Who's your daddy?

Tensions running high - Majingilan male

My radio cackled into life - "Two Ottawa sub-adults located to the east of Incala, north of Dumphries". Lions, brilliant. The arrival and take-over by the Majingilan males in early 2015 bought chaos to our western sector, scattering our resident males and sending the two prides running in every which direction. Many bitter-a-battle later, the Selati males are no more, the three Ottawa females have lost 6 of 8 of their cubs, and the Ximungwe pride are an adult female and one cub down, leaving two adult females and 5 cubs. When male lions take over a new territory, it is typical for them to kill any existing cubs so as to induce the females to mate again and to remove the gene pool of the ousted males. Avoidance tactics are generally deployed by the females, sending one adult female to mate & distract the males, and the other females to get as far as possible to keep the cubs out of sight and safe. The Ximungwe pride, who have a traumatic history when it comes to male take-overs, have been far more successful than the Ottawas at keeping their 5 remaining cubs alive. The Ottawas on the other hand, who historically have spent far more time with males as a whole pride, have not done as well. Thus we've all been waiting, baited breath, to see the outcome. It is broadly understood that if the females can protect their cubs until at least 2-2.5 yrs old, they will be safe from the males, as they resemble adults as opposed to cubs. 

Eleven months into the take-over, the Ximungwe pride are continuing their use of aversion tactics, and doing well as a result. The Ottawas have been less predictable, often leaving their two remaining cubs alone for extended periods of time. On one such occasion, the two Ottawa sub adults were located, so we went to have a look, keen to see how the sub adults were doing. What we saw when we got there though, was not just two cubs. Out of the bushes, one at a time, emerged the three adult females, and behind them, one Majingilan male. This was the first time we had seen an adult male with the pride in 11 months, so we were all on edge about how he was going to behave with the cubs. On seeing him, the young male got up and limped away, a sign that perhaps this wasn't their first meeting of the day. The Majingilan male stopped short of the rest of the pride and lay a little way off, but in the half an hour that we were there inched closer and closer all the time. Accompanied by those deep, rumbling growls, from both male and females, the situation was tense. As if on que, one adult female and the young male cub got up at the same time to move off, and the Majingilan lept up with a roar, high on his back legs and took a swipe at the younger male. Mom intervened, fighting fiercely for her boy. It was all over in seconds, the Majingilan well and truly beat, cut on the eyebrow and all, and mom and son moved away to lie with the rest of the pride. Nothing else happened after that, they all fell asleep and we were left feeling all together quite puzzled by the interaction. One thing we did notice however was that one of the females had a very large belly and extended nipples, a clear sign that she could in fact be pregnant, explaining their acceptance of the male. 

Majingilan male creeping forward, inch at a time

Keen to see how the little male was surviving against the beast, we followed up on the pride the next evening, to find them all present, and very much still together with the Majingilan male. Although he was still lying separate from the rest of the pride, he still moved when they did. Tensions were clearly still high, though it seemed that relations had settled, if just a little bit. Fingers crossed for the young male, watch this space for further update on him and possible news of new cubs for the pride. 

On a mission

Majingilan male with the Ottawa pride - my first time to see them together in 11 months

Other encounters...a Majingilan male with a Ximungwe female

Attention-averting tactics - a Ximungwe female showing just enough interest to keep the male from going elsewhere, but not co-operating with mating at all!

The circle of Scavengers

Circling vultures overhead is not an an unusual occurrence in the lowveld. But when they put their landing gear out and dive down to the ground, you know there is something there worth checking out. 

We arrived at the "scene of the crime" to a mass of vultures, some perched in the trees, others hoping on the ground,  and then we saw it; a hyge male kudu carcass, with a lonely hyena guarding it like his life depended on it. As we watched,  a battle waged between the hyena and the vultures,  who outnumbered him about 50 to 1...and that was just on the ground. With the hyena head down and gorging himself, the vultures kept creeping forward closer and closer, until they got to the point they could have a nibble, only for the feeding hyena to leap up and chase them all away. We watched this play out about 10 times over, with new vultures landing every few minutes to get in on the action.  The hyena must have thought enough was enough though and eventually sulked off, but not without taking a final vicious snap and swipe at the vultures.  

The vultures couldn't believe their luck at his departure and before we could even blink, they mobbed the carcass to the point where we could see nothing but feathers and hear nothing but squabbling. 

Their joy didn't last long though, because less then a minute after the hyena left, a young male leopard, the Torchwood male, darted out of the bushes towards the carcass. A second round of hysteria errupted with vultures scattering in all directions, leaving us ducking and diving around in the car to avoid a talon in the eye. Now clear of vultures (who as it turns out has huge respect for leopards and none for hyenas), Torchwood tucked in happily to the meat, similarly joyous with his find. 

Things in the bush have a tendency to swing in round-abouts though - another 5 minutes later we spotted not one, but three hyenas, jogging back towards the carcass. At the last minute, Torchwood spotted them, and darted up the Marula tree, under which the carcass was lying. Hissing and snarling at the hyenas below (who had now well and truly taken over the carcass again), Torchwood eventually settled up in the tree, realising he may be in for a long wait. The vultures on the other hand began their approach again, very pleased with the new turn of events. 

Why did the giraffes cross the road?

Why did the giraffes cross the road? Well they didn't, is the answer. And it wasn't a road, but a river, actually. I can tell you though, that it was a very bizarre sight to see six giraffes pacing along the edge of the Sand River, up and down, up and down, trying to find a place to cross. One by one, they took it in turns to walk to the edge, peer over and into the water, then leap back like excitable foals as if they saw a crocodile there launching up at them, which by ripple effect caused all the other giraffes stood behind huddling in a group, to jump back as well and run up the bank again. And so it went on, for a good half an hour, before they decided that it was far too risky, and that perhaps, after all, maybe the grass wasn't greener on the other side. The funniest thing of all was that although fairly wide, the water was only ankle - knee hight deep at best, but in fairness to them, there was a 3 meter crocodile lying sunning himself on the bank just 50 meters downstream. 

Winter wonderland

Winter time in the bush... I no longer look out over the lush green landscape as I sit at Rock lodge waiting for my guests, but rather a sea of yellows, browns and oranges. Most mud wallows have dried up now, the Sand River has been reduced to an ankle height trickle in places and only the bigger dams and water holes are left with any water, even then a little stagnant at that. Game viewing however has been spectacular, aided in part by being able to see deeper into the blocks, unobstructed by the lacking tall grass and thick vegetation, and of course the more predictable movements of animals, who tend not to move too far from main water sources.

Winter sunsets made spectacular with the dust in the air

Thlangisa & her cubs at approx 4 weeks

Phenomenal sightings of Thlangisa, a female leopard, and her two growing cubs have been the absolute highlight of my cycle. Thlangisa (meaning "The playful one" in Shangaan) first presented her cubs to us at just 4 weeks old, openly suckling and playing with them next to the vehicles. Ever since then, we have been incredibly privileged to watch them grow up and observe the development of their skills and characters. At 4 months old, they're honing their climbing skills, shooting up and down trees and tightrope walking along fallen branches, as well as developing their hunting skills through playfully stalking each other and chasing insects. An ever attentive mother, Thlangisa has provided her young ones with a constant and varied diet, with regular impala, duiker, steenbok and giant mole rat kills. A few great sightings of them have included watching the young female cub stalk her mother on a kill and then proceed to puff, hiss and growl until she'd weaselled her way onto the kill and then fought with her mother until she had the carcass to herself, thereby growling and "pffting" menacingly whenever anyone got too close! Watching the two cubs scramble up a huge Marula tree and feed on an impala was another spectacular sighting (see video below), as was watching the young male cub drag the top half of a steenbok kill up and down a drainage line, displaying phenomenal strength and agility for his miniature size. Just this last week, I watched Thlangisa kill and present first one, and then two mole rats for her cubs and got to watch them roll around playing with their food before settling down and tucking in....incredible! 

The female cub at 12 weeks

Cub at 12 weeks

Dawane male leopard

Thlangisa and the cubs aside, leopard sightings generally have been very good as well. Dewane, one of our territorial male leopards, seems to be over the worst of an wrist injury he received whilst fighting with another male, leaving him hopping on 3 legs for a while and us wondering how he'd ever make it! But make it he certainly has, without even conceding much territory and is doing very well, with just a little limp now and a bump on the wrist. Of other males in the area, we've been having good sightings of Nyelethi, Kashane, Torchwood and the Ravenscourt male from the east has even been venturing deeper and deeper into the western sector. Female leopard sights have also been good with Hlan'nkunzi and her last offspring, the Scotia female, both doing very well. The Dam 3 female and Boulders female continue to give us the run around, being more skittish with the vehicles, to the point where they hide so well you have to practically stand on top of them to find them on foot!!

Scotia female

Jumping across to the mighty lions, the arrival of the 4 huge Majingilan males who fought and pushed out our old coalition, the Selati's, have certainly shaken things up a bit. As per a natural takeover, the new males seek to kill any outstanding cubs in the area, not wanting the blood line of the previous males to exist in their new territory. The result was mayhem, with our two prides, the Ottawas and Ximungwes, literally running for their lives. Impressive tactics were deployed by the adult females, with quite a few sightings of the different females separating themselves from their prides to mate with the males and keep their attention off the rest of the pride and existing cubs. Despite their best efforts though, the Ottawa's were hit hard, loosing 6 of 8 cubs, and the Ximungwes lost 2 cubs and one adult female, dropping to just 5 cubs and two females, now. At about 1yr 8 months old, the sub adult "cubs" have just a few more months to go before they're more likely to be accepted by the new males as breeding females as opposed to cubs. Fingers crossed for no more fights, it has been truly heartbreaking to observe this takeover process, but watch this space for some new little lion cubs, as a result of all that mating!

One of the Ottawa females fighting with a Majingilan male...with a very confused giraffe in the background!

Maintaining our subject of cats, Cheetah sightings have been brilliant as well, with a number of different males and females of varying ages been seen in the area. I had a great sighting of a male cheetah on a fresh fresh impala kill right out in the open, tucking in but jumping up to look around every few minutes to check nothing was coming to steel it from him! The same male gave me a dazzling show, clambering up and down termite mounds and huge fallen trees to try spot and stalk some impala!

Male cheetah on Impala kill

Elephant, buffalo and even rhino sightings have also been great, as well as some fab bird sightings and all the other incredible things in between. Below are some of my photo highlights form the last six weeks or so. Enjoy!

Michey xxx

Thlangisa & cub at 4 weeks

Leopard cubs practising stalking!

Majingilan male lion

Excellent distraction tactics - one of the females pretending to sleep so she doesn't have to mate with the male, but stays by his side to prevent him tracking down her existing cubs

Ximungwe cub at approx 1yr 8 months

Male cheetah posing on a fallen Marula tree

Buffalo action

A cool giraffe sighting

Elies go marching one by one across the sand river

White rhino's - always a welcomed sighting 

Plains zebra - laughing at something I said...

A stunning saddle billed stork 

My tracker Don (left) and tracker Orange (right) messing around before game drive

Leopard cub action

Thlangisa's cubs exhibiting extraordinary climbing skills at just 15 weeks...love these little beauties!

Dinner for two: The crocodile & the leopard

To say that it started like any other drive would be untrue...there was a vibe amongst the team and the guests, an excited feel, but of something else as well. The buzz soon lead to success - upon following up on reports of lions in the area, we trailed an Ottawa female lioness and two of her cubs for some 45 minutes. They seemed excited, on a mission of some kind. Our patience paid off as we watched her lead the two youngsters to a huge male waterbuck kill and a second waiting female keeping watch over the prides dinner. Watching the youngsters tuck in was a raw, but  awesome sight, and the rustle of hyenas sneaking through bushes surrounding us added further atmosphere to the sighting. 

That alone was a special sighting but it was what happened after drinks stop that blew our minds. Spotlighting and looking for nocturnal game, tracker Donald suddenly spotted a leopard, right out in the open, tucking into a fresh impala kill. As we neared, something next to the leopard stirred and we came to see that she was not alone. A massive crocodile was in on the action, jaws clamped firmly on the impala's front leg! A croc and a leopard feeding side by side?!  

We didn't manage to get the pic of both croc and leopard feeding at the same time - this was seconds after the leopard scarpered - here the crocodile still firmly clamped onto the impala's leg!....picture courtesy of my guest Zach Koenig

First that I've ever seen or heard of such a thing! So unlikely was the occurrence that when I called it in on the radio, my report was met with comments like "haha, good one/ I almost turned around". The joke was on me however, because it is no doubt going to go down in 'sighting of the year' history. As we neared the action, the female leopard skulked off ( we presume it was Dam 3, a famously skittish female) and the croc turned and charged at us in the vehicle. Mouth open and thundering towards us, I didn't feel much like losing a leg that evening, so I pushed the vehicle into reverse and we moved out of chomping distance. He changed course and darted into the bushes, where he sat and eyed us cautiously. The leopard, not one to miss out on a chance of moving the carcass out of the grasp of the crocodile (who no doubt saw the kill and fancied his chances), came jogging back out of the thicket, took the impala by the neck, and dragged it off between her legs to the relative safety of some denser bushveld. Deciding to leave her in peace with her quarry, we sat for a while longer watching the croc zig zag his way back to the dam, then headed home in high spirits to celebrate our day with a drink around the bar. 

After the croc's departure, Dam 3 female came straight back to re-claim her kill...just a quick glance around for the competition! Picture courtesy of my guest Zach Koenig

Dam 3 female getting a solid grip on the impala's neck ready to drag the carcass to safety.
Picture courtesy of my guest Zach Koenig

Off she goes....incredible strength!
Picture courtesy of my guest Zach Koenig

Who would win in a chase between warthog and cheetah?

A cheetah chase... one of those incredible safari moments one always hopes for. This morning we were sitting with a young male and female cheetah in some clearings in the south, watching them soaking up some early morning sunrays in that classic upright cheetah pose. Out of the corner of my eye, some movement caught my attention, and three warthogs came trotting out of the thicket into the clearings, straight into the field of vision of the cheetahs. The warthog failed to see them, they kept coming and coming, and I wondered at what point they'd pick them up, turn heal and run. Well they didn't turn, and to my astonishment came within 50m of the cheetahs. It was too good an opportunity to miss, the cheetahs were suddenly up and tearing after them, straight across the clearings, those little warthogs running for their lives! What happened next went against everything I've ever been taught! All of a sudden, the warthogs stopped, turned and faced the cheetahs, and suddenly the chasers became the chased. I don't think the cheetahs knew what to do they were so shocked, and they dashed up a termite mound to take cover. It was a hilarious turn of events - my respect for warthogs increased 10-fold. 

The young female cheetah enjoying the morning sunshine. 

Female in the foreground, male lying down behind.

The chase is on! Run piggies, run!

Getting closer.....

Uh oh! Bit of a turn around! Cheetah chased up a termite mound by the warhogs!

Taking refuge at the top of the termite mound after an embarrassing defeat!

Leopard kills, Lion wars and some Wild dog action

The last few days of game viewing have been nothing less then spectacular, so astonishing at times it is hard to know even where to begin! Lets do this chronologically....

It all started a few days ago, when one of our leopards, the Torchwood male, killing an impala just outside the Ulusaba staff village. Lingering hyenas immediately initiated war and a battle commenced between them and the leopard, each taking it in turns to steal the carcass, eat a bit, then get it stolen from them again. After some to-ing and fro-ing, Torchwood remembered he could climb trees and up he hoisted the huge male impala up a Marula tree. We are well into rutting season for the Impalas now, a period when the impala males are so pre-occupied with defending their territories and chasing females to mate with, that they forget to look out for predators, all of whom are taking full advantage of such easy food! Once safely out of the way of those scavenging hyenas, Torchwood tucked greedily into his kill, finally at ease. Balanced superbly on a branch of the Marula, it was an incredible sight and the photo opportunities were awesome. 

Torchwood up a Marula Tree with an Impala kill

Less then 48 hours later, I was following another male leopard, Nyeleti, who is territorial around Inyati's property. He has been very active sent marking of late, and whilst it was interesting watching this behaviour as he moved along the road marking trees, it was what happened next that was mind blowing. We were following the leopard down the road, when all of a sudden, the snorts  and grunting of a male impala defending his patch rung loud and clear form the bush next to us. Nyeleti dropped immediately to the ground, making himself as inconspicuous as possible, and the stupid male impala with nothing else on his mind except females and other males ran straight towards the leopard. Ready and waiting, Nyeleti pounced with impressive speed and agility - the impala didn't even know what hit it. The scenario that unwound next in front of us was raw - we watched the leopard first suffocate his prey, then drag it off to a safe place before plucking the hair, tearing through the skin and lapping up the blood. It was the first time I've ever see a live kill like that... that behaviour, the split second decision to go for it, the opportunistic nature of leopards...all of it was incredible to witness. I am still blown away. 

Gruesome but fascinating...Nyeleti suffocating his kill
Picture compliments of Iain Tall

Selati male
Picture compliments of Iain Tall

Waking up the following morning, I thought a lighter hearted drive would be a good idea...find some zebras, a giraffe maybe...yeah that didn't happen. Less then 10 minutes after leaving the lodge all chaos broke lose - there were lions everywhere! The Macingelani male lions were back in the area, eating Nyeleti's impala that they had stolen during the night...two Selati males were seen walking down one of our main roads, then another Selati male was chasing the Ximungwe pride around safari lodge! Calvin, Brandon and myself went to follow up on the Selati male and the Ximungwes. The pride had fled and consequently split up, and we saw the male chasing one of the cubs. Luckily the cub managed to get away, and for the next hour, we followed that male on his mission to see what would happen next. Brandon left to track down the rest of the pride, which he did so successfully, happily finding most of them together again. Calvin and myself continued trailing the male, who was moving fairly swiftly in Brandon's direction, where he was sat with the 3 females and 5 cubs of the Ximungwe pride (one cub still MIA). It was a matter of time before they clashed, and clash they did in spectacular style. We were not sure what the male was hoping to get out of the encounter, but he walked straight towards the pride, and i very much doubt he foresaw what happened next! With an unbelievable chorus of ferocious growls, snarls and roaring, we had lion cubs running in every which direction and the adult females charged after the male, giving him a beating of a lifetime! He flew off, tail well and truly between his legs, and those fearless females howled their roars after him, I can imagine telling him to bugger off and never come back! Seeing that mother-protective instinct from the females was phenomenal, as was watching them softly contact call their cubs back together afterward the episode was over, really tore at the heart strings. This is the first litter of cubs our Ximungwe pride have managed to keep alive/protect successfully from infanticide, and they are going to continue to protect them with every ounce of energy they have. Another incredible sighting, one made all the more special by sharing it together with Ulusaba rangers, and the teamwork behind the sighting that made it possible...Brandon following up and finding the pride, Calvin and I keeping up with that male through some horrible thick silver cluster leaves at times, and perseverance from all our parts and belief that something incredible was about to unfold in front of our eyes - easily one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen.

The Ximungwe females having chased off the Selati male...picture compliments of Iain Tall

Definitely a cat dominated week, but a quick mention on the wild dogs, who also made an exciting reappearance back in the north this last week. It had been almost 2 months since I last saw those stinking creatures, but it was fantastic to see them looking fit and healthy and in such good numbers (approx 16!). They certainly tested my driving skills, weaving in and out of thick bush and down into the Sand River bed, but it reminded me of how superbly fit these dogs are, a feat that makes them truly fantastic hunters. 

 A few more pics, some complements of my guest, Iain Tall (see more of his work at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Iain-Tall-Photography/169066103249894)

Torchwood with his Impala

Torchwood with his Impala

Torchwood with his Impala

Nyeleti walking and scent marking just before he made his kill

Nyeleti hears the Impala...milliseconds later he was down on his tummy and then charged

Nyeleti suffocating the Impala

Nyeleti plucking then eating the Impala...rump first then stomach

Gory but fascinating

Selati male

Selati male looking for the Ximungwes

Selati male having a rest....he soon picked up the scent of the pride

Ximungwe female chasing off the male

Wild dogs back in town