WILDLIFE REPORT

General   

The winter months are finally drawing to a close and although it is dry, the bush condition is still good. The beautiful dark green trees along the rivers create an immense contrast between the dry veld and the non-perennial river lines lined with evergreen trees.   

Sunbirds like the White-bellied Sunbird feeds in typical sunbird fashion clasping the edge of the flower or taking up a perch close to the flower into which it pokes its long curved bill. It moves around quickly from flower to flower. A truly beautiful sight often seen in and around the camps flower gardens. 

Lion's sightings made this month a very special month.

The 3 young nomadic lions know as the Hhlatini males that have been hanging around since February this year are showing strong signs that they are here to stay. This is a good indicator and hopefully will create a stable environment for the resident prides from the north, which as you know has been in turmoil this year. I suspect that our young 3 males lions from the Shobele pride will more than likely loose their home ground to these new males. This is not necessarily a bad thing as this will force the 3 youngsters to leave their home range and someday when they are adults males establish their own territory elsewhere. This ensures that the gene pool remains healthy and strong.  

 

Our oldest and most commanding resident leopardess seen by thousands of guests is fine. I reported to you several months ago about her health that was in question. She obtained a severe blow to her ear from an aggressive interaction with a challenging female leopard. Rockfig won the fight but the wound sustained to her hear slowly over time got infected to the point that we actually thought that she might loose her ear.

Another interesting discovery was when Kings Camp trackers by chance found a hyena den. The clan is a group that we are very familiar with and have seen them on many occasions out in the bush. This discovery was special as one of the adult females of the clan is a mother to two very small hyeana cubs. Estimated age of the cubs at the time of the discovery is approximately 4 weeks old. This den is still active and we are planning to use it as a add on for guest that will be visiting the camp in the next few months.  

Take care from Patrick and the rest of the rangers and trackers.

Report By Patrick O’Brien (Head Ranger)
Photography by Patrick O’Brien. mail@mandevo-wildlifephotography.com