WILDLIFE JOURNAL SINGITA PAMUSHANA, ZIMBABWE For the … · 2019. 2. 6. · WILDLIFE JOURNAL SINGITA PAMUSHANA, ZIMBABWE For the month of January, Two Thousand and Nineteen Temperature

WILDLIFE JOURNAL

SINGITA PAMUSHANA, ZIMBABWE For the month of January, Two Thousand and Nineteen

Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 22,4˚C (72,3˚F) For the month: 26,6 mm Sunrise: 05:36 Minimum recorded: 19,2˚C (66,5˚F) For the year to date: 26,6 mm Sunset: 18:38 Average maximum: 34,6˚C (94,2˚F) Maximum recorded: 41,7˚C (107˚F) Day 1 of 2019’s sighting report reads as follows, “What an amazing way of starting a new year - it was like someone had opened the gates for the animals! We drove to Hwata Pan and spotted eight hyenas swimming in the water, while nearby a big male leopard lay sleeping in the shade and a few metres from him were another three hyenas. We proceeded along Mahande Loop and found the Southern Pride of lions with three very shy cubs. As we drove on we saw ten white rhinos sleeping under thorn trees. Two elephant bulls were also in the same area.” Weather-wise we’ve had high temperatures and false promises of rain resulting, worryingly, in wilting grass.

Here’s a Sightings Snapshot for January: Lions

• Most of the sightings have been of the River Pride, pushing quite far east of their core territory in the west, and of the Southern Pride. One of the Southern Pride males that has a limp has again injured his hind legs.

• The tortoise population is being terrorised by the lions and it’s game over for them if they don’t stay inside their shells.

• A highlight one afternoon was when we were with the Southern Pride at a waterhole. A herd of zebra approached and were unaware of the lions. The lions were in position to hunt, but before they could do so a pack of wild dogs, also unaware of the lions, came jogging towards the water for a drink. Before they lapped a sip one of the lionesses bolted towards the dogs, and they shotgunned off through the bushes with an explosion of barks and yelps. Needless to say the lions’ whole hunt was spoiled.

Leopards

We’ve had a lot of brief leopard sightings this month, and it is probably due to their golden camouflage not being as effective against all the shades of green. A couple of longer sightings were finding an adult female relaxing in a rain tree, along the river’s edge; and a large male with a wildebeest calf kill in the drier southern area. This beautiful little female is being seen repeatedly in the central areas, and is more relaxed than most of the leopards we find. Needing to be slightly less relaxed is that ring-necked dove!

Photo by Mark Saunders Hyenas

• A clan has laid claim to a pan on our central areas and insists on exclusive bathing ritual rights. A commotion broke out when zebras challenged them, but the equids quickly reconsidered their options and thought better of it.

• There are youngsters about and a lovely sighting was of the cubs suckling.

Cheetah

• The two cheetah brothers were seen trying to hunt baby wildebeest, but a herd of zebras blocked them and the wildebeest managed to run away with their little ones.

Elephants

• There are many big bulls out and about, while the breeding herds with their babies tend to stay well hidden in the thickets.

• A highlight of one of the boat cruises was seeing an elephant bull swim across the dam. Rhinos

• Excellent white rhino sightings – there was a total of 14 seen in one central area on one drive.

• A very rare sightings was of a pair of black rhinos mating. Buffalos

• Large herds abound of up to 700 individuals coming and going from their daily drinking spot. Wild dogs

• Two packs have been seen this month – one of 13 that denned on the property, and another of five that made a brief foray into our reserve before venturing back into the Gonarezhou National Park.

Plains game

• Some Lichtenstein hartebeest brazenly ignored the Southern Pride that were passed out under bushes because it was so hot. The hartebeest knew that the lions were not even going to try to hunt them in the intense heat.

• A beautiful herd of sable antelope were seen in the north-eastern quadrant, with lots of lively youngsters.

• All of the plains game have long-legged babies running at their side. Rare sightings

• Some birds were mobbing a sleeping genet which didn’t appreciate the interference.

• Starlings were also seen mobbing a 1.5 metre black mamba that was on the ground. Birds

• New birds for the area were a black egret and a glossy ibis.

• Another highlight was a pair of crowned eagles near a known nesting site. Fishing

• There has been some great fishing, and some huge bream have been landed. Tigerfish have even been caught on fly.

• The fishing was so good for one group of guests that they changed its name to ‘Catching’. They were able to get enough fish from the plentiful dam for the lodge chefs to prepare in various ways for all guests to enjoy at dinner.

Walks and rock art

• Because of the dense vegetation on the plains it is a good time to walk in the hills and visit various rock art sites. On one of these walks we encountered giraffe, buffalo bulls and a black rhino bull, and enjoyed climbing up to various points to take in the spectacular views.

Some exciting and informative Bush Stories follow, as well as a January Gallery of images.

Between hunts By Alex Naert Painted wolves (Lycaon pictus), also known as African wild dogs, rely mainly on their sight to hunt, therefore they need a certain amount of light. They prefer hunting at dusk and at dawn, as midday temperatures are often too high. Very often, as seen here, the pack will find a cool spot not far from water, and spend the heat of the day resting nearby. All that time spent close to water increases encounters with other animals, and in this case there was a stand-off with the two cranky old buffalo bulls not letting the thirsty predator close to the water! Being small predators, painted wolves do not confront big dangerous game. Their behaviour is highly specialized to living in packs, the main reason for which is to maximize successful hunts. All members of a pack are very social, and often they will be seen playing. These games are very important to maintain strong pack bonds. I was most fortunate to have spent a couple of years following these beautiful creatures, as I was one of the guides that took the BBC Natural History film crew out in Mana Pools, Zimbabwe, to film the Dynasties series. The result is their Painted Wolf documentary that is currently being broadcast.

Drinking buddies By Dharmesh Daya Sitting in Hwata blind (our sunken photographic hide) is an incredible way to wait for animals to come and drink, especially when the heat beats down on the earth and scorches the last bit of moisture out of almost everything. At this time of the year one can sit in the blind and always have something to watch, from the endless amount of doves that just seem to keep coming to drink, to the almost resident impalas around the open areas of the pan. It’s always great to see this action, but of course the action that we all hope for is the arrival of the bigger pachyderms. There are a couple of signs that they may be on their way, but one in particular seems to catch the attention of us guides very much, and that is the sound of oxpeckers flying in from afar. Often this means the big guns are on their way to water and cool themselves down, (sometimes, however, one gets it wrong and the smaller guys come in, like kudu. As one peers out through the openings of the blind in the direction of where the oxpeckers have come in, we scan for signs of movement and, so often, almost like magic, these grey beasts appear from the treeline, materializing from the scrubby mopane forest right in front of you. Slowly, as they make their way towards the water, the prehistoric creatures reveal their full size and shape, and the joy and excitement on everyone's face in the blind is so energizing. It makes the guide know it was worth the wait! In typical rhino fashion their movement to the water involves a fair amount of dust that they kick up as they walk. By this point the very oxpeckers that had flown in earlier have already had a drink of water and even a bath. Watching them at the water is, in itself, very entertaining. They are a small to medium-sized bird mostly brown in colour but their bright beaks are by far the most attractive part of the bird. Studying them through a pair of binoculars really shows up their stunning detail. As the rhinos near the water the oxpeckers get so excited and fly back to their mighty charges, where they inevitably hitch a ride back to the water.

Watching the oxpeckers on the rhinos is fascinating, especially being so close to them, it gives the observer a clear idea of what this interesting relationship is all about and how the oxpeckers go about their cleaning services. The thing that amazes me is how tolerant the rhinos are of the oxpeckers: an oxpecker will put its whole head into the ear of a rhino or peck inside the rhino’s nostril – and all the while these giants calmly drink water. The coolest trick that the oxpeckers have is their ability to side-step down the body of the rhino, often by one of the rhino’s legs, where they make their way to the ground and then proceed to have a quick drink and a bath before they hop back and carry on their duties.

A tiny delicate yellow-billed oxpecker drinks besides its huge battleship of a best friend, a white rhinoceros. Did you know: The collective noun for oxpeckers is a ‘fling’ of oxpeckers.

Baby boom By Jenny Hishin The summer months signal a baby boom for the herbivores. The rain transforms the barren earth into a green oasis of grass, and that in turn provides rich milk for the suckling babies, and a tasty introduction to grazing as they are weaned. Carnivores have cubs or pups whenever the opportunity arises, but there are slight peaks at the end of winter, or the beginning of summer. For instance, wild dogs usually have their pups at the end of winter when herbivores, particularly impala, are weakened due to low grazing and the ewes are in the final stages of their pregnancies. Jackals reproduce mainly in summer because of all the newborn lambs and available afterbirth. This giraffe calf is about five months-old and has to crane his neck to drink from his ever vigilant mom. This brand new zebra foal heads straight towards its mother’s udder to suckle. Foals begin to graze at about a week after birth, and it seems this little one was not too impressed with what was on offer. It’ll only be properly weaned from between 7 and 11 months old.

These impala lambs are a couple of months old, and are nibbling on some of the roadside greenery. They are extremely curious about the menu on offer and busy refining their palates to what suits them best.

This utterly adorable wildebeest calf still has its umbilical cord attached. Co-ordinating an ear scratch on three

stilt-like legs is a tricky business. The mother watches over it, and the resting calf of another mother.

Baobab fruit By Tengwe Siabwanda The fruits are formed from big whitish flowers which are mainly pollinated by fruit bats. Some insects and the fruit bats drink the flowers’ nectar and, in so doing, unknowingly pollinate the flowers. Humans and baboons eat the fruit which are rich in vitamin C, potassium and phosphorus. We can extract a white sherbet-like powder from the fruits, and mix it with milk and sugar to make smoothies or ice-cream. The seeds can be roasted and ground to make coffee, or oil can be extracted from them for cosmetic products. There’s a wealth of African folklore surrounding baobabs, for instance some tribes believe their people must not pick up the fallen flowers because they are inhabited by bad spirits! Another belief is that when a baby boy is born, for the baby to be a big and strong, it must be bathed in water mixed with bark and leaves from the baobab tree, for the first week, but the water must not touch his head, for if it does his head will grow too big!

January Gallery

A glorious moment of last light, as he looked towards a faint faraway rainbow after a spritzing of rain.

Interesting to see how this zebra herd corralled around a member having a nap, keeping her safe.

This mother warthog was ferocious! She trotted towards us, snorting and stamping to ward us away from her little piglets. She’s already lost a few of their siblings to predators, but it is only the toughest and most cunning

of predators that are brave enough to target warthogs.

A whiskery mopane squirrel pauses for a millisecond on the contours of a lichen-encrusted branch.

Some of the bee-eaters we see here are ‘summer visitors’, and others are ‘common residents’. As their name suggests they specialise in eating bees, and other insects, and are currently making the most of the hot season’s abundance. Top left: White-fronted bee-eater Above: Southern carmine bee-eaters Left: Little bee-eater

Flame lily (Gloriosa superba) Northern ammocharis (Ammocharis tinneana)

Look at how these flowers have loaded their stamens with pollen, so that when the bees come for their nectar they accidentally transfer pollen from male flowers to female flowers.

Research has found that plants can ‘hear’. Within minutes of sensing vibrations from pollinators’ wings, plants temporarily increase the concentration of sugar in their flowers’ nectar. In effect, the flowers themselves serve as ears, picking up the specific frequencies of bees’ wings while tuning out irrelevant sounds like wind.

It’s amazing how well these huge kudu bulls blend into the bush with their bark-coloured coats and disruptive white stripes.

The sky burst into this last frenzy of colour for a few seconds before fading to black.

All photographs by Jenny Hishin, unless otherwise indicated.