South Africa - Golden Gate Highlands National Park

The very last photo of the vacation - Cape Baboon

 

Das allerletzte Foto des Urlaubs - Bärenpavian

 

Golden Gate Highlands National Park is located in Free State, South Africa, near the Lesotho border. It covers an area of 340 km2 (130 sq mi). The park's most notable features are its golden, ochre, and orange-hued, deeply eroded sandstone cliffs and outcrops, especially the Brandwag rock. Another feature of the area is the numerous caves and shelters displaying San rock paintings. Wildlife featured at the park includes mongooses, eland, zebras, and over 100 bird species. It is the Free State's only national park, and is more famous for the beauty of its landscape than for its wildlife. Numerous paleontology finds have been made in the park, including dinosaur eggs and skeletons.

 

"Golden Gate" refers to the sandstone cliffs found on either side of the valley at the Golden Gate dam. In 1875, a farmer called J.N.R. van Reenen and his wife stopped here as they travelled to their new farm in Vuurland. He named the location "Golden Gate" when he saw the last rays of the setting sun fall on the cliffs.

 

In 1963, 47.92 km2 (11,840 acres) were proclaimed as a national park, specifically to preserve the scenic beauty of the area. In 1981, the park was enlarged to 62.41 km2 (15,420 acres), and in 1988, it was enlarged to 116.33 km2 (28,750 acres). In 2004, the park was announced to be joining with the neighbouring QwaQwa National Park. The amalgamation of QwaQwa National Park was completed in 2007, increasing the park's area to 340 km2 (84,000 acres).

 

The park is 320 km (200 mi) from Johannesburg and is close to the villages of Clarens and Kestell, in the upper regions of the Little Caledon River. The park is situated in the Rooiberge of the eastern Free State, in the foothills of the Maluti Mountains. The Caledon River forms the southern boundary of the park, as well as the border between the Free State and Lesotho. The highest peak in the park (and also in the Free State) is Ribbokkop at 2,829 m (9,281 ft) above sea level.

 

The park is located in the eastern highveld region of South Africa, and experiences a dry, sunny climate from June to August. It has showers, hail, and thunderstorms between October and April. It has thick snowfalls in the winter. The park has a relatively high rainfall of 800 mm (31 in) per year.

 

The park is an area of rich highveld and montane grassland flora. It has more than 60 grass species and a large variety of bulbs and herbs. Each of these species has its own flowering time, meaning that veld flowers can be seen throughout the summer. The park also has Afromontane forests and high-altitude Austro-Afro alpine grassland, which is scarce in South Africa. The ouhout (Leucosidea sericea), an evergreen species, is the most common tree in the park. Ouhout is a favourite habitat of beetles and 117 species occur on these trees in the park. The Lombardi poplars and weeping willows in the park are introduced species, but are kept because of their cultural and historic connection with the eastern Free State. Other exotic species in the park, for example wattle and bluegum, are systematically eradicated.

 

Instead of reintroducing one of the "big five" into the park, the sungazer lizard and water mongoose were reintroduced. Twelve species of mice, 10 species of carnivores, and 10 antelope species have been recorded in the park. The grey rhebuck and the mountain reedbuck were present when the park was established.

 

The geology of the park provides very visual "textbook" examples of Southern Africa's geological history. The sandstone formations in the park form the upper part of the Karoo Supergroup. These formations were deposited during a period of aeolian deposition towards the end of the Triassic Period. At the time of deposition, the climate of the area the park covers was becoming progressively drier until arid desert conditions set in, resulting in a land of dunes and sandy desert, with occasional scattered oases. The deposition of the sandstones ended when lava flowed out over the desert 190 million years ago.

 

The following sequence of geological formations is visible in the park (starting from the bottom): the Molteno Formation, Elliott Formation, Clarens Formation, and Drakensberg Formation. The yellow-brown Golden Gate and Brandwag cliffs are made up of the Clarens formation. The layers in this formation are 140 to 160 m (460 to 520 ft) thick. The Drakensberg formation comprises the basaltic lava that flowed over the desert. It forms the mountain summits in the park. On Ribbokkop, it is 600 m (2,000 ft) thick. The Elliot Formation is a red mudstone where many dinosaur fossils have been found.

 

The oldest dinosaur embryos ever discovered were found in the park in 1978. The eggs were from the Triassic Period (220 to 195 million years ago) and had fossilised foetal skeletons of Massospondylus, a prosauropod dinosaur. More examples of these eggs have since been found in the park. Other fossils found in the park include those of advanced cynodontia (canine toothed animals), small thecodontia (animals with teeth set firmly in the jaw), and bird-like and crocodile-like dinosaurs.

 

Accommodation in the park is available at Glen Reenen and Brandwag Rest camps. Caravan and camp sites with all amenities are available at Glen Reenen camp. The hotel was formerly part of Brandwag camp, but since its recent refurbishment, it is managed separately by SANParks as Golden Gate Hotel. The nearest town to Golden Gate Highlands National Park is Clarens (17 km to the west), but Phuthaditjhaba is also easily reached by a good tar road, driving through the access gate to the east of the park.

 

This park will be included into the Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation Area, Peace Park.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

The chacma baboon (Papio ursinus), also known as the Cape baboon, is, like all other baboons, from the Old World monkey family. It is one of the largest of all monkeys. Located primarily in southern Africa, the chacma baboon has a wide variety of social behaviors, including a dominance hierarchy, collective foraging, adoption of young by females, and friendship pairings. These behaviors form parts of a complex evolutionary ecology. In general, the species is not threatened, but human population pressure has increased contact between humans and baboons. Hunting, accidents, and trapping kill or remove many baboons from the wild, thereby reducing baboon numbers and disrupting their social structure.

 

Due to hybridization between different baboon (Papio) populations across Africa, authors have occasionally grouped the entire radiation as a single species, the hamadryas baboon, Papio hamadryas. Arbitrary boundaries were then used to separate the populations into subspecies. Other authors considered the chacma baboon a subspecies of the yellow baboon, Papio cynocephalus, though it is now recognised as a separate species, Papio ursinus. The chacma baboon has two or three subspecies, depending on which classification is followed. Grubb et al. (2003) listed two subspecies,[4] while Groves (2005) in Mammal Species of the World listed three. This article follows Groves (2005) and describes three distinct subspecies. In the Grubb et al. (2003) paper, P. u. raucana was believed to be synonymous with P. u. ursinus.

 

Papio ursinus ursinus Kerr, 1792 – Cape chacma (found in southern South Africa)

 

P. ursinus griseipes Pocock, 1911 – Gray-footed chacma (found in northern South Africa to southern Zambia)

 

P. ursinus raucana Shortridge, 1942 – Ruacana chacma (found from Namibia to southern Angola, but not accepted by all authorities as distinct.

 

The chacma baboon is perhaps the longest species of monkey, with a male body length of 50–115 cm (20–45 in) and tail length of 45–84 cm (18–33 in). It also one of the heaviest; the male weighs from 21 to 45 kg (46 to 99 lb) with an average of 31.8 kg (70 lb). Baboons are sexually dimorphic, and females are considerably smaller than males. The female chacma weighs from 12 to 25 kg (26 to 55 lb), with an average of 15.4 kg (34 lb). It is similar in size to the olive baboon, averaging slightly higher in mean body mass, and of similar weight to the more compact mandrill, the males of which weigh on average about 1 kg (2.2 lb) more than a chacma baboon, the females weigh 3 kg (6.6 lb) less than the female chacma. While the mandrill is usually crowned the largest of all modern monkeys, going on total length and average (but not maximum) body weight between the sexes, the chacma baboon appears to be the largest extant monkey. The chacma baboon is generally dark brown to gray in color, with a patch of rough hair on the nape of its neck. Unlike the males of northern baboon species (the Guinea, hamadryas, and olive baboons), chacma males do not have a mane. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of this baboon is its long, downward-sloping face. The canine teeth of male chacma baboons have a mean length of 3.86 ± 0.30 cm (1.52 ± 0.12 in) at the time they emigrate from their natal troop. This is the time of greatest tooth length as the teeth tend to wear or be broken thereafter.

 

The three subspecies are differentiated by size and color. The Cape chacma is a large, heavy, dark-brown, and has black feet. The gray-footed chacma is slightly smaller than the Cape chacma, lighter in color and build, and has gray feet. The Ruacana chacma generally appears to be a smaller, less darkly colored version of the Cape chacma.

 

The chacma baboon inhabits a wide array of habitats including woodland, savanna, steppes, and subdesert, from the grassy alpine slopes of the Drakensberg to the Kalahari desert. During the night the chacma baboon needs hills, cliffs, or large trees in which to sleep. During the day water availability may limit its range in arid areas. It is found in southern Africa, ranging from South Africa north to Angola, Zambia, and Mozambique. The subspecies are divided across this range. The Cape chacma is found in southern South Africa; the gray-footed chacma, is present from northern South Africa, through the Okavango Delta in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique (south of the Zambezi), to southwest Zambia; and the Ruacana chacma is found in northern Namibia and southern Angola.

 

The chacma baboon is omnivorous with a preference for fruits, while also eating insects, seeds, grass, smaller vertebrate animals, and fungi (the desert truffle Kalaharituber pfeilii); at the Cape of Good Hope in particular, it is also known for taking shellfish and other marine invertebrates. It is generally a scavenger when it comes to game meat, and rarely engages in hunting large animals. One incident of a chacma baboon killing a human infant has been reported, but the event is so rare, the locals believed it was due to witchcraft. Normally, chacma baboons will flee at the approach of humans, though this is changing due to the easy availability of food near human dwellings.

 

The chacma baboon usually lives in social groups, called troops, which are composed of multiple adult males, adult females, and their offspring. Occasionally, however, very small groups form that consist of only a single adult male and several adult females. Chacma troops are characterized by a dominance hierarchy. Female ranking within the troop is inherited through the mother and remains relatively fixed, while male ranking is often in flux, especially when the dominant male is replaced. Chacmas are unusual among baboons in that neither males nor females form strong relationships with members of the same sex. Instead, the strongest social bonds are often between unrelated adult males and females. Infanticide is also common compared to other baboon species, as newly dominant males will often attempt to kill young baboons sired by the previously dominant male. Baboon troops possess a complex group behavior and communicate by means of body attitudes, facial expressions, vocalizations and touch.

 

The chacma baboon often sleeps in large groups on cliffs or in trees at night to avoid predators. The morning dispersal from the sleeping site is synchronized, with all members leaving at the same time. In most cases, dispersal is initiated by a single individual, and the other members of the group decide whether or not to follow. At least five followers must be recruited for a successful dispersal initiation, and not all initiation attempts are successful. Surprisingly, the initiator's dominance status shows little correlation with successful initiation of departure; more-dominant individuals are no more likely to lead a successful departure than subordinate individuals. One study has shown that while the success rate of dispersal initiation attempts is relatively constant across all sexes, male are more likely to attempt initiation than females, and lactating females are less likely to attempt initiation than females without dependent offspring. A separate study has achieved slightly different results. While dominance hierarchy does not play a significant role in initiating the morning dispersal, social affiliation does. Chacma baboons that play a more central role in the group (as measured by grooming behavior and time spent with other members) are more likely to be followed during the morning dispersal. This study concluded that group members are more likely to follow the behavior of individuals with which they are closely affiliated.

 

Dominance does play a role in group foraging decisions. A dominant individual (usually the alpha male) leads the group to easily monopolized resources. The group usually follows, even though many subordinate members cannot gain access to that particular resource. As in morning dispersal, the inclination of group members to follow the leader is positively associated with social interactions with that dominant individual.

 

Collective foraging behavior, with many individuals taking advantage of the same resource at once, has also been observed. However, this behavior can be chiefly attributed to shared dietary needs rather than social affiliation. Pregnant females, who share similar dietary needs, are more likely to synchronize their behavior than fertile females. Foraging synchronization decreases in areas with lower food density.

 

Adoption behavior has been observed in chacma baboons. Orphaned baboons whose mothers have disappeared or died are often too small to care for themselves. In one study of nine natural orphans and three introduced orphans, all but one orphan were adopted by another member of the group. The individual that was not adopted was 16 months old, four months older than the next oldest orphan, and was old enough to survive on its own. Adoption behavior includes sleeping close to the orphaned infant, grooming and carrying the orphan, and protecting it from harassment by other members of the troop. Both males and females care for infants, and care does not depend on the infant's sex. Additionally, all caregivers are prereproductive, only four or five years of age. The two major theories explaining this behavior are kin selection, in which caregivers take care of potentially related orphans, and parental practice, in which young caregivers increase their own fitness by using an orphan to practice their own parental skills.

 

Males and female chacma baboons often form relationships referred to as "friendships". These cooperative relationships generally occur between lactating females and adult males. The females are believed to seek out male friendships to gain protection from infanticide. In many baboon species, immigrant alpha males often practice infanticide upon arrival in a new troop. By killing unrelated infants, the new male shortens the time until he can mate with the females of the troop. A female with dependent offspring generally does not become sexually receptive until she weans her offspring at around 12 months of age. However, a mother usually becomes sexually receptive shortly after the death of her offspring.

 

This protection hypothesis is supported by studies of stress hormones in female baboons during changes in the male hierarchy. When an immigrant male ascends to the top of the male dominance hierarchy, stress hormones in lactating and pregnant females increases, while stress hormones in females not at risk of infanticide stay the same. Additionally, females in friendships with males exhibit a smaller rise in stress hormones than do females without male friends.

 

The benefits of friendship to males are less clear. A male is more likely to enter into friendships with females with which he has mated, which indicates males might enter into friendships to protect their own offspring and not just to protect that female's future reproductive success. These friendships may play a role in the mating system of chacma baboons. A female will often mate with several males, which increases the number of potential fathers for her offspring and increases the chances she will be able to find at least one friend to protect her infants.

 

Female chacma baboons have been observed to compete with each other for male friends. This may be the result of one male having a high probability of paternity with multiple females. These competitions are heavily influenced by the female dominance hierarchy, with dominant females displacing subordinate females in friendships with males. Generally, when a more-dominant female attempts to make friends with an individual which is already the friend of a subordinate female, the subordinate female reduces grooming and spatial proximity to that male, potentially leaving her offspring at higher risk of infanticide.

 

The chacma baboon is widespread and does not rank among threatened animal species. However, in some confined locations, such as South Africa's Southern Cape Peninsula, local populations are dwindling due to habitat loss and predation from other protected species, such as leopards and lions. Some troops have become a suburban menace, overturning trash cans and entering houses in their search for food. These troops can be aggressive and dangerous, and such negative encounters have resulted in hunting by frustrated local residents. This isolated population is thought to face extinction within 10 years.

 

The chacma is listed under Appendix II of CITES as it occurs in many protected areas across its range. The only area in South Africa where they are monitored is in the Cape Peninsula, where they are protected.

 

Observations by those working hands-on in South Africa's rehabilitation centers have found this species is damaged by human intervention; troop structures are influenced, and over the years a significant loss in numbers has occurred. Because they live near human habitats, baboons are shot, poisoned, electrocuted, run over, and captured for the pet industry, research laboratories and muthi (medicine).[32] Despite this, assessors working for the IUCN believe there are no major threats that could result in a range-wide decline of the species.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Golden-Gate-Highlands-Nationalpark (englisch Golden Gate Highlands National Park) liegt in Südafrika, im Südosten des Freistaates nahe der Grenze zu Lesotho, und zeichnet sich besonders durch seine malerischen Felslandschaften aus. Orange oder ocker gefärbte Sandsteinfelsen ragen über das bergige Grasland auf. Außerdem gibt es Felsmalereien der San.

 

Der nördliche Eingang zum Park liegt bei dem Künstlerdorf Clarens.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Bärenpavian oder Tschakma (Papio ursinus) ist eine Primatenart aus der Gattung der Paviane innerhalb der Familie der Meerkatzenverwandten (Cercopithecidae). Er lebt im südlichen Afrika.

 

Mit einer Kopfrumpflänge von bis zu 115 Zentimetern, wozu noch ein bis zu 71 Zentimeter langer Schwanz kommt, und einem Gewicht von 15 bis 31 Kilogramm bilden sie die größte und schwerste Pavianart. Ihr Fell ist an der Oberseite dunkelbraun oder grau gefärbt, die Unterseite ist heller, die Hände und Füße sind meist schwarz. Die langgezogene, unbehaarte Schnauze ist dunkelviolett oder schwarz gefärbt, ebenso die Sitzschwielen. Die Fellfärbung und die Größe sind nach Region variabel, so gibt es eine Population mit grauen Pfoten; besonders kleine Exemplare kommen zum Beispiel in der Kalahari vor.

 

Die Männchen sind deutlich größer und schwerer als die Weibchen und haben auch längere Eckzähne, im Gegensatz zu den übrigen Pavianarten fehlt ihnen aber die Mähne an den Schultern und am vorderen Rücken.

 

Bärenpaviane leben im südlichen Afrika, genauer in Angola, Botswana, Mosambik, Namibia, Südafrika und Sambia. Sie bewohnen sowohl Steppen und Savannen als auch offene Waldgebiete, sind jedoch auf das Vorhandensein von Wasser angewiesen.

 

Wie alle Paviane leben sie in Gruppen, meistens in gemischten Gruppen, in manchen Regionen (zum Beispiel im gebirgigen Südafrika) dominieren jedoch die Einmännchengruppen (siehe Gruppenverhalten der Paviane). Die Bärenpaviane zeigen ein komplexes Gruppenverhalten und kommunizieren mittels Körperhaltungen, Gesichtsausdrücken, Lauten und durch Körperkontakte. Bärenpaviane sind Allesfresser; sie haben eine Vorliebe für Früchte, nehmen jedoch auch Blätter, Insekten, Samen und kleinere Wirbeltiere zu sich.

 

Die Fortpflanzung kann das ganze Jahr über erfolgen, die Weibchen weisen während der fruchtbaren Phase eine ausgeprägte Regelschwellung auf. Innerhalb der gemischten Gruppen kann sich prinzipiell jedes Männchen mit jedem Weibchen paaren. Das führt zu teilweise erbitterten Auseinandersetzungen unter den Männchen um das Paarungsvorrecht.

 

Nach einer rund 180-tägigen Tragzeit bringt das Weibchen meist ein einzelnes Jungtier zur Welt, das zunächst schwarz gefärbt ist. Mit rund einem Jahr werden die Jungen entwöhnt, mit drei bis fünf Jahren tritt die Geschlechtsreife ein. Das Höchstalter eines Tieres in menschlicher Obhut betrug 45 Jahre, in freier Wildbahn ist die Lebenserwartung deutlich geringer.

 

Bärenpaviane sind weit verbreitet und zählen nicht zu den bedrohten Tierarten. Manchmal gelten sie als Plage, da sie Plantagen verwüsten.

 

In Uitenhage war in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts ein Bärenpavian namens Jack Assistent eines körperbehinderten Streckenwärters.

 

(Wikipedia)

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