Lots of activity at the hyena den, with six cubs of varying ages being looked after there. Four adults are seen around the den, trying to keep the cubs somewhat in line. Not the easiest thing to do when they are so boisterous! You can imagine, when the adults aren’t there, things get even more interesting… naturally curious, any vehicle visiting becomes a possible target for an over-eager hyena cub, wondering what a mud-flap is like to chew on.
18 lions is a lot of lions to feed (even if eleven of them are not fully grown) so it’s not surprising that the lion pride tries to kill as big a game as possible. This month, they were seen feeding on several buffalos and a zebra. Apart from the big pride, we also had lovely sightings of a mother suckling her young cubs, and an attempted hunt by three lionesses of a kudu, that was unsuccessful, due to the rather over-excited and eager 5 month old cub that tagged along for the ride and didn’t stay put when told to!
And if you think six youngsters might be a handful, try 15 of them. The Southern Pack of wild dogs – thirteen adults – is busy raising a litter of 15 little puppies at their den site. They all seem in good condition and healthy. With so many mouths to feed, the adults have to be sure that they are hunting often enough to ensure everyone gets a fair share. When they do have successful hunts, they try harder than ever not to lose the kill to another predator. This was the case when we witnessed them kill an impala and three hyenas immediately approached to try and take the kill off them. The dogs and hyenas spent some time tussling with each other, before the dogs had to retreat – too big a risk of injury when having to fight the much heavier and bulkier hyena.
We were lucky enough to see a female leopard with her two young cubs a few times this month. This is the small family that set up shop in and around the camp last month – this month, they were found a little further away. We also followed them when they were walking along the road, and were very relaxed with us following them. After a while, they moved off into the thicker surrounding bush, and we left them to their evening.
General game this month was wonderful, with lots of big herds of elephants everywhere – including in the camp, making it tricky to get to your room at night – as well as the bulls interspersed amongst them. Zebra, impala, wildebeest, reedbuck, kudu and lots of warthogs. Interesting and unusual sightings this month included porcupine and serval cat.
