Our animal kingdom certainly has a voice of its own ! We celebrated World Wildlife Day yesterday and made quite a noise on our social media channels in an effort to create awareness about our planet’s endangered species. Little did we know that our wildlife have also been quite vocal about their presence. Our rangers sent through a flood of images taken during the course of the week and there appeared to be a common thread throughout. Plenty of feisty behaviour and wide-mouths !
This week, we’re bringing you photos of our feisty and wide-mouthed wildlife found in abundance throughout our camps.
Ezulwini River Lodge and Ezulwini Billy’s Lodge
Ezulwini experienced great sadness surrounding the untimely death of Shoshangaan, the magnificent Tusker who was a frequent visitor to River Lodge. He was fitted with a satellite collar and wandered over from the Kruger National Park in 2005. He died of natural causes due to injuries sustained while in battle with another bull.
Despite the rather tumultuous atmosphere of a great sprit leaving the earth, the Ezulwini Game Lodges have had incredible sightings this week. Just like a battery, with every negative there is a positive!
Last night guests enjoyed two leopard sightings and observed close-up elephant interactions. Both Watsikile and Chavaluthu leopards were seen during the week and again last night. Last night, guests also saw a curious, unknown leopard patrolling new territory. Then there were two unknown male lions who haven’t been seen in over a year. Seems like this week the Balule has been a playground for big cats! Zebra stallions were also seen fighting for dominance and photographer, Jochen Van de Perre, caught the sequence on camera.
Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp
Rangers at Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp set up a camera trap recently at a small pan called Sneaky Pan, which is a hotspot for thirsty animals. A handful of species were photographed at the pan (some of them human) and the camera captured the pan drying up at a rapid rate. The harsh reality of a drought caught on camera!
Both camps have recorded a plethora of Dagga boy sightings. Old buffalo bulls spend their days wallowing in waterholes and with such scarce availability of water, it’s quite easy to predict their whereabouts! Buffalo actually need to drink twice a day so we’ll often see them being led by their pathfinder to the closest source of water.
The elephants have been out in full force and have visited the lodge swimming pool on a regular basis. Plains game are always about and there seem to be plenty of giraffe towering over the landscape.
Greg from Africa on Foot spotted a leopard and also had a sneaky glimpse of Ross Dam’s cubs ! The drought is bringing about leaps of leopard which are normally quite elusive. Leopards and wild dogs are dominating our sightings over the past few weeks.
nThambo even had a cheetah sighting 7 – 10 days ago. Interesting times ahead !
Do we ever NOT have a leopard sighting at Umkumbe Safari Lodge? This week, Tatowa stole the limelight and made an appearance for guests on Wednesday night. She seemed to be idling under a tree and completely unfazed by the presence of the vehicle. But she wasn’t the only female around – Little Bush was spotted being lazy and eventually she got up to hunt later, when it was cooler and darker.
Firm favourite, Toothfairy the hyena, was also spotted. Complete with missing teeth and a mischievous attitude, this hyena comes packed with attitude. She’s renown for stealing leopard kills shortly after a kill has been made. Toothfairy was actually seen with her cub – probably looking to scavenge on a ready-made meal!
The Southern Pride lionesses strolled past camp – they’re normally seen with the Charleston males but they were alone this time. Interestingly enough, new lions were spotted on the Umkumbe traverse – they’re the Talmati males which were seen feeding on a wildebeest carcass.
What a week for the Sabi Sand !
John Chase Safaris in Botswana
Our mobile safari operation based in Botswana always has a variety of incredible sightings. Set itineraries cover wildlife rich areas such as the Chobe Waterfront, Moremi Game Reserve, Central Kalahari, Makgadikgadi Pans, Nxai Pan and Chobe National Park.
Here are a few game viewing highlights from their mobile safaris.
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