The resident pack of 12 wild dogs were seen frequently in the Lebala area. After finding them sleeping under a mophane tree one morning we followed up in the afternoon drive and found them chasing wildebeest. The herd managed to stand their ground and in the end the dogs gave up and moved towards the airstrip. Suddenly four hyenas moved in. One of the dogs went directly to the hyenas with his head lowered and his aggressive pose was sufficient to drive the hyenas away. The following day the pack was seen feeding on a tsessebe carcass.
The hyenas have a den in the area and it was very special to see the females interacting with the cubs. Quite at odds from their rather fearsome reputation, hyenas are wonderful mothers. On one occasion hyenas were witnessed mating, so hopefully we will have another family to watch before too long.
A very relaxed young male leopard, who we have known since a cub, was seen feeding on a jackal. We watched him dragging the carcass to the shade, at the same time calling for his partner who was not around at that time. His mother, known as ‘Jane’ is still resident in the area and was found one morning on an impala kill; her position given away by Bateleur and Tawny Eagles who were spotted descending to the ground. Leopards are very opportunistic feeders and other notable sightings included a magnificent male with a wildebeest hung up in a tree, a female with a face full of francolin feathers, and another young leopard pouncing on a mouse.
The Wapoka Pride consisting of four lionesses and 11 young were seen regularly. Once on a zebra kill the three smallest cubs of just 3-4 months old were very active, fighting for the meat. We were also fortunate enough to see the pride take down a warthog right in front of the vehicle. As the pride is so big the warthog was not enough and so there was lots of fighting and snarling over the carcass.
We came across the two large resident male lions calling for each other and once reunited we were able to watch them nuzzling and rubbing their heads together in a bonding ritual. Another time we witnessed them chasing a warthog, but on that occasion the prey got away. Later in the month they were seen on an elephant carcass.
A lioness from the Southern Pride with two small cubs stayed in the area; the cubs were still quite shy of the vehicle and apt to keep dashing into the bushes, however some lucky guests did manage to get a wonderful sighting of them suckling from their mother.
A resident male Cheetah was seen full-bellied and resting a couple of times. We were also lucky to get a rare sighting of a wild cat, although it was shy.
The general game in the Lebala area increased during May. The natural watering holes in the woodland areas started to dry up, forcing large herds of elephants to make their way to the riverine areas. There were mixed herds of zebra and wildebeest in their hundreds, as well as plentiful giraffe. A solitary male buffalo, a well-known “dagga boy”, was found along sable road. This was the first time he had been seen in the area since before the rainy season, so the guides were happy to see this relaxed individual again.
The pans and riverine area were still host to a variety of water birds including Egyptian Geese, Knob-billed Ducks, African Jacanas, Pied Kingfishers and sandpipers.
(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!)
