The African wild dogs finally reveal their den
June brought the discovery the Lebala guiding team had been working hard for. African wild dog movements had suggested that the pack was denning somewhere deep in the mopane woodland, but finding the site required considerable work from the guides and trackers.
The dogs would leave to hunt and then disappear back into the woodland, so the team followed spoor and carefully pieced together their movements until the den was finally located.
From then on, guests had the chance to see a very different side of African wild dog behaviour. The pack was encountered hunting, resting away from the den and returning to the den site. During denning season, the adults have puppies waiting for them, making successful hunts particularly important for the whole pack.
The location of a den is always treated with care. Guides managed approaches sensitively, allowing guests to spend time with the dogs without putting unnecessary pressure on the pack.
Nine cubs join the Sable Road pride
Lion activity spread across much of Lebala during June, with several prides and male coalitions using different parts of the area.
Along Sable Road, guides followed lion spoor for some distance before locating a pride of 12 resting in the shade: four lionesses, two large males and six cubs of around four months old. The adults later disappeared into thick mopane woodland while the cubs stayed behind.
When the pride regrouped, there was a surprise. Three more cubs appeared with them, bringing the total number of youngsters to nine. The same pride was also found feeding on a subadult kudu in the Sable Valley.
There were even more cubs around Lion Den. A male and lioness were seen resting beneath Kalahari apple-leaf trees with 13 cubs, while another lioness east of Lion Den had four tiny cubs.
Around Lechwe Corner, four adult females, four subadults and two cubs rested on the floodplains. Five lionesses along Zebra Road were actively hunting, and another group of five lionesses accompanied by a large male tried to bring down zebra but failed to secure a kill.
Male lions were equally busy. Two rested close to camp along Vlei Road before moving west into the woodland, while another pair was found around Repeater Station Valley with full bellies. Two brothers rested at Kubu Pan before heading towards the airstrip, four young males gathered east of BB Spot, and a lone male at Sunset Pan began roaring as he searched for his brother.
Along Bate’s Road, two males were found with a lioness, with one of the males mating with her.
A black-backed jackal ruins a leopard hunt
A male leopard stalking red lechwe on the floodplains north of James Link Pool was doing well until a black-backed jackal spotted him. The jackal immediately began alarm-calling, and the red lechwe responded to the warning.
Elsewhere, a female leopard hunted around BDF Camp, while another relaxed female rested in a valley east of Sable Road.
A male leopard was found in a leadwood tree between Nare Pan and Rhino Pan with a zebra foal kill safely above ground. West of Nare Pan, two leopards, thought to be a mother and her subadult cub, fed together on a male impala.
Two cheetah coalitions and a stolen meal
Two younger male cheetahs spent time around James Link Pool, where they scent-marked across the floodplains before settling down to rest. The two older resident brothers were also seen around Marobalo-a-ditshwene.
The younger males successfully killed a red lechwe, only for a spotted hyena to arrive and steal their meal. The brothers continued moving through the area and were later seen south of Kubu Pan heading into the woodland.
Both coalitions occasionally separated. A male at Marobalo-a-ditshwene repeatedly contact-called for his brother, while another young male between Makodi and Bate’s Road was doing exactly the same thing.
Spotted hyenas were also seen elsewhere, including an individual moving towards the mopane woodland near Cross Pan. Their spoor around the area showed considerably more movement than the sightings alone suggested.
Elephants emerge from the woodland
As seasonal waterholes began to shrink, large elephant herds increasingly moved out of the woodland and into more open areas. Hippos remained widespread along the riverine sections, with others still occupying waterholes deeper in the woodland.
Roan antelope, eland, giraffe and other plains game were seen throughout the area, while bat-eared foxes were particularly active. African wild cats, African civets, porcupines and an aardwolf were among the smaller mammals encountered.
Winter also changed the vegetation considerably. Many deciduous trees shed their leaves and the landscape turned increasingly brown, while the floodplains and channels retained their green vegetation. The more open woodland also improved visibility when guides left the roads to follow animals through the bush.
Crocodiles occupied waterholes and channels, while water monitor lizards foraged across the floodplains. A southern African python provided a more unusual sighting when it crossed the road and then climbed into a mopane tree.
Most of the summer migrant birds had departed by June, but resident birdlife remained an important part of drives around Lebala.
The Kwando River levels dropped after the rise associated with the rainy season. Clear winter evenings also brought good conditions for stargazing and after dinner, sitting around the firepit gave guests time to listen to a different side of Lebala, with the calls of lions and hyenas sometimes travelling surprisingly far through the cool night air.
