One of August’s biggest lion sightings started with tracks along Zebra Road. Guides followed the spoor west for around three hours before finding 20 lions near Giraffe Pan feeding on a Cape buffalo.
The group comprised five adult females, two large males and 13 cubs of different ages. With so many youngsters gathered around one carcass, there was plenty of competition when it came time to feed.
The Marsh Pride was active elsewhere. Two older males and five females were found moving along Crane Road, with the males roaring as they headed towards Sunset Pan while the females continued east towards the marsh. On another occasion, two males and two females from the pride fed on a zebra along Leopard Road.
Seven lions also moved into camp and stayed around for roughly three days. A mating pair spent an entire night between tents five and six, while further south, one of the Marsh males was seen mating with three lionesses. His brother later joined the activity, with the two males and females separated on opposite sides of the airstrip.
August also brought a large male estimated at 10-11 years old into the southern part of the area. On another drive, guides followed the tracks of a male for around two hours before finding him near Stadium, moving towards the calls of another lion. The two eventually met and chased one another.
Fisherman the leopard shares his warthog kill
Fisherman, one of Lebala’s male leopards, was found close to camp one morning with a warthog carcass hoisted into a tree. When guests returned that afternoon, a female leopard had joined him, and the two fed together.
The same female leopard was seen again later in the month, walking north-west along the main road and turning her attention to potential prey. She stalked yellow-billed and red-billed hornbills and francolins, although none of her attempts was successful.
Another female leopard was watched stalking a steenbok, but the antelope spotted her approach and escaped.
Three new male cheetahs move into Lebala
Three male cheetahs appeared in the southern part of the area during August, adding a third male coalition to those already using Lebala.
Two older males ranged through the northern sections and into the wider Lagoon area.
Tracking the older coalition produced one particularly good sighting. Guides followed their spoor until both males were found resting on a termite mound with full bellies.
A difficult month for the African wild dog pack
August brought some tough developments for Lebala’s African wild dogs. Three of the eight puppies were killed by lions, leaving five puppies with the pack. The alpha female was subsequently found dead after guides had noticed that she appeared weak.
During the month, guides found tracks north-west of camp and followed them for around an hour and 40 minutes before locating the pack resting in the open near Kubu Pan.
Once the dogs became active, guests followed them all the way back towards camp. They chased impalas around the Enclave before settling nearby.
The action resumed that afternoon when the pack headed west and encountered two subadult cheetahs. The African wild dogs immediately gave chase, pursuing them for several hundred metres before abandoning the chase.
Another hunt near Nare Pan ended very differently. Three African wild dogs successfully brought down a male impala, but within minutes a clan of seven spotted hyenas arrived, drove the dogs away and stole the carcass.
More than 20 hyenas gather at a giraffe
Another sizeable spotted hyena gathering developed around the carcass of a giraffe, where more than 20 spotted hyenas were found feeding.
Guides searched the surrounding area and found no lion tracks. From the signs at the scene, they believed the giraffe had been knocked down during an encounter with another male giraffe.
Night drives brought out bat-eared foxes, African wild cats, porcupines, genets and aardwolves.
Elephants head for the marsh
The difference between Lebala’s drier woodland and marsh habitat became increasingly pronounced during August.
Elephants moved out of the dry areas towards the marsh in groups of up to 40 or 50, while large numbers of giraffes were seen throughout the area and sometimes around camp itself.
Roan, sable, eland, zebra, greater kudu, tsessebe and Cape buffalo were also recorded across the area.
Much of the deciduous woodland had shed its leaves and taken on its dry-season browns, while the vegetation along the marshes and channels remained greener. In other areas, the first fresh leaves and flowers were beginning to appear as the season started to turn.
Nile crocodiles and water monitor lizards were regularly seen around Kubu Pan, Wild Dog Pan and the channels. Black mambas and African rock pythons were among the snakes encountered.
Southern carmine bee-eaters make an early appearance
African fish eagles, tawny eagles, brown snake eagles, martial eagles and bateleurs were among the raptors recorded during August. Secretarybirds, ostriches, great white pelicans, wattled cranes, ibis, geese, ducks and several vulture species added to the month’s birdlife.
Southern carmine bee-eaters were also seen around the walking area, an early appearance ahead of the main summer period.
Floodwater had begun reaching some parts of Lebala by the end of August, bringing fresh water back into sections of the floodplains.
Clear, dry nights made August a good month for stargazing, with planets, constellations and the broader sweep of the southern African night sky visible above camp.
