All action happened at the camp when the pack of 22 wild dogs killed an impala. Fifteen of the local hyenas arrived with haste, and tried to fight the dogs for the carcass. With that many hyenas – a much stronger and bigger animal than the wild dog – there was little choice for the dogs but to let the hyenas take the kill. The same morning, and as the heat increases, the lions move less – we eventually found five adults and seven youngsters panting in the shade of a Kalahari apple tree. They remained there for the rest of the day, and only thought about moving in the very late afternoon.
On the 6th we came across a leopard cub that was playing in a tree, and relaxing along its branches. We were able to watch it for about an hour, before we moved off. Soon after, we came across a lion cub all on its own, and calling for the rest of the pride. Hopefully, they will reunite very soon.
The next day, the Wapuka lion pride (5 adults, 5 young) took down a kudu right in front of the vehicle. The lions were resting under a tree, when the kudu came walking out into the open area, but passed close to the tree where the lions were. The lions grabbed the chance – and grabbed the kudu… Two of the youngsters were missing from the pride, but we located them resting under a tree several kilometres away. Also resting nearby was the pack of 22 dogs!
Luckily for the two cubs, two days later the pride was re-united and killed a warthog, at least allowing the youngsters a morsel of meat after their few days of adventure away from the rest of the pride. A few days later, and the Southern pride were into the full swing of things, with a male killing a buffalo, then the females hunting three warthogs and a baby tsessebe!
Other than the predators, still great general game around with the largest numbers of course being that of the elephants. The large breeding herds still milling around the area, favouring the wooded areas along the edges of the water.
