We saw a beautiful female cheetah around Kwara Camp for much of this month. After an early morning start, we spotted her lying silently in the long grass. Curious about why she was hiding, we switched off the engine and waited as the sun slowly rose and the doves replaced the nighttime choir of frogs and toads.
Suddenly, a spotted hyena emerged from the bush and started a lazy walk toward the cheetah. The hyena paused. He had seen the cheetah, and with little hesitation, he charged. The cheetah lost any element of secrecy and exploded from the grass and into the open plain beyond. The hyena gave chase but his “paltry” 60km/h top speed was no match for her impressive acceleration.
Pack of 29 African wild dogs
While this encounter favoured the hyena, it didn’t always go that way. The pack of 29 African wild dogs was seen regularly between Kwara and Splash. One day, we were enjoying a lazy late afternoon watching the sleeping wild dogs when four hyenas wandered nearby. After a hurried discussion, over twenty pack members attacked the hyenas. Spinning and biting, the hyenas were almost overwhelmed by the pack before they retreated as fast as their legs could carry them. The following morning, we found three hyenas close to the battleground, where they sat licking some extensive wounds and bite marks.
On the other hand, the wild dogs seemed no worse for wear as we found them that same morning with the remains of an impala. Another early morning we tracked the pack to find them chasing a group of bachelor roan antelopes from Lechwe Plains to False Splash Hippos. Three of the antelopes escaped to the south and one was trapped in the waterhole. The dogs watched and waited but eventually gave up, so the roan lived to see another day. There is another pack of African wild dogs, and during a nature walk from Splash Camp, guests encountered the trio on foot where the curious animals ventured relatively close.
Roan and sable sighted
With very low water levels, it was the perfect time to watch the elephants and buffalo crisscrossing their way across the Okavango Delta floodplains towing multiple generations of offspring. Zebras, wildebeest and impalas also covered the islands, and we relished sightings of the roan and sable herds. Not much smaller than the kudu or eland, these fine antelopes are always a wonder to admire. The longer grasses at this time of year proved ideal for hiding the young antelopes. Indeed both sable and roan hide their young for days and weeks after they are born before introducing them to the family herd. However, it wasn’t only little antelopes hidden in the long grasses.
As winter ended, we saw a lot of lion mating activity. With a gestation period of approximately three and a half months, we suspected some more success. Two females in the Kwara pride were lactating; one had cubs with her, while the other regularly came and went from the pride. This likely means she has hidden the cubs away for their first six weeks until they are strong enough to join the family and keep up as they move around the Kwara Private Reserve.
Pygmy geese floated in the last waterways. Pans were lined with African jacanas, spur-winged geese, white-faced whistling ducks, and the odd knob-billed duck and slaty egrets. During boat cruises, we also logged lesser jacanas, many species of bee-eaters, kingfishers, herons with African openbills, cattle egrets and sacred ibises roosting at the Godikwe heronry. Genets, springhares, African wild cats, servals and honey badgers were regular features on night drives. One day before daybreak, we picked up fresh leopard tracks as we left Splash Camp in the morning. As we were following the paw prints, we heard an alarm call from jackals, and quickly rushed there only to find two young side-striped jackals had been killed by a leopard, but the cat was nowhere to be found.
(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!)