The lion pride of a female with four young is doing very well, with all being in good condition. One afternoon we saw them hunting and they killed a warthog. We also saw the pride feeding on a sub adult elephant – what was unusual is that the kill looked fresh, implying that the lions themselves may have killed the elephant – a very difficult accomplishment if they did. Whilst the five were feeding on the elephant, two other lions were finishing up the remains of a wildebeest they had killed the day prior, in the Hyena City area. (No hints as to what else was hanging out in that area at the same time!)
Four lionesses were spotted following a large herd of buffalo for sometime, looking for the chance of catching a straggler from the edge of the herd. They had no luck at that time, but perhaps had more success later.
The pride of six lions were found close to Mophane area. We followed them hunting, and they chased a warthog into a burrow. Two lionesses began digging for the warthog, and persevered until they pulled the poor warthog out from it’s hiding place.
The pack of 17 wild dogs was located at Steven’s pan. We followed them hunting and they took down an impala whilst we were with them. They spent some days moving around the Twin Pools area, and crossing in and out of our concession. After watching the dogs one morning at Twin Pools, we came across a female leopard up a tree. The leopard was oblivious to the presence of the dogs, and she came down the tree, and started moving towards where the pack was located. The dogs saw her \and gave chase, with the leopard having the presence of mind to quickly retreat to the safety of a tree again.
On the 12th of June, we came across the dog pack again, this time with the alpha female inside a den that she had used last year, cleaning it out. She spent the whole day there, and did not let any of the other packs to get close. This meant it was likely that she was about to give birth, and had selected that densite as a good place to feel safe and secure for her pups. Soon after this, it became clear that the pack had selected this as a den site, and the alpha female then stayed down in the den, coming out only to get food from the rest of the pack when they returned from a hunt.
There was also a very interesting interaction between the dog pack and the buffalos. The pack chased the herd of buffalos, until the buffalos seemed to remember that they were bigger and far outnumbered the dog pack, and then turned around and started chasing the dogs. Shortly, the tables would turn again, and the dogs would be chasing the buffalos back, with a few minutes later, the buffalos chasing the dogs….. This carried on for some time, until the dogs got bored with it!
At the end of the month, three male lions had a huge fight: two intruders took on one of the dominant males. Sadly his brother had already been injured, so the dominant male was left to take on the two intruders on his own. They moved off before we could see the end of the fight, so we are left in suspense as to who won the battle!
