{"id":950,"date":"2013-02-13T03:07:40","date_gmt":"2013-02-13T08:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/?page_id=950"},"modified":"2013-07-05T07:40:59","modified_gmt":"2013-07-05T11:40:59","slug":"kuzuko-lodge-addo-elephant-national-park","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/travels\/south-africa\/parks-reserves\/kuzuko-lodge-addo-elephant-national-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Kuzuko Lodge: Addo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kuzuko_Lodge_ShepherdsTree\"<\/a>Nestled into the easternmost part of Addo Elephant National Park, and run as a concession by a private equity group, Kuzuko Lodge is, literally, in the middle of nowhere in the Karoo Plains.\u00a0 The Karoo is a semi-arid area located to the North and East of the Cape Fold Belt, the mountain range formed when Antarctica and southern Africa collided during the assembly of Pangea some 260 million years ago.\u00a0 Biodiversity in this part of Addo is lower than that found in the more eastern part of the park, mainly due to the low amounts of rainfall.\u00a0 Scrub vegetation is punctuated with small, thorny Acacia<\/em> trees and Shepherd’s tree (Boscia albitrunca<\/em>), which was used as trail markers through the semi-arid landscape because of its bright white trunk.<\/p>\n

Although the lodge is part of a concession to the Luxury Group, the 188,000+ hectares \"Kuzuko_Lodge_LionKill_rev\"<\/a>of land surrounding the accommodation are all part of Addo Elephant Park.\u00a0 Kuzuko rangers are responsible for maintaining the health and integrity of the area’s animals, from the oldest South African Leopard Turtles (Stigmochelys pardalis<\/em>) to the youngest Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros<\/em>), unless the latter become the next meal of the predators which roam freely in the parkland. These include the African lion (Panthera leo<\/em>), Leopard (Panthera pardus<\/em>), Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus<\/em>), and Serval (or Tierboskat, Afrikaans; Leptailurus serval<\/em>), among other, smaller felines.<\/p>\n

\"Kuzuko_Lodge_Serval_Avis_rev\"<\/a>Avis, Kuzuko Lodge’s domesticated Serval, as found, as the name implies, in the trunk of an Avis rental vehicle at the Port Elizabeth airport several years ago.\u00a0 Only a juvenile, Avis was hand-reared at the Kragga Kamma Game Reserve on the outskirts of the city until November 2012.\u00a0 At that time, the rangers decided to release Avis into the wild on its own.\u00a0 But, when the conservation staff at Kuzuko learned of this plan, they volunteered to take in the animal, radio collar the “beast,” and has kept close surveillance of him every few days.\u00a0 When Avis looks lean, the ranger’s provide an extra hare for him.\u00a0 When he’s aware of the prey, Avis turns from loving cat to wild animal, scampering off with his “kill” into the bush for a deserved meal.<\/p>\n

This part of Addo Elephant Park, near the Darlington Dam in the Northeast, offers Africa’s BIG FIVE<\/strong> animals, although leopards are very seldom seen, being shy, nocturnal and secretive animals.\u00a0 In addition to Leopard (Panthera pardus<\/em>), the four others highlighted on South Africa’s paper currency are: Rhino (Ceratotherium<\/em> sp), Elephant (Loxodonta africana<\/i>), Lion (Panthera leo<\/em>), and African (Cape) Buffalo (Syncerus caffer<\/em>).<\/p>\n