LD van Essen

Whenever a reader sends us a photo of a pale impala, duelling jackals or lions up a tree, and asks what on earth is going on, we refer it to ecologist and environmental manager LD van Essen.

Where does your love of the outdoors come from? My grandparents farmed at Koedoeskop in Limpopo and I visited regularly in the years before I went to school. My father and grandfather were hunters who understood the concept of sustainable hunting even back then. I was taught that the senseless killing of animals was unacceptable and unethical. I also grew up with the stories of how my mother used to camp at the San Martino lagoon (now Bilene) in Mozambique as a child, travelling there in a Thames truck towing a boat that my grandfather had built himself. My grandparents really enjoyed travelling and went everywhere in South Africa and Namibia – first in a Chev El Camino bakkie towing a Capilano Abba caravan; later with a more modern VW Autovilla. I joined them on many of their trips as a child and a student.

Do you get to work outside all day? I’d love to say yes, but I only spend about a third of my time in the veld – the rest of the time I’m behind a computer. I draw up project proposals and if they’re approved I collect data in the field. The data then needs to be processed and a report has to be completed for the client. I also do research on a contract basis and from time to time I’m involved with making documentary films. At the moment I’m working on a project for Working on Fire South Africa, studying the relationship between veld fires and tick populations. We want to see if regular controlled fires will lead to fewer ticks in the long term.

You’re also a marine biologist? Yes! My two great loves are the bushveld and the sea. Marine biology was my first qualification, but as John Lennon said: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” I don’t work in that field any more, although I did film some sharks for a documentary a while ago. The best part of your job? The people I work with and the places I get to see, like the Kruger Park, the Kgalagadi, northern Mozambique, Mariepskop and the Blyde River Canyon. I’m privileged to visit places and do things other people pay lots of money for.

Career highlights? I spent more than a year in the Masai Mara in Kenya, doing research for my master’s degree. I also did a tour of the national parks in Ethiopia, accompanied by the head of their national environmental department. More recently I flew the length of the Kruger Park, from the Crocodile River to the Limpopo River on the western side of the park and down to the Crocodile on the eastern side again. Just last week I spent a night on Chief peak, just to the right of the Three Rondavels in the Blyde River Canyon. You can only get to the summit by helicopter! It was for work, I promise: We’re researching the extent of the pine tree pollution in the natural veld and indigenous forests.

Low points? The worst part of my job is seeing how badly people treat nature, whether it’s the guy throwing a cigarette out of his car window, the farmer draining a wetland or the mine that evades its legal and ethical duty to rehabilitate the landscape. And it’s a shame that so many property owners – private and corporate – get annoyed when a protected species lives on their property and they have to conserve it. It’s also hard to spend so much time away from my wife Roline and our daughter Lourine (6).

Which reader questions stand out? The raven in Addo that stole a leopard tortoise’s eggs right from under her ( go! #116) and the honey badger in Magoebaskloof that caught a young bushbuck ( go! #121).

Your favourite animal and bird? It’s a close race between the leopard and the honey badger. The leopard is a vision of power and beauty, but he has nothing on the badger’s tough attitude. As far as birds go, it’s a toss-up between a bateleur and a Pel’s fishing-owl. To be able to fly and eat meat must be the best! Not to mention the fishing-owl’s ability to see and catch fish at night.

Hobbies? I keep a few beehives – the bees get a home and I get some honey and stings in return. I also fly microlights. My daughter loves it; my mother not so much…

Earliest holiday memory? My grandparents’ beach house in Buffalo Bay near Knysna. I remember the smell of the sea and the fynbos outside, and the mothballs, candles and paraffin lamps inside. Also the creaking wooden floors and the tip-tip-tip of our dog’s paws. I can only think of two December holidays that we didn’t spend there when I was at school.