Singita Grumeti Wildlife Journal March 2013

Sasakwa & Faru Faru Lodges
Serengeti House
Sabora Tented Camp & Explore Mobile Tented Camp
WILDLIFE JOURNAL
From the first to the thirty-first of March
Two Thousand and Thirteen
Temperature and Wind
Average maximum
Average minimum
Average mean
Average wind speed
Average high wind speed
Rainfall
35.9°C (96,6˚F)
15.8°C (60,4˚F)
22.7°C (72,8˚F)
0.3 mps
11.6 mps
Sasakwa
Sabora
Faru Faru
Samaki
Risiriba
118.5 mm
206.0 mm
155.0 mm
190.0 mm
98 mm
It is always a treat when guests share their photos with us, especially when they are expert
photographers!
Dominique Kaziras and Nolwenn Hadet stayed with us in the beginning of March. With the help of
their expert guide, Eugen Shao, they took some amazing photographs.
We would like to thank them for sharing their photos and subsequently providing us with a great
deal of content for the journal this month. Thanks Dominique and Nolwenn!
One big appetite
Dominique, Nolwenn, and Eugen were on game drive around Sabora Tented Camp, when they
came across a python with an impala it had suffocated to death. The python was now ready to feast
on its hard-earned meal.
It was a truly spectacular sight, as one considers the size of this snake's head and mouth compared
to this large female impala.
A python's lower jaw is made up of two halves. The halves unhinge from the top jaw, which allows
them to swallow prey much larger than their head. Both jaws have multiple rows of sharp re-curved
teeth and each half of the lower jaw moves independently of the other. This, along with their
backward facing teeth, allows them to 'walk-in' their freshly captured prey.
Their skin is very flexible, allowing the body to extend once the prey is swallowed. This huge meal
will satisfy the python for up to two months before it will have to eat again.
Unicorn?
Every so often we come across interesting abnormalities that remind us how complex nature can
be. Out on game drive we noticed an impala near the airstrip with a peculiar right horn.
Upon further investigation we realized that this horn had a major deformity and was splitting apart
as it protruded from the skull. What's more, the front 'split' looked like it was beginning to push
itself against the ram's forehead - a trend that, if it continues, could be very dangerous for this
impala.
Mating leopards
Dominique, Nolwenn, and Eugen were witness to yet another spectacular and rare sighting - a
mating pair of leopards! Like lions, leopards mate many times over the span of three or four days,
in order to ensure ovulation and conception. The process is very painful for both male and female,
but the instinctive need to reproduce wins out over the pain.
Tiny tots
This female cheetah is on the lookout - and for good reason...
Trainer, Alan Yeowart, and our eight trainee guides were making their way along Rhino Rocks
Road during their morning practical session when they spotted this female on the move. They
decided they would follow her for a while and, as they got closer, Alan noticed she was lactating,
which meant she must have cubs.
They continued to follow her for a while until she slipped into a small thicket. They circled the
thicket, found a slight opening, and took out their binos to get a better look, but at first all they saw
was the female obscured by the dense vegetation. Finally, after much patience, the group saw some
movement in front of the mother and spotted the first very tiny cheetah cub. They discovered three,
possibly four, cheetah cubs that were barely visible behind all the grass.
Although well aware of the visibility challenge, Ryan, Alan and Lizzie went back so that Ryan could
attempt to take some photos. He managed to take these that show the very small size of the less
than two-week-old cubs.
The mother kept the cubs there for two days, but on the third day they were gone - mom had
moved them to another hiding place, which is done every few days. If the family stays in one place
for too long, their scent will get stronger, attracting predators.
At this young age and small size these cubs are completely vulnerable. Other predators could kill
them in an effort to eliminate the competition for hunting. We desperately hope their mom
succeeds in keeping all of them alive.
An unlikely trio
Another unusual sighting in March also occurred near Sabora Tented Camp, where an odd group
was spending some down time together...
Our two resident cheetah brothers were found lounging and sharing the shade of a tree with a
spotted hyena! Although hyenas and cheetahs aren't as bitter enemies as hyenas and lions or
hyenas and leopards, they are most definitely (normally) rivals.
Perhaps a truce was called because the brothers instinctively knew that, as a pair, the hyena was
less of a threat to them, or maybe all parties were too tired to squabble and simply wanted a nice
resting place out of the sun, no matter the circumstances. Who knows?
Sightings report
Lion:
Leopard:
Cheetah:
Elephant:
Rhino:
Buffalo:
32 sightings
17 sightings
33 sightings
37 sightings
No sightings reported
Multiple sightings daily
Special sightings
Mating pair of leopards near Sabora Tented Camp.
Rock python consuming impala ewe, near Mbuni Crossing.
Honey badger east of Nyasirori Ranger Post.
Adult aardwolf on Nyasirori Plains.
Male cheetahs sharing shade with a hyena, on Den Site Road.
Breeding herd of about 300 elephants at Nyasirori.
Female cheetah with at least three cubs, about 2 weeks old, near Rhino Rocks.
By Ryan Schmitt and Lizzie Hamrick
Photos by Ryan Schmitt unless indicated otherwise
Singita Grumeti
Serengeti
Tanzania
Thirty-first of March 2013