The pack of 14 wild dogs made a tour of the Splash Area, on a chase for some prey. An exciting hunt, led to them quickly catching a reed buck. A few days later we saw the same pack hunting and killing impala.
Two male cheetahs were found several times during the month, and although we did not witness them hunting, they appeared well-fed and relaxed. A female cheetah was found feeding on a young kudu. Not content with waiting its turn, a hyena approached the cheetah and successful chased her away, taking over the kill for himself. The next day, three lionesses with a subadult didn’t have as much success when they attempted to hunt tsessebes. The speedy antelope took off at pace. Four male lions had better luck with an adult kudu, and were found feeding on the remains.
The area near Wild Dog Pan gave us some lovely sightings of three lion cubs playing around while two lionesses rested. They were spotted again a few days later at Sable Island, resting.
The last week of the month really turned out to be cat week, with lions being sighted every day – often, several times a day – cheetahs making regular appearances, and the odd leopard or two. The lionesses with three cubs provided excellent viewing, with the youngsters suckling, and playing with their mother. Guests landing at the airstrip for the start of their African Safari, began it rather sooner than they had anticipated, as the cats lay in the shade of a tree just off the side of the runway. The 26th of the month provided a showing of cats in many different shapes and sizes, with six lions being found – including the three suckling cubs and a big male lion, as well as a leopard sneaking off into the bush, and a smaller cat – the beautiful serval, off on his own hunting frogs in a marshy area.
On the 28th, two male lions were located close to One Hippo area, after sun set, heading toward the floodplains. Eventually, the males changed direction and started heading east after picking up the scent of a female. The two boys kept on calling until the two females with the three cubs finally recognised the roar of the males, and responded. The happy family soon met up with each other, with lots of head-rubbing and sniffing.
The next day, setting out toward Splash in hopes of finding the two male cheetahs, we found tracks near a marking post that they have used before. Soon after, we heard animals alarm calling, and a few minutes later we found a female cheetah with three cubs, roughly six months old. She was very relaxed, and allowed us to follow her, and watch as she killed a young impala for her cubs.
A wonderful boat trip along the main channel into the Moremi Game Reserve produced a spectacular sighting of four adult sitatunga and one calf feeding along the banks. These exceptionally shy antelope spend their whole lives in the water ways, and are extremely rare to see anything more than fleeting glimpse of them.
