Beware the ‘blood moon’: A night of wonder and warning

Celestial wonder meets local concern: Sunday’s blood moon, or poacher’s moon locally, brings beauty and threat in Zululand.

September 2, 2025

Tamlyn Cramer 1 minute read

September 2015 blood moon Photo: Arthur Davis/Flickr

Around 85 per cent of the world’s population, including South Africans, will witness a total celestial blackout this weekend.

This as the longest total lunar eclipse since 2022 is set for Sunday night, 7 September.

According to timeanddate.com, for Zululanders, the entire partial and total phases will be visible, but will miss part of the prenumbral phase.

The partial eclipse will begin at 6.27pm South African time, with the full eclipse beginning at 7.30pm local time.

The maximum eclipse can be witnessed at 8.11pm, with the full eclipse finishing at 8.52pm.

The Corn Moon explained

Each monthly full moon symbolises major events or changes in nature during the month of that particular full moon.

September’s full moon is known as the Corn Moon because it appears during the traditional time of corn harvesting in North America.

Why a ‘blood moon’?

While full moons occur every month, blood moons do not.

A blood moon is when the full moon undergoes a total lunar eclipse, meaning the earth is between the sun and the moon.

According to space.com, a blood moon occurs when the earth’s shadow completely covers the full moon, filtering sunlight through the atmosphere and turning the moon’s surface deep red or coppery brown.

Poacher’s moon

Sadly, in South Africa the blood moon has taken on a sinister meaning, and is often termed a ‘poacher’s moon’.

The brighter light of the full moon stage of the lunar cycle lights up the night, and has in previous years resulted in more rhino poached at South Africa’s game reserves.

According to Save the Rhino, the full moon in May 2017 led to nine rhino killed, their carcasses dehorned, at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, while eight were killed during a supermoon event in 2015.

While the average person gazes up in wonder at the sight of the full moon blood moon, game rangers are on higher alert than usual in an attempt to protect their precious commodities.

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