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Stripy duikers, forest goats and phantom hippos - a month in Tai NP


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Pictus Safaris

Thanks @wenchy- it is hugely satisfying to see that hippo sightings are being recorded much more regularly after we've shown such an interest. I hope it's a small step towards getting Tai back on track.

 

We all make bad decisions...

 

Day Thirteen

 

By now, we had certainly cottoned onto the fact that the hippos were clearly moving between the swamps around Camp Chimpanzee to the Hana River. Based on the tracks, at least some were continuing on beyond the Hana River and into the plantations - strange behaviour, based on how retiring we had thought these animals were, but far from impossible and certainly borne out by the tracks we were seeing. Given that the channels between the river and camp seemed to be hippo highways, we decided this morning to take the slightly arduous walk from camp to the river and back.

 

Alas, no hippo materialised, but there was surprisingly fresh sign of buffalo along the riverbanks - by the looks of things, some rather large herds were coming down to the river to drink on occasion. The highlight though was a noisy mixed-troop of primates crossing the river just as we arrived. They had converged on a narrow point on the river to cross, and we had accidentally ambushed them as they took it in turns to leap across the Hana. The consequence was good views of olive colobus, spot-nosed monkey, western red colobus and diana monkey, a real treat. En route back to camp, we again got superb views of the western reds high above; we had struggled for a visual of this species during our first few days in the forest, and now they were everywhere!

 

Lesser spot-nosed monkey

 

This afternoon, we said a reluctant goodbye to Camp Chimpanzee and headed back to the main lodge. We again noted the fresh hippo tracks at the 'Stairs Swamp' and resolved to stake out this area from the top of the stairs tonight. The 'Stairs' are a series of concrete steps running up a steep embankment on one side of the swamp, put in place when ecotourism was a bigger thing here and the footfall demanded such investment. They have since fallen into disrepair, but our hope tonight was that we could use the stairs as a vantage point to survey the swamp below with our thermal imagers. The plan was made.

 

We arrived about an hour before complete darkness, and what an eventful night it would be. Our first impressions were disappointment - much of the view from the top of the stairs was obscured by dense canopy of the trees below. We had hoped the small gaps between the trees would allow us a glimpse of part of a hippo through the thermal, but it was just too dense. If we were to see a hippo, it would have to stroll along the river at the very foot of the stairs, which seemed unlikely, but not impossible. After a little while sat patiently in the dark, Kevin (our trusty guide) whispered to us that he could hear voices - he was a little panicked, which I suppose is testament to the amount of poaching that is now going on here. Those voices eventually faded away as they left the main path. But, soon, I heard an even more panicked 'LIGHTS!' - the clients could see torches being held by people in the swamp below, coming towards us. On the one hand, it was annoying that someone was coming through the very area we had earmarked for a hippo sighting. On the other, there was a small risk that, given the number of gunshots we were hearing each night, we might be in a bit of trouble. We all stood bolt upright, trying to work out who was coming our way and what the best option was. The path is really the only route through the forest, and I didn't fancy a footrace for the 45-minute walk back to the lodge. The blood began to pump.

 

Eventually, after an absolute age, Kevin whispered 'Everest?' as loudly as one can whisper, and a slightly startled acknowledgement came back from the dark. Cue sighs of relief all round. Everest, one of the local trackers, hadn't been told not to use this path on his way back to the lodge tonight - with a slightly sheepish grin on his face, we sent him on his way. In truth, there was never any real danger, as poachers don't use the paths in this part of the park. It is by far the busiest area of the park, with the path used dozens of times a day. But it still took a moment for the pulse to settle.

 

It was probably only fifteen minutes later that one client and I heard the first crunch. What a weird noise it was, almost like something out of Jurassic Park. We all looked at each other, a little puzzled. It sounded very close indeed, but there was nothing through the thermal, and at times it sounded as though it was coming from a few different directions. We were keen to have a look, but this was a tough call to make - we were right at the top of the stairs, and my thinking was that the inevitable noise of our clambering down the steps in the dark would likely scare off whatever was in the swamp. I was a little concerned that if we flushed the mystery animal whose crunching we could hear through the swamp, it might in turn send the hippos back into hiding. So, I began to think, what else might it be? Well, we had seen plenty of sign of red river hogs in the swamp during our stay, and they can certainly be noisy when they feed. This chimed with the fact we thought the sound was coming from a few different directions. And this sure didn't sound like the (common) hippos I had heard feed countless times before. Ultimately, in my infinite wisdom, I suggested to Kevin that they might be 'potamochere' rather than 'hippopotame', and we sat out the rest of the night with only Emin's pouched rats, a Johnston's genet and a distant African palm civet for our efforts. Not my best decision, as we would find out tomorrow.

 

Day Fourteen

 

Today began with one final trip on the Hana for these clients. By now, the water levels had dropped significantly, and it was a struggle to make much progress upstream. We returned with plenty of birding (including a stunningly co-operative white-crested tiger-heron) under our belts, as well as a fire-footed rope squirrel, a rare slender-snouted crocodile and a troop of western red colobus.

 

The big surprise, though, was back at camp. The camera-traps had been recovered from the swamps, and we checked them, as usual, to see what we had missed. Unsurprisingly, we saw Everest heading towards us on the trap, and we presumed that activity would be limited after this disturbance. Alas, just fifteen minutes later, this is what peered back at us through the gloom. Snapped at exactly the time that we could hear the loud feeding in the swamp beneath us.

 

HUNT0137.JPG.258d2ae29edae122cb246669ff8c29cd.JPG

 

Well, what a gut punch. Of course, there is no guarantee we would have seen this beautiful animal had we gambled and headed into the swamp. And, in hindsight, my decision was probably the right one. But, as some forum members will know, it can be an especially dark feeling to so narrowly miss a species you have dedicated such time to. Still, in the same way I console myself with the knowledge that similarly futile searches for wild dog in Senegal have taken me closer than most to an incredible animal, we cannot complain with being some of the very few people to have heard a wild pygmy hippo feeding - and I'm probably the only one to have dismissed it as a river hog.

 

Unsurprisingly, we headed back to the swamp tonight, but we left empty-handed at 4am to meet the clients' 5am road transfer back to San-Pedro. On the walk back though, we did grab a Pel's anomalure and a brief glimpse of a black duiker. After bidding farewell to the clients, I grabbed some sleep ahead of the next group of clients to come - that to follow next.

 

 

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fascinating report @Pictus SafarisThank you so much.

The pygmy hippo....just wow.

Edited by wilddog
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  • 3 weeks later...
Pictus Safaris

Thanks @wilddog- glad you have enjoyed.

 

I've just returned from a very wet few weeks in Java, so apologies again for another hiatus. I've had a think about how to write about the latter portion of the time we spent in Tai with the second group. This was operated on behalf of another TO, who have published their own trip report available elsewhere online. Rather than duplicate this day-by-day report, I think it's probably best to give a higher-level overview of the second group's experience in Tai.

 

The first half of this second group's stay was spent attempting to emulate, and indeed go one better than, our near-miss with the previous groups. As such, days were spent walking the forest around Camp Chimpanzee, with nights spent in camp chairs at the main entry and exit points to the swamps between the Ecotel and Camp Chimpanzee. Whilst this didn't produce a hippo, we were rewarded with sightings of water chevrotain, marsh mongoose, Maxwell's duiker and plenty of other species. Extremely fresh tracks and dung were encountered within 50 metres of Camp Chimpanzee, as well as a fresh wallow. This was quite a sight, as the shape of the hippo was perfectly preserved in a portion of mud sheltered by a fallen tree - this wallow has been earmarked as a site to return to in January 2023. On one night, we disturbed a large animal as we settled into our camp chairs, leading to a few hearts in mouths. We didn't get a visual, but having heard several hippos earlier in the tour, I suspect this was something slightly smaller - probably a large duiker such as yellow-backed. A highlight of our stay in the forest was two sightings of the ultra-rare zebra duiker, arguably one of the most attractive critters in the world. Both bolted before we could get a photo, but we were absolutely delighted to record both zebra and Jentink's duikers on the same trip, something we are not aware of anyone having done before.

 

The second half of the tour was spent traversing the Hana River each morning and evening, and boy did we get close. Tracks were seen daily, much further downstream than those we had seen with the previous group. In fact, tracks appeared between the upstream and downstream legs of several of these boat trips, suggesting that hippos were crossing the river at a number of 'pinch points' in broad daylight. Pygmy hippos are not brilliant swimmers, especially in strong stream, so we have made note of areas of the river likely to perennially remain shallow enough to be crossing points. The birding remained superb along the river, if a little subdued in the forest, and this group was much more keen on the recording of amphibians, bats and rodents, meaning we boosted our 'list' considerably during their stay. A highlight for me was a bat hawk taking out a bat over our heads as we sat on the riverbank one night. We thought for a few moments that we had pulled victory from the jaws of defeat on the very last night, when we came across vibrant eyeshine when spotlighting from the river - "Hippo!" came the cry from our local guide, and we found it hard to believe that anything else could produce such bright eyeshine from the river. Alas, after plenty of debate and scrutinising the eyeshine, we could eventually determine it was a huge slender-snouted crocodile (which was a surprise, given crocs usual reddish eyeshine). This was a special sighting in its own way, as slender-snouted crocodiles are very rare indeed across much of their range, but it was disappointing to miss the hippo nonetheless.

 

On our return to Abidjan, we paid a brief visit to Banco National Park, which is situated inside the city limits of Abidjan. Remarkably, chimps can still be found here, and we recorded the rare white-naped mangabey and Lowe's monkey during our visit. We were also rewarded with great views of a hunting dwarf bittern. This park is worth a visit if one ever has a layover in Abidjan.

 

We are hugely proud to be a part of re-opening Tai to ecotourism. We have four groups set to visit Tai next year, and another in the wet season this year, so we hope to have future TRs on Safaritalk from this very special forest.

 

Mammal list: 52 species

 

Species

Scientific Name

Location(s)*

Carnivora – 6 species

Marsh Mongoose

Atilax paludinosus

CC

Common Cusimanse

Crossarchus obscurus

CC

Johnston’s Genet

Genetta johnstoni

HC, CC

Pardine Genet

Genetta pardina

CC

Common Slender Mongoose

Herpestes sanguineus

SP

Liberian Mongoose

Liberiictus kuhni

SP, CC

African Palm Civet

Nandinia binotata

CC

Cetartiodactyla – 7 species

Brooke’s Duiker

Cephalophus brookei

ET, CC

Bay Duiker

Cephalophus dorsalis

CC

Jentink’s Duiker

Cephalophus jentinki

HC, CC

Black Duiker

Cephalophus niger

ET, CC

Zebra Duiker

Cephalophus zebra

CC

Water Chevrotain

Hyemoschus aquaticus

CC

Maxwell’s Duiker

Philantomba maxwellii

CC

Chiroptera – 9 species

Little Free-Tailed Bat

Chaerephon pumilus

ET

African Straw-Coloured Fruit Bat

Eidolon helvum

A, ET

Buettikofer’s Epauletted Fruit Bat

Epomops buettikoferi

CC, HC

Cyclops Roundleaf Bat

Hipposideros cyclops

ET

Hammer-Headed Fruit Bat

Hypsignathus monstrosus

ET

Dark-Brown Serotine

Neoromicia brunnea

ET

Banana Pipistrelle Bat

Neoromicia nana

ET

Halcyon Horseshoe Bat

Rhinolophus alcyone

CC

Nut-Coloured Yellow Bat

Scotophilus nux

ET

Hyracoidea – 1 species

Western Tree Hyrax

Dendrohyrax dorsalis

CC

Primates – 14 species

Sooty Mangabey

Cercocebus atys

CC, HC

White-Naped Mangabey

Cercocebus lunulatus

BNP

Campbell’s Monkey

Cercopithecus campbelli

ET, CC, HC

Diana Monkey

Cercopithecus diana

CC, HC, ET

Lowe’s Monkey

Cercopithecus lowei

BNP

Putty-Nosed Monkey

Cercopithecus nictitans

ET, CC

Spot-Nosed Monkey

Cercopithecus petaurista

ET, CC, HC

King Colobus

Colobus polykomos

CC, HC

Demidoff’s Dwarf Galago

Galagoides demidoffi

ET, CC, HC

Thomas’s Dwarf Galago

Galagoides thomasi

ET, CC, HC

Chimpanzee

Pan troglodytes

CC

West African Potto

Perodicticus potto

ET, CC, HC

Western Red Colobus

Piliocolobus badius

CC

Olive Colobus

Procolobus verus

ET, CC

Rodentia – 14 species

Beecroft’s Anomalure

Anomalurus beecrofti

HC

Lord Derby’s Anomalure

Anomalurus derbianus

HC, ET

African Brush-Tailed Porcupine

Atherurus africanus

CC

Emin’s Pouched Rat

Cricetomys emini

CC

Western Palm Squirrel

Epixerus ebii

ET, HC

Fire-Footed Rope Squirrel

Funisciurus pyrropus

ET, HC, CC

Small Sun Squirrel

Heliosciurus punctatus

ET

Flat-Nosed Wood Mouse

Hylomyscus simus

CC

Long-Eared Flying Mouse

Idiurus macrotis

ET

Edward’s Swamp Rat

Malacomys edwardsi

CC

Green Bush Squirrel

Paraxerus poensis

HC, CC

Forest Soft-Furred Mouse

Praomys rostratus

ET, CC

Slender-Tailed Squirrel

Protoxerus aubinnii

ET, CC

Forest Giant Squirrel

Protoxerus stangeri

ET, HC

*HC - Hana Camp, CC - Camp Chimpanzee, ET - Ecotel Touraco, A - Abidjan, BNP - Banco NP, SP - San-Pedro

 

Bird list: 96 species

 

 

Species

Scientific Name

Location(s)*

Accipitriformes – 11 species

Red-Legged Sparrowhawk

Accipiter erythropus

SP

Black Sparrowhawk

Accipiter melanoleucus

ET

Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle

Aquila africana

CC

Congo Serpent Eagle

Dryotriorchis spectabilis

CC

Palm-Nut Vulture

Gypohierax angolensis

ET, HC, CC

Bat Hawk

Macheiramphus alcinus

ET

Yellow-Billed Kite

Milvus migrans

A, SP

European Honey-Buzzard

Pernis apivorus

ET

African Harrier Hawk

Polyboroides typus

ET, CC

Crowned Eagle

Stephanoaetus coronatus

ET

Long-Tailed Hawk

Urotriorchis macrourus

CC

Anseriformes – 2 species

White-Faced Whistling Duck

Dendrocygna viduata

ET

Hartlaub’s Duck

Pteronetta hartlaubii

ET

Bucerotiformes – 7 species

Brown-Cheeked Hornbill

Bycanistes cylindricus

ET

Western Piping Hornbill

Bycanistes fistulator

ET

Black-and-White Casqued Hornbill

Bycanistes subcylindricus

ET

Black-Casqued Hornbill

Ceratogymna atrata

ET, HC

Yellow-Casqued Hornbill

Ceratogymna elata

ET, HC, CC

White-Crested Hornbill

Horizocerus albocristatus

ET, HC, CC

West African Pied Hornbill

Lophoceros semifasciatus

ET, HC, CC

Caprimulgiformes – 4 species

Little Swift

Apus affinis

ET

Common Swift

Apus apus

ET

African Palm-Swift

Cypsiurus parvus

SP

Cassin’s Spinetail

Neafrapus cassini

SP

Charadriiformes – 3 species

Common Sandpiper

Actitis hypoleucos

ET

African Jacana

Actophilornis africanus

BNP

Forbes’ Plover

Charadrius forbesi

ET

Ciconiiformes – 1 species

African Woollyneck

Ciconia microscelis

ET

Columbiformes – 1 species

Blue-Spotted Wood-Dove

Turtur afer

ET

Coraciiformes – 14 species

Shining-Blue Kingfisher

Alcedo quadribrachys

ET

Pied Kingfisher

Ceryle rudis

SP

Malachite Kingfisher

Corythornis cristatus

ET

White-Bellied Kingfisher

Corythornis leucogaster

ET

Blue-Throated Roller

Eurystomus glaucurus

ET

Chocolate-Backed Kingfisher

Halcyon badia

ET

Blue-Breasted Kingfisher

Halcyon malimbica

ET

Woodland Kingfisher

Halcyon senegalensis

ET

African Dwarf Kingfisher

Ispidina lecontei

ET

African Pygmy Kingfisher

Ispidina picta

ET

Giant Kingfisher

Megaceryle maxima

ET

White-Throated Bee-Eater

Merops albicollis

ET, BNP

Black Bee-Eater

Merops gularis

ET

Little Bee-Eater

Merops pusillus

SP

Cuculiformes – 5 species

Black-Throated Coucal

Centropus leucogaster

ET

Senegal Coucal

Centropus senegalensis

ET, BNP

Chattering Yellowbill

Ceuthmochares aureus

HC, CC

Common Cuckoo

Cuculus canorus

ET

Red-Chested Cuckoo

Cuculus solitarius

ET, HC, CC

Falconiformes – 2 species

Peregrine Falcon

Falco peregrinus

SP

Common Kestrel

Falco tinnunculus

SP

Galliformes – 3 species

White-Breasted Guineafowl

Agelastes meleagrides

CC, HC

Helmeted Guineafowl

Numida meleagris

SP

Forest Francolin

Peliperdix lathami

CC

Gruiformes – 3 species

Common Moorhen

Gallinula chloropus

BNP

Nkulengu Rail

Himantornis haematopus

ET

African Finfoot

Podica senegalensis

ET

Musophagiformes – 3 species

Great Blue Turaco

Corythaeola cristata

ET, HC, CC

Yellow-Billed Turaco

Tauraco macrorhynchus

HC

Green Turaco

Tauraco persa

ET

Passeriformes –  17 species

White-Tailed Alethe

Alethe diademata

HC, CC

Mouse-Brown Sunbird

Anthreptes gabonicus

SP, ET

Black-Headed Rufous Warbler

Bathmocercus cerviniventris

HC, ET

Brown-Chested Alethe

Chamaetylas poliocephala

HC, CC

Pied Crow

Corvus albus

A, SP

Northern House Martin

Delichon urbicum

A

Shining Drongo

Dicrurus atripennis

ET

White-Bibbed Swallow

Hirundo nigrita

ET

Red-Headed Malimbe

Malimbus rubricollis

ET

Western Yellow Wagtail

Motacilla flava

SP

Cassin’s Flycatcher

Muscicapa cassini

ET

Northern Grey-Headed Sparrow

Passer griseus

A, SP

Village Weaver

Ploceus cucullatus

SP

Red-Billed Helmetshrike

Prionops caniceps

ET

Bronze Mannikin

Spermestes cucullata

SP

Red-Bellied Paradise-Flycatcher

Terpsiphone rufiventer

ET, CC

Swamp Palm Bulbul

Thescelocichla leucopleura

ET

Pelecaniiformes – 12 species

Great White Egret

Ardea alba

SP

Squacco Heron

Ardeola ralloides

SP

Hadada Ibis

Bostrychia hagedash

ET

Olive Ibis

Bostrychia olivacea

ET

Spot-Breasted Ibis

Bostrychia rara

HC

Cattle Egret

Bubulcus ibis

A, SP, ET

Green-Backed Heron

Butorides striata

ET

White-Backed Night Heron

Calherodius leuconotus

ET

Little Egret

Egretta garzetta

A, SP

Dwarf Bittern

Ixobrychus sturmii

BNP

Hamerkop

Scopus umbretta

ET

White-Crested Tiger-Heron

Tigriornis leucolopha

ET

Piciformes – 3 species

Brown-Eared Woodpecker

Campethera caroli

CC

Speckled Tinkerbird

Pogoniulus scolopaceus

CC

Hairy-Breasted Barbet

Tricholaema hirsuta

CC

Psittaciformes – 1 species

Timneh Parrot

Psittacus timneh

ET

Strigiformes – 3 species

Fraser’s Eagle-Owl

Bubo poensis

ET

Pel’s Fishing Owl

Scotopelia peli

HC

Rufous Fishing Owl

Scotopelia ussheri

ET

Suliformes – 1 species

Long-Tailed Cormorant

Microcarbo africanus

SP

*ET – Ecotel Touraco, CC – Camp Chimpanzee, HC – Hana Camp, SP – San-Pedro, BNP – Banco NP, A - Abidjan

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commiserations on just missing the pgymy hippo but what a capture even on the trap camera. 

 

Thanks for sharing about Tai!

 

 

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  • 4 months later...
Pictus Safaris

I thought a brief follow-up might be in order for those members who kindly read this TR, as preparations are underway for our visits to Tai next year.

 

We arranged logistics for an independent traveller to Tai earlier this year, who has kindly given us permission to share photos of his encounter, at close quarters, with pygmy hippo. This was the same gentleman who recorded Shelley's eagle-owl and several other cracking species. Since then, there have been multiple hippo sightings both on foot in the forest and in the Hana River. Can't wait to be back!

 

Hippo1.jpg.6c2b4d1174d56d2466e7c85d852ffbb8.jpg

 

Hippo4.jpg.3713fdf2e3827ca2a57a377ffab59a9c.jpg

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