African Wildlife & Environment Issue 78

ECO HERO

Having completed his research in Botswana, he returned to South Africa and in 1987 was appointed as senior scientist and census pilot by the South African National Parks Board (SANParks). He was in charge of large herbivore fixed-wing aerial surveys as well as being a team member on numerous wildlife projects in Kruger park. He built up thousands of low-flying hours in the park, and by the time he left SANParks at the turn of the century he had already made a name for himself in aerial survey methodology by pioneering a real-time data acquisition system using GPS for aerial surveys. His SurveyCapture software was acquired by several conservation organisations. Low-flying is by its very nature dangerous, and Petri had had a couple of close shaves. Once, with five passengers in the plane, he called SANParks' chief pilot, Hugo van Niekerk, over the radio to say that the elevators were not working. For those not au fait with flight terminology, the elevators control whether a plane goes up or down. Hugo told Petri to use the trimmer, a little wheel which engages the elevators, to land the plane. This was a very difficult manoeuvre, but Petri managed to land the plane beautifully, with only the trimmer. Thankfully, there was no need for all the fire engines and emergency services that Hugo had called to be on standby at the Skukuza airfield! While doing a countrywide aerial census in Mozambique a couple of years ago, the survey team had a very narrow escape when the Mozambican army shot at them. Bullet holes riddled the wings, but one bullet could have been fatal ... it was stopped by the toolbox on the floor of the plane and would have gone right through the observer's seat! In 1996, Petri took a sabbatical from SANParks and relocated with his young family to Arusha, Tanzania, to work on contract as a Chief Technical Advisor with Frankfurt Zoological Society. With a new adventure on the horizon, we set off with two suitcases and two little girls in tow. The girls were old enough to go to school and loved the International School in Arusha. Petri’s work took him to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, any wildlife enthusiast’s dream. National Parks had given Petri unpaid leave for his time in Tanzania, and we returned to the KNP in 1996 and spent the next few years in Phalaborwa. At the turn of the century, SANParks

Then I was still a student at UCT (and involved with someone else). But Petri liked my folks, who were very interested in wildlife and when he came up from Klaserie, he would always pop in to see them. He often invited me to visit him in the Lowveld. When I finally did, I was bowled over. The shy, unremarkable guy from the city was completely different in the bush … this was his natural element! His eyes would sparkle as he told me about his work in the bush and that is where I fell in love with him.

Petri and Zanne in Savuti

He was then offered an opportunity to do lion research in Botswana, and we started our married life... in a tent! We spent almost four years in Savuti with Petri flying a Cessna 206 aircraft. In those days, the Park was closed during the summer months and we had the whole Savuti to ourselves!

The cartoon was during our stay in Savuti, when the lions chewed our tyres. We'd had a flat tyre (always carried two spare tyres), but while Petri was changing the flat, a lioness came up and bit into the spare tyre. Not to worry, he thought, we have another, but before he could put that one on, more lions came to join the fun of hearing the air expelled!

52 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 78 (2021)