A catty month. Cheetah cheetah cheetah, lion, cheetah, lion, cheetah cheetah, cheetah cheetah chee….. Pens were running dry as guides scribbled out the sightings reports for the day: “Cheetah, two females, 3 sub adults – Machaba east, cheetahs, 1 female, two sub adults, Splash area, Cheetah, 1 male…” . For a few weeks, it almost seemed like the smaller spotted cat had taken over the position of the lion prides. Who knows why? – Optimum weather conditions? Good vegetation for hiding and then stalking? Large amounts of prey animals? Lions busy else where? Whatever the reason, we were certainly seeing a lot of them, and no one seemed to mind.
By the middle of the month, the lions decided that it was time to make their presence a little more felt, and they were also being seen on most days. Another hippo met a gory end when confronted with four hungry lions…this one was caught not far from Little Kwara camp, and was consumed over the space of three days. By the last day, the hyenas were waiting in the wings, ready to launch into the carcass as soon as the lions moved off. This grouping of lions was seen regularly during the rest of the month, and they finished off the month with an ostrich kill – made along the aptly named Ostrich Road!
To mix things up a bit, a pack of six wild dogs also spent some time in the Splash area in the middle of the month. They were spotted at a pan, drinking water, before moving off to hunt. Later in the month a large pack of around 19 (a little tricky to tell as they were moving in and out and around) spent some time hunting at Splash as well. They didn’t have any success whilst we were there. A few days later, they were seen again along the main road, and we were able to spend quite a bit of time with them.
The long yellowing grass is making it tricky to spot leopards, but at the end of the month, one was seen slinking off into the thickets as the car moved along the road.
Nice herds of elephants as well this month, with the breeding herds spending a lot of time in the area, and even bachelor groups reaching up to 14 individuals. The males spent a lot of time drinking and playing in the deeper water near the crossings.
Lots of wildebeest and zebra were dotted around – nice herds of 20 -30 individuals feeding on the short grass that is drying up quickly.
