MANAGER'S REPORT

The year is now into full swing and the camp is really busy. This is really a good sign as it not only tells us that Kings Camp is doing well but that there is a definite increase in tourism to our beautiful country. Where in the world can you be sitting on white sandy beaches with a magnificent mountain backdrop and only two hours by plane, you are in the middle of the African bush following a leopard on the hunt. As you can see I love my country and its beauty. In two years time, we as a nation will proudly host the FIFA Soccer world cup and hope that hundreds of thousands of visitors will flock to our shores to experience this great country.

It is always great to stay in contact with you and we are excited to announce that we have now developed our own Kings Camp weblog on line for you to enhance that relationship. Please feel free to register and subscribe to our blog (http://www.kingscamp.com/blog) where you can receive daily updates from the camp and add your comments. If would like to become an active member of the site where you would like to upload pictures from your visit or stories, please email me to activate your status. My guides, Patrick and Morne are very keen to bring you closer to the bush on a daily basis.

On that note, I will end there for you to continue reading a great wildlife report by Patrick.

Take care and look forward to chatting on the blog.

Regards

Warren and Lisha Moore

WILDLIFE REPORT

February proved to be another hot and dry month. The bushveld colours are changing quickly and one can tell that autumn is on its way when the migrant Barn Swallows start to group together on the telephone wires.

The large herds of Elephants are starting to congregate in the Mopane woodland north of Kings Camp whilst the breeding herds of buffalo are starting to make a return to areas of permanent water.

One of the Africa’s most endangered carnivores; the African Wilddogs were seen on several occasions during the month, which is a huge sighting bonus. Theses animals are very rare and it is privilege to see them in the wild.

Lions

The numbers of lion’s sightings were on the high during February. In fact it was so high that on certain days we had a choice of 3-4 sighting per drive on several occasions.

With the number of lion sighting we had a number of kills. In fact 7 different buffalo kills were recorded which is the highest I have ever seen during my time at Kings Camp in one month.

On two occasions the Timbavati Pride consisting of 6 lions managed to bring down two buffalo in one night.

The shobele pride managed to add the first buffalo to their list and the notorious Machattan pride did not too bad either adding 2 giraffe and one buffalo to their register.

This might appear that the lions have just about caught all the animals in the reserve but I can assure you that this rate of successful hunts is extremely unusual.

It has been a very long time since I have seen such a high number of kills made by lions in such a short space of time.

The last couple of months were tough for the big cats and it is only now that they have managed to feed frequently.

The legendary dominant Shobele male suffered an injury during the last 4 weeks and it appears that his right hip might be damaged. Major muscle collapse and protruding hipbone might just mean that his hip is not working properly. It also appears that it is permanent damage and I am sure that it is age related, as he is approximately 12 years old now.

His has been a dominant male for a very long time and his dominance is way above normal. He has brilliant technique that worked well for a long time, however all good things must come to an end. At this moment in his life he is faced with a tough task and how long he will remain the master we are not sure. It is a question that I have been asking for a year now. But, I am willing to take a gamble and say that I think he will be forced out by the end of the year if he is not killed in battle.

This means if you would like to see one of the most majestic, impressive and most beautiful lions of all times then you need to book and come and stay with us so that we can show you what a proper male lion looks like.

The shobele pride was on top form this month with no less than several large kills made. For the first time ever in history the pride with there litter of 5 cubs killed an adult old male buffalo. This is fast becoming a benchmark for the small pride of only two adult lionesses. The carcass lasted a few days before they killed a male Nyala antelope. Nyala antelope are rarely seen and it is estimated that there are only around 800 in the National park. This is also the first time in my 10 years as a guide that one of these antelope became a victim of predation in our area. A rare and unusual kill indeed.

Another interesting bit to add to this months report is that the pride temporally lost one of the older cubs in a territorial conflict with another pride. We unfortunately, know very little about the interaction but one of the five cubs got separated in the fight. The very young lioness that is 17 months old disappeared for 2 weeks and it was feared that she was killed in the clash, if not by other lion’s certainly by hyenas. I thought it is impossible that she could survive on her own in this hostel environment for that long. However much to my surprise and delight she was found during game drive a mere 7 kilometres form her pride weeks later. It still took her a two full days to locate her pride, as she had to track them down with a few hyeana occasionally following her.

It surprised me that she managed to survive for 2 weeks on her on with no food and only water to drink. Theses predators are a lot more resilient than we think. Lucky for the little lioness she made contact with her pride and the family reunion was overwhelming and touching. A few days later her pride luckily managed to kill the buffalo and she could finally eat a descent meal. Interesting though, her stomach could only hold very little food whilst her brothers stuffed themselves.

She is a real survivor and I will be following her progress very closely in the next few months.

Leopard

The Rockfig Jnr leopardess appears to have proclaimed a territory just south of the camp much to my delight. This means another resident female leopard to add to our existing list of seven resident leopards. It is always good news if the female leopards that we know from a little cub matures and becomes a resident leopard in our area of traversing. Her territory runs east to west and slightly overlaps with that of her mothers. This is normal that a daughter becomes neighbours with her mother and I wonder how they will react to each other’s presence in the future.

Due to her relaxed nature she will often allow us to follow her on excursions. She is also fairly entertaining and will eagerly climb a tree in order to obtain a view of her territory whilst we follow her in the game drive vehicle.

The dominant male, Macujani male leopard was seen no less that 22 times this month.

This impressive large cat has finally got rid of his son that became testing during the last few months.

I think his father (Macujani) made it clear to him that the hunting grounds of Timbavati are not big enough for the both of them. It is normal that adult male leopards chase young male leopard out of their hunting zone. This way the dominant male protects his reproductive opportunities.

This male leopard is also relaxed with safari vehicles and it means that our guests have a better chance to see one of the most secretive and beautiful big cats in the world. Believe me anyone that has seen this animal will agree with me.

Due to the excellent high quality leopard sightings in the area, a film company might just be producing a documentary about the leopards in Timbavati in the future. This we will keep under the lid and will inform you in due time about the exciting endeavour.

Rhino

Two new male Rhino’s have been added to our list. Our young and trustworthy M-Mtenge-Mtenge rhino bull has two neighbours. I call the new male to the west Chlangula male and the other character to the east the Mafikizolo male. Both new males appear to be older than our resident and their horn size is also larger. But this doesn’t mean our male is now a second-class citizen of the Timbavati as he has been actively increasing his territory size. Our top male rhino has become such a fantastic relaxed animal that guests are stunned to see this beast in such close range to the vehicles. I have included pictures of the new male and one can noticeably see the difference in size of the horn.

Anyway that is all for this month friends. Please take 5 minutes of your time to read the December 2007 game report. It was posted late and I have included a story of children and our local village that I think most readers will find uplifting.

Until next time, take care and be safe.

Patrick O’Brien Head guide Kings Camp

Photography by Patrick O’Brien.