It is a phenomenon one can only truly experience in a place that experiences a wet and a dry season. With the onset of spring, warmth has returned to the heart of the Karoo and with it has returned the spring rains. The magical transformation of the veld has begun as the reserve is released from the icy grip of winter. A fresh flush of green grass is spreading across the plains, bulbs and spring flowers are blossoming and the trees are studded with colourful flowers. No more startling than the Shepard’s Tree Boscia albitrunci . It is a useful fodder plant for browsers such as Kudu, Giraffe and Eland. The roots are edible, pounded and made in to a porridge, or roasted and made into a substitute for coffee. A cold infusion of the leaves is used medicinally to treat inflammations of the eye to cattle and the green fruit has been proven to treat epilepsy. It is also useful as larval plant food for butterflies in the family Pieridae.
The rise in the mercury has had a greater affect on none more so than the Leopard Tortiose Geochelone pardalis. These archaic looking reptiles are the fifth largest tortoise in the world and can grow in excess of 70cm long and tip the scales above 40kg. After lying dormant in a torpid state during the winter months, they have emerged with surprising vigour and energy. Love is in the air as males fight for females. A strictly herbivorous reptile with a  diet comprising mainly of fresh grass, annuals and succulents except for the peculiar habit of gnawing on old bones and even hyena scat. This process, know as osteophagy, is how the tortoise bioaccumulates the necessary calcium required for both bone structure and its shell growth.
Another familiar creature returning to the karoo with the return of the sun is the Barn Swallow. These impressive little birds migrate a journey over a 10Â 000kms from Europe to southern Africa below the equator. They feed predominately on flying insects thsat they hawk from the air.
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