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Michelle and Steve Henley have been following Mac for World on the Move via the electronic chip around his neck and this year's migration has been a fascinating adventure with some interesting deviations from what may be considered his typical behaviour. Steve explains:
The first interesting deviation was that Mac came into musth almost a month earlier than expected. We have been monitoring his movements and behaviour since 2002 and in the past his musth period started in late April or early May; this year he was in musth by the 1st of April.
Then on his way southward he stopped for a few days in an area east of Phalaborwa, before entering the private nature reserves west of Kruger NP. This extended his typical journey southward by 3 to 4 days. His first reaction to another musth bull, who was substantially smaller the he is, was to flee before gathering himself and taking control of the situation. Then he spent five weeks walking rapidly across his musth range, having only limited interaction with breeding herds, before settling with a couple of herds in the extreme south.
Just over two months since the initiation of his musth period, Mac had returned northward, to an area he has used in the past as a stepping stone in his journey back to his non-musth range near Shingwedzi camp, Kruger NP. A few days after arriving there he had dropped out of musth.
We are left with the distinct impression that Mac was less certain of his position within the bull hierarchy compared with past years, and unfamiliar with the status and distribution of the breeding herds within his musth range. This is may be a consequence of him having not come into musth last year due to an injury. Bulls in musth typically have a relatively tight energy budget, they appear to be burning energy more rapidly than they are taking it in and rely heavily on stored body reserves to sustain musth for a few months.
Last year Mac wasn't able to attain a body condition that would allow him to enter musth. This year he appears to have invested heavily in reacquainting himself with the social landscape. It will be interesting to see if next year he is able to reap the rewards. We look forward to his return.
Best wishes,
Steve
Further Reading:
Last report: Mac's musth is over
ALL the Mac on the Move reports
Steve and Michelle are working for Save The Elephants.