A Week in the Bush Vol. 480
on Nov 08, 2023What a start to the week – photos of one of the first impala lambs born this season…
As summer rolls in, the dry bush begins to rejuvenate. Summer rains change the browns and yellows of the bush into a lush green wilderness, a reliable annual event. Many animals have learnt to make the most of this; impalas are one such animal, knowing that juicy, nutritious grass begins to sprout around this time of year; it is the perfect birthing time.
This female impala and her lamb are one of the first of the year, a special occasion we missed by only a few minutes, as its umbilical cord was still attached while mom licked her lamb clean. Amazingly, after only a few minutes, this little lamb was up and walking albeit on slightly unsure legs, but very quickly, the little lamb gained its confidence and walked off with mom into the safety of the thickets.
Waterbuck, as the name suggests, are water-dependent and will not venture too far from a permanent water source. They are known to use the water as a defence to evade predators like lions, who are reluctant to get themselves wet.
Although the Grey go-away-bird is a common resident at Sabi Sabi, it is always fun to watch them and listen out for their typical "Go Away" call. The Grey go-away-bird typically feeds on fruit, leaves, nectar and invertebrates and can be found year-round throughout the reserve.
This beautiful Black-bellied Bustard male showed his colours in the late afternoon light. We often refer to them as the 'champagne bird' as their call sounds similar to a champagne bottle popping the cork. The male will slowly raise his neck, with his bill upwards and open. The neck expands, giving a drawling, frog-like sound, then pulls the head back onto his shoulders, his bill, horizontal, extends the neck and gives a loud and explosive sound, like a cork popping from a bottle. They often call in search of females in the area.
We got to spend some quality time with the newest members of this hyena clan. Upon our arrival, it was quiet, with only a couple of adults lying around, but these little guys appeared not long after. They were full of energy playing and chasing after each other, of course being very interested in what the vehicle was but relying on the older members to warn them should any danger be nearby. These youngsters spend nearly a full year at their den site before heading out with the other clan members to look for food.
Weighing in at around 800kg and armed with an impressive set of horns, Buffalo bulls are a force to be reckoned with. Known to attack, chase and in some cases kill predators who dare attempt to hunt them. We are fortunate to harbour several large herds, up to multiple hundred individuals, who play a vital role in the maintenance of the natural environment and vegetation. Trampling and grazing prevent bush encroachment whilst defecation leads to food sources for other critters as well as nutrients to the ground below.
The male Red-headed Weaver is the only local bird with a red head and breast. It is also one of the only local weaver species to build a retort-shaped nest with tendrils and small twigs, as opposed to the other species which use green grass. The weave is far less tidy than the other weaver species.
A herd of elephants made their way through a thicket and along the banks of a pan producing a beautiful reflection in the water.
With perfect light early in the morning, this male zebra stood out beautifully, overlooking an open area to make sure it was safe to lead his harem to a good grazing area for the day. Certainly, one of the most iconic animals Africa has to offer.
A cold and blustery morning saw many animals seeking shelter in the dense thickets from the relentless winds; we were, however, undeterred. Braving the winds paid off after spotting tracks for a pride of lions. We followed as many signs and tracks as possible. Eventually, we stopped to try and put together all the clues that surrounded us, but before we could, the strong winds carried with it the call of a lion. We immediately followed the sound. The closer we got, the louder the calls grew. Heading off road, the calls turned into roars. The dense thickets gave way to a small open area and the source of the calls, one of the last two remaining N'waswishaka male lions! It has been almost a year since the last sighting of one of these majestic and powerful males at Sabi Sabi. He moved along, calling and roaring, searching for his pride, but also, like us, he was yet to find them.
In the far north-eastern corner of our reserve lay the figure of a large male lion hidden between Magic Guarri thickets. Sheltered from the rain, this N'waswishaka male groomed himself thoroughly, halting to scan around, seemingly still in search of his companions. A scent drew his nose high into the air, enticing him to get up and start moving. From the core of his being, a roar of great magnitude arose, almost as to bid farewell and move deeper into the bush.
In a separate sighting, we were still out to find the pride of lions that were evading us. We were spurred on by news that they had indeed been spotted earlier in the day but finding them proved challenging. Rain and wind meant that almost no evidence had been left behind. They moved, seemingly like ghosts, but we were determined to find them until eventually they appeared and boy was it worth the effort.
The very rarely seen Kambula Pride had made their entrance. This large pride and its many young cubs were accompanied by one of the N'waswishaka males. They moved through the wet grass, with the mother lionesses paving a route for the cubs to follow along, one by one, in a line. The large male soon followed scent marking as he went off into the wet thickets.
As we decided to follow up on the Kambula Breakaways from the morning safari, we found tracks of them on top of buffalo tracks and multiple areas where we could see them running. After a short tracking exercise, we found them sleeping in the shade, clearly unsuccessful in securing a meal. They are in good condition, but lions are always very opportunistic as they only have an average success hunting rate of 35%. They will sleep until sunset and continue following the buffalo herd to take any opportunity.
Based on tracks moving through our reserve, five female members of the Styx Pride covered great distance hunting during the evening. We finally caught up with the pride, where they had successfully taken down a large male waterbuck, providing the pride with a good meal.
After a brief visual of one of the younger lionesses of the Southern Pride the night before, we decided to head back into the area the next morning. Following up on their tracks is always an eventful and action-packed activity. We moved through our reserve following the tracks, jumping off the vehicle every couple hundred meters to check for tracks before carrying on again. We found the three adult lionesses sleeping in the shade as the temperatures were already busy rising, they were in a very good condition and seemed to be doing just fine. These lions will spend most of the day in the thicker, shadier areas hiding from the rising temperatures before they will get active again after dark, most likely making their way back to where they stashed the cubs away.
After a few days of what some might call 'miserable weather,' it was a delight to witness the bush come to life on a gorgeous Spring morning. The morning's highlight was a female cheetah lounging around in the pockets of shade provided by Red bushwillow trees. Pesky flies seemingly kept her out of sleep, and soon, the shade disappeared, forcing her to get moving. Although she did not look too skinny, this opportunistic hunter will look to make the best of the days ahead. This time of year proves fruitful for predators with the presence of large amounts of impalas and their newborn lambs, often providing welcomed easy pickings.
Ntsumi and the cubs were moving purposefully. This could only mean Ntsumi had once again provided a meal for her cubs. The two cubs followed Mom closely but were easily distracted along the way, stalking each other, and playing. At one point the cubs stalked and pounced at some Crested Francolins which they narrowly missed. These are all valuable lessons for these cubs as this will form the foundation for their future hunting skills. Eventually, they reached a Tamboti thicket where Ntsumi had stashed a duiker in very dense vegetation. A small but very welcome meal.
With the sun hanging low over the horizon, the trained eye of tracker Dollen spotted a faint silhouette of a large leopard resting on a termite mound. We established that it was Mawelawela as he casually made his way off the termite mound and into some Bushwillow thickets. Unbeknownst to us and Mawelawela, Khulwana had made his way into the vicinity, being spotted mere minutes after leaving the location of Mawelawela.
After some time spent with Khulwana, his behaviour suggested that he had picked up on the scent of Mawelawela as soft vocalisations and teeth-baring were displayed. Shortly after, Khulwana strolled directly to where Mawelawela was still resting, yet despite being only meters away, they seemed to show no interest in each other. Perhaps the territorial dispute between the two has concluded, explaining why they had no confrontation. Only time will tell whether a peace agreement has been established and how long this will last.
Echoing from the east came the iconic rasps of leopard, immediately capturing the attention of some of the guides. A short search found Ntsumi ambling along the eastern boundary before cutting west into our reserve. Yet still there were rasps coming from the east, now reverberating through our bodies. “This leopard should be there on the road”, tracker Dollen said whilst pointing behind us. His words could not have been any more accurate, as we found Tengile, in the road behind us, watching Ntsumi disappear into the thickets.
Tengile proceeded very confidently, blowing us away with intense territorial calls whilst she re-marked her territory after the recent rains. After covering a considerable distance rasping into the sunset, Tengile decided to bed down and made herself comfortable in between the branches of a Marula tree before continuing with her after-dark duties.
Our week started with newborn impalas, and ended with our first sighting of more babies - newborn leopard cubs…
We heard a bushbuck alarming in camp minutes before heading out on safari. Guests got ready to head out as the alarm call could mean that a leopard was nearby as Kigelia does roam around Little Bush Camp.
We found Kigelia as she stopped for a quick drink at a small waterhole before we followed her as she made her way into the Msuthlu River. We knew she had cubs around camp, but none of us expected what was soon to follow. She led us right to her den site. With a unique call, she called them out, and we were lucky to see the intimate bond between this special cat and her newborn cubs. They had a quick drink but were soon interrupted as she did not stay long to ensure no predators were following behind her.
The den site mustn't get discovered by other animals as they will kill the cubs. The cubs retreated into the safety and watched the mother disappear into what is still unknown to them.
Seeing leopard cubs so tiny in the wild is a dream come true!
Until next time…
Blog by Wendy Claase
Images by Devon Jansen, Dieter Lategan, Jason Street, JP van Rooyen and Ruan Mey
Video by Jason Street
