Lagoon pride of lions hunted and killed one of the many buffalos that are frequenting the area. One of the lionesses was also seen mating with one of the two large male lions that were in the area. A great sighting of Lebala pride east of Halfway, with the animals stalking a family of warthog. Fortunately for the warthog, they were not successful.
An unusual sighting of seven lions lying down relaxing – that bit was not so unusual, but they were relaxing in close proximity to two male cheetahs!
Cheetahs have not been seen in the area for many months – as they spend the bulk of the year in the outlying parts of the concession, returning to the woodland and water areas around mid September. The first day we found the two brothers after so long, they hunted and killed a young female impala. They spent a week or so in the area. One morning we had to track them for around 45minutes before we managed to catch up with the two boys. They spent some time stalking, and managed to hunt an impala which they killed 100m from the vehicle.
The leopardess with young cub was also seen several times – hunting, feeding and suckling the cub. Once she was seen stalking impala, but she was not successful. A few days later, the mother and cub were seen again, this time with cub trying to participate – a little precocious! – in a hunt.
The wild dog pack of 17 adults and 8 youngsters was regularly seen in the Lagoon area. They were seen feeding on impala, and kudu.
Buffalos, buffalos and more buffalos. Large – actually huge – herds numbering over a 1000 are in the area, and grazing on the drying grass, and spending a lot of time by the water-side. There numbers are depleting somewhat, but not from disease or starvation, but simply by being picked off by the lions who’s area they have arrived into. A moving buffet, its inevitable that buffalo becomes the dish of the day at this time of year. With such huge numbers of buffalo, the survival of the species is not threatened by this.
Add to the buffalos hundreds and hundreds of elephants. They are passing through the camp and crossing the river to visit Namibia. Each day they move through they are pulling up more and more vegetation that then drifts along on top of the water, looking like a mushy swamp.
And the change in seasons to the hot summer (though technically this should be spring!) months, heralds the arrival of the first migratory birds and breeding season of others. And most noticeable, are the large numbers of carmine bee eaters, that return to their usual breeding site in the banks of the Kwena Lagoon.
The general game continues to be good, with zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, kudus, sable and roan antelope all in the area. Night drives have included sightings of hyena, jackals, and a flap necked chameleon! A special sighting this month was of a group of banded mongoose eating a snake – unlike the tales of Rudyard Kipling’s heroic mongoose, Rikki Tikki Tavi, it is most unusual to actually see mongoose and snakes interact.
