A roan kill after sundowners
One evening drive back to camp turned into one of the strongest sightings of the month. With the spotlight out after sundowners, guides came across one of the resident prides moving along the road. The pride was made up of three adult lionesses, two subadult males and five cubs, roughly seven to nine months old.
While everyone watched the cubs playing, one lioness slipped away unnoticed. A few minutes later, alarm calls started behind the vehicle and carried on in the dark. Guides kept the lights off so as not to reveal either the prey or the lioness. The calls were soon followed by a stampede, then a distress call.
When the vehicle turned, all ten lions had gathered around a full-grown male roan antelope. The pride was hungry and began feeding immediately. From the first bite to the final scraps of meat, the kill was finished in just over 31 minutes before the lions started fighting over the bones. It was hard for some guests to watch, but it showed just how quickly a pride can finish a large animal.
Lions around camp
The two resident prides were active throughout May, often coming close to camp and sometimes spending a day or two in the area. At other times they disappeared for several days, and fresh tracks had to be worked until the pride was found again.
The Sedudu Pride spent much of the month near camp. Guides often followed them while they were hunting, only for the lions to miss the chase in front of the vehicle and then be found later with a fresh kill.
The Zebra Pride shifted further east into the woodland, where it sometimes stayed hidden for several days. They still passed near camp at night and occasionally spent the night in the area.
Towards the end of the month, other lions began moving through the concession. Three young subadult males were seen further west, and at times groups of six or eight lions were also found around camp and near the airstrip. Some of these lions appeared to belong to a larger Kwara pride and were often seen hunting or moving with cubs before returning to their usual territory.
A leopardess and her cubs
The resident female leopard with two cubs, now around six to seven months old, was seen often during the first half of May. She spent much of her time in one area, sometimes leaving the cubs hidden while she went hunting. On some drives the cubs were found on their own, playing and trying their luck with rodents and lizards.
One morning, tracks of the female and both cubs showed that they had been playing as they moved west. The tracks were lost in tall grass, but after checking the general direction of movement, guides found the female with an aardwolf kill. The sighting brought mixed feelings, as aardwolf had also been high on some guests’ wish lists.
As lions and baboons moved through the area more often, the female became more careful with the cubs. Fresh tracks still gave her away from time to time, but she often moved quickly into thick bush where vehicles could not follow.
A male leopard was also seen further west. He was shy at first, but when given enough space he allowed better viewing.
African wild dogs and hyenas around the den
A small pack of three male African wild dogs was seen in the western part of the concession. They hunted hard and made several kills, but with only three of them they often lost food to lions or hyenas.
Hyenas were heard calling at night and their tracks were found on the roads most mornings. Guides later found a den east of the airstrip with two very young pups, still dark in colour. The pups were often seen playing outside the den, sometimes with two adult females nearby.
One morning a full-grown giraffe was found dead beside one of the game drive roads. That afternoon only one subadult hyena had arrived and was struggling to open the carcass. By the following morning more than 20 hyenas had gathered, and only the skeleton remained.
Elephants in the water
Water levels rose through May and changed the way animals moved through the concession. Some days general game was scattered, and on others several species gathered together in the same area, with dust rising, cattle egrets moving between them and buffalo standing quietly in the middle of it all.
Elephants gave some of the best scenes of the month. Herds were often found crossing channels, splashing, bathing and playing in the water. Calves ran up and down the banks, sometimes slipping before getting up and carrying on as if nothing had happened.
Buffalo, sable, red lechwe, waterbuck, roan antelope, giraffe, zebra, tsessebe, impala, common reedbuck and steenbok were all seen during the month. Hippos were also gathered in good numbers, with more than 20 sometimes counted in the pod in front of the main area.
Otters, night drives and clear winter skies
Night drives produced civet, serval, springhare, scrub hare, small-spotted genet and African wild cat. During the day, banded mongoose and yellow mongoose were seen, and two clawless otters were occasionally watched playing in front of the main area.
Reptiles were quieter with winter settling in, although snake tracks were still seen often. A rock python was found basking in the sun, a snouted cobra was seen from a distance, and a large water monitor lizard was often seen near camp and around the firebreak.
The landscape was still green in places, but trees and bushes had started dropping leaves and the tall grasses were beginning to break down, helped by the increasing numbers of buffalo and elephants moving through.
Birdlife around the water was excellent. Reed cormorants, African darters, grey herons, striated herons, squacco herons, rufous-bellied herons, black herons, slaty egrets, cattle egrets, great egrets, little egrets, yellow-billed storks, marabou storks, saddle-billed storks, hamerkops, African sacred ibises and glossy ibises were all seen. Raptors included African fish eagles, tawny eagles, brown snake eagles, bateleurs, African harrier-hawks and African hawk-eagles.
The May skies were clear on most nights. Orion, Taurus, the Seven Sisters, the Big Dipper, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Gemini, the Southern Cross and the Pointers were visible, along with Sirius, Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Canopus and Antares. Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn were also seen.
