Earlier in the month these two lions had feasted for some days on a dead hippo, most likely killed in a territorial battle. Initially a large male leopard was found scavenging, then the next day the lions took possession of the carcass and stayed for a few days until it was getting rather ripe. At this stage, they left to look for fresh prey and allowed the hordes of waiting vultures to clear up.
The resident pack of 12 wild dogs were seen in the area, often hunting or on kills. One particular morning we had tracked the dogs until they were eventually found. The guides sensed that they seemed hungry and so decided to go and check on them again during afternoon game drive. The guides’ intuition was proved right in the most spectacular way when the wild dogs decided to target a group of eland, eventually giving chase and bringing down an adult female. The dogs fed on this substantial antelope for a couple of days.
The coalition of two cheetah brothers were seen hunting a few times, frequently climbing up onto termite mounds so that they can get a better vantage point to spot prey. This provided wonderful photographic opportunities.
The large Wapoka Pride of sixteen lions were seen regularly, most often in a smaller group of three lionesses and 8 sub-adults. One morning we were enjoying a peaceful sighting of eland when all of a sudden there was a huge commotion and clouds of dust rising from a nearby spot. We quickly drove to take a look and found this pride trying to distract a herd of elephants in order to get to the calves. The elephants protected their young aggressively and in the end the lions gave up. They were successful on other occasions though; we saw them on kills including warthog and kudu.
Sometimes the most special times in the bush are when you are stationary and the animals come to you. One such moment happened this month during a sundowner stop when a lioness came to drink, accompanied by her two small cubs, thought to be 2-3 months old. Guests and staff quickly hopped back on the vehicle and were entranced by this tranquil evening sight.
One evening driving back to camp we were following two young lions, a male and a female, when they suddenly gave chase to a porcupine. The porcupine defended itself rigorously, pointing its quills to the lions until the two cats gave up. It was not all bad news for this pair though. Another time, they were seen feeding on a kudu kill which they had managed to steal from the wild dogs.
A female leopard with two young cubs has been seen several times, the female is very relaxed and although her cubs are still shy at the moment they seem to be growing in confidence. One time we followed them back to their meal of a warthog which had been hoisted up into a tree. Although a male leopard came and took it over eventually, the young family had already feasted well.
Other notable sightings for the month included a caracal with a francolin in its mouth and bat-eared foxes digging for insects.
(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!)
