We are elated by the exciting news of a precious zebra foal joining our zebra herd at Little Eden. The foal made its debut with the herd during December 2020, much to the excitement of guests and staff. Zebras are highly sociable animals. They live in small family groups (small herds) of about 3 to 10 comprising of a few mares, young zebras, and an adult stallion. Larger herds are sometimes seen, but this usually occurs when different herds come together temporarily. Occasionally, bachelor herds are formed; these herds consist of a few stallions only, who will band together until they can start their own herds. Zebras are also highly gregarious and often mix with gnu, impala, giraffe and other herbivores.

This ‘Little’ mocking man, a rather loose translation of the Afrikaans word Koggelmander, also alternatively known as a Southern Rock Agama, was spotted by the Resort Manager. ‘Little’ mocking man is a rather fitting name for this tiny fella because during mating season the blokes will bob their heads to show assertiveness, but funnily enough, this mannerism comes across more like a mockery of each other’s movement than a display of dominance. Interestingly, Southern Rock Agamas can change their skin colour. This is not quite the same as with chameleons: males can lose their intense blueish breeding colours in favour of brown and grey colours. For males, their bright blue faces and torsos attract the attention of females during mating season, though it also makes them more visible to predators, and thus they can revert to their brown tones to blend with the environment.

A peculiar little creepy-crawly has arrived at Little Eden and constructed a strange-looking nest as a temporary ten-ANT. One of our guests spotted this weird nest during a hiking excursion. After conducting some research about these odd-looking ants, we have concluded that these are in fact Savannah Spiny Sugar Ants. These ants are the largest Polyrhachis in the region, with workers about 9 to 14 mm in length, depending on the colony and/or locality. They are a common soil- or grass-nesting savannah species with a very wide distribution in sub-Saharan Africa, although not in rain forests. Their colour is overall dull black, but with their extreme pubescence they usually appear grey; they also have many erect hairs on all parts of their body. Have you, too, seen strange-looking creepy-crawlies at Little Eden?! Please share them with us via email to resortstories@littleeden-resort.co.za and get featured on our Facebook page.

Little Eden is a nature lover’s paradise and a modern-day Eden; it is, therefore, no surprise that your home-away-from-home has an abundance of birds nesting in the surroundings. The strategic location, alongside a ravine and the bushveld environment, makes this the ideal habitat for birds to raise their hatchlings. The Chalets were also thoughtfully constructed in a way that allows birders to easily observe the abundance of birdlife around them from the comfort of their Chalet. A few species of birds which have been spotted on the premises before are the: Coqui Francolin, Southern Masked Weaver and Crested Barbet. Please share your bird snaps with us via email to resortstories@littleeden-resort.co.za to get featured on our Facebook page.