The last while has produced
some of the hottest weather so far this summer. Temperatures have been touching
38 degrees Celsius on some days and the animals have definitely been responding
to it. Buffalo have spent most of their days cooling in mud wallows, while
others have been taking shelter in whatever shade they could find.
Lion
The different groups have
scattered and while we haven’t seen a lot of a specific pride or coalition, we
have seen most of the groups at least once or twice.
Sizanani and Koppies
The first sighting we had of
these Lions was of a single female on a Buffalo kill on Buffalo plains. She was
quickly joined by one of the other Koppies females and the two of them spent a
few days feeding on the Buffalo. The third and youngest female hasn’t been seen
in a while now, but we have seen tracks for one female around the Madache/ Tamboti
area. After a careful calculation, we believe she may be preparing to have
cubs. She was seen mating with the gimpy leg Sizanani male, as told about in
the blog on the 23rd of September, and it is possible that she is
now distancing herself from the other females in order to find a suitable den
site. She’ll more than likely spend the first two months away from her pride
mates, all the while imprinting herself onto her cubs.
If this is the case, the area
she has selected is a very good choice. It’s rich in prey species and cover for
the cubs are guaranteed as this is in a drainage line. Also the Matimba males
generally don’t venture this far west and the Ngala males don’t venture this
far south. The local hyena population also prefers the open gabbro area’s to
the west of Tamboti. The only major concern is that it’s a favourite area for a
lot of the Leopard in near vicinity. Now all we can do is wait for her to bring
them out once she is ready to show and tell!
The other two females were
seen again in the company of the two Sizanani males just off a small track
between Tamboti and Sable west. This was the only sighting we had of the males since
the last sightings report.
Sizanani Males
Koppies Females
Matimba males
We had one very interesting sighting
of these majestic males. Mpho found three of the males not far from
Metsikitsoro plains, close to Main Dam. They were moving quite rapidly and he
had his work cut out for him as they took the lead. They got to the plains and
were sniffing around. Something had really peaked their interest, but the heat
of the day forced them to cut their search off, at least until it cooled in the
afternoon.
Mpho noticed fresh tracks of
two females heading west into the Koppies females territory. Two of the females
had been here very recently and this is clearly what these males were after. The
Matimba males have done well in securing a big territory but have not yet
secured the females that come with it. It seems they may have some charm
issues!
That afternoon we returned to
where they were left that morning and as it was still very hot they were still blissfully
sleeping in the shade. After about 20 minutes they started stirring. First
order was to get a drink and they made their way to the small pan on the
plains. Like old pro’s, they were on the scent trail again. We followed them
and as they found where the ladies had lain down they started Flehmen
grimacing, testing every bit of information they could get out of it. One after
another, they sniffed and walked. The Koppies females have had run-ins with
these males before. This time they were clever enough to outsmart them and
luckily got away in time.
The New Pride
We had one sighting of these
lions but it’s still a battle to gain their trust. Mpho found them on Hippo
rocks, fairly close to Skybeds dam.
Skybeds males
Eric found two of these males
once again at Skybeds dam in the north of the Manyeleti. They seem to come back
to this particular dam fairly often and we’re hoping that the other seven males
join them in the north of the Manyeleti. It should be a good area for them as
the competition is very low in the north. If the new pride eventually settles
here, it would be a largely unaccompanied pride.
Leopard
Beacon male
We were lucky enough to once
again have a good sighting of this massive male. I saw male Leopard tracks
heading east towards Main dam. The tracks went down into a big drainage line
and I thought that was that. Being unable to follow into a drainage line, the
only option that was left was to cut my losses and continue my search another
day.
We stopped for drinks at Main dam, hoping to hear a clue. We decided to head towards Ntzaka loop, as its one of the favourite haunts of the Matimba’s. On our way we passed the dam wall, and we got it! Our clue!
Monkeys were alarm calling
from the Dam wall. We went to have a look and there he was. Lying on the Dam wall
like Lord of the manor. We approached cautiously at first, not too sure which
individual it was, but as we approached he became more relaxed.
After a few minutes he moved
down the Dam wall, to the east. We couldn’t follow him directly and had to move
around and hope for the best. He patiently waited for us to reroute and we followed
him for a short while. He found some dry Buffalo dung and at first he started
rolling in the dung. It’s believed that big cats do this to mask their scent.
He then started eating it. This is not unusual behaviour as it aids in the replacement
of nutrients they don’t get out of their carnivorous diet. We watched him do
this for a while, until he closed the show and moved into the drainage line.
Other views from the bush
Darren Roberts-York
Photo & Video Editing: Darren Roberts-York
