January 2009 : Kruger National Park, South Africa

It seems as if the dry times have finally relinquished their cruel grip on the concession - pans are filling up and streams have been flowing intermittently.

There was lots of game moving off the concession, with large herds seeking the greener pastures, but the animals are starting to return and there have regular sightings of elephants. The lion prides have been scarce, following after the larger herds, but that too is starting to change. All in all things are looking beautiful at the moment, and we expect a wet and green February.

To the right are some images taken on the concession on 28 January 2009 - from top to bottom: Shingwenyana Crossing, Dumbana Pools, Gudzani Dam and The Weir.

 

Introducing the Kings of Lebombo

This stunning black mane King has fought many a battle (top image). He is around ten years old and nearing the end of his tenure over the Shishangaan pride. He will not go down without a fight though, there is still lots of life in those golden eyes. Together with his coalition partner, they will fight for their pride, almost 20 lions, till the end.

In the second image from the top is the largest male lion I have ever seen. He has the most beautiful black mane, completely engulfing his head and neck. He is the second male of the Northern pride and very wild. He is almost unapproachable, and usually very aggressive. He is a King of Lebombo and feared by all.

The looks in his eyes are as wild as it gets, and a meeting with this king will sure be remembered forever. He is the embodiment of what a male lion should look like. This male is big, aggressive, and at the peak of his life. Together with his brother, they reign over the Northern pride, consisting of about 22 lions. This lion is not afraid of anything, recently putting 7 of the mountain pride males to flight. (third image front the top courtesy of Jana van Niekerk)

The look says it all - power, strength and confidence. In the bottom image we have a King who is one of the Southern pride males. He is the younger of the two, and has given many a tracker something to remember whilst trying to follow him. He is at his best at the moment, but with the Southern pride disintegrating, who know’s what the future hold for this king?

Xhirombi Pride

This pride comes onto the concession quite often and what great value they offer!

There are quite a few young females, and you can feel the energy within the pride. They are very active, and often cover great distances at night in search of good hunting grounds. The pride is in good condition, with all the members looking healthy. They do not have full-time pride males, since they share males with the Southern pride. They are prized females, and hopefully we will see new males with this pride soon.

The bottom image was taken on 15 September 2008. Two of the three cubs have survived to the age of seven months. Mortality among lion cubs is extremely high. After they are weaned (6 or 7 months), life becomes tough. They then need to compete with the rest of the pride for food around kills. Lions are very social, but it becomes an “everyone for him self” battle around food. Cubs often get injured in and amongst this chaos, or they simply starve due to lack of nutrition. As if that’s not enough, cubs are at risk from attack by other predators such as leopard and hyena’s. This pride is one strong unit though, and that’s what these two cubs will depend on.

Tawny Eagle Eats a Terrapin!

What an amazing sight. Tawny eagles are known to have a very varied diet ranging from mammals and birds to frogs and insects. Seeing an eagle eat a terrapin is very rarely seen.

We are not sure if this eagle caught this Marsh terrapin (fresh-water turtle) or found it already dead. Tawny eagles are not afraid of scavenging or eating from carcasses.

They are often first to arrive, and vultures will use them as indicators to locate carrion. It is possible that this Tawny found the terrapin trapped in mud. Tawny’s are very capable hunters and have been seen catching prey up to the size of small antelope.

Impala Lambing Season

From the moment she took her first breath, her immediate instinct was to get to her feet. She tried over and over. Amazingly, after hardly 15 minutes she was up, balancing precariously on her nimble little legs.

Mom was nearby but kept her distance, encouraging her new lamb to walk towards her.  They will spend roughly three days together before she rejoins the herd. Mom and baby will get to know each other intimately in these days together, mostly through smell, and also by voice.

Amazingly, newborn impala are scentless for the first three days of its life, helping it to hide from predators.

More New Arrivals

Baby animals give a sense of freshness to the concession and regardless of how many there are you always have time to watch them run around.

They signify life, freedom and joy. Summer-time is baby-time! Conditions are perfect, with water more readily available and green grass and leaves all around, they have the opportunity to grow as much as they can before winter comes. Their mother’s milk also has the maximum nutrition needed to aid in this growth, due to all the good graze and browse.

To the right we have Burchell’s zebra, Southern giraffe and Common waterbuck.

Hippo’s

Hippos are water bound and when there’s no water around they have a problem. Luckily we have not reached that point yet, but it’s a very real threat.

With Gudzani dam and the Nwanetsi river having very low water levels the hippos are under great pressure. The bulls are extremely territorial, and if need be will defend their properties till the death.

With the low water levels, pods of hippos are forced closer and closer to each other. Bulls end up engaging in several fights, and all sub-adult bulls have been chased out of these territories. This leaves them with nowhere to go, except for some muddy ponds. Dumbana Pools is home for four such bachelor bulls but the rains will come soon to provide relief for them.

Visiting Birds

These beautiful birds visit us each summer. They have remarkable colours and add stunning beauty to the concession.

They have traveled from as far as Europe and travel for various reasons. Some come all the way to avoid the cold, and to feed on the plentiful insects in summer, especially termites.

Most of these birds leave again around April or May and we wait in anticipation for their arrival again next summer.

From top to bottom - European Bee-eater, European Roller, Southern Carmine Bee-eather, Woodland Kingfisher and a Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

Sunset Over the Concession

I visit Singita to re-assure my soul of what it is to be truly African…

This entry was sumbitted by Marlon du Toit
All the photographs were taken on location by Marlon du Toit
Singita Kruger National Park
31 January 2009