Read Biologist Pedro Vaz Pinto’s Capture Operation 2019 Report with photos of Angola’s Luando Reserve, in English and Portuguese, now on our Giant Sable page.
Flying over one of the five known herds in the Luando Reserve. The bull leads the way.
The Aerial Capture Operation in July 2019 focused exclusively on the Luando Reserve.
“In brief, the operation was a huge success! In total, we darted 17 sable and deployed all our 15 GPS collars, distributed in nine females and six bulls. No casualties, or incidents affecting the health of local animals as result of our actions, was to be recorded. An updated survey was concluded, plus detailed demographic data and threat assessment.”
Wilbur, the largest bull collared on this operation.
“We collared four mature bulls, presumed territorial, and one of them was accompanying one of the herds. … All these mature bulls were very nice healthy specimens, with average horns that measured between 52 and 56 inches in length.”
Magnificent territorial bull, surely the most impressive seen in 2019, but which we could not dart.
“Regarding the bulls, the biggest surprise, by far, was finding Bruno alive, a bull that had been collared in 2013 and then estimated to be around 12, which would make him today 18 years old! Considering that we had never found a bull older than 15, this was quite a shocker.”
Old Bruno. We removed his 2013 collar and wished him a peaceful ending.
“Always fascinating to report on the bulls, but the females are the crucial component, and we were eager to tackle the herds.”
Cow on the run.
And a little calf.
Another female marked – Henriette.
“…the number of cows has remained stable or even reduced slightly, but in compensation, the average age of females has dropped and the number of yearlings and immatures has increased significantly. These parameters suggest a much healthier population, with a higher potential for growth in the short term, and one that appears to have suffered a lot less pressure from snaring over the last three years.”
An amazing bachelor group with seven beautiful young males of ages 3 and 4 years old – one would be darted later on.
“Although we’ve never done it before, this year we decided to collar two four-year-old bulls from different bachelor groups. They were both very nice powerful young specimens, with horn lengths between 46 and 48 inches… by tracking a four-year-old we hope to detect and document the moment when they settle down and become territorial, a phenomenon that is still poorly understood.
Veterinarian Dr. Pete Morkel administering the antidote on a giant sable bull.
Although possibly less than in previous years, poaching is still a major concern in some areas, where the water holes were often full of traps aiming to catch sable.
Including cable snares and nasty gin traps!
A magnificent sight- the largest sable herd in which we counted 40 individuals!
“Comparing 2016 and 2019 demographic data for the five herds, we estimate a population increase of roughly 15%, which I consider a fairly good result.”
Visit our Giant Sable page to read Pedro Vaz Pinto’s full report.
Angola Field Group 