The four new male lions in the concession seemed to be doing well as they were located in different areas patrolling or hunting. This pride appeared to be specializing in stalking eland and were found feeding on different eland carcasses during the month. The four males were very actively patrolling the area to mark their presence and secure their new territory, often splitting up so that they could cover more ground. There were two lionesses in the area who appeared to be very good hunters, seen feeding on wildebeest close to Lagoon camp on a wildebeest and another time on a warthog. The two lionesses were also seen stalking different antelope species late in the afternoons as temperatures cooled down.
During the month of March three different female leopards and two cubs were spotted around Lagoon camp in different locations, the sub adult leopard was located hunting birds west of the airstrip. The mother of the sub adult leopard was also seen east of the airstrip heading west where the sub adult was located. An old female leopard with her two months old cubs was also located east of Lagoon camp feeding on a reedbuck; she was wise enough to take her kill up on a mangosteen tree to ensure that she didn’t lose her kill, or indeed her precious cubs, to hyenas or lions.
Hyenas were very active around Lagoon camp moving from one carcass to another. One brave hyena was spotted running away with a bone from an eland that was killed by the four male lions. It was very risky for a lone hyena to steal a meal from under the noses of the four-male lions, but the hyena seized its opportunity and bolted with its prize. Guests who were on that activity managed to take great pictures of the hyena running with a bone in its mouth.
An aardwolf was located at mid-day walking on the road; although it ended up going into a burrow guests were able to get some good shots before it disappeared. An African wild cat was seen walking through tall grass. Bat eared foxes were seen feeding, and jackals were found scavenging on different carcasses
The two resident male cheetahs were located on a hunting mission, after tracking them for two hours. The coalition managed to kill a piglet and after feeding they spent the rest of the day in the shade. The following day they started moving to start patrolling their territory area. These two brothers cheetahs cover a huge area.
A pack of six wild dogs were in the Lagoon area and seen either hunting or resting during the day. One morning the six wild dogs tried their luck with a pair of zebra but instead the two zebras chased them. The six wild dogs gave up and moved on into the bushes, but their bad luck continued as they then came face to face with a lioness so decided to run away from the area altogether.
General game was great during March. There were large breeding herd of elephants, a good number of zebras, eland, giraffes, impalas, wildebeest and roan antelopes. Hippos were also located outside water during the day.
Birds sightings were good and highlights included lesser jacana, hooded vulture, pygmy goose, white baked vulture, Verreaux eagle owl, scoops owl and pearl spotted owl.
A python was also located on several occasions.
(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!)
