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terry’s highlights – december/january

on Feb 25, 2015

It seems weird to be thinking all the way back to the festive season, but such is the length of the cycles that we do in the bush. Even though we weren’t around with our families to receive some presents, Santa certainly did not disappoint us with the sightings and the New Year certainly brought with it some firsts.

Terry Ennever HighlightsDecJan9

One of these firsts was getting some good shots of the Fourways male lion coalition. These boys are majestic looking and have now doubt that I will be seeing more of them in the future as they look for a territory of their own.

Terry Ennever HighlightsDecJan1

The elephant sightings have been spectacular; with some herds even numbering as many as 60 and the presence of the Marula fruit certainly has played a part. In these pictures these two bulls were testing their strength against each other in a truly awesome way.

It was great to see a huge herd with lots of youngsters, many of which have attitudes much larger than themselves.

Terry Ennever HighlightsDecJan11

These youngsters however showed us the importance of family and just enjoying each other company while mum gave us an evil glare warning us to not come any closer.

Leopard sighting have still been amazing and confirming why the Sabi Sand Game Reserve is one of the best places to view these elusive members of the Big 5 in the wild.

The highlight for this cycle involved the Southern Pride and the new additions in the form of the four cubs. The mums had done a good job of keeping them hidden from me throughout the cycle and even my girlfriend had seen them before me one night on her way back from work! Since then I had very few fleeting glimpses of them but I was looking for those sightings where I could really see them and enjoy their company.

Terry Ennever HighlightsDecJan3

It came the one night, where we had picked up some tracks for a lone lioness and slightly further away some tracks for the other two females, a male and the four young cubs. After lots of tracking we managed to find the lone lioness that seemed to have an injury. I was joined by my fellow ranger, Craig Reiche from Selati Camp who had also put in a serious shift to try and track down these lions. Although she was sleeping, we were going to stick it out as there was a strong chance that she may lead us to the rest of the pride. While we can never predict the actions of an animal, our training in animal behaviour gives us a chance to anticipate certain signs that will cause an animal to do certain things. While the lioness was sleeping, I spoke to my guest about the signs we were looking for. A good start would be that she opens her eyes and sits up - don’t need to be a ranger to state that one! We would then be looking for her to start grooming, kind of like getting ready for a night out. After that we will be hoping that she starts to yawn, trying to get oxygen to the brain. After that, given the fact that she is a social cat, she will probably start to contact call to the rest of the pride to let them know her location. Fortunately, all of these things played out and the rest of the pride responded. Craig then left to locate the others while we followed the injured female as she made her way to the direction of the response. ”I’ve got them” Craig said - the full complement, the other females, the male and the four cubs. It was the next day that was really special.

Terry Ennever HighlightsDecJan9

Although we didn’t view them well that night, it was how everything played out which made the sighting special and the joy of when the family connected that was so very special. We then found them the following day and able to view the pride very well. It was an extremely hot afternoon and they had found a small bit of shade on a nice open area. One female got up and moved towards my vehicle and then decided to lay in the shade of my vehicle.

Terry Ennever HighlightsDecJan16

As if she had found the perfect spot, she contact called to the cubs and the other two females, Floppy Ear being one. The cubs came running in and lay a few meters from the car, shortly joined by Floppy Ear. I was pretty nervous at this point as Floppy Ear is a notoriously aggressive female and now there are cubs around. I then decided to move the vehicle despite them needing some shade - after all these are still apex predators.

Terry Ennever HighlightsDecJan8

After settling down a little further away and even with two other vehicles’ shade to choose from, they chose once again to come closer to mine but before they got there I was already moving. As special that it is to have them come so close to introduce the cubs to me, there is still a boundary that we need to respect despite them making the advances.

Terry Ennever HighlightsDecJan12

The Southern Pride cubs were not the only new members we were fortunate enough to see. We found a couple of young hyena cubs who were just as curios about us as we were about them. We had been scouting out this den for some time, and even though they were approximately 3 months old, it was great to see these youngsters exploring their environment.

Terry Ennever HighlightsDecJan10

On the last day of my cycle, I got to share in a wonderful sighting of Little Bush and her cub. It was made that much more special as I enjoyed the sighting with my cousin who had never before seen a wild leopard. It made me appreciate how lucky I was to have the opportunity to work in area with such a prolific leopard population.

One of the things which I don’t often mention in my highlights blog which always is a highlight and that is meeting guests from all over the world and being able to facilitate their dream of seeing animals in their natural environment. This cycle was no exception in meeting some people that make this job so worthwhile.

It`s never easy being away from your loved ones during the festive season, but the time spent with your “bush family” and the animals that roam this area certainly goes a long way to making up for that. Be it with old guests returning or new ones arriving, the fun that we have and the sights we share, proudly extends the Sabi Sabi family each and every day.

  • BY: TERRY ENNEVER (EARTH LODGE RANGER)
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