The impressive Tau Pan pride were seen almost daily during March. They were mainly found towards the Pan area where there was the highest concentration of game and were often seen stalking oryx.
Seven lions, two lionesses and five males were seen finishing off an oryx carcass, apparently killed the previous night. They were surrounded by group of 13 jackals who were impatiently waiting for their turn, working together to try and make bold snatches at the kill whenever the opportunity arose. The lions became extremely irritated, chasing the jackals away repeatedly. Our guests were able to witness this spectacle for over 45 minutes, until eventually the lions moved off leaving just the skull and spine for the jackals and some waiting vultures to tussle over.
On another occasion, a guide called his guests through to the main area early as the pride had killed an oryx and were feeding right in front of camp. One evening, a large male lion was seen chasing a single oryx for over a kilometre all the way from the open plain into an area of thick vegetation.
As often seems to be the case with this dynamic pride, the number of individuals ranged considerably, but usually they were seen in groups of a range between four and eight. One of our guides’ interest was aroused when he found a lioness on her own, having already seen the rest of the pride together earlier in the drive. He followed this single female and sure enough his intuitive reading of her behaviour was correct; his guests were lucky enough to see her tenderly reunite with her tiny cub of just one month old and pick the cub up in her mouth.
Leopards were seen a few times, including one on a springbok kill at San Pan, and another posing beautifully up a tree. Cheetah were not seen often during the early part of the month, but were being picked up much more regularly during the last two weeks, including a female with two cubs.
In an interesting drive on the return from San Pan 2 jackals killing an adult springbok. The antelope appeared to be nursing a previous wound and thus could not run away.
A rather skittish Brown Hyena was spotted; though highly mobile and shy it was wonderful to see this threatened species. There were also some fabulous sightings of the smaller predators during March including a very relaxed Cape Fox close to the road. This is a beautiful silver-grey fox with a yellow belly and a black tip to its tail. A caracal was also seen nonchalantly walking along one of the roads. These medium-sized cats with beautiful tufted ears are always a treat to see.
Oryx and springbok were in plentiful numbers in the Pan area and appeared to be enjoying the new shoots of the grasses. A small group of 3-4 red hartebeest was also seen as part of this mixed herd. Springboks congregated in large number and were often seen running spontaneously and ‘pronking’. Giraffe were found in the Tau Pan browsing on Acacia trees and in large numbers at San Pan on top of the sand ridge.
There was still lots of birdlife in the pan during March, many water species such as Saddle-billed Storks were attracted to the large puddles of water which remained after the rains. Southern Pale Chanting Goshawks were numerous in the area. These elegant grey raptors have a varied diet of rodents, lizards and insects; this month one individual was seen feeding on a juvenile African Rock Python. Other notable birds of prey seen during March were Tawny Eagles, Bateleur eagles, Blac-shouldered Kites, Amur Falcons and Lanner Falcons.
