcome to the crazy, hardworking house that will be your
temporary residence for the next few months. We hope you have a memorable stay.

MONKEY NEWS
Habituation status on males
We reported several unfamiliar, unhabituated males joining the troops with whom we work during the last
dispersal season, and this month we are pleased to announce the status of habituation on some of these males.

Unfortunately, it was a bit tricky to work with Ankhase this month. On one side, there were only few researchers
left in Khayalami that could follow them, as some of them were being on well-deserved holidays part of the time.
On the other side, the presence of ‘Mufasa’ did not help as researchers are now working in pairs to avoid any
potential dangerous encounters. So we will have to wait for next month to have more news on this lovely group!
 HP

Baie Dankie has returned to their regular spots, spending a lot of time in the High Horest and Orchards, which
they haven't done in a long time, and they nearly crossed the river but returned to Hell's Acacia. The troop, on the
other hand, has been splitting a lot, with at least three splits, moving extremely far out of each other's reach when
they do split, and foraging extremely far. The troop is also being very interested in the saliva swap experiments,
making it a success for both Maria and Pablo, whose projects are both on saliva samples. So far, samples have
been gathered from at least 24 individuals. As we are in the midst of the dry season, this has resulted in a slew of
confrontational exchanges. Josefien has been experimenting with Jongo, our new Khayalami dog, this month. Her
project objective is to observe the rewards of male participants in the alarm event. The experiment has been a
delayed success, with the monkeys reacting to Jongo's presence but not in an alarming way. According to field
observations, Xinji is now the dominating male, with most individuals surrendering to him except for
Kommunis, including Umbrella, Seychelles, and Naku. Xiushan suffered from a cut in his ear, and as he
already had one blind eye from his time in Crossing, with his new injuries, he was less visible among the group.

Crossing has gradually returned to their familiar location too: the White Tree and Fallen Tree sleeping sites,
where they usually feed along the dry river, heading towards Desert Island and South Eastwood while they are in
this sleep site. The habituation is mostly good at the end of the shift in the afternoon, especially when they feed on
the ground and we take the time to really get close to them. While this won’t affect their choice of their sleeping
sites, they somehow ignore the presence of researchers and continue feeding close to their sleep site. During the
day, though, things are different because the monkeys hide in the bushes and sleep. This month, contacts with any
groups were limited because they were largely in their territory. Chiloe has been grazing her presence with the
researchers a lot lately, becoming the easiest to focus on with Bali and Propriano. Darkie, Big Ears, and Holey
haven't been seen in a while, but we haven't decided whether to remove them from the census because the
potential of them simply hiding from researchers is still extremely strong. Xiashan has been downloaded once in
Crossing but has not been observed by the researchers, and because he has been reported missing in Baie Dankie,
perhaps the old man decided to return home after being hounded in Baie Dankie.

Kubu is still in the area of the village donga, resting in the most remote portions of it, making it impossible to
work with. Yara is still fighting Yamena, most likely for the rank. The Jongo experiment in Kubu was a success,
as the monkeys react to the dog's presence as planned, with Furry Glen and Pruzkof actively alarming more.
Will they receive more social rewards such as grooming afterwards? Hopefully results from Josie’s will tell us
soon!

Lemon tree has spent a lot of time in Eastern Acacia, near the Karoo's crossing point. However, habituation is
improved since the crew spends a lot of time close to the monkeys, and at one point, they even cross the river near
the team members. Liz, one of the group's eldest monkeys, was reported missing at this crossing, as it was
assumed that she had not been with the group for some time. I'm pleased to report that the new member of Lemon
Tree is also becoming accustomed to the presence of researchers. Babelas’s whereabouts is still unknown…
 HP

During the hottest part of the day, Noha has been moving a lot into Jacaranda, resting in the Powerline Donga.
They only encountered an unfamiliar troop twice during these days, but they are never relaxed anytime they are in
Jacaranda since they alarm and hide a lot in Jacaranda, especially in the dense section of the area. Probably
because of some other unknown groups like Gly Koppie or a Jacaranda group? Cairo is still present, despite the
fact that he hides a lot from researchers and is dominant. His dominance can be evident in how, if he approaches,
practically everyone grunts, and males either jump aside or start crawling, with the exception of Havanna, who
occasionally challenges Cairo. Knysna, on the other hand, has improved significantly in terms of habituation and
no longer runs as often as he used to, according to researchers, when compared to Dakar, who arrived at the same
time as him and remains concealed on the outskirts most of the time. It's possible to go days without seeing him.
Miscarriages continue to occur in the unit, which is unfortunate. Xalapa lost her foetus this month, followed by
Granada, who surprised us by carrying the foetus for two full days contrasted to any other female who had
miscarried the baby and, within a few minutes, either ate or dropped the foetus. Granada held it as normally as a
monkey would. Speaking of death, we regret to inform you of the passing of Uppsala, one of the team's oldest
female members since the project's beginning. Researchers came and went, meeting this remarkable individual for
over 12 years, witnessing her give birth to a line of mostly males that dispersed, leaving only a 2-year-old
daughter, Udupi, to carry the U-family line, and an infant who is still seen with the group 3 weeks later, and we
hope he will continue to survive on solid food without his mother's milk. On the subject of young ones, little
Rishakash may be suspected of being left alone, as Rioja appears to have gone missing in recent days. So far, the
Jongo experiment in Noha has been a failure.
 HP

MONKEY OF THE MONTH

NOHA
Meet Cairo, he joined the group from an unhabituated troop earlier this year during the dispersal period. From the
moment he joined Noha, he made his presence known to the rest of the males. We could tell from that moment on
that he was going to be dominant, and our suspicions were confirmed. Although at times the male that joined
Noha at the time with him, Havanna, tries to challenge him, he is still standing, and he will not yet give up the
title. Long reign for the new king of Noha.

Cairo resting at the periphery ©Marta