At the beginning of the month huge numbers of elephants occupied the waterhole as they took aggressive turns quenching their thirst. As the heavy showers increased mid-month the herds around the waterhole decreased to the point where it was no longer necessary to fight for a drink. Then towards the end of the month after ample rainfall there wasn’t an elephant in sight. They had temporarily moved off to areas where they knew they could get food and water without competition.
December is an interesting month at Nxai Pan. As elephants move out of the area large herds of browsers and grazers move in. In the open plains journeys of giraffe could be seen as they arrived to strip the acacia trees of their vibrant green new growth.
Two large male lions are still dominating the area. Lions were seen nearly every day and a pair was found mating at the wildlife water hole. Five of the seven lionesses are expecting cubs and we hope they will give birth by about mid-January.
Cheetah have also been spotted on nearly every game drive. A mother and her two cubs were regularly spotted hunting and feeding near the wildlife waterhole. A new young male cheetah has also been appeared in the area. These agile cats have taken full advantage of the large herds of springbok that have arrived with the zebra migration.
The annual zebra migration brings thousands of animals into the area. While some zebras have migrated with their small foals, others are being born on the Nxai Pan plains. One of the most incredible things about a new born foal is the gangly length of their legs. A foals is born with such long legs that when it stands next to its mother its under belly is just about the same height as its mothers under belly. This, coupled with the disruptive colouration of the zebra stripes makes it incredibly difficult for a predator to target the young during an attack. It is easy to see why a group of zebras is sometimes called a ‘dazzle’.
The birdlife at Nxai Pan has also been very rewarding with plentiful sightings of Adbim’s Stork, Pale Chanting Goshawks, Yellow-billed Kites, Carmine Bee-eaters and Open-billed Storks. Nxai Pan is also home to the Kori Bustard, the largest flying bird in the world and the national bird of Botswana.
