MANAGEMENT & WILDLIFE REPORT
July 2009
WILDLIFE REPORT
General:
Welcome back to all of our readers! We had a very exciting month and a lot of special visitors that shared it with us.
Lion:
The Lion sightings were as good as it gets!
After the Schobele pride lost one of their adult Lionesses last month they struggled to re-compose themselves to hunt as a unit. The pride wondered around almost aimlessly to find food but with the experience of one adult gone all the attempts to hunt seemed “plan less”. They covered vast distances in search for food and on one morning stumbled across a buffalo carcass close to the camp…
Being so hungry they rushed in for the feed and got ambushed by the Timbavati boys, whose kill it was. The boys were patrolling in the area and on their return found some “unwanted” guests feeding on their kill! All hell broke loose and one of the large males got hold of the sub-adult Lioness and killed her. This was the second heavy blow to the pride as she was the one to replace the other Lioness.
Click on the following link to see a video clip of the ambush:
The remaining 5 did have some luck on their side and managed to kill a Kudu on the other side of the camp 2 days later… a meal well worth its while!
The combination of the Timbavati Boys & the Machaton pride dominated sightings on the Lion front.
Various Buffalo kills were made throughout the month and the cubs were seen eating meat for the first time! I have some sad news regarding the cubs as well. One of the little ones got killed by one of our resident female Leopards.
Rockfig jr. found the little ones playing alone and found it wanting to take revenge on the babies of a much larger predator. It is sad for us as humans to understand it but it is the only way “Mother Nature” takes care of natural selection. The other 2 babies are fine and the mother has moved them back to a previous, well known and more secure spot in the Nhlaralumi riverbed.
The Mahlatini (Mashlatini – “From the Thickets”) coalition of 3 males in the North is still trying to settle on the vacant terrain. They also managed 2 Buffalo kills during the month and produced some good sightings. They are slowly getting more relaxed with the vehicles now.
We had one surprise visit from the Klaserie pride of 6 Lionesses.
They killed a Buffalo close to the camp and finished the carcass in less than 24 hours! They were a little shy with the vehicles around and moved across into the Klaserie Reserve as soon as the kill was finished.
Leopard:
We’ve been noticing a new young male in the area that belonged to Mangajan. He is quite relaxed and good replacement material to work with!
M’bali and Kuhanya gave us some magical sightings again and the time is very close for the 2 to break the “bond”. Kuhanya is getting very defensive and aggressive with M’bali around food and that is just enough for the mother to make her decision to let the young one go.
M’bali made some good kills’ incl. baboon and it looks like she may be getting some attention from the Argyle male… maybe she is in estrus again. Only time will tell and we’ll keep you updated!
A new young female named Ixongile (Ishongile – “Pretty”) was found in a Fish eagle nest one morning!
I went through to investigate the area in the afternoon only to find that she was still in the nest eating. In the morning it appeared that she was eating the chick. White down was plucked out and that was good enough evidence. But in the afternoon I saw her plucking out the feathers of a large bird!
We imagine that the little girl went up to the nest in the early morning hours and got the chick and one adult bird while they were sleeping in the nest. This was truly one of those special moments that don’t happen very often.
Ntombi was once again very active around the camp and was seen on various kills close by. She was seen mating with a shy male a few weeks ago and hopefully we can bring you some news on her first chance to raise a litter in the near future.
Rockfig jr. was seen more than usual in the Eastern sector. She may have cubs, but it is not yet confirmed.
Elephant and Cape buffalo:
Sightings of both species seemed endless through the month…
2 Very large herds of Cape buffalo have made our traversing home during the month. The herd to the East averaged 850 members and the Western group about 600.
The Elephant sightings were as good as everything else. 2-3 Herds moving through the area on a daily basis!
White Rhino:
Two groups of 4 Rhino were seen frequently.
One group close to camp has a little yearling running with them and the other group is our residents on the Eastern sector.
Mtenge-tenge, the dominant bull in the East is now following a group with 2 females present. I can only imagine that one of them is in estrus judging by his will to follow them where ever they turn!
That’s all for now. Hope to see you all sooner than later!
Take care & see YOU soon!!
Morné and the Kings Camp ranger team.
Written by: Morné Hamlyn.
Photography: Morné Hamlyn.
(mbhandzu@gmail.com)
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