May was another outstanding month for lions across the Kwara Concession, with prides, mating pairs and young cubs keeping guides busy from the first drive to the last.
Early in the month, fresh tracks west of the Bat-eared Fox Den led guides to the Kwara Pride after more than an hour of tracking. The pride, made up of three lionesses, two dominant males and six cubs around four months old, had just finished feeding on an adult tsessebe. While the adults rested nearby, one of the cubs provided plenty of entertainment as it played with the antelope’s horns.
The same pride continued to feature throughout the month. Another family group, consisting of three lionesses, two subadults, seven cubs around three months old and a further four cubs closer to five months old, was also found in the northern Bat-eared Fox area alongside the resident pride males.
The concession remained full of lion activity. A mating pair was located west of Splash Hippos after vervet monkeys and greater kudu repeatedly alarm-called from the woodland. While guests watched the pair, another male arrived calling for his brother before eventually moving away as baboons and impalas announced his presence through the surrounding bush.
One memorable morning, six subadult males were tracked for almost two hours north of Marapo-a-Kubu. The breakthrough came not from the tracks beneath the vehicle, but from a distant tower of giraffes staring intently across the floodplain. Following their gaze led guides directly to the young coalition.
Another time the same coalition of lions were found feeding on a zebra carcass near Impala Pan after guests had listened to their roaring throughout the previous night. Three additional intruder males were encountered around Mmoloki Mabala with one of the young females that had broken away from the Kwara Pride, while the resident pride males were later followed along Upper Wild Dog Road before crossing floodwater, their roaring echoing across the concession.
Rra Tsebe and the leopards of Kwara
Leopard sightings remained consistently rewarding throughout May.
Rra Tsebe once again reminded everyone why he remains one of the concession’s favourite residents when he was found behind the camp kitchen with one of the camp piglets safely stored in a tree.
Another female was located at Nare Pan with her cub feeding on an impala hoisted into a tree. Guides first noticed bateleurs circling persistently above one spot before investigating and discovering the pair beneath them.
Elsewhere, a female leopard rested quietly on a termite mound at Bat-eared Fox, while another male was found feeding on an impala after nearby impalas repeatedly alarm-called from the woodland. On another evening, a female was picked up in the spotlight sitting comfortably in a tree on the drive back to camp.
Across the concession, another subadult male was found west of Waterbuck Pan stalking common reedbuck, while alarm calls from reedbuck and guineafowl led guides to further leopard sightings west of Baboon Island and east of Splash Camp.
Following the fastest hunters
Cheetahs delivered some exceptional sightings during May.
One morning, fresh tracks led guides to a resident male south of Giraffe Pan after an hour and a half of patient tracking. He was eventually found stalking impala before making a successful kill of a mature ram as black-backed jackals waited nearby for an opportunity.
Later in the month, white-backed vultures descending near the southern Kwara Cheetah Plains drew attention to a coalition of two males feeding on an adult steenbok. Another resident male was later found near Nare Pan moving between fallen logs and termite mounds as he scent-marked his territory before crossing shallow floodwater in the late afternoon light.
The western Bat-eared Fox area continued producing excellent cheetah sightings, including a relaxed male resting on a termite mound after guides responded to alarm calls from vervet monkeys. A new subadult male was also encountered near Splash Hippos while hunting impala, and another male was found near the Bat-eared Fox Den feeding on an impala after tawny eagles, bateleurs and a black-backed jackal all betrayed the location of the kill.
A pack of six African wild dogs was found resting beside Impala Pan after more than an hour of tracking. Hooded vultures perched nearby first suggested there was activity ahead, and shortly afterwards the dogs set off after impalas, making a successful kill. The celebration was short-lived as a spotted hyena managed to steal an impala leg before disappearing into the bush.
The resident pack of nine was encountered repeatedly between Kwara, Splash and Four Rivers. One morning they were followed along Willys Road as they made determined hunting attempts on kudu and impala before moving on.
Another afternoon, the same pack was tracked west of Matswiri Pan as they hunted east through the mopane woodland. On a later drive they successfully separated a young waterbuck from its mother before the calf escaped into the safety of Marapo-a-Kubu Lagoon, forcing the dogs to abandon the chase.
Floodwaters reshape the concession
As floodwaters continued spreading across the concession, wildlife movements shifted with them.
Large breeding herds of elephants were regularly watched crossing channels, while zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, impala, tsessebe, common reedbuck, common waterbuck, greater kudu and red lechwe remained widespread. Bachelor buffalo groups became increasingly common and sable antelope were recorded more frequently as the month progressed.
Hyenas continued providing excellent sightings, from a clan of 12 feeding on the remains of a leopard kill north-east of Splash Camp to territorial disputes around Lion Pan. Brown and spotted hyenas were frequently encountered on both morning and night drives.
Night drives also produced aardwolves, pangolins, honey badgers, African wild cats, servals, porcupines, bushbabies, genets, water mongooses, dwarf mongooses, slender mongooses, white-tailed mongooses and springhares. Two pangolin sightings along Willys Road ranked among the month’s most memorable smaller mammal encounters.
Where the flood meets the sky
The flood continued advancing across the concession during May, covering parts of Mabala Matotse and crossing Willys Road as the Delta slowly expanded southwards.
Morning drives produced excellent sightings of African rock pythons, Mozambique spitting cobras, black mambas, puff adders, terrapins, striped skinks and water monitors, while the flooded channels attracted increasing numbers of marabou storks, black-crowned night herons, little bitterns, slaty egrets and cormorants.
The Godikwe Heronry remained busy throughout the month, while mokoro excursions revealed Goliath herons, malachite kingfishers, Angolan reed frogs and even an ostrich egg resting beside the shoreline. Pel’s fishing owls were seen twice near the parking area after dark, and secretary birds, kori bustards and wattled cranes continued to patrol the open plains.
With the floodplains still green beneath the first signs of winter, water lilies and knotweed covered the channels, creating beautiful light across the concession at both sunrise and sunset.
