During the course of 2017 we learnt about the presence of the Western Forest-king Charaxes (Charaxes xiphares occidentalis) in the Grootvadersbos Forest, near Heidelberg in the Western Cape. Hours were spent pouring over our “Conservation Assessment of Butterflies of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland” that evening, and the Bionerds.co.za team was excited to have the opportunity to head off on an ecoexploration in search of this range restricted beauty. We had to wait till t
Searching for cryptic frogs is never easy. Preparations include consulting every amphibian guide book in one’s library, listening to the call on CD, and packing your water boots… Then, once one has managed to access the correct habitat, the key is to isolate the target species call and slowly narrow down its location. But the Rose’s Mountain Toadlet, Capensibufo rosei, throws another challenge in the intrepid naturalist’s path. When one pages through the excellent ‘A Comple