Extreme Gorongosa

There is something about extremes in nature: the largest, the fastest, the most poisonous, and the most ferocious.  Gorongosa has them in spades.

The giant kudu of Gorongosa are massive and there horns are extremely elegant. This was Hemingway's species of choice in the Green Hills of Africa.  They are safe here in the miombo and yellow fever tree forest of the Park.  Some of the bull kudu of the region have enormous spiraling horns.  Fortunately these horns will not be decorating someone’s den or parlor.

Giant kudu of Gorongosa National Park

Gorongosa has an extremely large number of insects.  With such an abundance come large voracious predators such as praying mantids and spiders.  Yesterday we came upon one of the more extreme webs I have ever seen.  The spider was a species of Nephila and its web was over 8 feet tall.  Supposedly they are not so venomous and people actually eat them.  That is an extreme meal. We also had the good fortune to observe some courtship between these two.  We watched the small male approach his extreme partner and do a ritualistic tap, tap, tap near her on the web to signal his presence so he wouldn’t be eaten. This was equivalent to knock, knock, knock, “Honey I am home.”  He gave the right knock, she accepted, and they mated briefly. 

Extreme sexual dimorphism is shown in this our weaver.  The small male Nephila spider on the left has tapped a signal now he waits a sign to mate with this extreme female Nephila 

This Park also has extremely large elephants.  Many of the adults are survivors of the civil war that was fought here.  They didn’t choose sides and somehow survived.  To find out the work being done to control some of these elephants see Bob Poole’s film Elephant Wars.  These extreme survivors are incredible animals.  We happened to have spotted two of them yesterday during our insect survey in the Park.

These two extremely large bull elephants could be brothers.

Gorongosa also has extreme ants. One of the more fascinating is the matabele (Pachycondyla sp.) ant.  They are supposedly named after a tribe that swept through southern Africa in the early 1800s wiping out everything in their path. They are very large, fast and the raid termite mounds. They also produce an extremely loud hissing sound when traveling together. 

A Matable ant (Pachycondyla)

Looking forward to more extreme discoveries in Gorongosa National Park.  What kind of extreme nature is around you?