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A Week in the Bush Vol. 117

on Aug 25, 2016

Hello everyone and welcome to another installment of “A Week in the Bush”. We’ve had another amazing seven days here on the reserve, filled with loads of action on all fronts. The predator viewing has been nothing short of phenomenal and general game/bird sightings have been plentiful as well with a number of highlights that stand out. I hope you’ve all been following us on a daily basis, but in case you missed out on anything, here are the week’s highlights.

There’s so much to talk about with regards to the lions that I’m almost speechless, if that even makes sense, but honestly there have been so many great moments this week. The Southern Pride is back on the rise, thanks to the two Charleston males providing the much needed stability the ladies needed. This is most evident in the fact that several females have young cubs and I’m sure that in the coming months we’ll have a few more. Floppy Ear’s little male cubs are too cute for words and have finally made their first appearance at a kill this week. The Pride, including the two Charleston boys, managed to bring down two buffalos right outside Little Bush Camp and we were excited to find out that Floppy Ear had brought the two little cubs to the party. They start feeding on meat anywhere from 6-8 weeks of age and they are about 8 weeks now so it was about time for the event. We had seen the cubs once or twice before at the den whenever she would lead us there, but from here on out, I’m sure we’ll be seeing them spend a lot more time with the Pride and in another 2-4 weeks we’ll have the other new cubs join the group. These are really exciting times for our lions and I couldn’t be happier for them considering the struggles they’ve gone through over the last few years!

Leopard viewing has definitely taken a back seat over the last couple of weeks with all of the excitement surrounding the Southern Pride, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been any sightings to note. In fact, we’ve had some phenomenal sightings this week with Maxabeni and Tatowa mating being the definitive highlight. Tatowa is not a female we see on a very regular basis, but we have sighted her more and more over recent months. This being said, I doubt that there will be an increase in any sighting of her in the future either. When leopards mate, the female is often drawn much deeper into the male’s territory and out of her comfort zone. Regardless, she is a beautiful female to view.

The Little Bush female and her cub were on a bushbuck kill earlier in the week and we spent some great time with the two of them for the few days they were on site. The cub is doing very well and found frequently on her own now as she explores her surroundings with increasing confidence and if the last litter is anything to go by, we could see her becoming independent within the next 4-6 months.

Speaking of Little Bush’s last litter, the young Kigelia female was found several times this week and one evening on an impala kill. We sat with her for a while as she fed, but it wasn’t for long as a hyena came through and stole it from her. It almost seemed as if she knew the hyena was coming, but she still did not hoist the carcass. It was a lesson well learned I’m sure.

15Mike Palmer Kigelia 200816 1

The Toulon Pack of wild dogs has also been frequenting the reserve this last week and the entire guiding team was delighted at the prospect of seeing the pack along with their latest litter of pups. I’m not entirely sure how many they may have started with, but there are currently 10 puppies and all seem to be doing very well, as are the adults for that matter. If memory serves, the pack only consisted of 7 adults last year and this ear we have 12! That’s a fantastic rise and with the drier conditions prevailing at the moment, I’m sure we’ll see this pack grow even larger by next year this time.

As stated earlier, the general game sightings have been great all around with huge herds of zebra, wildebeest, elephants, buffalos and waterbuck enjoying the flush of fresh grazing on the reserve. We have also seen the first signs of Spring as certain flowers have started to form out of the ground and on certain tree species such as the Knobthorn Acacia. The time of plenty is near. One sighting that stood out for me this week was of one of the most commonly seen antelopes that we have here and that is the common duiker. This animal is very shy and often runs long before the vehicle comes to a halt to view it, so on one morning we were lucky to spend a few precious minutes with a more relaxed individual and even watched it have a drink. It might not seem like a big deal to most, but if you lived here you would understand how difficult it is to get a picture of one of these animals.

19Mike Palmer Common Duiker 200816 1

We had a couple of really good photographic opportunities with the birds this week of which a couple of the highlights were a Little Bee-eater and a Bateleur Eagle. Little Bee-eaters are one of our most colourful resident birds found at Sabi Sabi throughout the year and Bateleur Eagles are about the most colourful of the birds of prey.

Stargazing has been spectacular this week and should be all the way into next week as well with the moon currently being in its waning phase, making the early evenings a perfect time for stargazing and star photography tutorials for our guests. You’ll definitely be seeing a lot more from me on the subject!

22Mike Palmer Stars 230816 1

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the week’s highlights and I’m sure that next week will bring many more sensational stories for us to share with you. Until then though, have a great week ahead and don’t forget to follow all the daily action on our social media platforms.

  • Blog by Mike Palmer (Bush Lodge Ranger)
  • Images by Mike Palmer, Mike Laubscher and Franscois Rosslee
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