July was a great month for lions at Lebala with both the Bonga and the Wapoka prides being seen. The Bonga pride of nine stayed in the northern area where they were often seen following a huge herd of buffalo leading to some magnificent sightings. One day we heard the lions growling in the woodland and found them fighting with a big buffalo. The fight lasted for at least fifteen minutes before they eventually killed the bull. It took them a couple of days to devour the whole animal. Another time we saw two adults and seven sub-adults trying to drag down a buffalo and were jumping on its back, but the rest of the herd returned and drove the lions away. Other times they got luckier and we found them eating buffalo carcasses.
Six members of the Wapoka pride were found north of the camp feasting on a wildebeest carcass that they had just killed. The following day we tracked them towards the airstrip and were lucky enough to see them taking down an impala right in front of our vehicle. We also located them stalking zebra. Two male lions known as the Selinda Boys were found back in the south of the Kwando Reserve after having been away for about six months. We noticed that a resident female lion with three cubs about eight months old appeared to be very nervous of the intruders and was quickly mobilising her family to be as far away from them as possible.
The resident tom leopard known as “Fisherman” was seen more than once in the marsh area targeting red lechwe. We saw him try and miss one time, but on another occasion we were lucky enough to see him bring down and kill a young ram. To the west of the staff village we watched a great interaction between a male leopard and a spotted hyena. The leopard took a kill from the hyena and ran away with it but was quickly caught by the hyena who took it back. The carcass was passed back and forth four times before the leopard eventually managed to drag it up a sausage tree and out of the hyena’s reach. A female leopard was seen hunting, providing some wonderful photo opportunities as she climbed termite mounds and trees to scan the area.
A pair of spotted hyenas accompanied by a sub-adult were seem mobile towards the old hyena den by the airstrip.
The resident pair of wild dogs were seen running around camp searching for something to eat. At that stage they had a single puppy trailing along behind them, leading our guides to suspect that the rest of the litter may have been killed by predators. Unfortunately as the month progressed the single remaining pup also disappeared.
Big herds of elephants have returned to the riverine area and guests really enjoyed watching them bathing and playing in the water. General game was plentiful including very relaxed herd of sable antelope.
Honey badgers were seen digging for mice. Guests enjoyed seeing a big colony of dwarf mongoose and watching how they used a sentry system to look for danger.
Guests were thrilled with some great sightings of rosy-throated longclaw. This species is often hard to see well as they are usually found in deep grasses and marshland, so it was a treat to be able to show keen birders the bird out in the open. Another incredible rare sighting was the African swamp hen which was located by the marsh. Unusually we spotted some carmine bee-eaters; these are usually summer migrants, so it is strange that some have decided to over-winter in the area.
(Note: Accompanying picture is from our Kwando Photo Library which consists of all your great photo submissions over the years, it may not be the most up to date, but we felt it was worthy of a feature alongside this month’s Sightings Report!)
