Travel Around The World

The lion population of Phinda is carefully controlled. There are currently two adult males who are brothers. The males are periodically exchanged with other reserves to improve the gene pool. Male lion cubs are usually sent to other reserves before they mature. When a male lion becomes dominant, he will kill any cubs of any other male, so new males can only be introduced once cubs are sufficiently mature.

Dung beetles are fascinating creatures. Large animals such as elephant and white rhino produce large dung piles. These soon attract large numbers of dung beetles. They roll it into balls. They mate on the dung balls and their eggs are laid in the balls. They then bury the balls. The young have a ready supply of food.

Dung beetles are very ecologically important. As they mix the poo nutrients with the soil and by removing exposed poo limit flies. They are being introduced into cattle farms in Australia and South America to remove cow poo.

Dung Beetles roll poo balls with their back legs. The ball can be much larger than the beetle.