The national animal of Botswana – the zebra – still abound in Nxai Pan. Every where you look, every which way you turn, the herds are there. Towards the end of the month, they began moving off, but there were such large numbers this year, that it will take some time for the majority to leave the area. In the meant time, they are providing a plentiful food supply to the lions in the area.
Early in the month, and the lions and their three cubs – now around 3.5 months old – were seen every other day. The cubs would always provide plenty of entertainment, chasing each other around, and when bored with that, chasing their mother’s tail. One morning, we came across the whole pride, feeding on a zebra they had killed during the night. One male was mating with one of the lionesses. The cubs continued to play on and the other male, obviously sick of all the fuss, chose to drag the heavy zebra carcass off under the shade of a bush, where he could feed more peacefully.
Lions sightings continued to be excellent throughout the month, with them being sighted for 24 days out of 31. The males continued to hunt for zebra – not always successful in spite of the large number of them. Vultures watched their every move, in the hope that they will be successful and provide a second hand meal for them as well.
Another wonderful visit by the uncommon predator – three wild dogs made an appearance on the 20th March. We found them near West road, chasing springboks out in the open. Unfortunately for them, they did not manage to catch one, and so they moved off across the plains.
A special trip to KgamaKgama – some distance from the main area of the park – was rewarded with a herd of eland – around 40 individuals. Very rare to see in Nxai Pan, it was with this specific intent that the car had set off to KgamaKgama, so wonderful that it all paid off.
With so many lions around, the cheetahs were needing to be careful, so we did not see as many this month as hoped for. However, we did find a female that was stalking through the bushes, in the hope of catching her dinner.
Still great general game around, with lots of the smaller predators – the jackals that trot around the open areas constantly, and the wonderful bat eared foxes that hunker down under the shade of low bushes, and come out to play in the early morning or late afternoon.