Mr Special, the resident cheetah, kicks off the report for this month. He roamed far and wide throughout the Kwara Private Reserve. We frequently found him looking fat and content on a termite mound, while on other occasions, he had clearly gone a few days without successfully hunting. Nevertheless, some prey came easier than others…
An easy meal for Mr Special
Sharing the late afternoon sun with Mr Special one day, a herd of impalas grazed just 40 metres from him, and each seemed oblivious to the presence of the other. A young female wandered from the herd and walked toward Mr Special until she almost stepped on him. At the last moment, she realised her error and attempted escape, but Mr Special was on his feet like greased lightning. Before she had gone 10 metres, he had taken her down. Perhaps having a nap was the best hunting solution instead of all that wandering!
He’ll have to be careful where he sleeps as the elephants and buffalos move through the concession in large numbers.
The flood has started to recede, and emerging flood plains nourished by the waters hosted expanding numbers of large herbivores, such as Buffaloes, Impala, Giraffe, Tsessebe and Hippos. When not observing the vast herds, bull elephants waded through the deep channels and met us at eye level amongst the papyrus as we floated by on boat.
Luckless leopards
Leopards were regular features, if perhaps unlucky. We watched a leopard hunt an Impala, only to have a male lion immediately claim it. A few days later, another leopard dragged its kill up a small tree and balanced precariously as a hyena circled below, occasionally standing up against the tree to get a closer look. The leopard wasn’t able to settle and enjoy his meal, and after some consideration, he took a mighty leap and raced off, leaving the hyena with the tempting fleshy fruit just out of reach.
On an early morning game drive, just before the sun made its lazy winter morning entrance, we located a leopard slowly climbing a tree that housed a flock of roosting Spotted guineafowls. They were packed together against the early morning cold as the leopard made its way up the trunk. We can only imagine how finding a leopard creeping towards you might feel. One of the birds woke up to this unpleasant surprise and sounded the alarm. As the leopard sprang forward, the guineafowls burst into action, scattering in all directions leaving the cat framed against the early morning sunrise. The perfect start to the day!
Hyenas vs African wild dogs at an elephant scene
There was plenty of predator action near the Kwara boat station this month, thanks to an elephant carcass. A deceased elephant that has been in the sun for a couple of days gives off an odour that brings tears to the eyes (and not from joy.) It also brings out almost every carnivore the bush can produce. One day, five Spotted hyenas battled 12 African wild dogs. While the hyenas had the advantage of size, the wild dogs had them well outnumbered. Eventually, the hyenas retreated to the edge of the clearing and watched as the wild dogs ate their fill. On other occasions, we returned to the elephant to find a more significant number of hyenas. It appeared they had an uneasy truce with the wild dogs, each eating their fill before moving away. The scratches and bites on some of the hyenas told the story of their initial, less sociable dealings.
Closer to Kwara Camp, African wild dogs set off after an Impala, but before they could devour it, half a dozen Spotted hyenas came hurtling out of the bush and scattered the pack. As the hyenas turned to accept the impala, the wild dogs regrouped, worked out their numerical superiority, and charged back in. That sent the hyenas scampering into the trees, and the wild dogs speedily completed their meal. They returned to the den to feed the 10 pups and we are happy to report they are thriving.
Well-fed lions
The lions remained very well-fed this August. Every four to five days, we came across the Mma Leitho or Kwara prides on a new kill. They started the month on a diet of Warthog (although this was only enough for a couple of them) before moving on to wildebeest, zebra and buffalo. Although they had great success, their failures also made for incredible sightings. On one occasion, we watched the lions chase a Red lechwe into the waterways, where they were no match for the water-adapted antelope. Then there was the awesome sight of the Mma Leitho pride charging into a buffalo herd and narrowly missing their target.
One day, while admiring the lions drinking from the river, we noticed a ripple in the water approaching. Metre by metre, it headed in their direction. The lions’ attention was finally drawn to the anomaly, and they realised just in time, scattering a second before the crocodile burst from the water. While lions may dominate land, once in the water, a medium-sized crocodile gives these cats some stiff competition.
We followed the Kwara pride on the prowl several times, including the successful hunt of a zebra and her foal near Splash Camp, which we watched from start to finish. However, one of the most exciting chases didn’t involve a single herbivore. The whole pride was giving their attention to a large herd of buffalo when suddenly a lone male lion, a nomad, appeared out of the tree line. Perhaps he had the same buffalo-based dinner in mind? However, he wasn’t aware that the full Kwara pride lay on the other side of the bovine mass. The three resident pride males broke off, heading straight for the interloper, and pursuit was on! The latter turned tail, and we followed the chase for five minutes before he gave Kwara’s resident males the slip and vanished into the wilderness.
With the males out on patrol, we enjoyed many lioness sightings with their cubs. The pride grew with three new cubs introduced to the family, but it was not the easiest of introductions. To reach the pride, the lioness had to cross a 10-metre wide channel with three tiny cubs in tow. She waded into the water and called on them to follow. Two gingerly entered the water, but the third wanted nothing to do with an afternoon swim. After much coaxing and refusal, the lioness eventually lost patience and picked the little one up by the scruff of its neck and swam across with two little furry torpedoes doing their best to keep up.
We then found a mating pair of lions late in the month, so pride numbers may boost further!
The life-giving Sausage trees and Sycamore figs
As the dry season began to bite, nature came to the rescue with arboreal sustenance. Sausage trees have produced flowers, attracting both sunbirds and mammals, including Impala, Kudu, Warthogs, baboons and Vervet monkeys.
Finally, the Godikwe Heronry is growing into its annual hubbub. Small islands in a big lagoon (roughly six kilometres from Kwara Camp by boat) are dominated by Sycamore fig trees, and thousands of birds, including herons, ibises, egrets and storks gather for their breeding season.
(Please note: For the safety of the animals, we do not disclose the location of either rhino or pangolin sightings. Accompanying pictures are 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!)