Rangers Report November 2015

by | Dec 17, 2015 | Rangers Reports | 0 comments

What an unforgettable month this was in all aspects of the game. This month was really a photographers, or bird watchers dream. We had two awesome sightings of a male cheetah that moved through our area. We were fortunate to see wild dogs on several occasions. There were also two different packs that moved through our area, causing havoc amongst the impala herds. The weather was up and down from one extreme to the next. There were a few breathtaking lightening storms that lit up the African night sky, but there was not a lot of rain that followed. We had 37mm of rain and an average maximum temperature of 31 ⁰C. With only 37mm of rain, the bush has really turned nice and green. The majority of all the migratory birds are back and this month was great for birding.

Violet-backed starling by Neil Coetzer

Violet-backed starling by Neil Coetzer

Leopards

It was yet another great month with these spotted cats. Salayexe and the little cub are doing really great and the cub is growing up fast. Salayexe is giving her best raising the little cub and she is doing an excellent job too. If the little cub can make it to adulthood she will stay in the area as she is a little female and females set up territory next to their mothers. The cub is getting very relaxed with the vehicles around her. She sometimes stalks the tracker on his tracker seat, or runs after birds and grasshoppers. Kurula was also out and about this month, but kept a low profile. Shadow was also seen a few times this month and she looks really healthy. Shadow was again seen mating with Tingana for a few days. After she finished mating with Tingana she started scent marking all over her territory again. Nsele is out and about and it looks like she wants to expand her territory more east. The only thing standing in the way of expanding her territory is her mother, Salayexe, who is to the east of her. There will come a time when Salayexe and Nsele will fight it out and Nsele will probably push Salayexe out, if she is too old by that time. But for now Salayexe proves to still be too strong for Nsele to kick her out. Kwatile was also seen moving around and marking her territory this month. This might be due to Shadow who followed Tingana into Kwatile’s territory, while mating with Tingana. It will happen that females might leave their own territory following a male during the time they are mating. Moya gave us a real big surprise visit the one day as she was mating with Anderson in our area. Moya has moved her territory further south out of our area because of her aunt Salayexe. Salayexe has expanded her territory south into Moya’s territory. It was great to see Moya again, as we did not see her for some time. Moya is a stunning leopard female and she is looking great and very healthy. Mvula was also seen marking his boundaries this month. Tingana has taken a good chunk of Mvula’s territory on Mvula’s western boundary. Mvula is still in good condition and still holding on to the majority of his territory. Tingana on the other hand is also being pushed more east by Anderson. Anderson has expanded his territory more south west and north east. Anderson and Tingana both are in top condition, but Anderson is stronger and bigger than Tingana. The big question still remains, will these two heavyweights have another standoff, or even possibly a fight?

Lions

Breakaway pride lioness playing with a tortoise by Neil Coetzer

Breakaway pride lioness playing with a tortoise by Neil Coetzer

The lion sightings were so great and we saw a lot of different lion prides and coalitions. The Breakaway pride was once again not in their full numbers. We only had 6 or 7 individuals that moved around in our area. We have seen the young females and males the majority of the times, moving around without the adult females present. The young females are looking great and I can’t wait for them to come of age in order to start mating so that the pride can grow even bigger. The young males are also growing up fast and their manes are looking more impressive day by day. The Tsalala pride is also looking great and the two old ladies in the pride are still impressive. The old ladies are getting annoyed with the young males in the pride as they snarl and hiss at them a lot. The sub-adult female cub in the pride is looking great and she has a really strong bond with her mother, aunt and cousin. The young males on the other hand are very close to each other as they have to leave the pride together and need to look out for one another. The Nkuhuma pride also moved through the area the one day, but did not stay very long. Although they did not stay long, it was long enough to spend some quality time with them. The young male is looking stunning and he is getting nice and big now. His mane is not that big yet, but his body size is big for his age. At this time I think that the females in the pride does not mind that he still stays with the pride, as he can be a great asset during hunts. The females in the pride are also in good shape and looking very healthy. It is always such a treat to see this pride moving into the area. The Birmingham males were also out and about this month, as they were patrolling their boundaries and roaring all over. The young males are getting so much more confident and bolder by the day. These youngsters are still moving into Majingi territory every now and again. At this stage they are testing the waters, but every time they move in, the Majingi male’s powerful roar makes them turn around. The four Majingi males also came through the area the one night and killed a buffalo in our area. This made them stay in the area for two days, while they fed. They are still looking good, but you can see in their scarred faces that their age is starting to show. Although they are getting older, they can still put up a good fight and win.

Buffalo

Water monitor by Neil Coetzer

Water monitor by Neil Coetzer

The buffalo herds were so great to us this month, as they graced us with their presence. There were several big and small herds that moved around the area. The smaller herd was about 50 animals strong and the big herd was about 400 strong. The smaller herd did not have any small babies in it, just yearlings. The big herd on the other hand had a lot of small babies who are a few months old. Being a bulk grazer the big herd moved all over the area, in search of enough food and water for the whole herd. The herd moved basically from water source to water source whilst stopping along the way for food. We also had a few bachelor herds of between 10-20 bulls hanging around some of the bigger water holes. These big boys are really fattening up and getting ready for the mating season, which is around the corner. Our trusty dagga boys are always around the mud wallows and water holes close to our lodge. These guys do not go too far away from the water holes during the day, as they spend a lot of their time in the water to cool down against the heat.

Elephant

Tingana the male leopard by Neil Coetzer

Tingana the male leopard by Neil Coetzer

The elephant sightings were just unbelievably good this month. There were elephants all over the show and it was all big herds moving through. The waterhole in front of our lodge was a hotspot for elephant sightings. There was at least one herd everyday coming to the water to quench their thirst and have a swim to cool down. There are many small babies in some of the herds at the moment and the best is when they get their first experience with mud. These youngster slip and slide, fall on their sides, trip and land face first in the mud. You can really sit there and watch them for hours, as they play around in the mud or the water. We have seen a few smaller females that are pregnant at the moment with their first babies. Females will have their first babies between the ages of 12-15 years, after a 22 month gestation period. There was only one really big male that moved around our area this month, looking for a few females. There were a lot of younger males that also followed the female groups around and made for great sightings. They would play fight with each other or fight with a harmless tree and be very vocal as they would trumpet the whole time.

Special sighting

To see a leopard with a kill is always a great sighting, but to see three leopards on the same kill is more than special. This is just what happened this month with these beautiful cats. Salayexe and her little cub had an impala kill up in a tree, when Anderson suddenly merged from the tree line. Anderson also went up the same tree when five hyenas charged him on the ground. Salayexe was not that happy at first, as he made his way to the kill where the cub was eating. With low growls he told the cub he was coming and that she had to move. The little cub was so excited with him being there, that she grabbed his tale the whole time while he tried to eat. This was so great to see how they interacted with each other and to see three leopards in one tree while five hyenas were resting at the base of the tree.

Did you know?

A zebra’s stripes are like finger prints, no two of them are the same.

See you out on game drive soon!

Morné Fouché

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