Month: October 2013

Tau Pan October 2013

Published October 31, 2013 by Kwando Safaris

October is traditionally bush fire month in the Kalahari – tinder dry, and before the rains arrive, electrical storms and flashes of lightning start sudden fires that can burn for days unhindered. Tau Pan Camp itself has struggled with this each year that camp has been open, ensuring days and nights of hard work for camp staff and park rangers, and the odd near-miss as fire sweeps past the camp.

Last season, the rains were not as plentiful as previous years, and the last rain fall was in February. This could create optimum wildfire conditions, so everyone was rather concerned how eventful October would be, but the lack of rain actually meant that there was very little grass to burn. This year, fires broke out near Deception Valley, and some distance from camp, but they did not move with the speed of previous years.

Lions came to drink almost every day at Tau Pan camp waterhole, often in different combinations. Sometimes three at a time, sometimes individually, and sometimes the entire pride.

On one occasion, a resident male was fighting one of the younger males, most probably trying to eliminate the young male from his natal pride. Another group of lions – a female and two males was seen sleeping at Sunday Pan, but one of the males was very skinny, and was possibly ill

The two lionesses and two males that form the resident pride have been mating on and off during the last three months. This is part of an evaluation behaviour, referred to as false oestrus, which gives the females a chance to assess the strength and capability of the males to deter other competitors. This avoids the labour intensive and energy-wasting problem of falling pregnant to the new males, and having the cubs killed if the males then get overthrown.

There was a week of cheetah and lions alternating each day, with a male and a female lions spending several days close to the camp waterhole after killing an oryx. They were joined by the rest of the pride on the 12^th, with a total of ten lions relaxing and sleeping by the waterhole. The cheetah had to wait till the lions had moved off, before a male approached to drink there.

The next day, a female and sub adult cheetah were seen to the south of Tau Pan, attempting to hunt springbok. The same pair had been seen on Springbok Road, twice in the previous week, feeding on the remains of a springbok carcass.

A lovely male leopard was also seen hunting in the area around Thakadu road, but we were not able to stay with him long enough to see if he was successful or not. We also saw a leopard at San Pan, resting up on a camel thorn acacia, and at the same time scanning her surrounding. Eventually she came down the tree and lay on the ground. Two days later, we saw another adult leopard on Carlos Road, east of the camp, and the day after that, a female in the same area with a young cub. The cub was completely relaxed and playful. He frequently went up and down logs, and play-stalked the vehicle!

At the end of the month, a young leopardess was found to the east of the camp, up a tree. She soon came down to put on a great show for us. From her vantage point in the tree, she had spotted a slender mongoose, with which she then proceeded to play a giant version of ‘cat and mouse’ on the ground. The mongoose tried to escape up the tree, but was very surprised when the leopard followed him. The traumatized mongoose then leapt off the tree, and ran for safety!

Another visitor to the Tau Pan waterhole, was a brown hyena. He drank water for a long time and then went off to chew on the orxy bones that had been previously killed by lions. He returned to the water hole, drank again, and also a bit of a bath, then set off into the bush. In total brown hyenas were seen four times this month. And another sighting of the pack of wild dogs, this time resting up at the Letiahau waterhole in the shade on a hot October day!

And amidst the dust and beige colours of the bush, the birds add that flash of colour – the swallow tailed bee-eaters with their bright blues and the other summer visitors in their breeding plumage herald the start of the rains. And an odd group of visitors – three grey herons, in transit to a wetter environment.

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Nxai Pan October 2013

Published October 31, 2013 by Kwando Safaris

October was obviously a month for unusual sightings, and Nxai Pan was not going to be left out of these statistics. Buffalos are not normally seen in Nxai Pan, but sure enough, four of them arrived at the water hole in front of the camp on the 19^th of October, desperate for a drink of water. With no rain as yet, there is very little grazing anywhere in Northern Botswana, so these buffalo have obviously travelled far and wide in search of anything to last them till the rains. They were seen for a few days near the camp, but the presence of lions forced them to move off.

Lions were seen regularly this month, one of the animals that can survive without too much hardship when there is minimal water. All herbivores have been affected by the dry conditions, with very little food available. Animals that normally only graze, change tactics and try to browse a little. The browsers have a little relief in October as some of the acacias come into bloom, and a few trees start to unfurl new leaves, in anticipation of the rains. Lions, on the other hand, can relax near a waterhole, quenching their thirst when they need, and catching a weakened antelope that approaches.

Amongst the lions that were seen this month, were a pride of six adults – two of whom were seen mating on several occasions, and a female with two cubs that frequented the area around the camp. The pride also killed a young kudu close to the camp, and were seen feeding on this. Three days later, two males killed a buffalo – perhaps one of the four that had previously been seen – on the main road to the waterhole.

Elephants are obviously still coming in to the camp to drink from the waterhole, and they are needing the water in large quantities to make up for the lack of moisture in the vegetation that they are currently eating. The odd cloudy day helps all the animals relax a little, but the promise of rain is so tantalizing. Impala, giraffe, springbok, kudu, and a few zebra all scrabble for what they can get.

And to finish of an unusual month for sightings, who else should make an appearance this month but four wild dogs, at Baobab Loop!

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Lebala October 2013

Published October 31, 2013 by Kwando Safaris

Two male lions were found in the Twin Pools area stalking buffalo. When we first located them, only one male was visible, and he commenced roaring, calling to his colleague. This was very impressive, since he was sitting only 10 meters from the car! We followed them for about twenty minutes, and were rewarded with success as they managed to pull down a young buffalo, and keep the rest of the herd from pushing them away.

A few days later, the same two males killed another buffalo, this time during the night only 500m from the camp. When we found the kill in the morning, they were being hassled a lot by hyenas, but fiercely stood their ground.

These two males were seen regularly throughout the month – around 14 times. We also saw a few females with three sub adult cubs.

People often have misconceptions about the big King of the Jungle, but lions are not averse to grabbing food whenever they can get it, size is not an issue. Still, it is rather unsettling to see lions wander past, each carrying a baby warthog in their mouths – perhaps the equivalent of us having a hot dog for lunch?

A big male leopard killed a warthog and was feeding on it, whilst around 300m away, a female leopard managed to kill an impala. Two hyenas approached and managed to steal the kill from the female.

A female leopard with cub was also seen regularly in the Park area. Both mother and cub were very relaxed, and in good condition, providing good sightings for the guests. On one occasion, the hyenas hassled the pair when they managed to kill an impala in the area, before the female managed to get the impala up a tree. The hyenas stayed in the area for some time, hoping for ‘offcuts’.

The hyenas have also set up a new den close to Steven’s Pan. There are currently 7 youngsters there, of varying ages.

The three brother cheetahs, that appear sporadically and then venture out over the rest of the concession, moved back to the Lagoon area and spent four days in the area. Whilst they were here, they were seen killing an impala.

Although the Lagoon wild dog pack appears to have split into two packs – one of nine individuals and one of 5 individuals, they are still seem to rejoin together from time to time. At the beginning of the month, and then again on the 17^th & 19^th, all fourteen dogs were seen together, hunting and killing as a pack. When thy do separate, the pack of nine stays in the area closer to Lagoon, whilst the pack of five stays closer to Lebala!

General game in the area is excellent, with the big herds of buffalo looking for the best grazing, and the endless herds of elephants moving through the marsh areas. We also had a lovely sighting of a caracal this month.

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Lagoon October 2013

Published October 31, 2013 by Kwando Safaris

And if Kwara can have rhino as it’s rare sighting, then Lagoon can also have its claim to fame this month: guides had reported several sightings of an antelope that they just couldn’t identify as being any of the regular ones they see. Looking a little like a steenbok, but with longer legs, and slightly heavier, it was possibly an oribi. Although no one was able to get a definitive photo of the animal, oribi can technically occur in the area. However, it remains a very rare sighting indeed.

The pack of nine wild dogs (this is the new pack that split from the 14 dogs in September) remained in the Lagoon area and were seen several times each week. The old alpha female went with the other five dogs, so this pack of 9 will choose the dominant male and female to be the new alphas.

The three brother cheetahs were seen five or six times this month, but had long gaps between their appearances, as they moved through their much greater territory.

In the last two weeks of the month, leopards were seen almost every day of the week – all female with the exception of one sub adult male leopard. The leopards were seen relaxing in trees, and feeding on reedbuck. One female was also witnessed stalking a warthog – a dangerous business for a relatively light cat. Although she tried her best, the warthog noticed her approach and fled at speed.

The lions were also enjoying the plentiful buffalo in the area, and all looked well fed. Although only two females were actually seen feeding on a buffalo calf, it’s certain that they are feasting on others!

At all our camps, we often get specialist photographers – either travelling by themselves, or escorting groups and advising them how to get the best out of their camera. One of these regular return photographers wrote to say that he had got the best images this time in the past 26 years of guiding in Africa. What did he see? “Flying leopards and river jumping wild dogs”! We are quite keen to see photographic proof of the first animal!

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Kwara October 2013

Published October 31, 2013 by Kwando Safaris

The rarest, most unusual sighting this month – in fact, this decade, was …. Rhino!

Seen twice in the Tsum Tsum area, a female and a large male square-lipped (white) rhino shocked a lot of our guides, more than their guests. For all our guides and trackers, it was the first time in their lives they had seen these animals. The first sighting – the rhinos took off before the guests could take a photo. But two days later, all three cars that were out on drive managed to watch the rhinos and get photographs. Its wonderful news that these rhinos, re-introduced several years ago on Chiefs Island, have adapted well to life in the delta, even crossing deep water in order to get to the nice grazing area in Tsum Tsum. Let’s hope they remain in the area and there is the pitter-patter of baby rhino feet to come!

The pack of wild dogs which denned at Kwara was seen regularly throughout the month, though they have lost three puppies and now have a total of seven puppies and eleven adults. A pack of six dogs also came in to the concession, and were seen early evening at the beginning of the month walking alongside the airstrip. A few days later, the bigger pack were also seen along the airstrip, and this time they managed to kill two impalas. The next day, they killed another two impalas, but a hyena managed to steal one of the impalas from the dogs. And just to be different, the next day, they killed another two impalas….

Lions were seen regularly this month, but unusually, three or four of the male intruders appear to have adopted new tactics in their hunting techniques. Three times, the last one being on the 29^th of October, the lions killed adult hippos during the night. It may be a circumstantial event as a result of the dry conditions: with little good grazing around, hippos are needing to spend more time out of the water and move further afield. They are likely to also be in a weakened condition, waiting for the good grazing to arrive, and could be more susceptible to illness and attack from predators.

The two male cheetahs were seen during the month in the Tsum Tsum area. One has bad cuts to his face and leg, the result of fighting with two intruder cheetahs. Everyone was quite concerned for his survival. However, the last day of the month, the two were seen again in Tsum Tsum, with the injured male well recovered and healthy.

A leopard was seen in the Honeymoon Pan area, resting up a tree, letting us observe him at leisure.

On the 10^th of the month, the pack of dogs came through Kwara camp hunting impala, and chased one impala straight into the lagoon in front of camp. The impala attempted to escape by swimming to a far bank, but was soon grabbed by a large crocodile.

We also had a good sighting of three hyenas with two young – just old enough to keep up with the rest of the clan, rather being left behind at the den.

Elephants are fascinating animals, and continually manage to surprise us. One of the regular bull elephants that visits the camp, provided a lunchtime floor-show for the guests by playing with the fireside stools that are made out of palm trees. He would push them over, roll them together then stand them up next to each other, then get another one, push it over, roll it, and stand it up again. It was the most bizarre behaviour we have seen in a while, but he seemed to be enjoying creating a little abstract art, or Palmhenge!

Although this was all the work of just one elephant, his compatriots have been in the Tsum Tsum area in large numbers. A group of around 70 adult females with several young were seen drinking from the pans in the area. This is several breeding herds that have come together to make use of the resources in the area.

Boat cruises have been excellent this month, with marabou storks nesting at Godikwe Island, lots of elephants crossing the water ways, and hippos providing their normal rambunctious floor show. An additional surprise sighting by boat was also had of the pack of six wild dogs, attempting to hunt red lechwe on an island.

We also managed to watch three eland drinking (a rare sighting of these shy animals) but with the addition of a roan antelope in the background!

If we are going to be visited at Kwara this month by such mystical animals as rhinos, there was no reason to not be visited by something else mystical: a tooth fairy. Our trackers are renowned for their skills in hunting down elusive animals, but everyone’s skills were tested when a guest lost the crown of his front tooth through the deck of the room. This was soon followed by two guests, two managers, a guide and a tracker under the deck, sorting through large amounts of leaf litter for some time, searching for the missing tooth. The trouble with teeth, is that they tend not to leave many footprints. Just as everyone was about to give up, sure enough, the tracker located the missing item, and garnered the honorary ‘tooth fairy’ title.

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