Yes, some animals are very susceptible to sudden changes in weather. Warthogs, for instance, exhibit fairly high mortality during cold snaps and when boroughs are flooded during heavy summer showers. In fact, many animals that make use of Burrows or underground chambers is refuges or breeding places in summer are at risk of pneumonia or other diseases associated with being cold and damp, and of drowning. Strong winds can indirectly kill animals as well. In the Okavango I have seen a large Buffalo bull trapped and killed when the tree beneath which it was resting collapsed under a combination of the weight of rain-laden foliage and strong winds. Torrential downpours often result in mud slides and flooding, which not only threatened the lives of animals adjacent two rivers, but many are also drowned when being washed away by the torrents of water. Even elephant and hippo can die in this way.
Lightning can also be a big killer of animals on land or in the water. As far as the letter is concerned, animals swimming – be it suppose, elephants, fish, crocodiles, or others – are incredibly vulnerable to electrocution if they’re on the surface close to a lightning strike. This is because the charge carried by a bolt of lightning (20 000 to 300 million volts / averaging plus minus 30 000 amps) tends to travel along the surface of the water instead of going through it. Animals are at risk up to a kilometre from the strike. Strikes on ground will also easily kill animals – whether under tree cover or out in the open. I know of rhino, elephant and giraffe having been struck directly and killed. But even strikes close to animals will kill them. I have seen this on numerous occasions both in South Africa and Botswana. In one such case in the Okavango Delta, four Buffalo were killed within a 50-metre radius of one another by what was probably a single bolt grounded in the vicinity. I have seen numerous Impala dead (with blood seeping out of ears and nose) off the storms in the Lowveld.
Lightning injuries or death are caused by two common factors, namely electrical discharge (by the conversion of air to plasma) and mechanical force (caused by the shockwave generated).
What do animals do in case of fire?
Bushfires will always result in some sort of mortality, the severity of which is influenced by factors such as the intensity and speed of the fire, the time of year, and the availability of escape routes. Invertebrates (insects, millipedes, spiders, etc) tend to suffer the most with mammals, bird and reptile mortality, on average, being slight – the after-effects of the fire often being more life threatening than the fire itself.
Files are part of the natural scheme of things, and generally occur naturally during spring and summer when lightning, the primary ignition agent, is prevalent. A lot of die down occurs during winter, and the fuel load is therefore not that great. Because some vegetation will not burn easily after the first rains, the resultant lightning fires are usually not too severe. Most animals, sensing the approaching fire, retreat or move into holes in the ground or trees. Fatalities among smaller animals are difficult to measure but appear to be few because they move into shelters. Larger animals tend to suffer more, but relatively speaking there are few fatalities, although a number may have injuries. In a way, fires can be seen as a natural population regulator. Problems do, however, arise when artificial or accidental fires occur, particularly at the wrong time of year. Fires in autumn or early winter can be devastating as the fuel load is high after the summer rains and so the fire is hotter and more intense. Mortality figures can be much higher across the board. Habitat damage that results in the death of trees is immense. As the rains are then still a few months away, this puts a further burden on the survivors who are then faced with a chronic food shortage.
Excerpt from Beat about the Bush
