… the ostrich!

This is a typical African bird, and, despite being hunted to near extinction in the 18th century, is back from the brink and can be seen regularly in the Kruger Park. It is one of a very few animals we don’t have on our safari reserve (yet). We visit the Kruger Park several times each week, and we see them on these occasions almost every time.

A little bit of background information about the ostrich!

First of all, it is the fastest land runner of all birds, and cannot fly at all. It runs up to speeds of 70 km/h and can outrun pretty much any of its predators, with the exception of the cheetah which is quite specialized in hunting ostrich. That said, an ostrich bird can run at this speed for extended periods of time (I have myself witnessed an ostrich running along our car on a straight road for minutes on end, and almost outrunning us!), and so the cheetah has a relatively small window of opportunity to bring down an ostrich. They are also very tough animals and are known to have even killed lions with strong kicks using their long and powerful legs. When seeing humans they usually run away, as they correctly identify humans as predators.

Ostrich farming started in the 19th century, in the Cape region, for various reasons. Its meat is similar to beef, very rich in protein, iron and calcium, but with very low cholesterol and fat levels. A very healthy diet indeed! Its skin can be turned into one of the toughest leathers and the feathers are used for dusters and decorative purposes. One ostrich egg is as large as 24 chicken eggs, so that makes for big omelets. 😉

Ostriches are truly giant animals, and their heads can tower up to 2.8m, ie. an entire meter above a fully grown man’s head. They are very impressive!

Interesting fact: when the “Jurassic Park” film was produced the computer animators used the typical ostrich way of running as a template to animate the dinosaurs’ movements. This is very evident when one watches the movie a second time and pays attention. The same is also true for the modelling of the dinosaurs’ feet in the film. Take a look at an ostrich’s feet when you see one of these giant birds while you are on an African safari with us.

Here a couple of photos that Pierre took a few days ago in the Kruger Park. I hope to seeing you soon here at the Vuyani Safari Lodge, and we can show you the real thing!