Posted July 8, 2026 in All
Top Reserve News This Quarter
A new male cheetah arrived at UmPhafa, whom we later called Storm, as he arrived on a stormy day! He spent several weeks in the Boma before being released on to the Reserve, where he is doing very well.
Love is in the air for Ashia and Balula (our 2 cheetahs) who have been seen together several times! Our fingers and toes are crossed in the hope for future cubs!
In June, FreeMe Wild released two male servals into our Boma. It was a special time to see them in the open during the day although they both eventually escaped but are remaining close by.
We removed 2 leopards off the reserve, including a female and a male to Nambiti Private Game Reserve. We have since received reports that they are doing very well and the guests at Nambiti have seen them frequently on their drives.
Animals of UmPhafa
We introduced 243 blesbok to meet the prey demands of the cheetah and leopard hunting habitats. We also introduced a larger number to help establish a self-sustaining population.
Forever Wild Foundation also sponsored a new collar for Storm! Tracking collars can be expensive so this was a fantastic donation for UmPhafa and we can’t thank them enough.
We had a very late birth of a baby buffalo but he is doing well however, unfortunately, we lost another baby to unknown causes.
Using INaturalist, we have identified 16 new species, mainly insects, and the interns found a new snake on the Reserve; a Common Wolf snake.
One of the female leopards we released to Babanango Game Reserve has had a cub which is wonderful news! We also spotted a baby leopard on our camera trap walking with Mum.
Busy Field Rangers
Whilst the first quarter saw a drop in incursions, unfortunately we have had an increase of 275% with 11 incursions this quarter and a possible 6 animals taken that we know of! Patrols have increased and the field rangers have done over 4,500KM’s patrolling the Reserve.
Two field rangers this month have stepped away from the role due to the physical nature of the position. We have recruited an additional ranger but are recruiting for the other position available.
The team got excited in June when the Game Ranger Association of Africa donated 15 pairs of boots through Jim Green. These are a great boot for walking our terrain and they look very smart. Thank you, Jim Green, and GRA for putting us forward.
The head ranger and management got to attend a First Responder course in May run by Ezemvelo Honorary officers where they got to witness first-hand how to manage a crime scene and protect vital evidence.
Caring for the Reserve
Quarter 2 is always the start of ‘FIRE’ season – with the community putting in an accidental burn which jumped across to the Reserve. We knew it was time for the perimeter burns and so far we have done 70% of the boundaries.
We have also been working on some major maintenance and building projects around the buildings; from giving the Intern house some TLC to building a new store room and garage.
Major road repairs and fixing mitre drains to building 12 new gabions which total 71m in length – rocks seems to have been the theme this quarter.
We also installed a more powerful solar pump on our main Wetlands area, with the number of animals there the pump has not been able to keep up with the high demand for water from the animals. The new pump is working great and has made a big improvement to the volume of the Wetlands.
Community & Project Meetings
We employed 4 community ladies to do our annual Pecan Nut harvest this quarter. They ended up collecting 178KG so now we need to find some buyers!
Compared to the previous quarter, the number of meetings has been lower, with many being cancelled or rescheduled to a six-monthly basis due to a busy period.
Intern Program / Researchers
We have had 38 Interns visit UmPhafa this quarter including 3 Universities.
East Coast University raised an amazing R19000 for the local M L Sultan school in Colenso. They were overjoyed with the donation and are using it to repair windows and plumbing. East Coast University also took donuts and with the help of the Intern Coordinators, provided education on snakes which the children all loved.
Writtle College had a fantastic visit and claimed that they were able to see the Big Five, as well as cheetah and hippo, during their 2 week visit. They also enjoyed an excellent sighting of elephants at Nambiti, which is always a special experience.
The feedback on the Project has been great, and we have had several Interns rebook for a longer stay.
Getting Social
We love to see the number of followers and likes increasing with the most popular video being Storm’s release into the Boma with over 9.7K views! Our other top stories were all about the cats, with the servals release into the Boma and Storm’s release on to the Reserve.
