Sightings report end of October

 

Spring has come and gone here in the African bush. October came with intense heat and high humidity that led to some early rain. The bush looks very green and all the burnt sections are blooming with wildlife, from the vegetation to the animals and a variety of insects.

The African wilddog den sight kept us busy throughout spring to the end of October. All six pups were still in good condition when they moved east towards the end of October. The impalas are heaving a sigh of relief since they can now live in peace with the hunting dogs gone. The impala dropping season is almost here.

Leopard sightings have been exceptional in spring as usual.’Nhlabankunzi still has her one year old going strong .Shikavi female has given birth to two (sex unknown yet) cubs. Metsi female still has her young female in good condition and the elusive Dam3 female leopard has been seen with two youngsters of about three months of age.

The Kashaan male leopard seems to have extended his territory further east into Londolozi and Singita, thus leaving an open gap in the western parts of his territory for young males to explore. This may lead to young leopard cubs getting killed since they will be considered future competition to this young males who are eager to have their own genes going in the area.

The lions of the western sector of the Sabi Sand are doing great with a lot of the cubs still alive. Considering the fact that eighty percent of lion cubs die from malnutrition, The Othawa pride still has their full litter of eight cubs which are now about eight months old. This pride came from the east of our boundaries and they seem to be enjoying the north western parts of our area and spend a lot of time along the Sand River which previously was owned by the Sand River pride. This pride is no longer in existence.

Ximungwe pride has six cubs out of the original seven. These cubs are looking good and are now over a year old, although as they get bigger they start demanding bigger portions of food and more frequently than when they were young. This does lead to more aggressive competition for food and with the weaker genes being put to the test, some will survive but the weaker won’t.

Elephants have been doing what they do best throughout spring. A huge amount of trees have been pushed over within the premises of lodges and rearranging gardens. Destructive as they maybe ,it is still good to see a big breeding herd of these large land mammals with lots of little ones that have no idea why they got to have a trunk. Watching the youngsters trying to use their trunk is one of the most entertaining experiences in wild life.

The Selati males are still around minus one member which had been sick for quite a while. So they have been reduced to three males but still going strong and spending lot of time with the Othawa pride in the north western parts of the Reserve.

All in all, spring has kept its reputation as the best season for gameviewing.

Till next time

Idube Rangers