The Kings Camp Weblog

Magical last 4 days...

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:29:24 +0200

Here is a brief update of happenings over the last 4 days.We've had some amazing sightings of the Wild dogs (17), Rockfig Jr. and her cubs, the Kubassa pride and the Machatons.

Enjoy the pictures!

Rockfig Jr. & Cubs:

Wild dogs:

Machaton & Timbavati male:

White Lions:

Take care,
Morn�

African Rock Python and Albert my tracker

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:16:39 +0200

Python sebae is a non-venomous python species found in sub-Saharan Africa.With adults reaching lengths of over 6 m (20 ft), this is one of the world's largest species of snakes. The typical adult length is 4.8 m (16 ft) and rumours of specimens over 6 m (20 ft) are generally considered reliable, but larger specimens have never been confirmed.

Albert and I were fortune to bump into this 3,2 meter Python. It took some time to secure this large specimen, which turned out to be a male. After teaching Albert how to handle non-venomous snakes he clear shows his joy of holding this beautiful and rare snake for his guests to view.
The colour pattern is typically brown, with olive and tan irregular blotching, fading to white on the underside. Typically associated with grassland and savannah habitat, not too far from water (rivers, streams, marshes), sometimes entering the edges of forests. Often occur in or near cane fields.
Opportunistic feeders, and will consume almost any animal they come across and can overpower by constriction. Young pythons eat primarily small rodents, which makes them popular with local farmers for reducing the populations of species harmful to crops, like the cane rat. However, adults are capable of taking very large prey, including young crocodiles, goats, gazelles, warthogs and even humans making them potentially very dangerous.
Attacks on humans are very uncommon. Although this species can easily kill an adult, there are only a few cases in which the victim. The last known case in which a person was eaten occurred in South Africa in 2002, the victim being a 10-year-old child.
Conservation status
While considered endangered and threatened, this species is listed as a CITES Appendix II species, which puts restrictions on its exportation around the world. The primary reason for this is because their skin is used in the leather industry, frequently being made into shoes, belts, and purses.

By Patrick O�Brien - Head Guide
www.mandevo-wildlifephotography.com

Finally my first sighting of our new leopard cubs.

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:09:32 +0200

And I have wonderful new images of them to share with you.I have been trying to see these little guys for more than 6 weeks now.
Every time I get an opportunity to see them they either move from the spot or I am office constrained due to work.
I have seen numerous leopard cubs from multiple female leopards in my career as a wildlife guide. But ever time I see this wonderful animal so young and small, my heart wants to burst out in joy.

This morning Albert and I went out looking for them and as luck would have it we found tracks of mom in the riverbed. Several minutes later we found them feeding on a carcass in dense bush. Visual was initially poor and we opted to stay a while longer in order to get a better view of them. No more than 5 minutes later both cubs were playing right in front of my vehicle. One of the cubs was showing a great deal of interest in us and approached without a worry in the world.
I took an image of the cub so close that I had to zoom out in order to get it in full frame. The angle of the image will give you an idea of just how close this little guy got to the vehicle. Just amazing isn�t it. Both cubs are healthy. It appears that one is a female and the other a male. Watch this blog, as I will be posting frequent updates of them in the next few weeks.

Enjoy the images that I was so fortunate to capture this morning.

Patrick O�Brien. Head Guide

Email: mail@Mandevo-wildlifephotography
Web: www.mandevo-wildlifephotography.com

Wildlife report for JANUARY 2010.

Sun, 7 Feb 2010 09:21:29 +0200

Happy new year to one and all!!

Hope you enjoy this month's report...GENERAL:

We have had some good rain, but this January has been one of the hottest I have ever experienced�

Game viewing has been very good though and we even had a few sightings of the more endangered wildlife around.

LIONS:

Sightings of the Timbavati White Lions have been AMAZING! It looks like the Kubasa Pride have moved in and it looks like they are here to stay.

The two older Machaton lionesses, (Djuma & Sengela) had an unfortunate run-in with this pride close to the camp and came out second best. The two larger lionesses from the Kubasa Pride chased the other lionesses away from a young giraffe that they had killed earlier that morning. The two Machaton girls were left to lick their wounds further south of Kings Camp deeper into their territory.

After the giraffe kill they struggled a bit, but managed after about 10 days to kill a large buffalo bull in Elephant Dam. They attacked the bull during the night and with severe injuries he decided to lie down in the water to try and stay out of trouble. They stared each other down during the whole day but finally at about 19:00 the two lionesses braved the water and went in for the kill. This was very action packed with very excited cubs that were not keen on getting wet.

After the fight the Machaton Pride re-grouped and joined the young Machaton Male. He soon got pushed out again by one of the Timbavati Boys and was joined by the 6 yr old female. The three older lionesses and the Timbavati Male moved vast distances in search of food without a lot of success, whilst the other two managed to kill a buffalo calf close to Hide Dam. The Rockfig Clan of Hyenas completed a nice scene and caused a brawl to break out over the buffalo carcass.

The now nomadic Schobele boys were also interested in some buffalo after being alerted to the upset bovine, which were bothered by the Rockfig Clan.

The hyenas were trying their luck at getting some smaller calves in the herd and got chased straight into the area where the lions were resting. They soon realized this and made a U-turn back to their den to rest out the shock.
The Schobele Boys are looking fine and it seems that they are getting used to being Nomads.

LEOPARD:

Rockfig Jr. has moved the cubs quite a few times since I reported on them. We had a few sightings of them late in the month and the youngsters are very relaxed with vehicles. We are still treating these sightings with sensitivity because of their age but we will keep you updated on how they are doing. They are now about 2 to 3 months old and she should start bringing them out to kills soon. Her kill ratio was good this month and we had her on Impala kills most of the times she had food.

Nkateko was seen numerous times in the eastern sector and she was very entertaining. One morning she decided to practice her stalking abilities with a herd of buffalo. This got exciting! A soon as the Buffalo realized that a �cat� was following them, they chased her into the thickets.

My Favorite Leopard, Ntombi, kept us very busy with sightings. With the greater portion of her territory right around Kings Camp itself we are blessed with sightings of Leopard often in close proximity of the camp. The resident troop of Monkeys often �Report� to us if they spot her from their high perches in the camp trees.

A young Male leopard was seen at Makulu Dam and only tolerated our presence from the opposite bank of the dam. This was however a good sighting and he looked very full. Hopefully he will stay around and become more tolerant of vehicles.

ELEPHANT & CAPE BUFFALO:

The large �gray phantoms� were scarce through patches of the month but towards the end we started seeing more herds moving in around the riverbeds and larger dams to swim and cool off from this summer�s heat.

Buffalo sightings were very constant with up to four herds on our traversing on a single drive. That is close to 2000 buffalo in +-20 000 ha (50 000 acres)!

WHITE RHINO:

Our favorite Mtenge-tenge finally came �home� after his absence to a neighboring property to court a female there. He is back and entertaining as only a rhino can be in his favorite �spas�.

Sightings of the other rhino�s in the area were also good. Groups of up to 8 together were reported through the month.

SPECIAL SIGHTINGS:

Cheetah was seen 3 times this month!

The first sighting was a female with two cubs on an impala kill. The kill was made in the morning and by the afternoon they were gone.

Cheetahs generally consume their food very fast in order to avoid the competition with other predators. They are timid animals and loose their kills often to leopards, lions, hyenas and even large numbers of vultures. Kills are often made in the heat of the day and this helps to avoid direct competition with the other predators.

The other two sightings were also of females. The female in the last sighting also killed an impala in the morning. She was slightly more nervous but Patrick managed to get nice pictures of her dragging the kill to cover. Please check this link...http://www.kingscamp.com/blog/index.php?itemid=235

A large pack of Wild dogs was also around through the month. It is the same pack as last year and the pack number is now at 17. That is 11 adults and 6 puppies.
One sighting that stands out was on the one morning drive. We were watching the Machaton Pride of lions and the call of �Madach� came over the radio. They were close to us and we left the lions to go see the dogs. It was only a portion of the pack, 2 adults and 6 pups. We got to the location and watched them chasing some Wildebeest calves and Zebras. They missed and we followed them all the way back to where the lions were. Close by they located on a leopard�s kill under some thickets next to the riverbed. The adult dogs pulled the nearly whole carcass out and allowed the pups to feed in frenzy.

What surprised me was the fact that barely 60 meters away from them the lions never reacted on the noise. The lions only gave chase after one of the dogs nearly ran over them. The dogs re-grouped after that and moved further west. All 17 were seen close to the camp on the 25th and hopefully they stay in our traversing for another while.

Take Care!
See You Soon�

Morn� and the Kings Camp Guiding Team

Report Written By: Morn� Hamlyn
Photography By: Morn� Hamlyn

White lions at King Camp

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:01:09 +0200

It has always been a dream of mine to see white lions in the wild after reading the book "White lions of the Timbavati".I never in my wildest dreams thought that it would come true. On the 28th of January I got to see 2 white lion cubs as a birthday present. After spending a quarter of my life living and working in the bush this surely is the most amazing sighting I have ever had and believe me I have seen some pretty amazing things.

Thank you to everyone at Kings Camp. Special thanks to Patrick and Daniella! You made my year! The lodge is fantastic and the service and food exquisite. The best I have experienced. Thank you Warren and Lisha and to the wonderful ranger and tracker team, Cynet and Remember.

Robbie and Lize

Cheetah sighting and research at Kings camp

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:49:14 +0200

The cheetah is one of the most endangered species of large predators within in Africa.Very little in known about the cheetah population with in the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve.
A new research project is now taking place with in the Timbavati Reserve.
The objective of the project is to determine the abundance of cheetahs via a photographic survey. The collecting of faecal samples for DNA extraction and sequencing in order to determine the genetic variability.
Also the home range recruitments and spatial utilisation of cheetahs within the reserve.
I was lucky to find this rare sighting of a female during a morning drive with our guests.
She took down a young impala and waited several minutes to recover from the hunt. Soon after that she took her kill to a thick bush were she consumed it.

Patrick O�Brien. Head Guide
Email: mail@Mandevo-wildlifephotography
Web: www.mandevo-wildlifephotography.com

Wildlife report for NOVEMBER 2009.

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:59:38 +0200

Sorry it is a tad late... Enjoy the November updates! The rest will follow soon.

GENERAL:

The summer rains are here! The bush has now fully changed color and the green scenery is absolutely gorgeous. The Impalas have started lambing and there is an ultimate freshness in the air. The Giraffe, Zebra and Wildebeest populations are on the increase again with all of them following the greener pastures.

LIONS:

I have an amazing story to share with you regarding the Machaton Lion Pride. One of the lionesses from the pride disappeared in 2004/5 into a fenced property next to the greater reserve. We thought after so many years that all was lost for her survival as she was alone. Goodness knows what happens on neighboring properties that are not part of the conservation area. Since then, this property has joined the conservation area and to our great surprise a �foreign� lioness appeared back in the Machaton�s territory. It soon became evident that she was indeed the lost lioness and was accepted back into the pride by her Mother, Aunt, and Cousin (who was only a cub when she went missing). She was in estrus when she came back and was seen mating with one of the Timbavati boys towards the end of the month and hopefully we will be able to report the birth of new Machaton cubs towards March or April 2010.

LEOPARD:

The Leopard sightings this month were �Out of this World�

Let me start with some really great news. Rockfig Junior has given birth to her first litter of cubs toward the end of the month. The two bundles of fluff were hidden in a large fallen Leadwood log for quite some time and Mommy was very proud and happy to allow us a few sightings of the little ones. We will limit the activity around the den sights so that the youngsters gradually get used to the movement of vehicles. We will keep you updated with their progress!

Nkateko has shown that even though she is already a good hunter she still has the urge to �play� as a young leopard. She caught and toyed with a baby impala for almost One and a half hours before she eventually killed it. She killed two adult female impalas in the week before, but with this baby impala the urge to play was to big and she entertained her spectators with her little toy.

Kuhanya has also delivered some amazing sightings. We had a very strange phenomenon that caused the Impalas (especially females in a weaker state due to pregnancy) to die. Research showed that the sudden burst of nutrients in the much greener vegetation caused the deaths. It was a case of too much good nutrition too quickly. Now as you can well imagine for the leopards it was like having an open buffet with all the carcasses around. Kuhanya was one of them that did not hang back on being greedy; she ate two impalas in six consecutive days! Talk about opportunism�

PICTORIAL OF OTHER SIGHTINGS THROUGH THE MONTH:

Kind Regards,
Morn� & the Kings Camp guiding team!

Written by: Morn� Hamlyn
Photography: Morn� Hamlyn

Dear friends

Sat, 2 Jan 2010 14:34:52 +0200

I trust and hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!For the fourth year running our annual Christmas party for the children of the staff of Kings Camp was a great success.
With the help of our staff members, guests and friends of Kings Camp we could yet again put a party together for over 50 children that come from a poor and disadvantaged background.

The majority of us spent the festive season with our families and friends at home. These children spent the school holidays with their parents here at the camp but as staff we work the greater part of the day and the children don�t see much of their parents.

The children�s Christmas party is a great opportunity for the families to spend time together and see their children having fun and on top get a Christmas gift! This would not have been possible without the abundance of wonderful donations from you.

These fantastic donations included several large boxes with beautiful color-in books, pencils, pens, toys, stationary, balloons, backpacks and hundreds of goodies for the children.
The amount I received from all of you this year was beyond expectations. I am very thankful that your generous contributions made this year�s Christmas party a very special one.

I find words inadequate to describe the feeling of happiness and joy that I experience at the children�s party. With the images I took I hope that you can see the happiness I captured through my lens. It is priceless.

To all the wonderful and considerate guests who so kindly supported us a BIG thank you from the bottom of my hart and from our children.
A very special TANK YOU to very special people:

John Gong, with your backpacks our children can go to school without having to carry their books in their hands.
Lornar Mafata, Susan Mindell Blum, Robert H. Whittaker, Hillary and Seth � the abundance of goodies you have sent made it possible to fill these backpacks!
Chris Metoyer and Barbara Sandler, Kathy Casterline and friends, Phil and Lynda James and Jim, thank you for your cash contributions. I was able to buy sweets, dinner and soft drinks for all the children.

Merriam - Mama Africa - thank you for getting the venue set up.
Portia, thank you for making the chocolate cake.

You all made a difference!
I wish all of you a wonderful and prosperous 2010.

Patrick O�Brien and the children of Kings Camp

Email: mail@Mandevo-wildlifephotograhy

www.mandevo-wildlifephotography.com

Wildlife Report � December 2009.

Fri, 1 Jan 2010 10:30:00 +0200

One of the most breath-taking sightings for any guide is to witness a white lion in the wild. This exceptionally rare sighting can only happen in one place in the world and that is in Timbavati Private Nature Reserve in South Africa.
I was privileged to see white lion cubs in the Timbavati about 4 years ago. However, both white cubs died due to a reason unknown to us. At the time of death I suspect that the cubs were only 8 weeks old.
They are so defenseless at that age no wonder that it is not uncommon that only 30% of cubs will survive the first 12 months.
My second sighting happened on the 2nd of Dec 2009. I would have never thought that I would be so lucky to see white lions again in my life
Yesterday myself and numerous guides from our neighboring lodges were blessed to see two white lions cubs on Kings Camp's property.

This sighting was called-in very early in the morning. I was very close and was the second vehicle to approach the sighting. The sighting was just incredible. The pride consists of 3 adult females and 4 cubs of approximately 8-9 months old. Two of the cubs are white and the other two as my tracker Albert would put it are just "plain". Meaning they are the normal tawny colour.
The pride was feeding on giraffe they took down a few hours after the rain and should last them few more days. Hopefully the pride will stick around for next few days offering us more sightings. It might just become a more frequent sighting from now on at Kings Camp.

History of the White Lions.

Timbavati Game Reserve lies to the north of the Sabi Sand Game Reserve on the western edge of Kruger National Park In South Africa.
Established in 1956 by like-minded game farmers, the Reserve covers 680 square kilometers. There are no fences separating the Timbavati from the Kruger National Park, so lion, elephant, cheetah buffalo and other species roam freely between the two.
Timbavati is famous for their White Lion sightings first spotted in the mid-1970s they became the subject of much interest and debate.
The story of the �White Lions of the Timbavati has been told by several people, most notable of whom was Chris McBride, who published two books about the phenomenon:
The famous white lions of the Timbavati were first sighted by Cyril McBride�s daughter Lanice van den Heever in October of 1975. McBride relied heavily on the expertise and knowledge of two local trackers, Jack Mathebula and Mandaban Hlongo, in his efforts to track the white cubs. These men had grown up in the bush and had intimate knowledge of the behavior of lions. Though no White lions have been spotted in the Timbavati for many years. The last adult white lionesses was killed in a territorial take over in 1991
Since then no white lions were seen again until 2005 when pictures of two white cubs were published in a local newspaper. The cubs were seen in the on a property in Klaserie Game Reserve west of Timbavati game Reserve.
Since then there have been a total of 8 confirmed different litters that have been seen in the Timbavati and Klaserie game Reserve since 2005 until today. Most of the white did not make it past the first year.
During the winter month of 2009 another confirmed sighting of white cubs were called in and photograph in Klaserie. Then the cubs appeared to be 4-5 months old.
Then on the 2nd of December 2009 one of the local guides during a morning drive found a pride of lions feeding from a fresh giraffe carcass on Kings Camp property. I wasted no time and arrived 5 minutes later at the sighting. Much to my amassment I could not believe what I saw that morning.
Finally white lions.
All we hope now is that the white cubs will survive past there first year. Then only I would believe that the probability of making to sub-adult status is increased tremendously.
That is all for this month dear friends. We hope and trust you had a wonderful New Year. We would also like to wish you all the best for 2010.

Patrick O�Brien. Head Guide

Email: mail@Mandevo-wildlifephotography
Web: www.mandevo-wildlifephotography.com

Timbavati moments II

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:27:37 +0200

A compilation of some of the best pictures taken by Wayne Jackaman during the past years from various places in the Timbavati including from Kings Camp and Jaydee.

Beautiful recent pictures of the white lion cubs. Watch it on YouTube following this link.

Enjoy...
Eyvind