It was a sad month for the Kwando pack of dogs as they lost two of the puppies – one disappeared early in the month, and then another in the middle of the month. There are now 8 adults, and 11 youngsters – still a success for this highly unusual pack which had three litters at the same time. Whether lost to predators or illness, no one knows, but raising wild dog pups is a risky business and they have had high mortality rate before their first year. When we did see them, they all seem fit and healthy. And during the month, they were seen hunting most mornings and evenings, before heading back towards the Lebala area. They zig zagged between the two areas a few times this month, covering a huge amount of territory.
This month they hunted impala several times. The majority of the impala females are heavily pregnant, which may make it slightly easier to catch them. Later in the month, when the lambs were born, they provided an easy target for the dogs – and other predators.
Still two intruder male lions hanging around Watercart area, making occasional contact calls. The lionesses with three cubs were also seen a short distance away from the two intruders. A couple of days later, the two males were found again, with one of them mating with a lioness. What was interesting in this case, was that it was the female that took the initiative and encouraged the male to mate – it seemed as if the young male was really not sure what he should be doing!
The following week, the intruders were seen relaxing with the pride of 2 females and three cubs. The pride males were not seen, but the intruders show signs of having been involved in a fight, with cuts and scratches. Later on, the pride of three females and 5 cubs were seen heading south, looking hungry and hunting, but had no luck with any prey.
No cheetahs seen so far this month, but leopards were still making an appearance. Shy males were spotted, but the females are still providing more relaxed sightings. Two leopards (a male and a female, probably mating) were found up a tree having been chased there by the pack of dogs. To make the sighting even more bizarre, the remains of an aardvark were below them, which they had been feeding on!
More regularly seen at the Kwando camps at Nxai Pan or Tau Pan, a bat eared fox den was located. The adult pair have made their den to the west of the airstrip, and are busy raising four puppies.
Still a reasonable size herd of 200 buffalos around – a little distance out from the river area. There was a quiet-ish week for buffalos and elephants in early November, as the first hint of rain they disappear into the mopane scrub. However, they didn’t stay long in the mopane as the water that collects in the pans there won’t last long without heavier rain falls. Towards the end of the month, the herd was seen closer to the Kwando airstrip.
A lovely night drive produced a great experience where guests were able to watch an African wildcat stalk, chase and catch a scrub hare!
Boat drives are not always what everyone expects – many go just to enjoy the scenery, not really expecting to see anything much in the way of wildlife. It’s always a lovely surprise to people as to how much they have seen from the boat: the regulars are elephants and hippos in the water, but its not unheard of to see lions, leopards, or even wild dogs on the bank of the channel. But sometimes of year, it’s really the smaller things you should be concentrating on… A group of guests were enjoying watching a hippo from the boat, when, after some time, the guide suggested that they move on to go and see a bee-eater. This suggestion wasn’t received very well, even though it was explained it was a carmine bee eater – vibrant red and pink in colour – why go see a bird, when you’ve got big fat floating hippo to photograph? A little persistence from the guide paid off – and the guests were totally blown away, by not one bee eater, but hundreds of them, fluttering in and out of the mud banks of the channel where they were nesting – something you can only see for a month or two each year!
