Early August and two young lion cubs didn’t stay put when mum told them to, and were found along Xugana main road looking for their mother. The guide and trackers tracking skills went into action, but the female was not located nearby. It was likely that she had stashed the cubs to go off hunting, and the cubs are at the stage where curiosity is just too much… no doubt she will return later in the night.
The happy family were seen together a few days later, with the mother hunting a sub-adult warthog. An unusual situation arose, where another predator became involved in the feeding, and a large crocodile managed to secure part of the kill for itself!
After the big fights last month, resulting in the death of an intruder male, the three big male lions of the Splash area were seen a lot this month, relaxing and lounging around in the warming sunshine. Full bellied, they were obviously content with their hunts, and have had success during the nights.
The 15th was hyena day, with 8 being found in a fairly close area – one feeding on a wildebeest carcass, one feeding on an impala, and six feeding on another impala. It was a sad day if you were a prey species…
A new male cheetah was seen in the area of Machaba East – initially shy of the vehicle, he soon relaxed and was scent marking the same areas that the two cheetah brothers had been seen a few days prior. For cheetahs, speed is often promoted as the key to their success, but for one female, it was patience and persistence that paid off. On the 9th of August, guests watched on as the female attempted to hunt in the Splash area. Three times she chased and missed her prey. But on the fourth attempt – success! And she pulled down an adult male impala.
Around the middle of the month, one of the two male cheetahs appeared to have sustained an injury to this right hind leg. He seemed to be unable to hunt, and they spent five days in one area, whilst his brother brought down an impala, close to the water. The two males were seen throughout the month, and although the injured one still seemed to be in pain, he was attempting to hunt with his brother towards the end of the month, and are still patrolling their territory.
Although the fifteen adult wild dogs and sixteen pups are still going strong, and were seen at the den site early in the month, three un-identified adult dogs passed through the Splash area on the 8th of August, having hunted recently. By the second week of the month, the puppies were deemed old enough by the Alphas to leave the den, and begin travelling with their family. Although they wont be able to travel the distances or at the same speed as the adult dogs, by moving around the area, they will get to familiarise themselves with the environment, learn about different dangers, and slowly learn to hunt as part of a pack. A total of 31 dogs is a very big pack, and so is going to require a lot of hunting to keep everyone in good condition.
Wonderful elephant sightings this month as well, with one game drive counting around 100 adults and 40 youngsters between Impala Pan and the Splash area! And sometimes, it all just comes together at the same time, as one guest wrote: lions, a leopard, three serval, a genet, and jackals all in one day!
The heronry at Xobega is slowly getting busy, and some “early” birds have already started establishing their nesting sites. This will grow over the coming months, but does fluctuate each year as particular areas seem to win and lose favour – sometimes tied in to the number of elephants that were passing by and pulling down branches of the nesting trees! A few chicks were already seen having hatched late in the month.
