July 2010 : Sabi Sand Reserve, South Africa

JULY OVERVIEW

July has been an extremely busy and exciting month. The lodges have been running at, and above, capacity for most of the month and there has been a fantastic vibe and hype in both the lodge and the staff village with the soccer World Cup having a unifying effect on everyone. The World Cup has afforded us a wonderful opportunity to share what we have here at Singita Sabi Sand with many guests who, by their own admission, wouldn’t otherwise have come to our beautiful country. As if on cue, the wildlife viewing also seems to have stepped up a level. Early on in the month, there were a couple of days when the big cats seemed to elude us, but since then we have been fortunate to have up to three lion prides on the property at any one time, namely the Sparta, Othawa and Southern pride. A number of leopard as well as regular sightings of two different male cheetah. The cherry on top was the discovery of a new hyaena den site, which has produced many hours of unforgettable memories.

At the beginning of July, Singita Sabi Sand welcomed three new members to the guiding team. Dave Steyn, James Crookes and Wade Swart all hit the ground running after graduating from the Singita Field Guide Training Academy in June. Having been on the property for the past six months, they are no strangers to Singita and have been seamlessly integrated into the guiding department.

The guiding team were all deeply saddened to learn of the death of two leopards we have all spent countless hours viewing and appreciating, animals. This, however, is an inherent characteristic of the environment in which we live and work. We often forget just how harsh the environment is and how many challenges are endured on a daily basis. Ultimately only the fittest and strongest survive, and with the departure of these animals, we can be sure that territories will shift and we will likely be afforded the privilege of encountering leopards that have previously been unknown to us.

THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY

One of the biggest challenges in a guide’s day is getting out of bed in the morning. This is exacerbated in winter, when the minimum temperature is recorded in single digits and you can look forward to this temperature dropping even further as you set off in an open Land Rover for a morning safari. Gloves, scarves and beanies become the most essential uniform items, without which surviving the first few hours becomes a serious challenge. However, the reward of braving one of these crisp winter’s mornings is a sunrise that rivals any I’ve ever experienced. I was recently driving a guest who had a specific interest in photographing sunsets and sunrises. Rather than setting off at the normal time of 6.30am, I suggested that we leave at 5.45am to allow time to drive to Camp Pan, where we could experience the full splendour of a winter sunrise in the Sabi Sand. This location provided the perfect foreground, as the sky came alive with brilliant shades of purple and red. The reflection of the water and a silhouetted
Marula tree rounded off this surreal scene. There is surely no better way to start a day than in the African bushveld.

FEEDING FRENZY

It amazes me how often the cliché of ‘always expect the unexpected’ prevails in the bush. You can watch a lion or leopard stalk prey for hours on end, expecting to witness the chase and takedown, but the predator is inevitably found wanting. On this specific evening we had been treated to a wonderful sighting of two leopards, a female and her sub adult cub, who had had an impala, kill stolen from them by hyaenas. It was a great privilege to witness the interaction that followed and after a fantastic sighting we slowly started to head back to the lodge.

A couple of minutes later, we had a visual of some silhouetted buffalo running through the bush in front of us. This could only mean that they were either being chased or had been spooked by something. As we moved in to take a closer look, the tawny figure of a lioness moved into the spotlight. One by one, the Sparta pride emerged from the long grass, having failed in their attempt to secure an evening meal. This wouldn’t be all that uncommon, as lions have been associated with a hunting success rate of around 20%. As each lion emerged, they uttered a quiet contact call, similar to that a female would emit when trying to locate her cubs. This call is used to locate the other members in the pride, who would have ended up being separated from one another during the attempted hunt. The pride slowly regrouped and, after a brief greeting ceremony during which they nuzzled and brushed up against each other, they made their way down the road in single file. After a while they turned off the road and headed into the block. It was clear that this pride of 9 were hungry and on the hunt, but with the buffalo spooked, there was no knowing when they would have another opportunity.

A group decision was taken that this had been another great sighting and that we would head back to the lodge. As we began driving, suddenly there was another stampede of buffalo behind us and on the other side of the road. The lions had obviously split the herd in their first attempt, had now regrouped and were in the process of making a second attempt.

Generally, in the Sabi Sand, the lion prides seem to prefer wildebeest as their primary prey. This is largely due to the fact that a wildebeest, which is much smaller and has a less intimidating set of horns than a buffalo, pose much less of a threat to the lions. As such, it is seldom that one has the chance to experience a buffalo hunt. Some of the lions must have done a loop around the buffalo and chased them towards the rest of the pride. The aim of this strategy would have been to cause confusion in the herd and to isolate one of the calves, which is much easier to overpower than an adult.

Amidst all the confusion, there was a lot of vocalisation from both the lions and the buffalo. The fact that all of this was taking place in the dark of night made it that much more disorientating and only the narrow beam of the spotlight gave us any insight into what was developing around us. Out of the mass of audio, we heard the call of a distressed calf and quickly made our way towards the sound. After crashing through a couple of Magic Guarri bushes we came into a clearing to find the 9 lions jostling for space around a young buffalo.

We had missed the take down by seconds and the animal was clearly still alive when we arrived, as its distressed call for help echoed into the night. All the while the lions were growling, snarling and lashing out at one another. It was interesting to see how the disposition of these animals had changed. Just a couple of minutes earlier they were nuzzling one another and now it was clearly every animal for themselves. The scene quickly developed into a feeding frenzy with each animal trying to get a portion of the spoils. The whole scenario almost seemed surreal, largely due to the fact that it was being viewed via the beam of a spotlight, with the surroundings melting into the darkness of night. The sensory experience was amazing with a variety of sounds, smells and not least of all the visual experience. I was surprised at how quickly the kill was dismembered and devoured. Within 40 minutes there was little sign of the action that had taken place, other than the odd lion spread out in the area gnawing on a couple of bones.

Witnessing this whole scene unfold was an amazing experience, the enormity of which took a while to sink in. This was a once in a lifetime experience and I feel really privileged to have witnessed it from start to finish, something very few people can attest to have done.

OBITUARY

While July has been another month of fantastic game viewing, there have also been two incidents that have brought great sadness to the guiding team at Singita Sabi Sand. Unfortunately two leopards we have come to know were killed in separate incidents during the month. Both of these happened to the west of Singita’s boundary and from what we understand, involved an altercation with a male leopard.

RAVENSCOURT CUB

The Ravenscourt female had a litter comprising 2 male cubs in April 2009. We had the privilege of watching these cubs grow up close to the lodge as this forms the core of their mother’s territory. It wasn’t uncommon to see these two cubs together with their mother as well as the Xindzele male, the surviving cub from her previous litter, on a kill or patrolling the area. These cubs have not yet been named as this is usually only done once they become independent. Earlier in the year, this particular cub developed a swelling on his throat and neck area, which was suspected to have been a snake bite. He seemed to have recovered well and was the more relaxed of the two cubs. Sadly we learned that his carcass was discovered early in July and an autopsy revealed that he had been in a fight with a large male leopard. Since then, we have had regular sightings of the surviving cub as well as the Ravenscourt female.

MAKUBELA FEMALE

The Makubela female was born to the Shangwa female in 2003, making her 7 years old. She has had 5 litters of cubs. Her most recent litter consisted of 2 cubs which were born in early 2010 and were reared at a den site in the Makubela koppies. Sadly one of these cubs died earlier in the year. It seems as if she was involved in a fight with the Khashane male leopard, after which she fled to the upper reaches of a tree. When she finally descended the tree, she started having seizures and later died. Upon investigation it was found that she had a punctured lung as well as other injuries which were sustained during the fight and ultimately caused her death.

NEW ADDITIONS TO OUR HYAENA POPULATION

A new hyaena den site has been found close to Singita Ebony and Boulders lodges. The den site comprises an abandoned termite mound, with its infrastructure of existing tunnels providing the perfect place to raise hyaena cubs. The females will have excavated the termite mound to make it more suitable for housing the cubs. The den will have holes and tunnels through which only the cubs can crawl. Dens are communal and will be used by a number of females and will be home to cubs of various ages. At this particular den site, there are cubs from two separate female’s litters. The older cubs are heavily spotted with a greyish ground colour as can be seen above. This colour will prevail for up to a year, after which the spots will begin to fade and colour will lighten. The younger cub, depicted below, would be in the region of 1.5 – 2 months old, as it exhibits the uniform seal grey colour.

Each female will provide for and suckle her own cubs. She may suckle them for up to a year and a half. The volume and duration of this milk production has been found to be linked to the high percentage of bone in their diet. Generally, adults lie up at a distance from the den and may return during late afternoon to suckle their offspring. Males play no parental role and are seldom allowed close to the den.

‘We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they’re called memories. Some take us forward, they’re called dreams.’ Jeremy Irons