At this time of year, in the height of summer, we are constantly surrounded by new forms of life: impala lambs, wildebeest calves, birds nesting with baby chicks, fruiting trees and blooming flowers.
While driving a recent group of guests, upon their arrival, I asked what they were hoping to see during their stay and if there was anything in particular that the guests wanted to experience. Their response: “Babies”.
As such, for the next five days, we set out on every game drive with an overarching intention to focus on new forms of life; both big and small. While the list of young animals, reptiles and baby birds grew, there was one particular morning with a herd of wildebeest that trumped the rest. And in terms of meeting our shared goal of searching for babies – we could not have asked for anything more!!
At the end of our morning game drive, on the way back to camp, we came across a herd of wildebeest on the airstrip. Pausing for a moment, I noticed that one of the females looked a little out of the ordinary…
Instructing everyone to
“look under the tail of that female with a wonky horn. It looks like she is about to give birth!”
We very quickly realized what we were potentially about to witness, and I could not believe our luck.
Although difficult to contextualise the excitement and ecstasy of being there to witness this, I’ll let the images do what they can to bring you along with us…
If you look closely at the wildebeest in the middle, broadside to us with a very round stomach, we quickly realized we could see a small head and the two front legs already peaking out from under the mother’s tail.
As if to help with the pushing/contractions, we watched this mother walk and run along the airstrip with her newborn’s legs and head already visible.
We watched the herd slowly move down the airstrip while we all held our breath wondering when and where the actual moment would take place. By now our vehicle was her biggest supporter: all of us gasping with excitement and cheers every time it looked like she was contracting.
Although we understand that the mother sometimes removes herself from the herd while giving birth, this particular mother positioned herself amongst the herds of impala, wildebeest and zebra as she settled down for the final push…
The moment we had been waiting for!
Standing up to detach the umbilical cord.
The moment the umbilical cord snapped.
Swivelling around to lay eyes on her brand new baby for the first time.
From the moment we saw the mother stand and turn to caress and clean her newborn, we checked the time. For the next 7 minutes we watched her wobbly-kneed calf begin to move its limbs for the first time and awaken to its own sense of balance and independence after the past 8 months growing in its mother’s womb.
Within minutes, this newborn calf was wobbling and wriggling about immediately trying to establish its sense of balance on its own four legs. It was also amazing to watch how several red-billed oxpeckers approached the calf almost immediately.
We timed how long it took for this newborn to stand on its own. It took seven minutes to run alongside its mother.
What a morning! We said goodbye to these two animals along with the rest of the herd and headed back to camp with full hearts and camera memory cards maxed out!
Have any of you ever been lucky enough to witness a birth in the bush? Let me know in the comments below!
Kate Arthur
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