Motsumi looked like a hunter
The nesting history of the eagles of Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden (WSNBG) has been followed all over the world, thanks to close monitoring by BEPR.
Weltevreden Park resident Lee Semoko submitted the winning name for the Black Eagle juvenile, Motsumi meaning ‘The Hunter’ in Sesotho.
This year saw a total of 70 entries, and after a week of intense voting and deliberation, the winner was decided.
Lee won a R500 Clearwater Mall voucher, Burger Bistro Little Falls dinner voucher for two, a Nadine van Zyl Photography photoshoot voucher, and a free, one-year domain and website hosting from Synergetix.
On Wednesday, 23 September, Clearwater Mall’s Marketing Manager, Jess Denner handed over the mall voucher to Lee and congratulated him on coming up with such a suitable name for the young eagle.
“The reason I chose the name Motsumi is firstly because I wanted to keep it in the whole Sesotho lineage from Mahlori and Makatsa.
“My inspiration mostly came from a photograph taken by photographer and Black Eagle Project Roodekrans (BEPR) observer, Johann van den Berg. The photo that shows off Motsumi’s impressive wing span was published in the Roodepoort Northsider. He looked like he wanted to pounce and attack, that is why I saw it fitting to give him the name Motsumi ‘The Hunter’,” said Lee.
The nesting history of the eagles of Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden (WSNBG) has been followed all over the world, thanks to close monitoring by BEPR.
BEPR announced earlier this year that they now offer free online presentations world-wide, and that space is limited to 230 viewers per talk.
It has taken two years to see another Black Eagle juvenile fledging at WSNBG, while BEPR monitors remain hopeful that Makatsa and Mahlori’s offspring will live on to continue the life cycle of the Verreaux’s eagle species.
