Original Source: yearinthewild.com
I’ve spent the past few days in northern KwaZulu-Natal on the subtropical region of South Africa’s East coast. It’s one of my favourite regions because of it’s huge diversity. Ndumo Game Reserve and Tembe Elephant Park are situated a bit inland from the coast, and both these are fascinating protected areas.
Ndumo is a must-visit because of it’s unrivalled bird life in South Africa (and beautiful pans and fever tree forests), and Tembe is, well, one of the most important protected areas in Africa because it is home to some of the largest remaining “tuskers” on the continent.
Here’s a video I did with Sonto Tembe, a ranger who has worked for more than 30 years at Ndumo. He is probably one of the most impressive naturalists and conservationists I have met on my travels. Most people would consider it an achievement to identify the region’s 400 birds, but Sonto can also identify each species by its call and he can imitate pretty much each call of each species. Incredible.
Here Sonto does some bird calls, and his rendition of the trumpeter hornbill is simply brilliant:
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