Dust clouds and the disastrous crunching sound of the Mopane trees could be heard this morning when a massive herd of elephants stampeded past the nThambo Tree Camp vehicle. What startled this herd? We suspect it was the presence of the Ross pride breakaway females who were seen on the move the night before. Africa on Foot guests managed to catch a glimpse of the females from a distance.
At this stage, we are weary of disturbing the Ross pride breakaway lionesses. Why? Because the heavily pregnant female seen drinking the other day has just given birth to cubs ! The cubs are only a few days old and we still need to put a viewing protocol in place. At the moment, the sister and the additional lioness have been spotted out in the open but we are weary of approaching the area because we believe the cubs are in close proximity. Lion cubs have notoriously low survival rate in the wild which is why we need to exercise great caution when approaching the area.
nThambo Tree Camp spotted the Trilogy male after hearing him calling out for the rest of his coalition. It seems the lionesses, the Trilogy and a huge herd of buffalo were all in the same area. Could there be another kill underway? The buffalo are being stalked from beyond the thickets and the next few days could be quite interesting.
On the topic of lions, Umkumbe Safari Lodge have enjoyed a sighting of lions across the banks of the Sand River. Unfortunately, it was too far away to identify the pride. They’ve had an abundance of buffalo and elephant herd sightings in front of the lodge. Huge herds are a buffet for lions!
In terms of other wildlife sightings, we’ve been rewarded with plenty of bird sightings across the Klaserie and Sabi region. Due to the increased predator activity, the vultures have come out to play. Predators mean the possibility of a carcass. And who doesn’t like a complimentary dinner?!
Here are a few photographs capturing the highlights of this week’s safari viewing.
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