Kwando Sichtungen 2012
KWANDO Safaris - Botswana - always good for Wild dogs!
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Never a quiet month at Kwando Safaris… read on and share what our guests saw in December 2012
Kwara
The three brother cheetahs were seen regularly in the Tsum Tsum area, managing to avoid the lions that were also seen out there, but also having luck killing reedbuck. Later in December, they were seen more and more frequently in the region around Splash. There have also been regular sightings of the shy female with a female cub, and another female is often seen on the outskirts of the camp.
Also in the Tsum Tsum area, a leopard was found up a tree with an impala. He didn’t look as though he was going anywhere fast, as a group of hyenas were at the bottom of the tree, waiting for any tidbits to fall out – or perhaps even waiting for the leopard to fall out?
Lions were seen almost every game drive this month, but there was no need to actually get on a vehicle and leave camp on some mornings. Early morning tea around the camp fire at Little Kwara was made that little bit more interesting by having two lionesses sitting on the floodplain in front of camp, watching the proceedings…
Lionesses didn’t have the upper hand for the whole month however, as on the 17th a pack of hyenas arrived where a group of lions were feeding on a kill. A fight ensued between the two predator species, and sadly, one lioness from the Shindi pride and her young six month old cub were killed in the attack.
In general, the lion dynamics in the Kwara concession have become quite confusing. The Solo pride seems to have split, and the four male intruders that have been seen over the last couple of months have been seen mating with young females from the Solo pride, as well as a female from the Shindi pride. The seven males have now moved deeper into the east, and are rarely seen.
The next day, when two male lions from the Solo pride came upon a pack of wild dogs, the dogs – 6 adults and 5 sub-adults – took no chances and set off at pace in the opposite direction. Lions can give chase for a short distance, but cannot keep up with the dogs that are adept at maintaining their speed over long distances.
As the grass is now a lush green with the rains – but not too long, the general game is looking in excellent condition, with impala, zebra, wildebeest and other antelope all having their young. Giraffes are feasting on the variety of new leaves, and elephants are enjoying a diet of a wide variety of grasses and other fresh vegetation. The mopane worms – fat black, green, red and yellow caterpillars about 10cm long – that feast (predictably!) on the leaves of the mopane tree are being seen here and there. These are a high in protein, so a boon to birds or animals that find them, and are a popular meal for humans too!
Lagoon
December was a very tricky month for lion sightings, and few were seen. However, a new male lion was found feeding on an old elephant carcass along the cutline. Tracks of the pride were seen, but we were unable to locate the animals themselves.
Good sightings of leopards this month, with a relaxed female being seen several times: feeding on an impala in a tree, and relaxing in another tree a few days later. One male managed to kill a warthog – a risky business to stay out of the way of those formidable tusks.
At the beginning of December the Lagoon pack of 21 dogs was seen around the camp for most of the week, feeding on impalas every day. The alpha male was missing for four days, and only found with the whole pack again on the 8th of December. He is getting quite old, and seems to be struggling with keeping up with the whole pack. It will only be a matter of time before another younger male will assume the responsibility of the Alpha position. By the middle of the month, he was showing obviously signs of weakness – looking thin, and moving slowly, lagging behind the rest of the pack. This does not necessarily mean that he will be thrown out of the pack if he loses the Alpha position: wild dogs have a huge community spirit, hunting for and feeding injured pack members for months on end. The pack was still being seen most days by the end of the month, killing impala & tsessebe babies, and also taking down a zebra foal.
Usually for about four weeks or so of the rainy season, many of the breeding herds of elephant disperse throughout the concession, and further afield, not being so reliant on the river as the only water source. There are still plenty of bull elephants to be seen, and a few smaller breeding herds of 30 or 40 individuals too, as they move through the concession.
The large herds of buffalos have moved on, which is again normal for this time of the year. It won’t be long before they realise the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and they return back to the concession in their hundreds!
With the rains, the bush comes alive with the sounds of frogs – tree frogs, rain frogs, bubbling kassinas, bull frogs. Add to that all the sounds of the large raptors circling over head and looking for prey, and the storks and herons marching through the grass picking out the frogs and termites as they go. It’s a great season for birding, with various kites, Wahlberg’s eagles, Steppe buzzards and eagles, ospreys, and tawny eagles.
Lebala
The Southern pack of dogs (9 adults and 7 subadults) were seen a lot out on game drives, and were highly successful with their kills. One lovely afternoon game drive we went back to where the dogs had been found in the morning and were in time to see them begin their greeting ceremony which helps the dogs bond, and signals the end of their rest period. It is quite a vocal ceremony, and the high-pitched yipping calls attracted a lone hyena. As soon as the pack saw the hyena, they began the chase, and the hyena had to take refuge in deeper water than the dogs wanted to go in. Leaving the hyena, they begin their hunt in earnest, and quickly brought down two baby impalas. The next morning, the same dogs caught three baby impalas.
Although Lagoon was struggling with lions in their part of the concession, the lions were seen several times down in our area.
Although the Southern pack of dogs were the ones we saw most often this month, we also had a visit from the Lagoon pack of 21 dogs, towards the end of the month.
Several relaxed leopards were also seen this month, together with one not-so-relaxed sub adult that was flushed from a blue bush whilst a guide and his guests were on a walk. She skittered off into the surrounding vegetation and was not seen again!
A big clan of hyenas were found feeding on a dead hippo, with the young cubs running in and out, and lots of giggling and cackling from all ages.
Lovely sighting of a mother and baby porcupine, plodding along the tracks close to the staff village.
Christmas day came to the lions as well as the humans: a pride of two males and three females took the opportunity of a few buffalo not being overly wary, with the males bringing down one buffalo, and the three females bringing down another. Keeping with the festive tradition, there was plenty of leftovers for Boxing Day!
Following a good sunny day, after the first big downpour, then chaos breaks loose in the evening: thousands of termites (winged alates) launch from each termite mound on a romantic getaway, with the hope of finding a partner and becoming king and queen of their own mound. They flutter and fly for only a short time - and then drop to the ground, losing their wings and snuggling up to their new partner. It’s an amazing scene as they flutter around every possible light, soon leaving piles of discarded wings next to each lantern. Unless you’re trying to eat dinner, of course, then you get rather a higher intake of protein than was initially served on your plate. Luckily, its only one night a year that dinner gets interrupted, and usually by 9pm, it’s safe to switch a light on again and have a meal. The next day however, is the equivalent of an all-you-can eat buffet for every bird, and small animal (and yes, people too). At first light, the early birds (literally!) start their feeding frenzy and are soon joined by the tree squirrels. It’s a race to see who can jam as many juicy partner-less termites into their mouth as possible!
Nxai Pan
Lots of cheetah sightings this month, including two males that spent several days following a female, and mating. Cheetahs were also seen by the Baines Baobabs – a beautiful back drop, as well as in the area around the camp.
Lions were also seen regularly – three adults with three sub-adults were taking the opportunity of the plentiful game, and were stalking zebra.
Lots of general game everywhere, including the giraffe, zebras, elephants, oryx and jackals. The springbok babies are everywhere, bounding around like little jack in the boxes on spindly legs, and, unfortunately, providing plenty of food for the cheetahs, lions, leopards and other predators of the area!
A nice sighting of a honey badger, had an added bonus, when an African wild cat that was hiding in the grass was flushed out by the honey badger – to the surprise of both of them!
Tau Pan
The whole of the Kalahari is back to life with all its flora and fauna sparkling after the good rains that continued to pour day and night in the beginning of the month. Springbok and oryx are countless, on every corner, and the normally hard to see red hartebeest are a regular sighting. The first wildebeest calf was seen on the 7th while the springbok kids were seen on the 8th around Tau Pan. Black backed jackals are now regaining good body condition after a lengthy dry spell that meant low food supply for the canids.
Three new lions (two sub-adult lionesses and one sub-adult male) were located around Phukwe Pan. Behaviour-wise, they were relaxed and appeared to be at ease with human presence. High chances are they that they have broken away from their natal pride together. They look very well nourished and healthy. Another pride of eight lions including five young cubs were seen in the Letiahau area, with the cubs being very playful, and wrestling each other as they moved along with their mother.
Closer to home, the Tau Pan waterhole has been attracting a variety of lions – both males from the Tau Pan pride have not been seen with the rest of their family, but the two females and their six offspring – now big enough to be called adults remain in the area. They were seen regularly drinking at the pan, and feeding on several kills, including oryx. Earlier in the month, a female lion – probably from the Passarge Valley – was also seen at Tau Pan, with her four cubs. All were fat and over-fed – having eaten so much they were having trouble breathing! – they spent a couple of days relaxing around one of the natural waterholes created by the rain.
When the lions are not resident at the Tau Pan water hole, we were lucky enough in December to see 8 wild dogs several times playing around the area, drinking, and even catching springbok. It is highly unusual to see wild dogs in the Kalahari, simply because they have huge territories, and rarely stay in one place for long.
All in all, a great month at Tau!
November has been a very exciting month for all the camps…..read on for more details
Kwara
The Mmalatho pride of lions are still not together as the mother is still with her two young male cubs, but the elder daughter is still on her own in the eastern Riverine Road area. The four intruder males are still around the western side, and that has forced the seven males to move around the central and eastern part of the area. Some of these males are nursing bad wounds from their previous fight. We have not managed to see all seven males together at the same time, but did have six together at once, which was a special sighting!
The three male cheetahs have gone back to their roots – and moved further into the Tsum Tsum area. This area is drying up now that the flood waters have receded, and the rain has not yet arrived. The cheetahs sometimes move through the northern mopane terrain, checking out their new area.
Sections of the heronry that were not destroyed by the feeding elephants last month still have a lot of chicks, but the adults only return to roost in the late afternoon.
There was a wide range of more unusual sightings this month: a saddle billed stork taking advantage of a clear moonlight night to wade through the water fishing (the bird equivalent of a midnight feast) - six ground hornbills all trying to catch and kill the same snake - two baboons proving that they are as omnivorous as humans, by killing and eating an impala lamb - two leopard tortoises mating – very slowly
A few of the normal game activities that we offer also provided some more out of the ordinary sightings: a nice bush walk on an island was curtailed somewhat by a couple of grunts, and a surprise sighting of a pride of lions. Respect was shown from both sides and a non-verbal agreement was reached that the people would be the ones to move out of the way, which they promptly did.
A day later, a mokoro trip through the peaceful delta waters, concentrating on the ‘small stuff’ was interrupted by the ‘big stuff’ as a lioness was seen bounding across the marshy banks hunting lechwe. The lechwe were lucky enough to get away, but the guests were then able to see the lioness relaxing on a termite mound, from the comfort of their mokoro’s.
The most unusual sighting, however, (very possibly winning the prize for the whole year and all the camps!) was a mother aardvark and her little baby. The mother was very shy and started running when seeing the vehicle, but the little one was not so fussed, and followed her slowly.
Lagoon
The pride of six lions had good luck with hunting this month, looking fat and full at all times. They were found feeding on a zebra, and five days later had also killed a buffalo about 300m from where they were eating the zebra. One day finding the lions looking well fed and happy, it was not surprising that when the guide saw a dead buffalo calf nearby, everyone assumed this is what the lions had been feeding on. Moving in closer for a look, the ‘dead’ buffalo suddenly leaped up, and ran straight at the vehicle, bounced off, and then ran off into the bush!
Lots of leopard sightings this month, with a relaxed female, and a big male leopard being the most regularly seen. The female leopard with two cubs is also very relaxed, with the cubs still shy, but a delight to watch. The mother killed a reedbuck, so there were great sightings of her and her cubs feeding on it. Also, one group of guests managed to see four different adult leopards in less than two days!
On the last day of October, the three cheetahs brothers were seen together, and looking fit and healthy. Unfortunately that day, they were chased by a group of lions, and by the middle of the month had still not been seen! No doubt they are just surveying the rest of their territory, and will return in a few weeks.
Lagoon pack of wild dogs were found in the south of our game drive area, finishing off an impala. They then spent the afternoon ‘at the pool’ – playing in and out of the water nearby where they killed. They were also seen taking down kudu, and more impala.
Three separate large herds of buffalo with over 500 individuals were found along the flood plains, feeding and drinking. Some of the bachelor groups were scattered along the woods and marshes, in their preferred habitats.
The two hyena dens were as productive as ever, and the individuals were also seen regularly at a carcass of a baby elephant.
Most unusual sighting of the month was a female warthog that was found killing a baby warthog piglet. Videoed by guests, it was distressing to watch, as the adult killed and then ate the piglet. This behaviour is so unusual, we referred it to two leading researchers in herbivores in Botswana, who had never witnessed this themselves. They felt that it was most likely that the piglet did not belong to the adult, but even so, there was little reason for this to occur.
We were also lucky enough to see a 2.5metre python crossing one of the roads. Other good sightings this month included a herd of eland, civet, honey badger, and also of an aardwolf.
Lebala
The pride of six lions had good luck with hunting this month, looking fat and full at all times. They were found feeding on a zebra, and five days later had also killed a buffalo about 300m from where they were eating the zebra. One day finding the lions looking well fed and happy, it was not surprising that when the guide saw a dead buffalo calf nearby, everyone assumed this is what the lions had been feeding on. Moving in closer for a look, the ‘dead’ buffalo suddenly leaped up, and ran straight at the vehicle, bounced off, and then ran off into the bush!
Lots of leopard sightings this month, with a relaxed female, and a big male leopard being the most regularly seen. The female leopard with two cubs is also very relaxed, with the cubs still shy, but a delight to watch. The mother killed a reedbuck, so there were great sightings of her and her cubs feeding on it. Also, one group of guests managed to see four different adult leopards in less than two days!
On the last day of October, the three cheetahs brothers were seen together, and looking fit and healthy. Unfortunately that day, they were chased by a group of lions, and by the middle of the month had still not been seen! No doubt they are just surveying the rest of their territory, and will return in a few weeks.
Lagoon pack of wild dogs were found in the south of our game drive area, finishing off an impala. They then spent the afternoon ‘at the pool’ – playing in and out of the water nearby where they killed. They were also seen taking down kudu, and more impala.
Three separate large herds of buffalo with over 500 individuals were found along the flood plains, feeding and drinking. Some of the bachelor groups were scattered along the woods and marshes, in their preferred habitats.
The two hyena dens were as productive as ever, and the individuals were also seen regularly at a carcass of a baby elephant.
Most unusual sighting of the month was a female warthog that was found killing a baby warthog piglet. Videoed by guests, it was distressing to watch, as the adult killed and then ate the piglet. This behaviour is so unusual, we referred it to two leading researchers in herbivores in Botswana, who had never witnessed this themselves. They felt that it was most likely that the piglet did not belong to the adult, but even so, there was little reason for this to occur.
We were also lucky enough to see a 2.5metre python crossing one of the roads. Other good sightings this month included a herd of eland, civet, honey badger, and also of an aardwolf.
Nxai Pan
Fires moved through the National Park this month, and the surrounding areas. There had been no rain since the first fall in late September, and the parched ground and trees easily sucked this water up long ago. With different vegetation to the sweeping grasses of the Kalahari, the fires skip and jump at Nxai between clumps of thick vegetation and over the barely-grassed salt pans. Animals normally have plenty of time to move out of the way, but trees obviously have to take whatever comes… The Baines Baobabs proved their longevity and remained undamaged, as the fire circled them.
Cheetahs and lions were seen regularly during the month. Mostly resting in the shade and trying to avoid as much of the heat as possible as everyone and everything waits for the real rains to start. Three sub-adult cheetahs were found in the Baobab Loop area, and they were attempting to hunt, but were unsuccessful.
The wildebeest have had their babies, and there are lots of little miniature gnus running around on spindly legs, learning how to react in the face of a predator. No springbok babies as yet, but it shouldn’t be long now.
Tau Pan
The 8th of November saw the promise of rain turn instead to the challenge of Kalahari bush fires as lightning struck the ground not far from camp and ignited the dry grass. As the winds billowed, it turned into a fast hot fire, and the next few hours were a battle between nature and the camp and park staff as it got closer and closer to the fire break. As midnight approached, the fire jumped the first fire break, and guests were treated to a rare night drive in the CKGR as staff and guests left the lodge to be on the safe side. The second fire break held without a problem, and guests returned to the camp 30 minutes later to a glass of bubbly, and a few photos and exciting stories to tell. The next morning, it was business as usual, as game drives set off to see how the land had transformed. Fears that the fire had scared off the Tau Pan lions were unfounded, as the male was found snoozing next to room 3, and the rest were found not too far away. The game drives were superb, as animals that normally hide in the scrub were still busy scurrying to thicker cover, and that annoying bit of grass that gets in the photo frame was no longer there…. The Kalahari burns every year, and although it initially looks like a landscape that can support nothing, it makes a quick recovery.
By the middle of the month, it was back to situation normal, as the Tau Pan pride decided the weather was still a little warm for their liking, and moved back to the shadiest spot in the area, with the benefit of a little breeze from the elevation: right next to the manager’s house. As a camp manager, there’s only so much work can be done from your room, when nine sleepy lions are not interested in moving.
The male lion that split off from the Tau Pan pride is still in the area, but continues his lengthy self imposed exile. He visits the waterhole often, drinks, has a bit of a rest, then moves off, roaring. One wonders what has caused this rift to continue for so long!
Although the Tau Pan pride sub-adults have a comparatively easy life as far as lions go, the middle of the month saw a big change for their young neighbours that live in the Phukwe Pan/Passage pan area. Three young cubs, aged about three months, were found orphaned, lying next to their dead mother whilst vultures fed on her. Luckily, DWNP stepped in to help and took the three cubs to a temporary shelter at Tau Pan Camp before transferring them to a rehabilitation centre in the southern part of the country, where they can be raised and then released to live a normal life in a large game reserve.
The 22nd of November was definitely cat day, when guests on one drive saw 7 lions and two cubs at Piper Pan, followed by 1 adult lion at Tau water hole, two lions at Passarge Pan, and a cheetah also in the Piper Pan area. To continue the celebrations of cat day from the day prior, the 23rd of November featured one lioness and one cheetah drinking at the Tau Pan waterhole, and one leopard drinking at the swimming pool.
That (supposedly) elusive brown hyena arrived several times again this month – once on a game drive it was seen in the vicinity of Makgoa Pan, and also sneaking in to the waterhole at camp one morning to drink.
The last sighting of the lions was the 25th of the month, and shortly after that the rains began to fall. This has provided the most amazing thunder and lightning shows for the camp, but also a few puddles of water for the animals to drink. The lions, having been ‘stuck’ close to camp for most of the year – dependent on the water hole for their water source, quickly grabbed the opportunity to do a proper survey of their territory. This is vital for them to maintain a hold on their lucrative area – good food supply and permanent water. It’s also important for the young male sub adults to learn where the boundaries are, and what possibilities exist for them, when they reach an age where they are forced out of the pride, and have to find their own territories.
Perhaps taking the opportunity of the lion’s absence for a few days, the surprise visitors to the Tau Pan waterhole were a pack of eight wild dogs! Rarely seen in the Kalahari because of the huge distances that they cover, the eight dogs were seen one afternoon, and then a solitary dog a couple of days later. All looked fit and healthy!
October 2012 Kwando sightings report - what a month….read more
Kwara
This month we actually had two different packs of wild dogs – the pack that has been with us for several months, which now consists of 7 adults and 6 puppies, and second pack that has been seen twice of 5 adults and 3 puppies. It’s likely that this is actually the original pack of 12, which has split into two packs. We witnessed them meet face to face, (or muzzle to muzzle) at Second Bridge on one occaision, and although the two packs chased around each other, there was not a large amount of animosity. The resident pack lost interest and went off to hunt impala.
There was also an interesting bit of hyena and wild dog activity where a solitary wild dog killed an impala and, before the rest of the pack could get there to assist, three hyenas moved in quickly and grabbed the remains. Another day, hyenas managed to steal an impala kill away from the dogs, only to be chased out when a lion arrived to claim the prize! Later in the month, the lions didn’t have it so lucky, when a lioness lost her reedbuck kill to a hyena who harassed her too much.
Three male cheetahs were also seen several times this month in the Splash area, as well as a cheetah mother and her sub-adult cub, feeding on a baby tsessebe. Late in the month, they were lucky enough to find a female cheetah in oestrous, and one of the brothers mated with her. It was also a lucky escape for one of the brothers, as when they were spread out looking for the female, two male lions caught the scent of the cheetah and started following. When the cheetah finally saw the lions, he ran off, with the lions giving chase for quite a distance. Eventually, the lions tired and gave up on the run.
At the beginning of the month four previously unknown male lions moved into the Four Rivers area, changing the movements of our resident pride, and forcing them to the eastern part of the concession. The resident male lions ‘kidnapped’ the solitary female lioness that frequents the central area of the Kwara concession, and are obviously waiting for her to come into oestrus, in the hopes of mating. Three Shindi females were also seen, one of which has two cubs of around 3 months old. Perhaps because of the prevalence of lion sightings this month, the leopard sightings were fewer, and seemingly a little shy.
Of the smaller cats, two servals were seen moving around together, hunting.
The heronry was overflowing with chicks, as well as parents that were busy feeding their hungry offspring. However, at the end of the month, elephants arrived on the scene to feed, and damaged a lot of the trees that the birds were nesting in. Sadly, many have had to move off, some leaving their chicks behind.
Lagoon
Early October saw the three cheetah brothers reunited for the first time in over a month! It was lovely to see them all together again – they looked well fed, and had just killed an impala. The rest of the month, the brothers stuck close to each other. However, their territory is huge, so it can be a long time between sightings of them, as they patrol and survey their domain
Hundreds of carmine bee eaters have arrived for the breeding season. These stunning birds are everywhere, but the most exciting place to see them is from the boat, as they nest in holes in the banks of the river.
Interesting combination of lions this month, with a female with three sub-adults being seen feeding on a kudu and buffalo, and then a female with 1 sub-adult feeding on a zebra. A few days later these two small prides met, and fed together on a small elephant. Late in the month, the pride of six (2 lionesses and four sub-adults) made an unusual kill: honey badger. These ferocious little beasts are rarely caught by predators, as even lions are a little hesitant around them, and they have a tendency to stand and fight rather than flee. Sadly, this one didn’t win the day, and provided a small meal for six lions. It was obviously only snack-size, as the next morning, the same lions were seen hunting for bigger game along the floodplains.
Several leopards have been seen this month, including the female with two young cubs. Although they are shy during the day, when found at night, they are much more relaxed. Four other females and two males have also been seen.
Early on in the month, the Lagoon pack of wild dogs were frequenting the area around Lebala, as the Southern pack have been able to take longer forays into their adjoining territory now that the water is receeding. However, in the middle of the month, the Lagoon pack appears to have lost one of the puppies – and the pack count is now 16 adults and 8 puppies – still not a bad number for a litter of 10, in a species that normally has a high infant mortality rate.
Huge herds of buffalos are still frequenting the area along the water-cut – herds of around 1000 individuals are being seen regularly, still waiting for the heavy rains so they can move further afield. Elephants have already caught wind of the impending rain, and although there are still a lot of breeding herds around, the numbers are slowly decreasing.
Hyenas are becoming the dominant predator in the area at the moment, ganging up and forcing lions off their kills numerous times. The den seems to be producing a never ending supply of hyena cubs! However, it would just take a couple of lions to hit upon the den at an inopportune time whilst the adults are away, to tip the balance in the other direction.
Late October, and the babies start arriving: first to be spotted – two new-born tsessebes finding their spindly legs, and having to learn fast how to BE fast, before any of the predators catch them!
Summer (or rainy season) is truly here with the arrival of the Woodland Kingfisher this month. One of the last migrants to arrive, they announce their appearance with a high chirp, followed by a liquid trill. Nothing evokes a change of season so much as that call, when it is has not been heard for more than seven months. It conjures up images of bright green leaves, green grass, beautiful scents and antelope babies - even though we have only had one quick thunderstorm so far!
Lebala
Wild dogs this month showed their co-operative pack behaviour, when they decided to cross a lagoon which had crocodiles lurking around. Two members of the pack were encouraged across by the rest of the pack, to the safety of the far bank. Wild dogs have a strong sense of pack responsibility, to the point of supporting a member of the pack who cannot hunt.
Three leopards in one day was the record this month for the ‘elusive cat’. It began with a very relaxed male seen at John’s Pan, then a female was found hunting along Mogotho Road, and lastly, a second female was seen at sunset attempting to hunt impalas. Late in the month, a male and female leopard were found together, relaxing on top of a termite mound, admiring the view.
The lionesses weren’t so lucky this month, having kills stolen from them on the same day – having killed a kudu, a hyena clan came and chased off the lionesses, and then a warthog kill was stolen by a large male.
It was a luckier time for a slightly smaller cat – and the guests that saw it – a caracal managed to kill a female impala. These beautiful cats, with tufted ears similar to the lynx, are amazingly strong, and can overpower prey that is larger than itself. An impala is a good meal for the caracal, at about twice its own body weight!
With all the action happening out and about, and great predator sights to see, its also wonderful to note that a guest recorded one of the remarkable sightings as the painted reed frog. These tiny frogs (not much bigger than a fingernail) are beautifully coloured, but hard to spot, sitting motionless on the reeds. Another motionless frog, is the foam nest tree frog: these frogs are easily seen in, of all places, Lebala bar. Pale cream in colour and looking like ceramic ornaments, they spend the day sitting on top of picture frames, or resting alongside the bottles. They can make astounding leaps to catch insects near the lights, though perhaps not as astounding as the leap that is then made when they inadvertently land on someone!
Nxai Pan
There are large numbers of springbok in the area, with the females heavily pregnant, just waiting hopefully for the rains to come so that they will be able to feed their offspring well enough. A couple of males were still seen sparring – though it’s a little late in the day to be fighting over females when the deed is already done!
Black backed jackals are seen all over the pan, foraging, laying down and making frequent contact calls to each other.
On the 4th of October, a male and female lion were seen mating at the waterhole within the pan. On the same day, two male cheetahs came into the camp waterhole to drink.
Accountants don’t get out of the office much, but once in a while, a journey from the Maun to the Nxai Pan Park headquarters to sort out the park fees payments is necessary. Unable to have much more time than driving straight into camp, spending the night and driving out the next morning, our nature-loving administrator was excited to see anything at all. Hitching a ride into camp with her were three guides and the guide-co-ordinator, who were heading into Nxai for a training session. Perhaps they bought some luck, or perhaps it was their skills coming into action, as in the short time she was there, our lucky Accountant managed to see elephants and two cheetahs drinking at the waterhole, lions feeding on an oryx, and last but not least, a leopard that was relaxing next to the ‘main’ road. And on her way out of the park, closer to the Baines Baobab side, the first few hundreds of zebra from the start of the migration were spotted! – early indeed!
The rest of the month, the lions and the cheetahs did not disappoint, and were seen many days. As all the animals are now waiting for the good rains to fall, they are still reliant on the waterholes that dot the park. For the predators, this means an easy source of food as the desperate animals come in to drink.
Tau Pan
The start of the month saw the three adult lions (now comprising of two females and one male, since the other male left to pursue his own agenda) and six sub-adults drinking at the camp water hole with full bellies. They then proceeded to the western side of the waterhole where there is nice shade, and spend the whole day snoozing.
Later that day there was some drama, as the six sub-adults came face to face with a very thirsty looking cheetah at the waterhole. Thanks to his speed, he managed to outrun the lions, and returned the waterhole later when the lions had left. Normally, this particular cheetah runs when he sees the vehicle, but this time around he allowed us to view him for almost an hour as he drank, before marking his territory on a nearby bush and leaving.
The six sub-adult lion cubs are still trying to fine-tune their hunting skills against the prey species animals that come to drink – but still no luck! The two lionesses then take over from the cubs on a serious note as they try to take something down for the family. Even they are struggling to succeed, as every time they try to stalk something, the cubs are always first to launch an attack, at completely the wrong moment!
When the sub-adults are not busy stuffing up their chance of getting something to eat, they spend quite a bit of time wrestling one another. This helps build their muscles, and they do learn some techniques for how to bring down prey. The more they practice, the better they will get in the future, especially important for the two young males who are facing eviction in the near future.
Yet another sighting of the brown hyena, sneaking into the waterhole to drink just as dawn arrived. Realising he was out late, he quickly trotted off into the distance to await the night falling again.
A very photogenic leopardess was found twice in one day – first at the waterhole in front of camp, quenching her thirst, and then relaxing in an umbrella thorn. She kept changing positions, seemingly in order to ensure that everyone could get her ‘best angle’.
Although we have been seeing plenty of honey badgers out on our drives, sniffing around and digging for food such as rodents, reptiles and invertebrates, the camp staff are less than enamoured with these cheeky animals. Several times during the last month they have broken into our dry goods store (which is on deck, raised up off the ground) and had a fat and happy time having a midnight feast. Their sharp claws easily break into sealed plastic tubs, and they are even able to climb the shelves. The camp staff have always been very careful to ensure that everything is carefully locked away and out of animals reach – even the waste that returns by truck to Maun – but the badgers always seem to be one step ahead. An additional application of corrugated iron to the outside walls of the storeroom is hoped to keep them at bay – for a while at least.
Sightings Report Kwando Safaris - September 2012:
September - a great month for sightings - read on…..
A lovely day of exciting animal activity, where three male cheetahs were seen harassing a female cheetah with her cub, was to be finished off with a quiet fishing trip on the Kwara channel.
The keen fishermen were looking forward to an expedition where they could dip their rods in the clear, calm water and hook a good catch. Meanwhile, other inhabitants of the Delta were also launching an expedition of their own, hoping to hook a good catch. The boat cruised along the channel, looking for a good spot to throw in the lines, everyone enjoying the beauty of the reeds and birdlife that darts in and out of the channel. Rounding a corner of the channel, the guide and fishermen bumped into a group of individuals who had already made a catch, far in excess of anything they could hope to pull aboard their boat: five lions devouring a buffalo on a sandbank of the channel! An amazing sighting, the guests watched the lions from the upper viewing platform of the boat. The guide nudged the boat along the side of the channel, as he would with a game drive vehicle at a lion sighting. The tail of one of the lions started flicking to and fro – never a good sign – so the guide put the boat into reverse and backed out further into the channel. It appears that the lions were as surprised to see this strange thing come floating down the channel as we were to see them. They are used to the shape of the car, but not the shape of a boat. They saw the boat as a threat, and one game individual was preparing to make a warning charge at the boat if it got any closer! The guide and guests moved off in search of fish and left the lions in peace to enjoy their meal.
It was also exciting to see the brief return of the Splash Boys (two big male lions that frequented the Splash area) … They made a quick foray into the area by the Kwara boat station, only to be chased back out by the current resident males of the area. In fact, it is been a good month for catching up with male lions, with several sightings of four of the so-called Magnificent Seven, including one day where they caught four buffalos of assorted sizes from one herd!
The latest on the wild dog pack that has been favouring the Kwara area is that some of the puppies are missing…. They now only number six, with no one knowing what happened to the other three pups. The adults are still hunting well, and have taken “souvenirs” of their kills back to the puppies, to get them used to the idea of where the regurgitated meat that they eat comes from! One adult female caught an impala, and diligently carried the impala head back to where the puppies were waiting, and then it was a tug of war between all of them. The rest of the impala was eaten in situ by the pack of 10 adults – total time taken: 7 minutes.
However, these are not the only wild dogs that are currently in the Kwara concession: there have been two recent sightings of a small pack of four dogs (two males, two females), with five puppies. Where this pack has suddenly appeared from is unknown, but they will have to choose their territory carefully if they are planning to stay for a while, so they do not compete with the bigger pack.
The exciting bird news is that the heronry is up and in full swing again! All birds are at different stages of nesting with many nests still being built, some incubating their eggs, and a handful of the earliest arrivals already raising their chicks. The next couple of months will provide wonderful sights and sounds as the many different birds use this safe haven. In the middle of the month, the heronry was visited by hundreds and hundreds of lesser and greater flamingos, before they moved on to their more usual feeding grounds.
An action packed month with a lot of multiple predator sightings, and multiple kills!
The southern pack of wild dogs were seen regularly, usually with the puppies in tow. There were several exciting interactions with hyenas chasing dogs, dogs chasing hyenas, dogs chasing leopards, and a very weird combination of wildebeest chasing dogs.
The most amazing sighting of dogs was mid-month when one game drive vehicle found the adults from the southern pack of dogs harassing four dogs, initially thought to be from the Lagoon pack. Three managed to escape, but one was caught by the pack, and suffered a severe mauling before hiding in the reeds. The southern pack looked as though it was settling in for a long wait for the intruder dog to come out. Whilst this was going on, another game drive vehicle came across nine puppies. There was some confusion as to which pack these puppies belonged to… However, the adults from the southern pack soon realised they had been separated from their puppies while chasing the other dogs so they left the interloper and went to look for their offspring. They were about three km apart. The dogs dispersed, with the lead dogs finding the puppies all safe, and calling in the rest of the pack. The lone dog made his escape, dripping blood from his wounds as he headed off to try and link up with his three packmates. Interestingly, the next day the Lagoon pack was sighted with all adults and pups accounted for, and none injured, so the four dogs that were seen the day before were a third group that had moved into the concession temporarily.
Leopard sightings were also excellent this month – and were not limited to the dogs ‘treeing’ them (probably not a verb found in the Oxford English Dictionary, but meaning when an animal is chased up a tree to escape a threat, and can’t come down until the threat leaves…!). One very skilful female leopard managed to hunt three times in two days, pulling down a warthog, impala and finishing off with a reedbuck.
Not to be outdone by the more famous tree-climbing felines, a lioness was found relaxing up a tree, admiring the view.
The cheetah brothers were seen several times this month, after lots of hard tracking done by the teams. Both animals looked in good health.
An elephant which had died near Steve’s Pan provided an interesting array of visitors to the take-away service on offer. Hyenas were prevalent, but they made way for the avian scavengers, (white backed vultures and marabou storks), the jackals also sneaking in for a bite.
It wasn’t a lucky day for the impalas – who often bear the brunt of various predators dietary requirements – two found themselves being chased by a pack of wild dogs. Finding their escape routes limited, the impalas charged into the nearby water. One managed to bound out and escape the dogs but the other was quickly grabbed by a crocodile!
Life in camp was also very active, with the elephants moving through the marsh in front of camp each day, and drinking at the small channel. During the night, sound effects were magnified, as they stomped through the camp, eating the trees, and shoving the hippos out of the way. The wild dogs visited the workshop one late afternoon, chasing an impala who launched herself into the channel next to the bar, and bluffed out the dogs. They ran across the open area in front of camp and pulled down another impala, only to have it taken away by 15 cackling hyenas, who in turn continued to tackle each other and make grabs at lumps of meat. However, it’s not just the big stuff that keeps us entertained in camp: a small spotted genet was seen several times (including in the bar!), a francolin proudly escorted her eight, day-old chicks across the dining room, and a baby squirrel attempted to join in for afternoon tea in the lounge while its mother’s back was turned.
Lovely sightings this month of leopards – including a female with her own little cub. The cub is quite shy, so the guides are being careful not to disturb it in any way, and slowly habituate it to the vehicles. The cub is estimated to be two months old, so really in the first days of discovering its environment. The mother is very relaxed, and it is by watching their mothers that cubs learn what is ‘acceptable behaviour’ for a leopard. So, if their mum is not nervous about some strange things rolling in from time to time and taking photos, they will not be. As the cub grows and gets braver, it will become more curious about new things, and will begin investigating its’ surroundings. This will all help to provide delightful viewing opportunities for our guests.
Lions have also been making forays into the area near Lagoon camp. In particular, a female with three sub-adults has been seen attempting to hunt buffalo on several occasions – all unsuccessful unfortunately. The sub-adults don’t appear to be much help, they lounge around watching whilst their mum tries to take down dinner for them! Another pride of lions was also found in the north of the Lagoon area, feeding on one of the many buffalos that have been moving through the concession. The same lions were seen the previous week, tussling with hyenas, close to the hyena den.
Early on this month, the Lagoon pack of wild dogs moved from their den to the area around Zebra Pan. Shortly after that, they disappeared into the thick mopane, and we have only had sporadic sightings of them, despite intensive tracking. This could be due to the lion and hyena activity in the area – all of which compete for the same prey, and are a threat to the young pups. At this age, the pups are too big to stay at a den, but not strong enough to be able to keep up with the adults if another predator approaches. It is likely that they have retreated to the thick mopane area until the pups are a little bigger.
The two cheetah brothers were seen during the month, but the third brother is still missing. Last month they were within a few hundred metres of each other, but failed to locate each other. With that distance apart, it is more than likely intentional that one has decided to leave the other two, perhaps seeking independence.
With the warmer temperatures swimming season is open for all in front of camp, and the elephants are parading down to the water, sometimes with only their (swimming) trunks visible! The youngest have to doggy paddle at double the pace to keep up with the herd, but there is usually a kindly relative along side ready to nudge them along. The hippos make sure they give the ‘day visitors’ a lot of space!
It’s also buffalos galore, with a herd of more than 1500 individuals – the largest we have seen this year – moving around the Muddy Waters area of the concession. The short grass is drying out fast, providing little for a herd this size to eat, so they need to keep on the move to find sufficient sustenance for everyone.
Hyenas are still using the den for the youngest cubs (now a little older than two months) but the ones aged around 6-8 months are now moving around with the rest of the clan. This creates a lot of excitement at any kill, with hyenas of all shapes and sizes trotting in and out and grabbing the best food available.
Another lucky sighting of aardwolf this month, as well as wonderful herds of eland, sable and roan.
The most eventful sighting of the month was in camp during the middle of the day. Guests resting up in the last room were disturbed by unusual sound effects, that couldn’t quite be identified, but didn’t sound like anything that normally happens in camp during siesta time. The sounds were enough to disturb most other guests, and all the staff as well. Closer and careful investigation revealed the pride of seven lions, hunting at midday, had caught a adult kudu bull and were now enjoying their lunch just 100m or so from the guests’ room!
As things get drier and drier, the fight for water resources becomes stronger. Ever the bullies, elephants hog the waterhole, and this is possibly not sufficient to sustain all their needs. One night this month, an elephant decided he didn’t want to run the gauntlet of the other bigger, tougher characters at the waterhole, and found his own water source. Bravely pushing against the wire of the electric fence (which has a mild current, supposedly just enough to deter a half-hearted elephant) he snapped it, and made a bee-line the geyser at Room 1. A gentle nudge, and that was the end of the geyser and start of a long and un-interrupted drink of water!
A lioness with three cubs around four months old was keeping a low profile, and was seen moving away from a water hole as two big male lions approached. The males are from the Kgama Kgama area and are a potential threat to the cubs if they are not their own offspring. On the same day, two male lions and one female from the pride of 11 were seen mating, the two males seemed unperturbed about ‘sharing’. If the female produces a litter of cubs, then both males have a vested interest in their genes being handed down to the next generation. The male lions may be closely related, so no matter who sires the cubs, it will still mean their hereditary line will be continued for them both.
One lioness was seen near Sunday Pan waterhole, with wounds – evidence that not all is happy in the lion family. There seems to be a constant tussle between the Passarge Pan lions and the pride that frequents the camp waterhole.
Around the camp, the six sub-adult lions are still present and healthy, but are not always joined by their older family members. One big male was only seen at the end of the month, coming down to drink water after a lengthy self imposed solitary spell. Amazingly this male lion has decided to go solo, leaving behind his pride of two lionesses, six sub-adult cubs and the other male. Later, the six sub-adults were seen play-stalking each other, and any prey species that came down to drink, including kudu and oryx.
The ‘usual suspects’ have been sighted regularly out on game drives too: cheetahs, leopard, jackals, giraffe, oryx, and all the other general game. Honey badgers are still active as ever (both in camp and out!).
The elusive brown hyena has also been visiting the waterhole, to slake its thirst - or so I am lead to believe. It is conveniently absent whenever I visit the Kalahari, and after 14 years of looking for one, I view these reported sightings with a certain amount of disdain (or perhaps that should be disbelief…).
As dry as things are now, the whole country will only get drier before the rains begin, hopefully in October. We were lucky enough to have a very brief few drops of rain on the 28th September – not unexpected, as there is always a light shower somewhere over the country around the 30th of September, to celebrate our Independence Day. Pula!
Sightings Report Kwando Safaris - August 2012:
There has been plenty happening at Kwando… read on….
Kwara Concession
Around the 7th August, the dogs moved their den. Although we have not been able to relocate the new den – it is probably in an area of thick, inaccessible Mopane scrub where we have seen the adult dogs several times. One day they were seen catching an adult kudu, but the kill was taken over by the Makotho pride of lions. Just before they relocated the den, only nine puppies were counted, so it appears that one puppy has died. This is not unusual for wild dogs, as infant mortality can be quite high. At the end of the month, all twelve dogs and 9 puppies were found resting along Tsum Tsum Road. All looked fit and healthy.
Lions were seen almost every day this month, including the Makotho pride, the large males from the other pride frequenting the Splash area and killing an adult giraffe, and the lonely lioness with her one young cub, who was now moved out of the Splash area to the central area of the concession. (This is probably to keep her cub out of the way of the large male lions now in Splash.)
We had several sightings of leopard, including a female leopard who killed a side striped jackal and hung it in a tree. She was seen feeding on the jackal – this is unusual as whilst predators often kill other predators, they don’t often feed on them.
Three brother cheetahs were seen often this month, as well as the other cheetah three-some of sub-adults. The youngsters have been frequenting the areas around the camps, even walking between the tents at Little Kwara and past the kitchen at night.
Unusual sightings this month occurred on the boat, in the Kwara main channel, with a flash sighting of a Sitatunga – a rarely seen semi-aquatic antelope – it made a hasty get away through the reeds. Two martial eagles were seen killing different prey: one took a monitor lizard, and a second one snatched a cane rat.
Sometimes we overlook the smaller things – one keen guide was lucky enough to notice two community spiders: the female was busily eating prey in the web, apparently oblivious of the other spider that was mating with her at the time!
Lagoon
The pride of eight lions has been seen quite often this month, mostly around the Muddy Waters area. A mother with three sub-adult cubs was also seen regularly, though the cubs themselves are quite shy. The eight lions succeeded in killing a buffalo, and the single lioness also managed to kill a buffalo calf.
The ten wild dog puppies are going strong, and are still resident at the same den. The adult dogs still come and go from the den, hunting and bringing back food to regurgitate for the pups and any adult dog that stays behind to ‘puppy-sit’.
Most of the big buffalo herds have moved down towards the Lebala region, probably due to the prevalence of lions and the wild dogs that developed a taste for buffalo calf…
In the middle of the month hyenas were found feeding on an elephant calf – no adult elephants were nearby, and it remains a mystery as to whether the elephant died of natural causes, or was taken down by the hyenas, or indeed, the lions that were nearby. Whichever way, it didn’t remain with the hyenas for long as the wild dogs arrived and chased off the hyenas. The hyena population appears to be increasing, with two new-borns recently spotted at the den.
As the weather warms, more and more elephants are spending the afternoons by the water, drinking, and bathing.
Separate sightings of three different leopards – a young male, a female, and another male, all were seen hunting. The adult male was found with the remains of a kill.
Lebala
A very relaxed female leopard was seen three days in a row at the beginning of the month, attempting to hunt each day. Sadly she had no luck whilst we were watching. However, a few days later, we found a male leopard with a fresh impala kill on the ground. A female leopard – possibly the same one we had seen the days before – approached the male, in an attempt to also feed on the impala. The male hissed and growled and refused to allow her in to feed. The next day the two leopards were still together, with the male dominating the kill. When the male left to drink water, the female was able to eat.
On the 26th of August, a female leopard was tracked for about forty minutes until we found her up a tree. It was a delight to see her cub up the tree with her. We estimate the cub to be two months old. On our arrival it came down the tree and hid in the nearby bushes.
A hard-earned three hours of tracking paid off when an adult male cheetah was spotted resting under the shade of the mopane trees near Wild Dog Pan. He was well fed with the remains of blood from a recent meal smeared over his face. The next day he was located again, resting up in the shade of some trees.
Towards the end of the month a single female wild dog was located along Boundary road with nine puppies with her. The rest of the pack (totalling ten adults) was located hunting at Twin Pools. This pack is a different pack from the group of dogs that are denning close to the Lagoon camp. A few days later hyenas were located feasting on a dead giraffe along the Boundary road, when a group of eight dogs came and had a fight over the carcass with the hyenas. The dogs gave up and left, but led us back to the nine puppies that had been stashed in a den further along the boundary. Later in the month, the alpha female of the pack managed to take down a kudu on her own, before calling in the rest of the pack.
The airstrip proved productive one night with an aardwolf briefly seen on the game drive. The aardwolf is sometimes mistaken for a hyena, but they feed solely on termites!
Nxai Pan
Usually seen at our Tau Pan camp in the Kalahari, the honey badger made an appearance this month, he was seen along the main road to camp digging and hunting small rodents.
Early in the month the female cheetah with two young was seen heading towards Baines Baobabs, hunting. Unfortunately, a few days later, the mother was found in the same area with a broken leg, probably as a result of an accident incurred whilst hunting. Sadly there is no hope that the cheetah will survive, and her cubs are too small to be able to live without their mother.
On a lighter note, the two young male cheetahs that frequent the area close to camp were seen fit and healthy several times, and spent one morning from 6am till around 9am in front of camp, drinking from the waterhole (seemingly oblivious to the grumbly elephants around them). Black backed jackals were following them at a distance, in the hope of scavenging any scraps from a kill they might make. And the hundreds of babbling guinea fowl clucked around themselves in dismay as the elegant cats moved past them.
Lions were also seen often this month both on drives, and in camp – a lioness and five sub-adults spent the entire night walking up and down around the camp. They were found the next morning sleeping close to the waterhole. Their patience paid off when a steenbok came towards the pride unaware. The lioness lay in ambush as the steenbok approached. She had calculated the distance and gave chase. Within 100 metres the fate of the steenbok was sealed as the lioness grabbed her by the neck to have her morning solo ‘snack’ as the rest of the pride watching from the sidelines.
An elephant family unit of seven females and two young came down to the camp waterhole one afternoon, very thirsty. They were all in a hurry to reach the waterhole, only to be stopped by the bulls that were already there. A careful observation of the animals’ behaviour revealed the two sexes got into some negotiations before the bulls would allow the females to drink. This family unit usually visits the waterhole every two days.
Both black-backed and side-striped jackals were seen most days, and there was an interesting altercation between two male black-backed jackals, who were fighting over a female jackal who looked on as they battled.
The highlight of the week of the 8th of August was the sighting of lesser grey shrike and barn swallows – these two species of birds are not particularly photogenic, but stand out for a different reason - they are our first summer migratory visitors!
Tau Pan
The beginning of the month was back to situation normal for lions, with all 10 of them (four adults, six sub-adults) hanging around the camp for four days. The days were spent relaxing and warming up in the sun as the temperatures were low (zero degrees and below at night!) and then hunting during the night. Although we did not see the remains of a kill, each morning the lions were bloodied, showing that they had been successful. The sub-adults are now about 1.5 years old, and they are almost the same size as the adult females. The next 6 to 12 months will be interesting as tensions are sure to rise. As the sub-adult males get older they are likely to be forced out by their father and uncle.
Stealthily trying to sneak in for a drink at the waterhole whilst the lions are preoccupied elsewhere, an adult cheetah was seen several times. He attempted to hunt kudus, but returned empty-pawed after the chase.
On a day trip down to Deception Valley, we came across a relaxed and healthy caracal, lying in the shade. These elegant but powerful small cats, can subsist on catching rodents and small prey, but have also been known to bring down antelope several times their size.
Other animals that were seen regularly this month include the gemsbok, steenbok, wildebeest, kudu, giraffe, duikers, springboks, bat eared foxes, jackals, and the small mongooses such as the slender and yellow mongoose.
Highlight (or perhaps lowlight is better) of the month: the 7th of August… not a highlight provided by any mammal, bird or reptile, but instead by the climate. Taps that were turned on in the morning for a quick morning wash refused to produce any water – not a problem with the water pump as initially thought, but a problem with the temperature, the water had frozen in the pipes! The swimming pool had a thin layer of ice on it. Luckily, the sun soon warmed things up. In fact, within 14 days of that cold cold morning, the daytime temperature had jumped from 22 to 37 degrees C. Spring completely bypassed us this year, and we have launched straight into summer!
Perhaps the most bizarre event of the month was a kill that occurred in the camp: a warthog wandered through the camp, foraging. The animal was followed by a hornbill, who was taking the opportunity to catch any insects the animal flushed out of the grass. The hornbill, naturally not worrying too much about a warthog, went about its business on the ground. Perhaps it should have worried a little more … a particularly tasty morsel caught both the hornbill’s and the warthog’s eye. The warthog made a grab for it, and inadvertently (?!) squashed the hornbill. Working on a waste-not, want-not principle, the warthog then quickly gobbled up the dead hornbill!
Sightings Report Kwando Safaris - July 2012:
Kwara Concession
The wild dogs are hunting early in the morning quite far from the den, and then in the afternoon hunting closer to the den area, allowing enough time for them to get back to the den before it is too dark. At the end of the month the puppies became more and more active, meaning that the adults would often have to sneak away to hunt so that the puppies could not try to follow them away from the safety of the den. The pack still totals 22 individuals – 12 adults and ten puppies, though two of the puppies look much smaller than the rest.
A young leopard was frequenting camp every night for a week. She was found asleep outside the kitchen and also on the doorstep of one of the guide houses. The jackals and baboons were intent on exposing her at every turn resulting in her struggling to kill. She has since been seen near Little Kwara looking very, very skinny but we are hopeful that she will have been successful.
The male lions still seem to be searching for the female with the young cubs, which has resulted in them staying fairly close to the camp for several days, trying to pick up the scent as to where they have been moved to. One sub adult of 1.5 years was also seen close to the staff village with a bad injury, resulting in him breaking up with his mother and brother. After a day, his mother, elder sister and brother were found close to third bridge feeding on a kudu bull. Luckily, they later rejoined each other. Unfortunately, the lioness with cubs in the Splash area has also lost another cub, with just one remaining.
The majority of our cat sightings are found after spending some time tracking – particularly sightings of the three cheetah brothers. We saw some very strange behaviour late in the month with the three brothers calling continuously and splitting up from each other. They were possibly in search of a female cheetah that was in the area.
While still on the subject of cat sightings, they have been great this month, with 3 serval spotted on one night drive, one of them was very close to the airstrip.
Lots of zebras have entered the concession, possibly being forced in by the flood waters which are reaching a peak in certain parts of the concession. The heronry is still quiet, with only a few herons and darters roosting there, but this will change completely in a few months, when prime branch space will be at a premium as all arrive to nest!
Sometimes, its not just people that fancy a boat ride – on arriving at the boat jetty one day, the guide and guests were surprised to find a group of lions already waiting patiently. Queued up on the end of the jetty, their patience ran out somewhat when the guide didn’t seem inclined to head to the boat and start up the engine. Taking matters into their own paws, the lioness made a brief attempt at boarding the boat, but was discouraged by the funny motion of the floor. The sub-adults looked on with interest. Realising they weren’t going to be getting anywhere fast, since the people in the car didn’t seem keen to budge, the lioness clambered into the water, with her offspring following her, and they swam off up the channel!
Lagoon
On the 22nd of July, a small group of wild dog puppies stuck their heads out of the den briefly, before disappearing back into the den. Three days later, they all emerged a little shyly, and we were able to count ten of them. By the end of the month, they were trying to eat a little of the meat that the adult dogs regurgitate for them, but they are still suckling.
Still continuing with their unusual – for wild dogs – hunting skills, the pack are bringing down baby buffalos from the big herds that are in the area – sometimes catching more than one at a time.
Elephants are also present in large herds - with one group having about 200 individuals. Kwena lagoon is a great place to goat the moment and watch the elephants drinking and playing in the water.
A pride of three lions, new to the area, were seen – they were very shy, and not used to vehicles, so have obviously grown up deep in the bush. The other pride of six lions, that is seen fairly often in the area, had luck killing a buffalo. They later lost the kill to a clan of hyenas.
We had a lovely sighting this month of a female leopard, located along Cheetah Plain, hunting warthog. She looked in excellent condition, and was very relaxed. Another female leopard was seen in the woodland area, where we suspect she is hiding a cub as her teats are swollen, and she was making contact calls. A male leopard also had to make a quick escape up a tree, when the wild dogs came upon it on the ground!
The other spotted cats – the cheetah brothers, were also seen several times this month, resting on a termite mound, and also feeding on an impala they had just hunted. On another occasion later in the month, they were seen with blood on their coats, but no sign of a kill. It is likely that they had managed to catch something, but that their prey was stolen by a larger/stronger predator.
The hyena den is active as ever, with up to five generations, and eight young there at a time. They did all move briefly to a buffalo carcass left by the wild dogs, but then returned to the den. Another clan of hyenas was also seen feeding on the left overs of buffalo kills. The youngest cub is still pitch black in colour, and was seen being carried in the mouth of its mother, on the way to the den.
Wonderful night sightings have included caracal, civets, honey badgers, and porcupines very close to camp. Lots of lovely general game is present as well, with elands, roan and sable herds still being seen. Raptors are taking advantage of the short grass and clear skies, with excellent sightings of tawny eagle, brown snake and African hawk eagles.
Lebala
At the end of last month, four lionesses were spotted with two shy little cubs in tow. A male lion was very much on their scent, and although the females were seen several times early on in July, no cubs were with them. Sad to think the male lion had successfully hunted down and killed the young cubs, but this is part of nature. However, in the middle of the month, up popped the little cubs again, seen with one of the lionesses! Subsequent to that, the same grouping of lionesses was seen over several days at the end of the month, without the cubs, but this may just mean that the females are getting good at hiding them, with the mother going back to feed them at regular intervals… fingers crossed they are seen again soon. The lionesses themselves look to be in good condition, and have had success catching a young wildebeest at Twin Pools, and were also seen watching a herd of buffalo that moved nearby them.
Although the Lagoon dogs are hunting up close to where their den is, the Lebala area was visited by a pack of five dogs from the neighbouring Selinda concession. They managed to pull down an impala, and were found feeding on it, before heading back into Selinda.
July was a fairly mild winter month this year – there were several days of biting cold, and matching winds, but less than we have had in recent years. There was very little rain during the early months of the year, and northern Botswana is getting drier and drier, with water being less available away from the rivers and flooded plains. General game and elephant herds who previously would have liked to spend a lot of time in the mopane thickets, are forced out into the more open areas to drink, and to refresh. Nothing more exciting than a dusty thirsty elephant spying a large body of water: his or her feet seem to pick up speed, the trunk jiggles about in a frenetic manner, and the focus is very much on getting to the water in the fastest possible route. Little ones caught up in the excitement, stumble alongside the adults.
In any herd of animals, individuals sometimes get separated, and then struggle to catch up with the group. This is a potentially dangerous situation for any individual, as safety in numbers is a key defence strategy operated by many species, irrespective of size. Nothing appears to get more panicked than an elephant that has been separated from its herd. At Lebala, herds of elephants often move around the outskirts of the camp at night, feeding as they stroll along. Sometimes, they will stop for a while, to feed on a particularly lush area of vegetation at the water’s edge. Young males in particular, not quite old enough to leave the matriarchal herd yet, but cheeky enough to think themselves independent, often straggle along behind the main group. One night this month, a nice sized herd of elephants moved along the edge of the camp, calmly and quietly, as guests sat around the campfire after dinner. The light of the nearly full moon showed their black silhouettes crossing the small channel in front of camp, and off through the floodplains. A beautiful sight, all was quiet for another ten minutes or so as guests enjoyed the memories of the sighting. Then from the far end of camp, past the last room, came a blood-curdling screech and trumpeting that translated as ‘panic’ in any language: an adolescent elephant had been too interested in a particular tasty treat, and had not noticed the rest of the herd move off. Finding himself alone, he launched straight into emergency mode, and trumpeted at full decibel level. A far off answering trumpet indicated the direction he should head in, and he was off…. Moving as fast as he could run, and trumpeting the whole way, he charged through the camp, not worrying about how many trees he had to push out of the way, and narrowly swerving around the sides of the rooms as he made a beeline for the rest of his family. The black shape shot across the channel, and out into the floodplain, where the rest of the herd waited for him, sending calming rumbles out to him as he rejoined them
Nxai Pan
Herds of elephants have been seen regularly drinking at the new water hole in the Nxai Pan area. Breeding herds and bachelor herds are coming daily to drink at the camp waterhole, with the young males pushing and shoving each other around in displays of dominance.
Three adult lions were lucky enough to catch a good sized adult wildebeest in the beginning of the month, after laying in wait by the main waterhole. They spent a couple of days in the same area, relaxing close to the waterhole after finishing off the wildebeest.
The female cheetah and her two sub-adult offspring were also seen several times in front of the camp. They were also spotted hunting springboks along the west road, but were unsuccessful at that time. Towards the middle of the month, they decided that the camp was not a bad place to hang out, and were found sleeping under the trees in the camp.
Also taking up residence around the camp has been a steenbok – these tiny antelope are independent of water, and as a result are seen quite regularly in the Nxai Pan area. They do not live in herds, but with a partner. The lone little steenbok in camp seems to still be searching for a mate! In the meantime, feeling the warmth of the rooms, the cheeky little animal has learned to open any loosely locked doors by nudging them.
Early in the month, the six sub-adult lions were left on their own near the camp. The first day they were seen by the borehole, and then next day, they had edged a little closer to camp. Perhaps this was a test of their skills by their parents, which obviously paid off, as on the third day the camp staff saw them chasing a young kudu in front of the camp, and catching it. This is quite unusual for them to be successful at this age (about 16-18 months) without a skilled adult to take the lead in a hunt. The two lionesses returned the next day, and collected the six sub-adults, and moved off to the east. Two days later, they all returned, looking well fed and in great condition.
The two males then spent three days roaring around the Tau Pan area each night, and also looked in good condition.
Cheetah sightings this month were good, with several sightings of an adult male cheetah – who is a quite shy of the vehicle at times. Another cheetah was seen a few kilometres from the shy one, in a much more relaxed mood – snoozing under a Kalahari apple leaf. The female cheetah with two young that we normally see around Letiahau has now moved closer to our daily game drive area. They were seen three times in the last week of the month, looking well fed.
Not to be outdone by the larger predators, the waterhole is frequently the hunting spot for the black backed jackals. As it’s one of the few sources of water in the area, all types of animals come to drink there, and this provides a great opportunity for the little jackals to catch something unawares. Sometimes it is birds such as francolins, but occasionally they are lucky enough to catch a small antelope. Sometimes it’s the herbivores that put on an extra-ordinary display – perhaps in training for the opening of the Olympic games, a grouping of 13 giraffe gave an amazing exhibition of synchronised drinking – when they all dipped their heads to the water at once.
However, the waterhole just isn’t good enough for certain individuals, and the swimming pool is viewed as a tastier option. Whilst dinner was being served to the guests in the dining area, a leopard was seen drinking out of the pool. He was nervou, and quickly sneaked away when a torch was shone towards him. However, by the last week of the month, he had overcome his inhibitions somewhat, and was seen twice more drinking from the pool after dinner.
Brown hyaenas, very different in looks to the common spotted hyaenas, with long hairy coats – inhabit the drier areas of Southern Africa and are a rare sighting. This month, we were lucky enough to spot one from the main area of the camp, quenching his thirst at the water hole. He didn’t seem shy, or nervous.
Another very unusual sighting – of the avian kind – happened early on in the month, right in camp. A yellow-billed hornbill killed a Kalahari scrub robin, and then ate it!
Sightings Report Kwando Safaris - June 2012:
Kwara Concession
Lagoon was pipped at the post this year – for the first time since we have been operating in the Kwara concession, a pack of wild dogs – the 12 that we have been seeing regularly during the last two months – has denned in the area. On the 4th of June, guests were on a drive and came across dogs at a den site about an hours drive from camp. This was great news, as its likely that the dogs will then remain in the same area – though they may move den sites – and we will have the chance of seeing them raising young puppies. A few days later, the puppies emerged from the den for the first time – ten gorgeous mini-versions of the adult dogs, many with the lovely milky cream patterning of their mother.
The den was moved about 10 days later to a site about 500m away – we are not entirely sure why, but a black mamba was seen by the guides on more than one occasion near the original site.
The three brother cheetahs of Tsum Tsum seem to be based closer to camp, and were seen four or five times nearby. In addition, another coalition of two males and a female were spotted – still young, this will be a grouping of brothers and sister. The coalition of three cheetahs were seen several times this month, including when they were seen killing a female impala. As the grass gets drier, it withers and falls to the ground, creating nice open areas that are perfect for the cheetahs to hunt in.
A lioness with two young was also seen eating a male kudu. It would be unusual for one female to be able to bring this down on her own, so we suspect that there were other lions involved in the actual kill. The next day, a male lion also killed a reedbuck, close to the airstrip (always a challenge for our arrivals and departures, when the camp has to radio the air charter company and advise ‘keep an eye out for the lions’ as lions are not always keen to leave their kills, even if there is a plane landing on the nearby runway).
Game viewing has been great with the two male lions from the seven that we have seen in Kwara with two females from Shindi Area. They killed a kudu not far from the airstrip on the 12th and were located 10metres behind room number five at little Kwara. On the 15th they were seen stalking tsessebes again in the area of the airstrip.
General game viewing is also good with giraffes, zebras, and big herds of elephants. We also saw a serval cat one morning feeding on a python, which it had killed the night previous, and another two servals feeding on frogs. A surprise sighting of an aardvark, who dived back into his burrow when he realised he had been seen.
Lagoon
Although the wild dogs at Kwara may have denned before our ‘traditional’ pack up at Lagoon, news came through on the late afternoon of the 21st of June, that the alpha female had chosen a den. She had spent most of the last month moving around the concession, investigating her old den sites, and surveying potential new ones. Ultimately, it was a den that she had used four years ago – just a short distance south of the camp – that she selected as her first den site this season, and this is where she will have given birth. That afternoon, she was down the den, and did not join the pack for the afternoon hunt – nor will she, until the puppies are old enough to be babysat by another member of the pack, some months hence.
Later in the month, the wild dogs changed hunting tactics and for five mornings in a row, managing to catch buffalo calves from the large herds that have been seen in the area. This is a very risky business for the light-weight wild dogs, as an angry buffalo mother is a formidable opponent, let alone the rest of the herd. Even with the buffalo, the dogs were still hunting in the afternoon – usually impala or young kudu.
Although the lions were elusive this month, mostly staying in the part of the concession closer to Lebala, there were tracks of a lioness close to camp. The three brother cheetahs also arrived back in the area this month, looking healthy and well-fed.
Lovely sightings also this month of the hyenas with their cubs suckling from their mother, and also a caracal sighting in the evening. General game is prevalent, with the common giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and tsessebe, as well as regular sightings of herds of eland, as well as small herds of roan antelope and sable.
Some of the smallers sightings this month: a common platana frog was found hopping along the track, trying to find water, short-tailed eagles fed on the remains of the kills left by the dogs.
Lebala
The 2nd of June brought an interesting event for the workshop staff at Lebala, as a pack of wild dogs killed a waterbuck after the guests had gone to bed one night. They relaxed in the open fronted garage after having their midnight meal! Although the guests didn’t get a chance to see them there, the next morning the dogs were found not too far away.
A couple of days later, the pack of ten dogs hunted and killed an impala, only to have it taken off them by a group of hyenas. The next day, the hyenas obviously thought they were on to a good thing and found the lagoon pack of dogs (18 individuals) that had just caught a warthog. However, this time, the tables were turned, and the dogs chased the hyenas away. Finding the closest source of cover possible, a hyena dashed under the stationary game drive vehicle, before slinking away when the dogs returned to their kill. The same dogs killed an ostrich the next day – a very unusually kill for wild dogs.
Later in the month, a leopard was seen stalking an impala, when suddenly a different group of impala came running past – the leopard managing to catch one and pull it down by the neck. Less than five minutes later, three wild dogs appeard from the bush, and went straight to the leopard and took over the kill.
A group of three lionesses didn’t have as much luck as the dogs though, as the same day they hunted and caught a young calf, that had become slightly separated from the main buffalo herd. Realising what had happened, and responding to the cries of the calf, the buffalo herd turned and moved in on the lions. Greatly out numbered and unable to hang on to their prey, the lionesses had to flee from the impending arrival of very upset weighty buffalos. The calf managed to then move off with the rest of the herd, though the state of its injuries were unknown.
With the eagle eyes of the tracker and guide working as a great team together, its not often that guests manage to spot something before them. However, a young first-time safari visitor queried what the strange red thing was that was up a tree that they had driven past. A closer inspection was called for, only to discover it was the bloody remains of a porcupine, stashed in a tree. A little more investigating, and a leopard was found close to the bottom of the tree, injured as a result of its tricky hunt for the porcupine.
You don’t always have to venture far from camp to have the chance of seeing some pretty amazing sightings. In fact, you don’t even have to venture further than the bar stool on some nights… a rather adventurous serval cat passed through the lounge and dining area, on the way to his nightly hunts, whilst people have been quietly enjoying a pre or post-dinner drink.
A chilly end to the month as the temperature dropped to between 8 and 12 degrees at night, this is the start of the cold July months. You need to wrap up on the early morning and evening game drives, but its still pleasant during the day, with temperatures of around 25 degrees.
Interestingly, there is also a second push of the flood waters, with water seeping across the flood plains. The spill way, which is the connecting fault line between the Okavango and Kwando rivers also increased in the flow of water moving into the Kwando river.
Nxai Pan
As the weather gets colder, but remains sunny, the waterholes have become the meeting point – for friend or foe. This month the cheetah with her two young were seen regularly, often in the vicinity of the wildlife waterhole. Mostly relaxing, we were also lucky enough to witness them hunting and bringing down a springbok close to the waterhole.
The lions also use the lack of water to their advantage, with ten of them (seven adults and three youngsters) lying in wait to the side of one of the waterholes, in the hope that some other thirsty animal would be caught off guard. No such luck on the times we saw them, but their patience would have won out at some point.
Elephants continue to visit each of the waterholes, and even youngsters are being seen from time to time. The breeding herds are not always found in the park year round, but now is a good time to see them. The rest of the year, it’s the males that dominate the area – and they definitely dominate – taking over the waterholes and keeping other animals out of the way!
Tau Pan
All six lion cubs are alive and well – and growing up fast. The bigger they get, the harder it is to tell the difference in age between the two sets of cubs that were born only a handful of weeks apart. Still playful as ever, they proving a larger headache for the rest of the pride as they get bigger. The pride was seen often this month at the waterhole, and passing through the camp – and heard particularly well in the early hours before dawn when the sound of their roars travels best through the air. Not that it has far to travel when they are in the camp and roaring… a thin wall and mesh windows doesn’t block out a lot of sound!
Towards the end of the month, the females and cubs moved away from the camp for a few days, leaving the two big males wandering around looking for them. Why the females do this, we can’t be sure, but the two males continue to come to the water hole to drink, and look slightly despondent.
Other large predators that were seen this month included cheetah at the Deception Valley area, and a few leopards. One big male leopard was seen close to camp, strolling along the road, and we had a good sighting of him before he sauntered off into the bush. Not too long after we lost sight of him, one of the staff at camp found the male leopard drinking sedately out of the swimming pool!
Naturally enough, it’s not all about big predators at Tau – there are plenty of other animals to see including large groupings of giraffe, wildebeest, oryx, black backed and side-striped jackals, bat eared foxes, cheeky ground squirrels and honey-badgers.
Although elephants are a rare sighting in the Kalahari, another rare elephant sighting is that of the elephant shrew. This small rodent – the name is not descriptive of its large size, but rather of its large proboscis – was spotted in the late afternoon, darting around the sandy vegetation looking for food, in the vicinity of a group of ground squirrels.
Sightings Report Kwando Safaris - May 2012: - what a month….
Kwara Concession
The wild dogs that were seen last month were sighted again early on in this month – all twelve of them – in the Splash area. They spent some time chasing impala, but were not successful at the time. They were seen several more times during the month, in excellent condition. As we approach the traditional time for dogs to breed and decide upon a den for the pups, fingers are crossed that they will choose a nice convenient location within the Kwara concession!
Also in the Splash area, the three cheetah adults were observed relaxing and lying the shade. A couple of days later, they had moved to Giraffe Pan, and were attempting to hunt kudus.
Three male lions spent some time trying to track down a lioness that had young cubs, probably with the intention of killing the cubs, as they had been fathered by a different male. The lioness managed to secretly move the cubs, to a new hiding place away from the male lions. Throughout the month lions were seen regularly, including a special dinner cabaret where the evening meal was interrupted for a few moments to watch the floor show of three lions strolling through camp!
Overall, some amazing days were had in the Kwara area – one day guests manage to see eight lions, three cheetahs, a leopard and topped it all off with the pack of wild dogs. The general game, elephants and hippos were there in force as well!
The special bird high-light of the month – the rare Pel’s Fishing Owl. This beautiful large owl is often described as a ‘fluffy teddy-bear’, with its stunning beige, brown and golden plumage, and large black eyes. The owl’s sole food source comes from catching fish and frogs in the darkness of night, splashing down into the water and grasping its meal with strong talons.
Other water residents such as hippos are often overlooked in the Delta – overlooked, not because of peoples lack of interest in them, but because there is only a very small part of them that can be seen, with only eyes and noses and ears poking out of the water. The most people get to see of them is their yawning mouths, somewhere out in the middle of the lagoon. One morning, as many of the Kwara staff were quietly tidying up the camp after breakfast, a lot of loud splashing was heard from the edge of the lagoon on the far side of the pool deck. One very large hippo was making certain his territory was unchallenged, by chasing a slightly smaller hippo out of his domain. Unfortunately, the chase then continued through the camp, past the fire place, and in front of all the tents, all the way from Kwara to Little Kwara! There was lots of laughter and nimble footwork with housekeepers leaping onto the decks of the rooms and the camp hand who was tidying the fire place at the time, breaking Usain Bolt’s sprint record…
Lagoon
Lion sightings this month included a large male who spent some time following a herd of buffalo before managing to kill a young calf – a very risky and dangerous achievement for a solitary lion, no matter what the size! Earlier on, a lioness had also been seen with two sub adult females.
The three cheetah brothers were seen again, but although they all look in excellent condition, one of the brothers appears to be slightly lame in the leg. We are hoping he makes a speedy recovery, and this is just a temporary injury.
As predicted last month, two of the wild dogs have split off from the pack, probably in the hope of forming their own pack. The remaining 18 are in excellent condition, and were seen killing several impala and a sub-adult kudu during the month. The alpha female should be visibly pregnant next month, and begin looking for a den site.
The dogs were also interacting with other animals this month – chasing a leopard up a tree, and strangely, chasing an elephant as well – the elephant took fright, and tripped up in an aardvark hole before moving off at speed.
Buffalo herds are immense in number – one is approximately 1000 individuals. Not to be outdone, there are many breeding elephant herds in the area, but luckily they have slightly less than 1000 members in their herd! Bulls, being bulls, in both species, are spending time fighting each other, and several elephant bulls in musth have created turmoil as they approach the breeding herds!
The hyena den now has a total of 8 cubs, ranging in age from just a few weeks to six months of age. Parents come and go, sometimes leaving their offspring completely unattended, which can create mayhem with the older cubs up to mischief with their younger clan-mates. Still, they do not stray far from the safety of the den, and all move quickly into the den itself at the first hint of danger.
Lebala
As winter approaches, the nights are getting cooler, with the evening temperature averaging 15 degrees and the day time temperature getting up to around 28degrees. Towards the end of the month, gusty winds begin in the morning, and blow throughout the day, but drop off to nothing at sunset.
The first day of the month brought a very relaxed leopard hunting in the mixed woodland. A few days later, another male leopard had better luck, and caught an impala. He pulled the female impala up to the safety of a large tree branch, where he could enjoy his meal at leisure, without the threat of other predators stealing his meat. At the end of the month, we found a lovely male leopard resting in the boughs of a tree. After watching him for a while, he clambered down, and we were able to follow him for about 30 minutes till he reached the edge of the water, where he had previously killed a male lechwe. The next day, we returned to the spot and the leopard was still eating the lechwe, with the kill on the ground. But the following day, the leopard had pulled the remains of the kill up a tree, and was feeding again, when another male leopard approached, and took the kill off the first leopard.
The pack of 11 dogs from the southern area moved through to Twin Pools, and successfully caught a male impala. After all got a fair share of the kill, they spent the rest of the day relaxing under the nearby trees. Later in the month, ten of the pack were seen harassing two hyenas, and managed to bite one of them! The Lagoon pack of 18 dogs were also seen down in the Lebala area of the concession, and we were lucky enough – though some may view otherwise – to be present when they brought down a warthog in front of us. Though not for the squeamish or faint hearted, it was amazing to watch all the dogs quickly feast on the whole animal, finishing it off in a matter of minutes.
Two shy lions – one male and one female were seen two days apart early on in the month. The male quickly disappeared into the thick blue bush, and female was spotted on an island along the waterside of Forest Road. She later crossed over the water, and tried to hunt amongst the Kalahari apple leaf trees.
Perhaps we missed seeing a few of the lions, as we weren’t looking in the right place – in the trees…! Lions, unlike leopards, are not known for going up trees, but they can climb (though they are not very elegant about getting back down again…). Many people believe that only certain groups of lions climb trees (reference is often made to the ‘tree-climbing lions’ of Lake Manyara) but any lion can, and will, climb from time to time. They climb to get away from flies, or even to enjoy a refreshing breeze in the warmer months. It’s still quite surprising to see, and the lioness that was up the tree at Lebala this month looked a little unsure of herself as well.
The big herds of buffalos that were seen en masse in Lagoon last month have begun moving into the Lebala area as well, with the large males leading the way.
Lovely general game abounds as well, with giraffe, wildebeest, impala, zebra as usual, and there were sightings of herds of eland, roan, and a few gallivanting ostriches!
Nxai Pan
The elephants are on their way regularly throughout the day to the waterhole in front of the camp. Although they can be seen at the other waterholes in the park as well, the sense of perspective is quite different when you are standing on the ground (or sitting in the lounge!) and the white-dust covered elephants move quietly across the open area just in front of you. As the waterhole is quite deep, it is not uncommon to see an elephant half disappear into it, looking for the best place to get the tastiest water from.
Few animals are prepared to try to drink whilst the elephants are there, as they have a tendency to chase off anything that moves! However, one plucky male cheetah decided that in the middle of the day, there was nothing better he would like than a drink of water, and trotted down below the rim of the waterhole. The elephants that were drinking on the side of the pan, eyed him cautiously, but decided he was not worth the trouble, and allowed him to drink unmolested. After a few minutes, the cheetah climbed back out again, and moved off into the open area on the far side of the pan, heading for the shade of the trees.
A truly amazing sighting this month of ten wild dogs – a highly rare visitor to the Nxai Pan National Park - to find ten of them lying under a bush relaxing is a pretty special way to start a morning! What topped it off, was the dogs then moved to the waterhole in front of camp for a sun downer, where the elephants played a game of tag with them.
Tau Pan
The beginning of the month was a little out of the ordinary, with the infamous Tau Pan lions ‘missing’ for almost a week. On the sixth day, they appeared back at the waterhole at midday, to quench their thirst. First to come down to the waterhole was one male, who after drinking went to fetch the two lionesses and his ‘brother’. The lionesses looked very hungry. The four of them napped under the bushes, before the two lionesses snuck away from the males. The male lions, on waking and noticing their ladies were missing, ran from side to side, trying to pick up the scent of their trail. After two days, the whole pride, including the six cubs, came back to the waterhole with full bellies, having obviously feasted on a kill the previous night. They spent the next ten hours in the camp, before heading off again.
A day or so later, one of the male lions was then heard roaring in the early hours of the morning, and was seen drinking from the waterhole, before spending the rest of the day under the bushes close to the water. With the fall of dusk, he began roaring again, before moving off into the darkness late at night.
In most areas, the shy kudus are seen in ones and twos, glimpsed in the bushes. At Tau Pan, we are lucky enough to see a group of around thirty adults, with ten young, regularly coming to the water hole to drink then browsing in and around the camp area.
Other recent sightings in the area have included six bat eared foxes, with six cubs foraging and relaxing together. Day trips to Deception Valley have also been productive, as not only do we go through a wide variety of areas, but we have the chance to see different animals along the way. This month, the guests on these day trips have seen large groups of giraffe, lots of oryx, springbok and wildebeest close to Deception Valley, a cheetah with two cubs that caught a springbok and a very relaxed leopard that waited around for 20 minutes before moving off into long grass. Another male leopard was seen two days in a row in the area close to camp. He looked well fed, and was beginning another hunting attempt as he moved off.
From the middle of the month, as the area gets drier, honey badgers were seen most days, digging in the ground for insects, scorpions and other tasty treats. These animals are not often seen in other areas, but in the Kalahari, they seem to have a sense of their own self-importance and are regularly seen during the day. An even more elusive predator, a brown hyena, was seen drinking from the Tau Pan waterhole. A few days later, he was found to have died, not far from the waterhole, from either illness or old age.
Also seen drinking at the waterhole several days in a row was a pair of white backed vultures – who were then seen mating each day.
A lovely month for sunsets – the crystal clear sky as the sun is setting is quite magical, particularly with the animals moving across the pan, in time for a traditional sun downer!
Sightings Report Kwando Safaris - April 2012:
And the action just keeps on coming…..
Kwara
There was often not much need to go out of camp to see the animals this month… the ever-present elephants were even more permanently stationed at their posts in camp, vacuuming up the marula fruits that were ripening. Luckily, this left them mostly off the paths to the rooms, with only the occasional foray into guest ‘territory’.
But it wasn’t just elephants that made an appearance this month… around 11am one morning, a lioness sauntered nonchalantly through camp, ignoring the bug-eyed guests and staff standing 10metres away in the carpark, and then proceeded to hunt the impalas and baboons that had decided the camp was a safe place to hang out. Being broad daylight, the animals spotted the lioness and left the area with a little less decorum than the guests.. Not to be outdone, the lioness chased them between the tents and across the floodplain in front of camp, making sure that the remaining cars that were returning from game drive had a good chance for a few photographs. A few minutes later, during brunch, the lioness’s mate was spotted several hundred metres away in the floodplain to the west of the camp. Desperate to catch up with his lady, but not as confident about being near a busy camp in broad daylight, he took a huge detour around the area.
So apart from the elephants, lions, baboons, impalas and hippos that we saw in camp, it was still actually worth going out on drive. This month we had great cheetah and lion sightings, including the three male cheetahs feeding on an imapala carcass. Lions spent some time hanging out around the airstrip and there was a lovely sight of one of the big males walking the length of the airstrip, roaring. The game drive cars vibrated with the resonance of the roar. And so did the guests, though they were perhaps shaking more than vibrating… At the end of the runway, the lion made a sensible decision, and opted to use the bridge rather than wade through rather chilly water. Clambering up on the wooden bridge, he looked ever the curious cat as he patted the poles on the side of the bridge, perhaps to be assured of their strength.
Amongst the last car to return back from drive one evening, some guests were listing the things that they had seen out on drive: elephants, giraffe, zebra, jackal, kudu, hippos, and so on. Mentioning, as an afterthought the last animals they had seen on the way back, 11 dogs of some kind. Thinking this was a ‘lost in translation’ moment we waited for the guide to check if they actually meant hyenas. But no, wild dogs it was. As the dogs are active during the day, we cannot view them at night with the spotlight without risking affecting their night vision, so on bumping into the dogs on the way home from a night drive, the guide had left them be and moved on. But the next morning everyone was keen to try and locate them again for a proper look. It took a lot of tracking, but they were located again in the Splash area, and over the next two days were seen several times hunting and feeding on impala. They then returned to the direction that we view as their ‘home’, probably in the northern Khwai region. However, since they were seen here last month and this month, there is hope that their territory is broadening to include the Kwara area, perhaps on a more permanent basis.
Following the recommendations of the fishing serval from last month, many guests this month enjoyed a midday boat trip to try out their own fishing skills, to great success. One group caught 14 fish, in a fairly short space of time, and released them back into the delta. The varieties caught included catfish, African pike, and tilapia or bream.
Lebala
April is the first sign of the changes of season, with the approach of winter. The evening temperature drops to around 15 degrees Centigrade, but during the day it still ranges between 26 and 35 degrees. The cooling early morning temperatures with a high humidity create a lingering mist, especially over patches of water.
This is the month that the flood waters of last year have receded as much as possible, before the new years flood water moves in. This encourages herds of elephants, zebras, giraffe and other animals to move to the waters edge. Natural rainwater pools are drying up, and turning green. Single male buffalo, that like wallowing in any available mud, also move into the area, attracting lions and other predators.
In the middle of the month, on an evening drive, impala were heard alarm calling in the vicinity of the airstrip, and adding to that, the call of the side striped jackal. Investigating further, the jackal was followed until it came close to a leopard who was holding on to a recently killed wildebeest calf. Following up the next day, it was discovered that the leopard had lost its kill to other predators, as he had not put the carcass in a tree for safe keeping.
The 17th was a special day for guides and guests, as a morning drive witnessed an extremely rarely seen event: the birth of a baby elephant. A breeding herd of elephants were seen close to the road, surrounding another female for protection, and kicking sand over an area on the ground. After waiting for half an hour, watching this unusual behaviour, we were lucky enough to witness the birth. Soon, the little baby was on his feet, after some encouragement from mum, and was throwing his tiny trunk around not sure what to make of it! Elephants take some months to learn how to use their trunks, and allow the muscles to develop and strengthen. Until then, it is often just something to trip over!
We also saw some interesting lion sightings this month: four lionesses that spent most of a day relaxing on top of the termite mound, before moving off into the night and killing a wildebeest not far from the camp. The next day, we spotted a male lion moving off from another kill. Twelve hyenas quickly moved into the take over the spoils, but chaos ensued with the arrival of vultures, both species insistent on having their own piece of the carcass. The day after that, a shy lioness was seen disappearing into the bush with another male, and two cubs, about 9 months old. She was seen again later in the month with two males, this time much more relaxed.
The pack of 11 dogs (8 young and three adults) were seen several times this month, as were the northern pack of dogs (11 adults and 9 young). Each time they were seen attempting to hunt, but were unsuccessful at that time.
Perhaps thinking they had discovered a new species, one morning drive guests pointed out a very shiny animal… On closer inspection, this turned out to be two warthogs that had just had a wonderful mudbath, and were now relaxing in the sun waiting for the mud to dry. The sun shining on the wet mud, and had made the warthogs look like they had on a reflective carapace!
Lagoon
The three brother cheetahs were seen in the area this month, and we spent some time following them. Completely relaxed with us around, they continue their days unimpeded by the click of camera shutters. We were lucky enough to see them hunt a young zebra, and bring it down working as a team.
The Lagoon pack of dogs are doing as well as ever, and were seen catching impala this month. The pack is reaching a size where some of the adult dogs may decide to disperse – often this is the dogs that were born two litters ago as they look at joining or creating a pack of their own. This allows for better dispersal of genes, and as the denning season approaches, with more mouths to feed with a new litter, it will be harder to hunt enough to feed everyone.
Although there are still plenty of varieties of birds to see, all the summer migratory birds have left again for the winter. The guides have noticed a slight drop in the number of raptors that they see during the day, which indicates that they may have been attracted to better hunting of rodents and other small reptiles in other areas. There have been a few early fires in areas outside the concession, and this clearing of vegetation is usually a major drawcard for the raptors, as the animals have no protection from, literally, eagle-eyes.
The hyena den is proving a popular night time stop, as the mother diligently raises her two young ever-curious cubs. It’s still quite unusual to have just one female on her own, but since hyenas can spend long periods of time away from their clans, it may be that we have just not been at the right time to see any other members at the den.
The buffalo herds are back in force – and large numbers! We have also had excellent sightings of roan, sable, eland, zebras, tssesebes and a lot of other general game. Unusual sightings in camp have been a porcupine, snuffling around the staff village, and a chameleon spotted close to the main area. These fascinating creatures are not well-liked in many African cultures, due to their ability to change colour, but many guides overcome the childhood stories, and are eager to show guests its many hidden talents!
Nxai Pan
Although most of the zebra have moved on from the park in search of fresher grass, the ones that remain are more than sufficient for the predators around. The cheetahs – the mother with the two young – are being seen most days, and although an adult zebra is too big a prey for her, they are just the right size for the lions that are ever-present in the area.
With no rain in April - a normal year would generally see at least one or two showers in this month – the animals are congregating at the artificial water holes to quench their thirst. For most animals, this is a risky business, as there is invariably a predator wanting to quench their thirst – and possibly their hunger – at the same location. It’s a matter of timing. The bossy elephants will shove everyone out of the way – including the lions, which they will ‘shove’ with even greater enthusiasm – and siphon up gallons at a time. If the antelope and zebra can sneak in to drink at the side whilst the elephants are still there, it might be the slightly safer option!
Although jackals are seen every day, it’s rarer to see the pretty bat-eared foxes. These are predominantly nocturnal animals with huge ears that they use to pinpoint the location of their prey – rodents, lizards and scorpions. We were able to see a group of three of these foxes a couple of times this month.
One of the highlights this month was seeing a martial eagle, on two separate occasions killing guinea fowl and feeding on the catch.
Tau Pan
A great sighting this month of seven bull elephants striding across the Kalahari close to San Pan. Very rarely seen in the Kalahari, due to the lack of availability of water, any sighting of them is special and sticks in the guides memory. They marched along in single file, and on realising that a vehicle was in the area as well, they stopped and grouped together, as if to discuss about this new sighting… after a brief conversation they moved back to single file and headed off into the distance.
Another unusual sighting was of two adult wild dogs with three young. They were seen running from side to side in the direction of Pipers Pan, trying to hunt. The territory that they cover in the Kalahari is huge – it is dependent on the amount of game and water availability – so the chances of seeing them is quite rare. We also had a few nice sightings of leopards this month, one close to the airstrip, and another in the direction of Passage Pan.
Without the sounds of city life around, guests generally expect to get a good nights sleep when they are in the bush. But that can be a little hard when there are resident lions in the area, keen to keep a hold of their territory. Anytime an animal has to fight to defend it’s territory, there is a risk of the animal being injured. The easiest way to avoid a fight then, is to make sure the other animals know that you are there and you are prepared to defend your territory. If you are a lion, the best way of announcing this is to roar. Loudly. A lot. It’s a beautiful, beautiful sound, but not one really conducive to a good nights sleep. Luckily, they wont do it every night, all night. But perhaps that’s is why an afternoon siesta is so important?
So the Tau Pan lions seem to be quite settled after their short disappearance towards the end of last month. Seen most days, they look in good condition, but the guides have been unable to find them on a kill, other than one steenbok (about the equivalent of eating a small cupcake if divided amongst 10 lions,,,) . They must be killing and eating during the night, leaving nothing left to be found in the day. As much as the Tau Pan lions would wish it otherwise, they are not the only ones of their species in the Kalahari. Game drives outside their current territory have met with two shy big males, and another more relaxed male and female that were mating. Could these lions produce the next competition for the Tau Pan area?
Giraffes have been seen in abundance this month – with groupings of up to twenty – moving across the plains from pan to pan. It’s always a delight to see these elegant animals, but in a day trip to Deception Valley we have counted almost one hundred!
Due to the lack of water, it is also strange to see waterbirds in the area outside of the rainy season. However, at one pan this month, we were able to see cattle and little egrets, comb ducks and hamerkops wandering round the pan together!
Sightings Report Kwando Safaris - March 2012
Kwara Concession
The beginning of March is the beginning of the fishing season – however, this didn’t seem to be limited to just humans enjoying throwing a line in the water to see what they could pull up for dinner: the first ‘legal’ day for fishing saw a crocodile munching on a fish, and, in the same area, a serval cat, having dexterously grabbed another catfish out of the water with his paws.
Lions were seen almost every day in March, mostly doing what lions like to do for most of the day/night: sleep! Two adults and one youngster did manage to stay awake long enough to kill a tsessebe however, and all the lions look healthy, so they all must be hunting whilst our backs are turned! At night, as the temperature cools down, its worth waiting around to see if they will call – the beautiful deep roars resonate through the night. Solo pride (seven individuals) came into their own later in the month, and spent a long time stalking a group of giraffe. After much effort, however, they came away empty-handed.
This month we were lucky enough to see a pack of 12 wild dogs a couple of times – on one occasion they went hunting and killed a young kudu, and an impala at the same time, ensuring enough food for the whole pack. Three cheetahs also managed to kill a young kudu calf, and were seen feeding on that. When the cheetahs left the carcass, six hyenas quickly moved in to enjoy the remains. A solitary cheetah also managed to kill a reedbuck close to the airstrip.
General game has been excellent, and there was a special sighting of a sitatunga in a marsh area. Normally this shy semi-aquatic antelope is only seen from the boat!
Lebala
The three cheetah brothers were seen at Lebala a few times early in the month, and caught a baby zebra, before moving north.
At the end of the month, 11 wild dogs were seen (aptly along Wild Dog Road) chasing impala. They had no luck catching any impala, but they did bump into an African Wild Cat – a cat that is the same size as a domestic house-cat. Like most cat-dog relationships, the African Wild Cat still appeared to be the boss, stood his ground, and the dogs gave up and left. They had better success on later days, and caught and killed several impalas. After one of these kills, two hyenas appeared, and attempted to steal the kill off the dogs. The dogs turned on the hyenas, and several launched themselves on to the back of one of the hyena – both turned and fled, without major injury.
On an early morning in the middle of the month, a lion was heard calling close to Lebala camp. Rushing through breakfast, the guests headed out with the guides following the calls. The large pride male, regular to the area, was found not far away, very relaxed. He is not in good condition however, and lost his brother in a fight with pride that has a territory further to the east.
Elephants still abound everywhere – large breeding herds, sometimes up to 100 individuals – are seen on most game drives. They are also seen regulary in front of camp, and can be heard during the night moving through the water, shuffling hippos out of the way.
Lagoon
A new pride of lions – 4 adults and two cubs about a year old – moved into the area early in the month. They spent some time following a herd of buffalos, but were not seen to have been successful in a hunt. It will be interesting times when this pride bumps into the regular lions of the area – though they may have just been sneaking through their territory, in the hope of catching some food.
The three cheetah brothers were seen early on in the month, but then headed north into an area that we could not follow. Another type of cat – the caracal – was a more unusual sighting this month.
There were several leopard sightings, including a female leopard who was chased up a tree by the wild dogs. However, her patience paid off, and the dogs lost interest. When they moved off, she climbed down the tree, and fed on the carcass of an impala that was located about 50m by the tree. The dogs themselves hunted a young kudu for themselves that afternoon. Earlier in the month, we had also seen a male leopard who had pulled an impala into a tree and was oblivious to the hours we were able to spend watching him eat and relax.
Quite amazingly, all wild dog puppies have survived and are coming close to matching the adults in size. Now able to cover large distances as a pack together, they have been moving through the Kwando concession, going towards Lebala camp and then back again to the north-west every few days. This provides a challenge for the tracker and guide teams, but adds to the excitement, as hard hours of tracking are put in with the reward of a great sighting of the dogs at the end.
In addition to the known jackal dens from previous months, a hyena den has been discovered. Interestingly, there appears to be only one female hyena suckling her two young in this den. Three porcupines were seen coming out of a hole near the den, with the baby hyena snuffling around the hole when they had left.
The more unusual antelope – roan, sable and eland were all seen several times this month, together with regular sightings of giraffe, wildebeest, zebras and Tsessebes. Breeding herds of elephants are seen throughout the area, and the bulls are still coming into camp – possibly looking for the marula fruit which is about to ripen.
Nxai Pan
The female cheetah with her two young cubs is still being seen regularly – every day or two in the month of March. Although we were not lucky enough to see her kill, she and her cubs are obviously well fed, and we often saw her resting and relaxing close to the waterholes. One morning, a jackal got a bit too close for comfort to the cheetahs –jackals often follow predators to see if they can scavenge any part of a kill that is made. On this occasion, the cheetah cub took offence, and chased the jackal, managing to hit it with a paw. The jackals escaped, but ran off calling in distress.
The recent rains have allowed fresh green grass to grown, making good grazing and attracting good general game including springbok, zebra and oryx. This in turn encourages the predators to the area, so as well as the cheetahs, we have had several sightings of the Nxai Pan pride of lions – a group of six adults with three young. One of the females was also seen with an unidentified male along Baobab Loop.
The larger groupings of zebras have started to move back towards Magkadigadi Pans, but there are still good sized herds of around 30 individuals left enjoying the grass around the pan.
The elephant bulls spend much of their time strolling around looking for good sources of food, but because of the limited amount of water available, they usually come via the camp waterhole at some point during the day, pushing the general game out of the way to drink.
Tau Pan
The Tau Pan pride of lions were seen most days this month – often around the water hole near the camp. There was a bit of a concern on the 11th of the month, when it appeared two cubs were missing, and the females were slightly bloodied – it was thought possibly an intruding lion had been involved in a fight with the pride. Luckily after five days, all the Tau Pan pride, including the six cubs, were seen together again, looking in good condition. , Towards the end of the month, they were spotted feeding on a giraffe, which they managed to finish in one day! Two days later they pulled down an oryx during the night, and had finished it by noon the next day. It takes a lot to feed four adults, and six fast-growing cubs!
There were several sightings of leopards, including one male that spent 20minutes in the late afternoon relaxing on the road, before sauntering off.
After the March rains, the antelope seem to be increasing in the area – lots of oryx, springbok, and wildebeest seen around Tau pan and along the road to Deception Valley. The beginning of the month saw a few new additions: oryx and springbok babies were seen following their mothers closely in the Tau Pan area.
Investigating a cloud of dust that didn’t seem to be decreasing in the breeze, a honeybadger was found digging in the ground. A couple of jackals stood off close to one side, interested in what the honey badger might discover, After about 15 minutes, the honey badger dragged a dead young warthog out of the burrow. The jackals tried to claim the prize, but were put off by the hissing and growling of the honey badger, as he trotted off into the bush with the warthog dangling from his mouth.
Another unusual sighting was of a snouted cobra, which was attempting to hunt ground squirrels. The squirrels, however, were having none of it: a head to head fight between both species ended with the cobra slinking off down a hole, perhaps for a bit of a rest from the chirruping and chattering ‘prey’.
An interesting sighting of a pale chanting goshawk attempting to grab a guineafowl resulted in the goshawk being kicked and flung across the ground – leaving with a few bruises and a few less feathers!
Sightings Report Kwando Safaris - February 2012
Kwara Concession
This past month, the most prevalent cat we have seen is the cheetah. We have been really pleased to discover that it was almost a daily occurrence to bump in to her – together with her three cubs. Our best sighting so far was at the beginning of the month – on the 5th of February – where we tracked her for about thirty minutes and found her resting at Leadwood Island. We had driven around in this area before coming across fresh tracks which we followed, leading right up to her. We stayed with the four cheetahs for as long as we wanted, watching her interacting and bonding whilst our guests took marvellous photos. After about half an hour, the mother cheetah became interested in a few warthogs snorting nearby. She then followed them and at first, stalked them, then suddenly, shooting right past us, she managed to secure a great feast for her and her three cubs!
In the Kwara Concession, a lion sighting is almost guaranteed. Our famous cats have been seen roaming all areas, often marking territories, attempting to hunt, but mostly, just lying around. Over the last two weeks, the three male lions – members of the group we call ‘the Splash Boys’ – have been on the move. We have spotted them in various places. On Valentine’s Day, we had a special visit, right behind Kwara main camp, as these three majestic beasts made their way past our camp. They had been roaring the previous night and our guests were delighted to spot them immediately after leaving camp.
We have seen leopard this month – quite a few sightings – one special one was at Old Xugana Road where one leopard lay on a tree giving us a great photographic opportunity.
It had been a few weeks without seeing the wild dogs and we were more than delighted to come across twelve of them at Splash area. They were mobile and we followed them for about ten minutes when they became interested in some impala – but sadly, without success.
Our night drives are full of activity, spotting nocturnal animals including the side-striped jackal, caracals and the black backed jackal. A very interesting sighting – that tops our sighting list this month – has been the pangolin at Xugana Main Road.
Lots of birds – including Ground Hornbills (which we hear often calling in the mornings while we are having our tea in camp). We also see saddle-billed storks right in front of the rooms, mostly in the afternoons. Whilst on our game drives, most often when stopping for our sun-downer drinks, we have had the opportunity to enjoy birding – seeing other species such as Grey-headed Kingfishers, Black Herons and the Slatey Egret.
Lebala
There have been numerous elephant sightings near and around Lebala Camp – as well as large breeding herds lumbering across the grassy plains. It is truly amazing how silently these mammoth animals move through the thickest brush to barely more than the swish-swish as they tromp in unison through the long grass! Lone bulls have been seen wondering in the more open landscapes as well as carefully manoeuvring their huge bodies through the tight confines of other woodland areas. This is unusual for this time of year as most bachelor and breeding herds have moved off in to the woodlands by now.
Guests had the good fortune to come across twenty wild dogs at a recent kill – an impala ram which was slowly being feasted upon by the family – nine pups and eleven adults. As is true of the African wild, the hyenas were soon alerted to this fresh kill by the scent in the air and quickly appeared ready to challenge the pack to their meal. Unfortunately, the hyenas proved the stronger group on this day and soon chased the dogs off and seized their prey. The coalition comprising of the three cheetahs brothers has also been sighted sporadically throughout the concession but have seemed to move on quickly from each location.
General game has been excellent – the elegant giraffe have been seen feeding on acacia and russet bush willow trees, mindfully surveying their surroundings from their lofty height. Reedbuck and Lechwe have been spotted in the wetter areas with the tiny, graceful steenbok seen occasionally for just long enough to take in its delicate features before it flees in fright to the safety of the thick bush! Birding has also been enjoyable with ostriches, ducks and geese as well as some sightings of the wattled-crane along with other small water birds.
Lagoon
The river flows swiftly past Lagoon Camp – the dawn slowly breaking over the churning waters as the sun plays off the ripples at the rivers’ edge. The sound of a fish eagle calls in the distance as the hippos slowly wake, greeting our guests for yet another day of wondrous Africa!
Being awoken to a cacophony of animal sounds, there can be no doubt that there are some great things to see – a lioness perched expertly atop a termite mound was one such sighting. Her spots characteristic of her youth; a clear sign that she was not alone in her wonderings – there must have been other members of her pride nearby! The wild dogs have been hugely active this month, being spotted multiple times throughout the concession – the family looking healthy and playful. They were even seen taking a warthog as the sunset for the end of another long, hot day. Guests watched on as a male leopard was seen dining on an impala up a tree, gorging himself on his recent kill before the hyenas could catch the scent.
The buffalo seem to have found themselves the perfect hiding spot – kept secret from both seeking eyes as well as roaming predators. The seasonal rains have filled the nearby pools with fresh, sweet water and given the buffalo a perfect source close to their favourite foliage – and it seems, also their best form of camouflage – the Mopane Woodlands. They have remained unsighted this month, carefully resting amongst the forest thickets.
However, along Macheka road at the hyena den, a curious cub has provided many a guest with a chance to witness its investigations of its surrounding area at night. One such evening, three porcupines were spotted, shortly followed by the cub on an evening excursion to seek out the owner of this new smell. A second cub has also been spotted!
Elephant breeding herds have also been prevalent in the area and some truly remarkable antelope were also seen – the Sable antelope and the shy Sitatunga have both been spotted along with Kudu, Roan and Eland, to name a few. Migratory birds have yet to start their long journey to faraway lands and the carmine bee eater, broad billed rollers and wahlbergs eagle have still be seen taking to the skies, whilst mongooses of all species – both banded and dwarf - have been seen frequently frolicking amongst the ant hills and termite mounds. A black mamba was even sighted crossing the road near John’s Pan.
Nxai Pan
The Kalahari offers our guests much to see – across its wide open plains and vast landscape, there are many animals which roam this pristine earth. The predators in the area have graced us with many sightings of their daily interactions, at rest and at play as well as seen mating.
Cheetah seem to have found this area much to their liking in recent months as they have been spotted on many an occasion – most often seen sleeping or relaxing by nearby pans or in a prime spot along West Road and Baobab Loop. One cheetah was even sighted in the Camp! A rare treat for visitors and staff alike!
Other cats which have been spotted have been the lions. A much-loved favourite for all to see, this particular group – consisting of three adults and three younger ones – were interrupted whilst at play! These rambunctious activities soon ended as the heat got the better of them and they sought out something to quench their thirst and finally, a shady resting spot where they could hide from the desert sun. The lions all seem to be in a playful mood this month as one of the females from the Nxai Pan Pride was also seen ‘fake fighting’ with a male from another territory.
As always, the general game has been good – giraffes, kudu, impala and gemsbok have all been seen wondering the various feeding grounds enjoying the excellent grazing which is characteristic of this time of the year and zebras can still be seen gallivanting across open fields whilst springboks prance majestically across the plains. Our large, ponderous, grey friends – the elephant – still frequent the area and take much delight in the pans. Black-backed jackals and bat eared foxes have also been spotted along with spring hares – if one is lucky enough to see them as they disappear in to the nearby brush!
Tau Pan
The Tau Pan Pride continues to flourish in their desert home and have frequently been sighted drinking from the various waterholes in the area. In the intense Kalahari heat, they are most often found languishing under the scarce shade of an unforgiving landscape, though guests are sometimes treated to their territorial patrols and daily hunting activities. Whilst the leopard has remained elusive this month, the cheetah has been proud to show off her cubs to our visitors whilst she has been hunting. Other smaller predators have been seen foraging in the pans, including the bat-eared fox, the cape fox and the black-backed jackal.
This region has such a special variety of creatures that blend in so well with their surroundings. From the smallest of creatures - the ground squirrel that is frequently seen hopping along the ground, fervently scratching out some delectable morsel from the sand and the leopard tortoise with its amazing kaleidoscope of camouflage that gives it its name – to the smaller of the antelopes – the springbok with their numerous new young who are quickly learning to navigate the rocky earth beneath their tiny hooves – and the largest being the gemsbok, who gracefully gazes at the vibrant activity around him.
Of special note is the abundant birdlife which has been seen on every game drive. Flocks of Sand Grouse rise at the nearby rumble of the vehicle as it passes them by. A brave Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk also delighted viewers by attempting to tackle a larger bird, a guinea fowl with young – the poor goshawk was worse for ware after the protective guinea fowl kicked it to the ground, leaving it with far more pains and fewer feathers than it started the day with! Others proved just as unsuccessful when battling the ground squirrel which adamantly stood their ground upon intrusion by the goshawk in to its feeding territory. The Peregrine Falcon has displayed its successful hunting tactics on many occasions, along with spectacular sightings of the Red Billed Queleas, the Ring Dove, the Bateleur Eagle and princely Kori Bustard, amongst others.
Sightings Report Kwando Safaris - January 2012
2012 - Another year has begun and the sightings continue….
Kwara Concession
We welcomed the new year with incredible sighting of predators, prey, birds, and of course dramatic sunrises and sunsets. Kwara concession is certainly a wildlife paradise on the 1st day of the 1st month, we found 2 lionesses resting under the shade, escaping the heat, a few metres away were zebras, giraffes, and wildebeest, as well as a huge breeding herd of elephant.
We continued spotting more predators during the following days, mostly male lions, occasionally seeing lone young males, sometimes as many as seven lions one game drive. Another great experience was of tracking fresh leopard tracks – found crossing the Shindi main road, we followed the tracks and located a male leopard, which we were able to follow for about 20 minutes before he disappeared into the bush.
An unusual lion sighting was from the boat whilst on a cruise between Xobega and Gudikwe – three lionesses drinking on the side of the channel, with one of them about to cross the channel! And a great sighting of a pack of 10 wild dogs, who were seen hunting along Lethata Road.
Over the past few months our cheetah cubs have grown, and are now approximately 8 months old – still distinguishable from their mother with their darker coats and longer, thicker fur. We saw them attempting to bring down an impala one afternoon, but sadly they were unsuccessful.
Some more unusual predator sightings included a young African python hunting prey after a heavy rain storm, and an African wild cat hunting frogs!
Our night game drives are a different experience each night. Through the thickets and bushes our eyes scanning, following the spotlight, listening to the night sounds and occasionally spotting a rare animal. Regular sights have been black-backed jackals, lesser bush-babies, honey badgers. Although genets are seen from time to time on night drives, it is much rarer to see a genet with two young who she was suckling!
Birding has been great with all the regulars, and the summer migratory birds still here, but thinking about the long trip back…. Only a few Woodland kingfishers can be heard calling now – a change from the November chorus. Nicest bird sighting this month was a male and female ostrich with five chicks looking only a few days old!
Lebala
The first and last week of the month were good for lion sightings, with separate sightings of both males and females. Four lionesses were found feeding on a freshly killed wildebeest, and two males were seen resting along the cutline. Strangely, for a few days in the middle of the month, even tracks of lions were hard to find!
On the 21st of January, there was an unusual sighting with a hyena chasing off a leopard from the carcass of a baby elephant. It’s likely the elephant died of natural causes, for it would be difficult for any predator other than lions to successfully bring down a baby elephant. There are plenty of breeding herds throughout the concession at the moment. The hyenas – on one occasion up to eight individuals – were seen regularly on the evening drives in the area of the carcass, and patrolling their routes.
A male leopard was also seen nearby. In the same week we also had a great sighting of a pack of twenty wild dogs, who managed to hunt and catch an impala along Mogothlo road.
Towards the end of the month, the three male cheetahs successfully hunted a tsessebe calf, and were able to feed on it without being disturbed by larger predators – always a worry for the light-weight cheetahs!
Night drives were productive with the hyenas, black-backed and side-striped jackals, and several sightings of African Wild cats hunting in the tall grass. We also managed to see a porcupine and a honey badger!
The rains have created many puddles along the roads, and filled up many of the pans. This is a happy time for the frogs – bubbling kasinas and bull frogs alike. Also a good time for the many birds, such as marabou storks, woolly necked storks, egrets and other long-legged birds which wade the ponds and pools, fishing for the frogs.
Otherwise, it’s a lovely time of year for the general game, with lots of green fresh grass and new leaves available to graze and browse on.
Lagoon
After the major excitement of multiple kills by wild dogs at the end of 2011, the beginning of the year was off to a more sedate pace. However, this soon picked up with the wild dogs again chasing and killing impala. At the end of the month they had spent time very close to the camp, and managed to bring down three baby impalas in one day. All the puppies from last year are growing up fit and strong – 100% survivor rate, which is excellent news for the highly endangered wild dog population.
The New Year also brought in new visitors – a male lion of approximately 8 years old, in excellent condition, was seen on his own by Giraffe Pan. He may have overstepped his boundaries intentionally for a look to see who challenges him, or he may have been forced out by a stronger pride. It will be interesting to see if he stays around, and if he has any altercations with the other lions resident in the area.
In the second week of January we had a lovely female leopard seen around the airstrip. She was very relaxed, and spent considerable time hunting and scent marking. This is a good indication that she is getting ready to mate, and is interested in marking her status as ‘available’!
Although the big buffalo herds have moved off into the thick mopane veld now that rainwater has collected in many of the pans, the breeding herds of elephants are spending a lot of time in the area.
It is a little more challenging to see animals on the night drives at this time of year, with the grasses being high, but hyenas and side-striped jackals were seen regularly in the area close to the airstrip, and there was lots of activity seen of the shy nocturnal aardvark, but sadly not the creature itself!
The camp was closed for 10 days for annual maintenance in January, so we didn’t have a chance to see some of the regulars such as the cheetah brothers during that time, but hopefully they will be waiting for us in early February!
Nxai Pan
The stillness of the night is broken by the distant roaring of lions. The quiet tip-toeing of a whitish-grey elephant as it looms across the plain in the moonlight, heading to the waterhole. There’s a rustling from a few metres away – a scrub hare, nibbling on grass shoots. Then the shuffle and neighing, as a herd of zebra move in. Sometimes, the best sightings are those that you don’t actually see, but the combination of sound, (or silence) smell, and glimmers in the dark. Sitting on the deck in front of the your room at Nxai Pan at night, no clouds in the sky – it’s not a view necessarily of animals that is magical, but it’s an experience that will be one of the highlights of your trip. The horizon stretches on, only stopping where the pin points of stars disappear.
Very little rainfall since the beginning of December has meant the animals have been forced to return to the waterholes dotted around the park. This means plenty of action also at the camp waterhole, with elephants chasing zebra out of the way, so they can drink, and shy brown hyenas slinking in to have a quick sip as the sun slowly rises above the horizon.
Lion sightings have been numerous, with the pride of four females with two nearly adult cubs and three 8 month old cubs being seen on most days. Sometimes relaxing in the shade near the waterholes, keeping an eye on the general game that moves past them, waiting for an opportunity to catch some unsuspecting prey. A big male lion was also seen at the side of one of the waterholes, relaxing after a long night of prowling his territory. A female cheetah with two cubs was also seen regularly – her offspring look fit, and well-cared for. This is prime time for catching springbok babies that are in abundance at the moment. It is up to the mother to teach her cubs how to hunt, and she does this by catching a young buck but not killing it, and then giving it to the cubs to kill (not always successfully…)
Wonderful general game throughout the park, with the zebras having arrived – though not in the numbers that they were last year due to the late rains. Giraffes, wildebeest, springboks and all their babies bouncing everywhere, create a wonderful atmosphere on the drives.
The good birding continues, with red crested shrikes, crimson breasted shrikes, marico flycatchers, scaly feathered finches, little sparrow hawks and steppe buzzards.
Tau Pan
The elephants that were seen last month did not make an appearance again, but their spoor and droppings were seen in the Passage Pan area.
January seems to have been the month of races, with cheetah, leopard and lions all seen running in the Tau Pan area, often being followed – or following – jackals and bat-eared foxes. Two lions made an attempt to chase down a cheetah with her two cubs – a rather foolish thing when you know the cheetahs are built for speed. However, cheetahs cannot hold the speed for extended periods, so perhaps there was a plan to the lions chase. Luckily for the cheetahs, they managed to get away.
Throughout the month, cheetah was seen almost every day around Tau Pan, usually the mother with the two cubs, but sometimes an adult on his own. The adult managed to kill a baby springbok, and a young collared male has visited the water hole to drink during brunch time – probably a good time to do so as the resident lions have moved off by then.
The Tau Pan Lion pride was seen regularly as well, with the whole pride playing around the pan, and the adults roaring – territorial calling – in the early morning and evening. Later in the month, three of the adult lions decided to pop by the manager’s house for part of the afternoon game drive, but luckily left when Thuso needed to get ready for dinner!
For general game, lots of Oryx, springbok, kudu and steenbok were sighted in the area, and a herd of 15 wildebeest with 8 young also frequented the area. Several black-backed jackal couples are seen on every drive, each with puppies of their own.
