
During June, a female wild dog was located very late one afternoon. Guides noted she was alone, pregnant and it looked like she was cleaning burrows, creating a suitable den to bring up her puppies.
These predators will identify and secure an area to birth the litter and remain underground until the pups are able to follow their mother. However, den sites might change often if the mother feels threatened. Keeping an eye on the area, Wago noted that a wild dog den has since been active, “and their puppies were out on 31 July, an amazing moment!”.
Over on Zebra road, a huge herd of eland was seen sharing a waterhole with baboons. “Seeing these beautiful antelope is always interesting”, Wago wrote, “but it was a highlight to see them drinking with a calf”. The general game has been very good and most animals, especially giraffe, zebra and wildebeest, were seen in large herds. Imagine a tower of twenty giraffes!
A lioness was hanging around one such plentiful area for over two days trying to hunt. Wago noted interestingly how she targeted a wildebeest and it uncharacteristically escaped into the water. Another pride had more luck, however. Lions were found feeding on a wildebeest with their cubs in tow and stayed in the neighbourhood for a few days providing great encounters. Cubs were also noted with another group of lions – this time there were seven of them!
Lions were also located hunting on Mophane Road, but didn’t make a kill during the afternoon game drive. On the return to camp, guests braved the cold night drive and were justly rewarded, however, with an aardwolf sighting, plus a serval! On hearing the francolin make a hubbub, Wago stopped to listen. Guests recalled will glee how they then saw a serval leap out of the long grass into a bush. “This has been a brilliant moment”, Wago noted. Plus, the lions were spotted the next day, successfully feasting on an impala.
The night drives have been rather productive in fact. Springhares – our Kalahari kangaroos – featured often hopping across the spotlit scenery and many African wild cats were identified on the hunt. The tiny little Barred owlet was logged too.
(Note: Accompanying picture is from our Kwando Photo Library which consists of all your great photo submissions over the years, it may not be the most up to date, but we felt it was worthy of a feature alongside this month’s Sightings Report!)