African wild dogs were a constant enigma, with various packs crossing Pom Pom throughout the month, including a group of twenty-four! The resident pack (who lost their puppies to the hyenas) has wandered off, but another family of eight adults and sixteen pups kept guests entertained. We caught two of these adults taking down a male impala which would bring sound sustenance to the puppies.
Summer’s avian migrants have returned. The Yellow-billed kites hunted near the camp, and Woodland kingfishers have brought their iconic staccato call to the bush. Despite the October heat, these birds are an excellent indicator of the coming rains and true to form, clouds rolled in late in the month and brought our first showers. Short grasses revealed the servals, civets, genets, and African wild cats that regularly graced our evening drives.
Hot temperatures, hotter tempers
The heat of the month also raised tensions. We previously reported on strains between the lions and the hyenas at Pom Pom and they exploded into outright hostility. We saw a male lion feeding upon a lechwe early in the month. Happy with its feast, the lion failed to notice the slow approach of the Pom Pom hyena clan — all 18 of them! As we quietly watched from a distance, the lion jumped to his feet and bared his teeth. However, a showdown in the bush is primarily a question of numbers. The hyenas went in to steal the lechwe as the lion roared and swiped ineffectually. He held them off for some time before they started directly attacking him, a seriously precarious position. He eventually broke off the defence of the lechwe and had to watch as the hyenas dismembered his meal.
The Spotted hyenas understand their collective strength, and we found the clan later in the month attacking four lionesses. These four ladies are formidable foes, but numerical advantage favoured the hyenas. The four lionesses were forced to flee into a tree, where they perched precariously as the hyenas circled beneath them.
However, the lions were still a force to be reckoned with. Pom Pom was home to three separate prides comprising groups of fifteen, seven and five. With them, there are at least 10 cubs and several subadult males. If these youngsters can all survive the (quite literal) clan warfare, the scales will likely tip again in favour of the lions.
We tracked one pride across the reserve to find them locked in a battle with an old male buffalo. This pride of seven lions attacked the experienced old buffalo for over an hour. Lacking any help from a herd, ultimately, the buffalo succumbed.
Exceptional leopard encounters at Pom Pom Camp
Five leopards were regularly spied at Pom Pom, but two provided the majority of sightings. Nonetheless, a young female left us gawping when we found her with a baby vervet monkey. At first, we thought the baby was dead until it started to move in a rather disorientated fashion and got up to walk. The leopard watched it before gently guiding it back with a paw. This behaviour went on for almost an hour and a half. The leopard continued in its “play” until it suddenly placed a firm paw on the monkey and administered a swift bite. This done, she carried the remains onto a termite mound and swiftly ate the unfortunate prey. A fantastic sighting to end an amazing month at Pom Pom Camp.
(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!)