The most highly prized sighting of the month at Lebala was an encounter with a pangolin. The animal allowed us to view it well and when the guests saw the excitement of the guides and trackers they knew that they were seeing something very rare and special indeed.
November was full of predator action including some amazing inter-species battles. One morning we were enjoying the sight of a female leopard cooling off in some water when a lioness suddenly appeared and tried to corner the leopard who made a quick dash up the nearest tree. It was a thrilling and unusual encounter between the cats; competition between these animals always exists, but is not easy to see them face to face as the leopard knows full well that lions pose a grave danger, so they do their utmost to avoid them.
Lions were seen frequently in the area. Once, as we were driving, some herds of wildebeest and impala came running across the road. Our guides quickly went to see what had startled the animals and found six young male lions and one female lying down under a tree. The young males were approximately two years old and our guides suspected that they had been kicked of a pride by the dominant male. The following morning the the six boys were seen feeding on an impala; hyenas came from the bushes and tried their luck at stealing the kill, but the lions stood their ground and did not give the clan a chance. The resident clan of hyena were never far away once the pride had made a kill, though usually the lions managed to drive them away.
A pack of twenty-five wild dogs was making kill after kill and they were spending most of their time on the plains around camp. One afternoon, as guests were having their high tea, the huge pack appeared in front of the camp chasing a herd of wildebeest. In an exciting take-down they managed to kill two calves. As the dogs were busy feeding, the hyenas arrived and started milling around trying to take over the meal. The wild dogs attacked them in good number but hyenas did not surrender, they kept on coming until they managed to take the carcass. The same pack of wild dogs killed an impala at the back of the staff village and once again, the hyenas arrived right on time as the dogs were feeding. This time the dogs did not back off, as they seemed to have had enough of the hyenas, and the pack managed to defend its meal.
Two cheetahs were located feeding on an impala and as soon as they finished they climbed up a tree. This was a very smart manoeuvre to try and outwit the hyenas who they knew could appear at any time. The most slenderly built of the big cats, cheetahs will usually do whatever it takes to avoid getting into a fight with other predators.
The resident female leopard known as Jane was seen hunting on several occasions; she has two growing cubs to feed so needs to kill regularly. A male leopard was spotted coming from the marsh with blood on his face but it was not possible for the guides to check on what he was feeding on as there was so much water. Another big male leopard was spotted very relaxed licking himself and went up a tree.
A very special sighting of a caracal was spotted in the area although it was very shy. General game was still great with a good number of elephants, wildebeest, zebras and impalas. The Lebala area received some rainfall and the vegetation is starting to look very nice and green, making a beautiful background for photos. Bird life is also very good, with the busy breeding season underway and summer migrants returning.
(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!)
