Even though the floodwaters continued to pour in, the plants were still dry and wintry. Many trees shed their leaves, and bushfires burned in the Bat-eared fox area. The waterholes were also drying up, but the floodplains around Kwara were still waterlogged, drawing in plenty of wildlife.
Large herds of buffalo grazed at Mmoloki Mabala, while vast groups of elephants have been wandering through the woodland in search of water. Most elephants were seen in the floodplains during hot afternoons, taking mud baths. Other common sightings include tsessebe, wildebeest, kudu, giraffes, and zebras.
The Kwara and Mmaleitho lion prides
There were 15 lions in the Kwara pride, comprising six adult females, three males, and six cubs. Recently, the pride has been frequently spotted around the Bat-eared fox den area, as antelopes prefer the shorter grass from the previous bushfire. The Kwando guides at Kwara Camp observed that the pride’s movement pattern has become more complicated due to the freshly bare area. Additionally, they have extended their territory towards 4 Rivers and Last Mabala. One morning, we found the lions together, feeding on a giraffe along the main road.
The spotted hyenas were less active at the Kwara den area, but we saw them moving around close to the camp, and twelve hyenas scavenged on the dead giraffe carcass during the absence of lions. They often ventured into Kwara Camp at night, and we sometimes saw them creeping about. A business of mongooses also hung about in Kwara Camp. One morning, we observed a slender mongoose acquiring scraps from the giraffe carcass!
Males from the Kwara pride actively patrolled and defended their territory thanks to a new pride of seven lions that moved to the game-rich area to hunt buffaloes. One day, we followed the new pride on a buffalo hunt. It took them about half an hour to take the beast down because the pride had two full-grown females without a big male to help. Instead, the youngsters stepped up and quickly became highly skilled hunters. As we watched the hunt, an elephant came in to drink water, and the pride took up a horseshoe formation targeting the elephant. Eventually, the elephant wisely moved away from the water puddle.
The Mmaleitho pride was active around Splash Camp early this month (often roaring until one or two in the morning!), and new male lions rolled in to find them feeding on a zebra south of the camp. These two new males chased the Mmaleitho pride off their prized kill and hounded the subadult males. We later found the two new males on an elephant kill south of Splash Camp, and streams of spotted hyenas visited the carcass every night until nothing was left. The hyena den south of the Bat-eared fox den remained active with at least three cubs.
Kwando guides noted that these two new male lions forced the whole Mmaleitho pride out of the area so they could better protect their two young males.
One young female leopard roamed around the environs of Splash Camp, and leopard tracks in the Kwara Camp road networks evidenced another frequent patroller. The resident female leopardess at Kwara Camp enjoyed climbing higher into the trees, and there was a shy new leopard at the boat station area.
Coqui francolin spotted!
We got up close to African harrier hawks and handsome Long-crested eagles during our boating safaris along the Maunchira channel. On another day, we drove down Upper Wild Dog Road and spotted a Coqui francolin, the smallest and rarest francolin in the area! Additionally, we observed Wattled Cranes, Ground Hornbills, African Barred Owlets, Giant Eagle Owls, and Marsh Owls.
During one morning game drive, the resident male cheetah, Mr Special, picked up the scent of a female around his marking post, and we observed as he tried calling her and visited every marking post, but she was nowhere to be found. He preferred Splash Hippos and Bat-eared fox area. One morning, we located him feeding on an impala, and later that evening, the hyenas and jackals appeared, and he had to abandon to move away from the carcass. We also saw another young male cheetah in the area.
The African wild dog dynamics of Kwara
There were sightings of two different packs of African wild dogs near Splash camp. One group consists of three dogs: two females and one male. They tend to roam between the northern mopane woodland of Splash camp in search of prey. The second pack comprised six dogs, including four females and two males.
They are active between Kwara and Splash camps but were also observed moving westward towards Kwara and beyond. Although another pack of nine dogs was spotted further east, they were rarely seen due to the increased number of lions in the area, making it difficult for them to settle in one place.
Kwara night drives were exciting, and every outing differed, but we often logged large-spotted genets, African wild cats, servals, civets, aardwolves, springhares and scrub hares and water mongooses on several occasions by the airstrip bridge.
(Please note: For the safety of the animals, we do not disclose the precise 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!)