Although the surface water was drying up, the Tau Pan area still had good grazing following the heavy summer rains and general game was abundant, especially springbok and gemsbok. A small band of Red Hartebeest were still being seen as part of this mixed herd. Lots of jackals were found in the area and one evening guests witnessed a territorial fight between two males. Cheetah were frequently seen including a mother with two cubs.
In April, two leopards were seen frequently near to Tau Pan camp; they are believed to be a mating pair so we are hopeful of exciting new arrivals in due course. Leopards are usually solitary unless they are mating, so it was extremely special to find both male and female up in a tree together, especially in the Central Kalahari where trees are generally scarce and short! During the month, the female called a few times from camp itself during the night. Across at Phukwe Pan a different female leopard, who was very relaxed around the vehicle, was seen hunting.
In another remarkable sighting guests were watching two jackals playing together by the road when a sub adult female leopard appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. She made a high pounce onto one of the jackals, but since she did not follow up for the kill it was hard to tell whether this young leopard was trying to join in their game, or whether she was trying to chase the jackal away.
The leopards were not the only cats mating during April. An amorous pair of lions were found and we were able to watch them for 30 minutes. Although the lioness seemed quite shy and wanted to take cover in the bushes, the male had no such inhibitions and aggressively made sure that she didn’t stray off, preferring her to remain in the open.
The Tau Pan pride of five males and two females spent plenty of time near to camp where they kept a watchful look out for game coming through to the camp watering hole to drink. On one occasion, the five male lions roared right next to camp for most of the night causing much excitement for our guests. The next morning two of these lions were seen in front of camp having a drink and later, another three were heard calling by Room 9. We drove around to find them relaxed and sunning themselves by one of the roads.
The day trips yielded good sightings of cheetah, hunting lionesses and two male lions on a kill. One particular day a beautiful young leopard cub was found alone up in a tree – we suspected that its mother had gone off to hunt. Aside from the predators, the day drives allowed us to show a wide variety of species to guests including giraffes, gemsboks, springboks, wildebeest, bat-eared foxes and honey badgers.
Although the surface water was drying up, the Tau Pan area still had good grazing following the heavy summer rains and general game was abundant, especially springbok and gemsbok. A small band of Red Hartebeest were still being seen as part of this mixed herd. Lots of jackals were found in the area and one evening guests witnessed a territorial fight between two males. Cheetah were frequently seen including a mother with two cubs.
Guests were intrigued to see a Secretary Bird passing by the vehicle, followed by a Black-backed Jackal. The jackal was not hunting the bird, rather he was opportunistically seizing on insects that the long-legged raptor had disturbed. It was very interesting to see a bird and a mammal working together cooperatively in this way.
Ground squirrels and mongoose were often seen in the Phukwi Pan area during April. Guests were able to observe how these small mammals carefully checked up at the skies when popping out of their holes, and for good reason. Pale Chanting Goshawks were often calmly waiting in nearby trees for the opportunity to swoop down and take one.
Sometimes the drama of the bush plays out on a small stage. Guests were watching two perched Fork-tailed Drongos chattering to each other. Suddenly one of the drongos attacked a praying mantis. The mantis defended himself by opening his wings and elevating his body, trying to give the impression of a larger size. The insect’s aggressive posed paid off and the bird left him alone to fight another day.
