Guides at Kwara were delighted and relieved to see the return of the resident pack of wild dogs in October, although their numbers were a little depleted. When they left the area some three months before they had nine puppies, now they just have five survivors. They seemed to be doing extremely well now back in Kwara and were seen killing and feeding on impala several times during the month. On one occasion guests watched as the adults were interacting with their puppies near to the Kwara staff village. A hyena approached and was savagely attacked by the dogs for about five minutes, leaving the hyena half-dead. The dogs moved off about 300 metres and continued to rest. A second pack of 6 dogs were also still in the area and seen several times, once losing their kill to two male lions.
At Kwara we have come to expect the unexpected. We were enjoying breakfast around the camp fire when the early morning tranquillity was shattered by a pack of wild dogs chasing an impala straight through camp and into the lagoon. The impala escaped the dogs, but ran straight into the jaws of two large crocodiles who tore it apart, all right in front of the main building. What a start to the day!
A female leopard with her month-old cub continued to delight guests. She is an excellent mother and always seen coming to the den to nurse her offspring in the early morning and dusk. The cub was very healthy and energetic; we were entertained by seeing it learning to climb trees and towards the end of the month it was starting to make short walks away from the den with its mother. One morning a guide and tracker team picked up drag marks and blood stains; they followed up the tracks and were rewarded with a sighting of a magnificent male leopard still dragging his fresh kill. Already many vultures, kites and eagles were waiting in anticipation of a scavenging opportunity.
Whilst warthogs are common to see, the bushpig is shy, nocturnal and rarely sighted. Our guides were therefore stunned to come across two male lions eating a bushpig one day. As always at Kwara there were several different prides of lions in the area, meaning that males were often seen scent marking and roaring to establish their territories. The prides were spotted hunting a range of different prey including zebra, buffalo and tsessebe. Two males were found feeding on a dead elephant, surrounded by hyenas, jackals and vultures all waiting for their turn at the carcass.
The familiar male cheetah known as “Special” disappeared for about a week, but then was seen back in the area, scent marking and patrolling his territory. We saw him chase and kill a fully-grown impala. The resident female cheetah and her sub-adult cub obligingly posed for photographic opportunities on a termite mound. These two animals specialise on reedbuck, but were also seen chasing tsessebe and impala who were starting to drop their young.
The hyena den was still very active and guests enjoyed seeing the healthy and energetic cubs playing.
The flood levels were receding and so large breeding herds of elephants were moving towards the main channels. We were lucky enough to see mating elephants on one occasion. A rare sitatunga antelope was found in the Kwara channel.
A favourite activity amongst guests is a mokoro trip combined with a short nature walk to look at some of the smaller creatures of the Okavango Delta. From the mokoros we were able to see tiny Painted Reed Frogs, enormous hippos and birds including the beautiful Malachite Kingfisher and fascinating African Jacana. Whilst walking we came across a group of dwarf mongoose feeding on snouted termites. On a nearby branch a fork-tailed drongo was eyeing up the insects. In a fascinating interaction we were able to observe the small bird mimic a martial eagle call in an effort to frighten the mongooses into hiding so that it could have the termites all to himself.
(Note: Accompanying picture is from our Kwando Photo Library which consists of all your great photo submissions over the years, it may not be the most up to date, but we felt it was worthy of a feature alongside this month’s Sightings Report!)
