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a week in the bush: vol 46

on Apr 09, 2015

It’s that time of the year when rangers start unpacking their warmer clothing and dusting it off after spending some time in the cupboard. Early morning safaris sees guests snuggling under their blankets for the first hour or so while the sun comes up. With the shortage of rain the bush is getting drier and drier and guides are now focusing a lot of attention on waterholes as many animals start to congregate in their numbers around the many pans, wallows and dams around the property.

The lions have certainly entertained guides and guests alike the past week. It seems that the Southern Pride females and the Southern Pride split are hanging out together more often when the males are out patrolling their territories. This is a good sign and hopefully we see the males excepting the Southern Pride split’s presence in the near future. The six females were also successful in bringing down a large male kudu, which put a smile on all the guide’s faces because whenever we saw the females, especially Mandleve/Floppy Ear and her crew, they were looking like they needed a serious meal. After two days of feasting on the kudu, they were found resting on Sabi Sabi’s private airstrip.

The Sand River males were seen once during the past week, where one of the males was nursing a bit of a limp and when we tracked him down he was alone, calling for his brothers. Eventually he caught up and we noticed the other two brothers watching a breeding herd of buffalo. The three brothers spent the entire day watching the buffalo and waited for nightfall to take action. Although unsuccessful, it was quite exciting to see them try and chase the buffalo.

The Fourways males also made an appearance as well but hesitated to come deep into the property because they would be invading into the Sand River males’ territory. With every sighting of these two males, they are growing larger and more impressive and will certainly make an impact on the lion dynamics in the area in the near future.

On the leopard front we have been seeing much more of our younger leopards which has been great. The young Tortilis male has been seen on a daily basis and is becoming more confident day by day, even though he is invading in the much larger Maxabeni’s territory. Tortilis somehow manages to avoid being detected by Maxabeni or maybe Warthog Wallow is defending him really well. He and Warthog Wallow were also found once on a large impala kill, but while eating it up a Marula tree, Tortilis dropped the kill and hyenas quickly approached to steal the kill.

Another face that we are glad to be seeing more often is the new dominant male of the Southern section of our property, the Mandleve male. He is growing fast and becoming much more confident. He is also becoming quite the poser, and we often find him lazing on rocks or termite mounds posing for the cameras.

The big herds of elephants are slowly becoming a bit scarce, but the big bulls are still found wandering around the property. These gentle giants often come close to the vehicles allowing some beautiful close-up photos.

After a long absence, a big breeding herd of buffalo made an appearance on the property and stayed for most of the week. They slowly made their way through many of our open areas and were also found drinking at many of the waterholes around the reserve.

During the past week our new superstar has not been seen, the female cheetah and her four adorable cubs, but a male cheetah has been spotted twice moving through the property. It’s always great to see a cheetah and we have been very privileged over the past few months to have had numerous sightings of this endangered cat.

Sabi Sabi is also known for the smaller animals and one of guest’s favourites is the Flap-necked Chameleon. Guests are always left in awe when trackers spot these well camouflaged reptiles during the night and we are always asked if it was placed there before drive. Guide Mike Laubscher was able to capture a beautiful image of a pregnant female during broad daylight as she stood still trying to avoid detection.

024Mike Laubscher Chameleon
  • BY PRAVIR PATEL (BUSH LODGE RANGER)
  • IMAGES BY PRAVIR PATEL, TERRY ENNEVER, FRANSCOIS ROSSLEE, MIKE LAUBSCHER, MIKE PALMER AND KOSIE LATEGAN
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