We are currently in Thailand but I am writing my blog about things we saw in South Africa.
In South Africa we saw a leatherback turtle in Sodwana Bay. She was very very big and was about 60 years old. They lay eggs from age 20-60. In one year one turtle will lay 100-120 eggs 10-12 times and will be lucky if 3 survive in one season. She was so big and strong that if she wanted to she could push you with her fin and you would fall over. We got to touch her shell and feel her eggs. The shell felt leathery and the egg felt hard but if you pushed it, it felt sort of like a big, heavy, soft ping pong ball. After she lays all of her eggs, she lays what are called spacer eggs. They are the unfertilized eggs so they are smaller.
In Kruger National Park we saw the big five. One time we saw the big five ALL IN ONE DAY! Also on that day we saw wild dogs. Wild dogs are very beautiful, they have white tipped tails, very round ears that can turn in all sorts of directions and their fur is white, black and orange. They have long skinny legs and very muscly bodies. They hunt in packs from 2-40 dogs. The dogs are nomadic. One day they will be in the north of Kruger and the next they will be in the south. We saw two packs of wild dogs. One pack of five and one of three. The pack of five we saw first. There was one male and four females. We followed them along the road for about 1 km. Then they went off hunting. It was cool to see what they did. It looked like they surrounded their prey because two went left, two went right and one stayed on the road. Two minutes after they were in the bush an impala came charging across the street and a dog went after it then stopped. It went back into the bush to hunt and that is where we left them.
The pack of three we saw all lying down with blood all over their faces. I couldn't catch the gender because they were lying down. They had blood all over them probably because of a kill they had eaten. We think there were more dogs in the bush eating because a pack of three is very small. They are very much like wolves.
I enjoyed seeing the two new animals in South Africa and hope I will see them again.
Bye everybuddy
Mattias
In South Africa we saw a leatherback turtle in Sodwana Bay. She was very very big and was about 60 years old. They lay eggs from age 20-60. In one year one turtle will lay 100-120 eggs 10-12 times and will be lucky if 3 survive in one season. She was so big and strong that if she wanted to she could push you with her fin and you would fall over. We got to touch her shell and feel her eggs. The shell felt leathery and the egg felt hard but if you pushed it, it felt sort of like a big, heavy, soft ping pong ball. After she lays all of her eggs, she lays what are called spacer eggs. They are the unfertilized eggs so they are smaller.
In Kruger National Park we saw the big five. One time we saw the big five ALL IN ONE DAY! Also on that day we saw wild dogs. Wild dogs are very beautiful, they have white tipped tails, very round ears that can turn in all sorts of directions and their fur is white, black and orange. They have long skinny legs and very muscly bodies. They hunt in packs from 2-40 dogs. The dogs are nomadic. One day they will be in the north of Kruger and the next they will be in the south. We saw two packs of wild dogs. One pack of five and one of three. The pack of five we saw first. There was one male and four females. We followed them along the road for about 1 km. Then they went off hunting. It was cool to see what they did. It looked like they surrounded their prey because two went left, two went right and one stayed on the road. Two minutes after they were in the bush an impala came charging across the street and a dog went after it then stopped. It went back into the bush to hunt and that is where we left them.
The pack of three we saw all lying down with blood all over their faces. I couldn't catch the gender because they were lying down. They had blood all over them probably because of a kill they had eaten. We think there were more dogs in the bush eating because a pack of three is very small. They are very much like wolves.
I enjoyed seeing the two new animals in South Africa and hope I will see them again.
Bye everybuddy
Mattias
Hey Mattias! Great big cats presentation!
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