Apologies for the lack of sightings reports over the last few days, to make up for it here is a full update from the rangers:
LIONS:
The lion population is still settling down after the takeover of the Mapogo territory by the four young Selati male lions.
Selati Male (Photo: Promise)
The four new males seem settled and are regularly seen patrolling their new territory. Their pride takeovers seem to be progressing rather slowly although they have been mating with one of the Othawa pride lionesses as well as the Ximhungwe lioness without cubs. They have been eating well and most recently were feeding on a huge buffalo bull in the Sand river.
Picking up the scent of an Othawa lioness (Photo:Promise)
Stretching the jaw muscles (Photo: Promise)
Finishing the buffalo kill (Photo: Promise)
Close up (Photo: Promise)
The other three Ximhungwe lionesses and the youngsters have been successfully avoiding the new coalition but this has meant that our sightings of the pride have been few. From what we have heard from our neighbours, they are all doing well. The fact that the Selati males have been quiet whilst on their buffalo kill may mean that the pride will return west in the next couple of days.
The Othawa pride has been seen, all three females are still doing well, but the cubs have not been spotted recently. If the cubs are no longer with us then the pride will soon be completely taken over by the Selati males which may mean they will spend more time in our sector and hopefully produce new cubs in the coming months.
There has been very little news on the remaining members of the ousted Mapogo male lions but the latest reports suggest they may be in the far southern sector of the Sabi Sand Reserve.
LEOPARDS:
The leopard population has been very busy providing regular sightings of most of the relaxed individuals and a few of some of the less well known leopards have been spotted a few times too.
The young son of the Shangwa female seems to finally be independent, but not before being seen on a kill with his mother and his older sister the blue eyed female. All three leopards were seen around an impala kill for a couple of days, the blue eyed female was fairly relaxed seeing as she is seldom seen these days. It was after that that Shangwa went far west and made another Impala kill. She fetched the young male and apparently left him alone in the area, far from his usual haunts. Since then the two have not been seen together. At 2 years old the youngster is perfectly capable of looking after himself and as he is big for his age he should do well.
The Tlangisa female, as always, was seen regularly in the western parts of the reserve, at 3 years old she should be fairly settled now and will soon be looking to mate with one of the dominant males – both of whom have been mating again this month!
Dewane Male (Photo: Promise)
The Hlab’nkunzi female is finally having some success with the males and has now mated with both the Dewane male and the Kashane male. In fact it seems that she now has the two fighting over her! Nobody saw a fight but she was mating with Kashane one evening close to the lodge. The next morning tracks for the Dewane male were heading into the same area and Kashane was found limping quite heavily later that drive. We are guessing that Dewane heard the mating pair and headed into the area and some skirmish ensued. Kashane should recover fully.
Dewane Male (Photo: Rob)
Dewane was also seen with the Dam 3 female again, we really only see her well when she is with a male, the rest of the time she is very shy.
The Metsi female has been seen quite regularly, having mated with Dewane previously she is now looking like she may be pregnant. Both Metsi and Dewane were seen together with a kill at one point.
Also seen sharing a kill were Kashane and the Xikavi female, who were taking turns to feed and to mate!
Kashane Male (Photo: Rob)
The Tassleberry female was seen frequently in the south eastern parts of our traversing area and is becoming more relaxed each time we see her.
Above and Below: Tassleberry Female (Photos: Rudi)
OTHER PREDATORS:
The African Wild Dog Pack Has also been in and out of our area, and have been taking full advantage of the impala breeding season to take down a number of distracted male impala. They have also been seen mating and we are hoping that they will head to last years den site when the time is right. With the upheaval in the lion population the pack should be even more successful raising pups this time.
As the grass starts to die back we have been seeing more of the smaller predators – Serval are sometimes spotted towards the end of the afternoon drives as well as white-tailed mongoose, civet and side-striped jackal. One evening there was a fascinating sighting of a young jackal catching flying termites as they emerged from the mound whilst bats and nightjars circled overhead catching those termites that managed to take off before the jackal managed to get to them.
Other species of mongoose especially Banded and dwarf were seen regularly too, as well as some sightings of genet at night.
HERBIVORES:
Lonnet and Elephant (Photo: promise)
Elephants have been seen in large numbers, herds and bulls. There are still many herds with tiny calves wobbling around. One of the larger herds is the herd that has one big female who likes to chase cars, when she starts the whole herd follows. This does make the drive more exciting and serves as a good example that all of our animals are wild and need to be treated with respect.
Little One (Photo: Promise)
The buffalo herd has been in and out of the traversing area, hopefully some of the older bulls will break off from the big herd to replace the ones in the bachelor herds that have been targeted by the Selati male lions! As the small groups are being split up by the hunting efforts of the male lions we often run into lone bulls in all areas of the reserve now.
The zebra population seems to still be stable and sightings are not hard to come by, as winter gets into full swing the cut clearings should be a popular place for them.
Giraffe are all over the reserve and we often have sightings of nice herds moving through the area. Many of the females seem to have been in oestrus and have had a large following of male suitors surrounding them. The giraffe do not have a set breeding season so the males are trying to make the most of opportunities presented to them. They will fight between one another for the right to mate, using their head and neck as a weapon.
As the water levels in the smaller dams is starting to drop, the hippos are starting to congregate in the larger dams and river pools again, this provides a perfect backdrop for our mid-drive drinks breaks.
The impala breeding season is at its peak now and during the recent “Super moon” the vocalisations of the territorial males were heard throughout the night. There is so much competition between the males that some males may only hold a territory for a few hours!
Big male warthog in the lodge (Photo: Promise)
It is also breeding season for the warthogs an their whole ritual is a daily occurrence on the lodge lawns. There are some huge males around the family groups and fighting between them is common. One of the larger males broke half a tusk whilst fighting over one of the females in front of the reception building!
Warthog on the lawn (Photo: Rudi)
Other regularly seen herbivores include: Waterbuck, kudu, nyala, bushbuck, reedbuck, duiker, steenbok and the scrub-hare.
REPTILES:
Water/Nile Monitor (Photo: Promise)
Regular sightings of crocodile and water monitors have been accompanied by some snake sightings: Black mamba, puff-adder, boomslang, red-lipped herald, brown house snake and a yellow bellied sand snake. There have also been plenty of sightings of flap-necked chameleon as well as the plated rock lizards and skinks resident in the lodge.
BIRDS:
There area always many bird species seen each drive but notable sightings have included: A dark chanting goshawk eating a snake, secretary bird, ground hornbills, gymnogene (African harrier hawk) hunting in a dead tree, martial eagle and regular sightings of saddle-billed storks.
so good to hear from you once again. great pics and as usual your reporting is top notch
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