Sightings April 2016 Sightings Report Kwara Concession

27 JUNE 2016
Sightings
April 2016 Sightings Report
OTHER SIGHTINGS
Kwara Concession
On the fourth of April, only one kilometre apart from each other, we found two female cheetahs, each
with two cubs! One of the females had killed a male impala, and she was busy feeding on it. Three days
later, and the two females were less than 50m apart from each other, each playing with their own cubs.
A male cheetah also passed by, and it provided some excellent viewing! Very unusual to have so many
cheetahs so close together! These two families provided regular sightings for the rest of the month.
The four male lions nicknamed the ‘zulu boys’ began the month feeding on an elephant. It was a sub­
adult, and although no one saw how the elephant died, it is supposed that the lions themselves
managed to kill it. Three days later, and they had finished the elephant, and we found them again ­
this time eating zebra! The Zulu boys continued to be seen regularly throughout the month, including
when they came to rest up for a few hours just next to the camp. Other sightings of lion included a
female with her two sub­adult cubs feeding on a kudu they had killed. The leopardess and her cub again provided lovely sightings this month. The mother managed to kill a
young giraffe, and we found them both feeding on the meat, with three hyenas circling, attempting to
take the kill. Bizarrely, the baby giraffe’s mother chased the hyenas off, but left the leopards alone!
Little Kwara chefs also had a close encounter with a leopardess, as she moved through the camp and
nearly took a turn through the kitchen! A couple of days later and the leopard was back again, this time
with her cub, and hunting between the dining room and the kitchen!
A good sighting of three beautifully marked wild dogs (2 males and 1 female) close to bat eared fox den
– they were hunting impala, and spent an exciting time trying to catch one. Also in the same area on
the same day as the pack of dogs was a male cheetah. He too was stalking impala, and unfortunately
had no luck as well!
A few days later, and the same wild dogs were in the One Hippo area, attempting to hunt. Suddenly, a
lioness appeared, and tried to catch the dogs. They turned tail and fled, and the lioness sauntered off
west along the flood plain. Lions also came upon a female leopard near Lechwe Loop, and chased her
up a tree.
Other interesting sightings this month of the smaller things included serval, African wild cat, small
spotted genet, and even a lesser jacana catching a fish!
Lagoon
Lots of mixed herds of elephants at the various waterholes, mudbathing, and drinking. There were
much larger herds along the flood plains. As usual, good general game in the area, with giraffe, zebra,
wildebeest, as well as roan, sable and eland.
There were also ots of different combinations of lions seen this month, including two coalitions of
males fighting, with the losers having to head north to escape the victors. By far the biggest sighting we
had was of 18 members of the pride at John’s Pan – five lionesses, two males, and eleven cubs…. All
resting!
Leopards were still tough to find – lots of tracks, but only two actual sightings. Since the male lions
were being very active in the area, it makes it harder for us to find the leopards as they try to stay out
of the way of the bigger predator.
The wild dog pack were seen several times – with an additional adult joining them, now totalling
fifteen individuals. We had great luck watching their hunts, with successfully catching impala several
times. After finishing one of the kills close to the camp, the dogs visited an old den site of theirs.
Arriving there, they found a single hyena had moved in ­ there was a large dispute over this, and the
dogs chased the hyena off. They then spent some time checking over the den, so we hope that this
shows good potential for the near future.
Lebala
Lions were seen almost every day. We had regular sightings of the two male lions: the “Lebala Boys”.
These two lovely males move around the south eastern side of the concession. They are in very good
condition, and always look well fed, though we don’t often see them hunting. In the second week we
found them feeding on the carcass of an eland. Vultures were surrounding them, up in the trees,
waiting for the chance to move in on the remains should the lions move away. The next day when we
returned, the hyenas had taken over the remains of the kill (pictured above), with the vultures now on
the ground as well, trying to get what they can. Nearby, along the same road, we came upon four lionesses fighting over a baby zebra they had killed –
disgruntled as there was not enough meat for everyone to have a good share!
There is also a pride of five female lions with nine cubs, two sub adult cubs and two big males. This
month we followed them hunting, and catching wildebeest. Another day, they were resting up in the
sun, with the nine cubs playing whilst the adults tried – in vain – to sleep. And an interesting
altercation between lions and hyena, where a lioness caught a warthog, but was still in the process of
killing it, when two adult hyenas and two youngsters arrived and fought her for the kill. The hyenas
made off with the warthog and began to tear it to pieces….
A great sighting with a pack of 14 wild dogs, which we spent the morning tracking. We found them
feeding on a dead giraffe, with vultures also trying to land to get their share of the meat, without
getting killed by the dogs!
We also came up on an elephant that had appeared to die of natural causes. A hyena and two jackals
were trying to open up the skin of the carcass, in order to start eating.
This month we had a great sighting of a pangolin, and several sightings of a male leopard, who is very
very shy. And a very unusual sighting of a crocodile out for a stroll one evening, next to a road! He was
out in the open, and appeared to be looking for food.
Nxai Pan
In general April is normally a fairly quiet month for Nxai Pan, with not many (human) visitors to the
area. It is not the case however, for animal visitors! There is still lots going on here!
The big pride of lions – 14 of them – spent a week in the area to the south of the camp. Every day, they
came out to the waterhole for a drink, with full bellies, and then wandered back. For that many lions to
be feeding for such a long length of time, they must have been devouring a very large animal ­ probably an elephant. Two sub­adult lions became separated from the pride, and decided the safest
place to relax and call for the rest of the group, was next to room 9. They spent the day there, and
eventually moved off, hopefully having relocated their family.
You would think 10 lions would feel secure enough to not be afraid of one male intruder, but the two
lionesses with 8 of their sub­adult youngsters decided a showdown was not in order, and kept running
and heading north from the waterhole as the male approached.
The zebra migration that arrived very late this year due to the late rains, moved off quickly in April, as
the grass dried up and disappeared. Continually on the move for greener pastures, it’s likely this is
going to be a tough year for the zebras…
Replacing the zebras, not quite at migration levels, but certainly providing enough mass to cause
havoc, were the elephants. Having spent some of the preceding months in the areas of mopane, where
the rain water will have collected into pools, the elephants returned as the water sources dried up.
Again focussing on the only two available sources in the park – the camp waterhole and the main
waterhole – the elephants decided that this was not sufficient for their needs. Sadly, no one else was
involved in this decision, and the camp again had to contend with the pool being siphoned of water
overnight.
We also had a good number of cheetah sightings this month, including female, male and sub adults.
The female was the most productive, and was seen several times hunting.
Tau Pan
The green season is always a lovely time in the Kalahari – the antelope congregate in numbers, there is
sufficient grass for everyone to eat, and the predators have plenty to choose from (when they are not
tasting such foreign delicacies as donkey.) About 1000 springbok were seen on the pan, pronking (the
particular style of springing/jumping in the air with their back arched which is peculiar to springbok)
and dashing around in a fun mood. We also saw a great tussle between two male oryx, battling it out
with their horns clashing and knocking together. One of the males vented his frustration on a nearby
bush, horning it and thrusting it about.
Obviously there is a lot of testosterone in the air at the moment as a few days later, a bat eared fox and
a black backed jackal were seen fighting. Interestingly, the bat eared fox won the fight, and the jackal
slunk off! No indication as to what the fight was actually about!
The two big black­maned lions that frequent Tau Pan, were found feeding on an animal at the end of
the runway. The fact that it was a donkey, caused a lot of surprise. Particularly as it was the 1st of
April… was this some practical joke somehow manufactured by someone/something? But no, it was
simply a matter of domestic animals wandering where they will during the green season, and poor
care by the owner. It would have been a very easy hunt for the lions, with a donkey being unused to
combat with super­predators.
A few days later and the pride had grouped together – the males, four lionesses and three sub adult
males. They moved through the camp, and headed to the waterhole to drink, after they had been
feeding on something – a change from the donkey­diet.
Towards the end of the month, a wonderful coalition of six males came through the area, following two
females from the Tau Pan pride. They got separated, but spent several days in the area. The males
sought to establish their dynasty ­ mating with the two females. They spent five days in the area,
whilst one of them was quite badly injured down his chest and along his right leg.
We had several sightings of the male leopard who’s territory forms part of Tau Pan. He is very shy, so
when we do see him, it is normally at a distance. From the times we have seen him, we can work out
that his territory is very large – larger than would occur in the delta area. The size of territories are
normally related to the availability of prey, and encroachment from other male leopards. Females can
move through a male leopard’s territory, allowing the opportunity of mating with more than one
individual. A very unusual day at San Pan – three leopards! Two males and one female, seen at
different times and all very shy, running away from the vehicle!
We saw a male cheetah from the camp, and tried to follow it, losing it temporarily. When we managed
to catch up with it, the cheetah made a kill right in front of the camp!
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