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a week in the bush: vol 26

on Nov 03, 2014

We have had some amazing, and rare sightings on the reserve this week that we have been fortunate enough to experience with our guests, making it an exciting time to be a Guide at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve. This week, it’s all about the mammals and what a show they’ve put on for us. I must say before we continue that again, there is just too much content to share in one blog and so I have chosen to represent this week’s highlights with images taken from my vehicle including only the sightings I was able to share with my guests, with the only exception being a treat of a sighting near the end of the blog post. I hope you enjoy...

The extensive buffalo herds are still lingering around, and throughout the property large aggregations can be seen. I think the main reason for the extended stay is as a result of the intense fires that swept through the reserve only six weeks ago. Many of our readers may not be aware of this fact, but fire is a very necessary tool in regards to ‘veld’ management and one that ensures new growth takes place. This benefits all animals and not just the buffalo, as now there is a flush of fresh sweet grasses for all the grazers and sugary new leaves for the browsers. It is a time of plenty and with the approaching rains, the animals can concentrate a little less on finding food and a bit more on ensuring their offspring survive into the dry season.

The wild dogs too, have been making themselves a regular feature in our daily drives for the last couple of weeks as well and I think they have also been benefitting from the increased visibility afforded to them in the recently burnt areas of the property. We have seen them on several kills, with many of our guests experiencing the spectacle first-hand. Now this may not be for everybody, but it is nature in its most raw form and something to be respected for what it is. These animals are incredible hunters and without doubt the most successful of any animal out here. They are also one of the most endangered. It is estimated that there are only between 450 and 500 animals left in South Africa after years of wrongful persecution, but we hope that with our help, the numbers will grow again.

While sitting a pack of 12 wild dogs (5 adults and 7 pups), who were rather inactive after a rather large meal the night before, that of a kudu cow, we were joined in the sighting by a journey of giraffes about ten animals strong. This would have led to a potentially interesting situation, but the dogs were indifferent on this day. It’s not to say that the dogs could take one down, but they do enjoy the chase just for the sake of it. I recall one occasion this last week when they chased a huge bull elephant with great effect. After the weariness of the dogs wore off, the giraffes found themselves comfortable enough to drink in a pan next to where the dogs were lying on this overcast day.

We caught up with both Maxabeni male and Little Bush female leopards, after the Little Bush Camp rangers found them shortly after morning drive commenced. We had left the lodge early and got ourselves a position in the sighting. We believe the duo, and possibly their cub, had been feeding on a kill in the nearby riverbed and were chased off by clan of hyenas. While navigating through some dense riverine bush, we lost sight of the male, but kept up with the notoriously ‘feisty’ female, who it must be said seems to have relaxed a lot over the last year and a half. We followed her a short while and then her body language changed. Along the Msuthlu River she had heard something in the nearby bushes and we thought it would be a cane rat, something they seem to relish, but before we could finish our guesswork she reached in and pulled out a young gosling. Amazing! She carried it a short distance and began to pluck the feathers, all the while contact calling her cub. The cub arrived after 15 minutes or so, but was too late to partake in the meal.

Nottins female and her cub were found the following day after she had fetched her young cub from the den site in order to bring it to the kill she had made, a sub-adult warthog. Visibility was poor for most of our encounter with them until we were on our way out of the sighting. The female decided she would take the kill up a nearby Weeping Boer-Bean tree to ensure that it remained out of reach of any scavengers. The young cub though, was a bit too full to scale anything but the nearby termite mound. It is great to see the both of them doing so very well.

One of the three Southern Pride lionesses that has yet to give birth, or so we think, was found to feeding on a buffalo carcass we suspect she killed in the riverbed by Little Bush Camp. We had seen her tracks coming in and going out of the property for several days before and assumed she was scanning for potential den sites or possibly hunting. Little did we know there was a kill she was moving from. We managed to catch up with her after she too was chased off of the carcass by hyenas. We left this female again going south from Bush Lodge where we suspect the other females have their dens and when we left her we could hear the males calling repeatedly nearby.

We departed the Bush Lodge early in the morning in search of lions, checking cut-lines and finding nothing. Granted, some of the terrain is unforgiving and it had rained about 3mm the night before. We continued on with our hopes of finding the lions dashed. Regardless, we had been having some incredible sightings of leopard, wild dogs and cheetah so we weren’t complaining. We meandered around the southern property, taking in its beauty and then my partner Dollen, spotted a leopard lying in a thicket. A very good spot I might add. It was the Lisbon female leopard. She is an old girl, but beautiful and we had her all to ourselves. We spent a long time with her as she lay down, grooming and showing no signs of movement. It was a real and unexpected treat to have this experience all to ourselves. We don’t get to see her as much as we used to around these parts, possibly due to lack of stable males in the area, but she has been seen relatively frequently in the last several weeks.

Mike Palmer Lisbon

We left the Lisbon female as she moved southward toward the Sabie River and moved on, sure that we were not going to see lions this morning and then we found them, lion tracks, big ones, male ones. Excited we set off tracking these cats all over the southwestern section of the reserve with the signs in the sand telling us they were following one of the large herds of buffalo in the area. Eventually, after some distance we could see no more tracks. We climbed off the vehicle to have a closer look and that’s when I saw the buffalo, lifeless and contrasting against the green grass. We had found a kill and so naturally the lions must be there. We found that morning, two of the three Sand River male lions stationary on some rocks and very, very full from the meal they had just consumed. We would find out later that there were in fact two dead buffalos and all three of the Sand River males around the site, with the other male around 100 metres away. In all the excitement we hadn’t bothered to look.

We have also had repeated and regular sightings of this male cheetah, who at times can be somewhat of a ghost. He was seen moving across an open area early one morning and followed while seemingly on a hunting mission. During the course of the morning though, he was unsuccessful and retired in the shade for the rest of the day. We had tried to relocate him in the afternoon, but he eluded us all and we could find no sign of him on any road in the immediate area. We assumed he was successful in making a kill.

Mike Palmer Cheetah

Later in the week we came across Maxabeni again, lying in a riverbed and looking very full from a meal he had recently eaten. We were actually looking for a male cheetah that was seen in the area the previous afternoon. The cheetah had gone rogue from the morning and we suspected he had made a kill, but were unable to find it. We don’t track cheetahs on foot like we do the rest of the high profile animals. Anyhow, we suspect that the big male leopard had stolen the kill from the cheetah, chasing him further west .

Mike Palmer Maxabeni 2

We were also very lucky to find the Warthog Wallow female leopard one overcast morning while on our way to view a couple of male lions a short distance north of us. We followed her as she moved from termite mound to termite mound in search of prey, allowing us some great opportunities to photograph her as she did so. We kept up with her for a while and thought we would leave her to do her thing.

Mike Palmer Warthog Wallow BW

After some time exploring the eastern section of our reserve digesting the amazing leopard sighting we had just been privy to, we made our approach to view these two male lions seen earlier. Now we knew that the three Sand River males were right outside Bush Lodge so these were different individuals and one would naturally assume that these were the Charleston boys. Wrong. These males were new for me and after some deliberation; we confirmed them to be the Fourways males who had come in from east of our boundaries. They are a handsome pair and I would be quite excited to see if they will explore a bit further into the area. The Charleston males have also recently poked their noses in and we would love to see them stay. We shall wait and see what develops.

Now on to the more secretive mammals that one might encounter out here in the Lowveld. The first is an animal that is often seen as a flash in the spotlight, but a fairly common resident around these parts and it is known as the Lesser Bushbaby. It is a small nocturnal primate that can be seen jumping around from tree to tree, in search of prey. On this occasion we were lucky enough to find one who was very relaxed with our presence, but still shy as it peaked innocently from behind the tree stump it was hiding behind. For me this was one the highlights of my week and an unusual occurrence to find one so relaxed.

Mike Palmer Bushbaby 2

The other incredibly rare sighting this last week was that of a Pangolin! I must say that I did not get to see this creature on this occasion, but many of the guides did manage to get eyes on it, with this photo being attributed to Bush Lodge ranger, Pravir Patel. It is an animal seldom seen around this area and I have seen a pangolin only once before. Commonly referred to as a ‘scaly ant-eater’, this shy, nocturnal creature often moves from mound to mound in search of termites, which are its primary source of food. Needless to say there was much excited about this sighting, particularly from the guides, who may by all means never see one again.

Pangolin 01 Pravir

It has been an absolutely action-packed week of incredible game viewing and I hope you have all enjoyed reliving the moments with me. I will leave you again with another gorgeous sunset taken at one of my favourite sundowner spots. Steve Volkwyn will be bringing you the next week’s update and I look forward to connecting with all of you in the next couple of weeks. Until next time...

Mike Palmer Sunset

  • BY MIKE PALMER (BUSH LODGE RANGER)
  • IMAGES BY MIKE PALMER AND PRAVIR PATEL
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