50|50 Episode 22 Season 8: 3 September 2017
Spervuur: penguins
The Cape Floral Kingdom, aside from being a World heritage Site, is home to the endangered African penguin, a species that fossil records show has been around for some 60 million years, meaning an ancestor of the birds we see today survived the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. But as we learn tonight on “In die Spervuur”, it’s not guaranteed to be the case going forward.
Slowfood:
How long is the journey between the garden that grows your food and the kitchen? How many of us can even answer this question? There is a growing awakening in our busy modern world that food is tied to many aspects of life including culture, politics, agriculture and the environment. It is through our food choices that we can collectively influence how food is cultivated, produced and distributed, and change the world as a result. As a man passionate about living in harmony with Mother Nature and leaving the lightest possible footprint on our planet, Bertus went in pursuit of like-minded folk who have taken an approach to food that recognises the strong connections between plate, planet and people.
Wonderwêreld: jackal
Black-backed jackals are omnivorous animals and well known for the fact that they eat vegetable matter in the form of fruits that have fallen to the ground but of these, the Jackalberry is a favourite. They are incredibly resourceful feeders and can switch between hunting and scavenging readily and will eat a rodent or francolin as happily as they will leftover buffalo from a lion kill. Living in family groups with successive litters of pups remaining with the parents to help raise the latest litter – flexibility and team work make these animals champions at surviving. This week we travel to Chobe to see how well these wily carnivores interact with the suite of predators found there to get ahead.
VeldFokus:
It’s feasting time here in the VF studio, with some very interesting displays of hunting tactics. A Seagull grabs a many legged feast, an African harrier-hawk shows off its acrobatic ability, while a little army of insects show us that strength lies in numbers.
