The Big and The Ugly : Part 1



The Ugly Five! 
Really ?

You heard from me about Tommy and Sammy. Now let’s talk about the wonderful wildlife they gave us a glimpse of.

One day during one of our game drives Sammy quizzed us. Name the Big 5 !
That was easy after having previously visited Kruger National Park in South Africa and Botswana. 
Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Rhino and Wild Buffalo.

Have you heard about the Ugly 5? Can you name them? 
I was hearing this term for the first time. I made guesses and was surprised when I was able to correctly name 4 out of the 5 in the first shot. 
Vulture, hyena, wild hog, Marabou stork.
Fifth, Sammy educated me, is the wildebeest.

In Kenya and Tanzania we were able to spot all of these ten species and many more. 

It did make me ponder on the term “ugly” however.
We humans are quick to stick labels. Big vs small, beautiful vs ugly, good vs bad. We rely so much on face value. And that’s precisely why we miss the full picture.

As I watched each species closely I found distinct beauty in each of them. Barring the hippos! Well they weren’t ugly either. Just that their lifestyle was rather repugnant. They hung out by dozens in water holes, urinated and pooped in the same waters and continued to inhabit there for hours and days. Needless to say every hippo habitat except for flowing rivers smelled terrible even from a distance. The only other creature that brought a sense of dislike in my mind was the crocodile. It provoked more fear in me than the big cats. 

The members of the so called Ugly Five, though don’t immediately appeal to the eyes as “ lovely”, the more I looked at them the more I began to appreciate their unique presence.

The vultures were found everywhere especially in the plains of Serengeti. I learned from Sammy that there were four or five different species of vultures in the region. Hooded vulture, African white backed vulture, Ruppel’s vulture, Lappet Faced vulture. Occasionally Egyptian vultures and Eurasian Griffon vultures make an appearance. 
There was one particular place we came across dozens of vultures feeding on the remains of a wildebeest. Multiple species were seen at that one scene. A single Marabou stork was lurking amongst them trying his luck at any opportunity. The brilliance in the design of the universe was evident as we observed them in action. All these species are scavengers. They predominantly feed on the hunt of other animals such as lions. Yet even while doing so, each individual species amongst the vultures is gifted with certain unique features that allow for a specific role during the feeding. The lappet faced are the strongest and dominant of them all. Their beaks are formidable and often compared to a butcher’s knife. They are the first ones to rip off the flesh of an intact animal. Others follow suit only after these leaders have done their job. There are some that have the capability to eat the bones but not flesh. Others that can drink blood but not eat  bones or flesh. At the end of the day with combined tasks from each of these creatures there are no leftovers to pollute the environment. Everything is cleaned up. This is an essential feature of the ecosystem. If it wasn’t for the scavengers like these vultures, as well as hyenas, jackals and the marabou storks, the forests would be littered with the remains after the big cats were done with their meal. The forest thus owes its cleanliness and recycling to these creatures that we unfairly and ignorantly call ugly. 

In Ngorongoro crater I spotted a nest high up on a yellow bark acacia tree. A mother vulture was feeding her little ones sitting there. It was a beautiful sight.

Earlier in Masai Mara as we had stopped to photograph a Marabou and it was walking away, right under our nose something suddenly moved. A pair of hyenas had been hiding in a ditch and decided it was time to move around. If they had not moved we would not have realized they were there. So good is the camouflage of most of the creatures in the wild. They just blend into their surroundings. I was able to get some neat closeups of one of them and I thought it was kind of cute. The spotted coat gave it a beautiful rustic look. 

The wild hogs were to be found almost everywhere we went. Often roaming around as a family. Very much shy, tending to run away into the bushes if they see humans. One such hog was made famous as Pumba in the Disney animated film The Lion King. In Swahili Pumba means stupid. These animals have very poor memory. They forget where they are going. They forget danger signs. Even as they are being chased by lions they stop to look around because they forget they are being attacked and of course the lion has an easy snack. 

One day as Tommy set up our picnic table under a tree in Masai Mara a lone Marabou flew in from nowhere and kept hovering around us in anticipation of food. It is a rather sneaky bird that guages from short distance if it can get closer while others are eating. It moves away if you shoo it or it may dare to come eat from your plate if you don’t resist. Its bill is massive and perhaps that pink air sac that hangs down its neck is what makes it appear unsightly to earn the label of ugly. Yet if you can accept that sac as its unique distinguishing feature you may defer to label it like others. 

Lastly the fifth member of the Ugly Five. This is the prime reason global visitors flock to east Africa each year. Considered one of the eight wonders of the African continent the annual migration of the wildebeest across the plains of Serengeti and Masai Mara from May through September is a magnificent sight to behold. Millions of these animals cross the vast plains and the Mara River between Kenya and Tanzania, often in long systematic lines to feed on greener pastures and allow resources to last for the many species competing for food. They have a symbiotic relationship with zebras who have better eyesight. The wildebeest have better anticipatory sense for rainfall. Thus dazzles of zebras are often seen interspersed with herds of the wildebeest. And neither of them are ugly. Often we came across playful young ones of both species and that really made our day. The sights were magnificent, awe inspiring and beautiful. 

One interesting phenomenon we observed was the hesitant attempts of the wildebeest when they approached the river crossings. The leader of the herd would survey the crossing, then retreat and the entire herd would follow back away from the waters to another site. Then repeat the process. This went on over and over again. Some safari vehicles were closely following this movement for four five consecutive days, waiting for hours each day to see the river crossing and yet nothing happened. The herds did not cross the river despite seeming to. Often the crocodiles in the waters are deterrents to the crossing. And so are the human spectators!! 










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