WILDLIFE JOURNAL SINGITA SABI SAND, SOUTH AFRICA For the ... · SINGITA SABI SAND, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of August, Two Thousand and Nineteen ... If there is one animal that

WILDLIFE JOURNAL SINGITA SABI SAND, SOUTH AFRICA

For the month of August, Two Thousand and Nineteen

Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 15.6˚C (60.08˚F) For the month: 0.8mm Sunrise: 06:22 Average maximum: 31.7˚C (89.06˚F) For the season to date: 0.8mm Sunset: 17:37 Minimum recorded: 10˚C (50˚F) Maximum recorded: 38˚C (100.4˚F)

As the temperatures begin to soar and the strong Lowveld winds howl through the trees, the last of the dried-out leaves tumble to the ground. A mirage hangs over the bush and the Sand River dwindles to its lowest course. We are at the peak of harshness in the bush, the time of year when each and every species lingers for the first drop of rain. Yet in all the severity, there is beauty. Remaining water sources are abundant with life, the last of the winter sunsets burn across the sky like a wildfire, and the cloudless still evenings shine bright with the magical twinkles of the stars.

Here’s a Sightings Snapshot for August: Lions

• What a month it has been with regards to our lion prides. With highs and lows, they continue to amaze us with how dynamic these species are. The Mhangene Pride have been traversing over large areas in search of prey species. With the perennial pans being dry, the larger prey species like buffalo, zebra and wildebeest continue to move closer to permanent water sources and they too have a long distance to travel to reach suitable water and grazing areas.

• The Styx Pride who are six lions strong are doing extremely well for themselves on the property. In one week, we witnessed them hunt and take down a male wildebeest, an impala ewe and a buffalo bull. Considering this pride is made up of mainly sub-adults who have come from a difficult upbringing, they are displaying an incredible amount of strength and resilience. We look forward to viewing them more regularly over the next month.

• This month also saw an unfortunate end to one of the Matimba male lions. Before his passing we viewed him sharing a scavenged buffalo carcass with the Othawa male lion, this was potentially his last meal and one which was shared with great respect. A great loss to the lion population, however an incredible service to life as a male lion who dominated a large territory and attributed to the success of ongoing generations.

Elephants

• Herds of elephants gather along the river throughout the day bypassing the lodges and working in search of any form of moist, nutritious vegetation. They continue to move across the property and in doing so allow the disturbed vegetation to regenerate.

Wild dogs

• Excitement is not a great enough word to explain what we all feel in regards to the dogs denning north of the river. It’s been not stop action at the den-site. The site has been moved three times and this is most likely the last time before the puppies venture off with the adults. They will not hunt yet with the older dogs, but they will be moving far more with the pack over time.

Leopards

• These beautiful, mysterious spotted cats never disappoint us. With large numbers of game moving toward the river, the leopards are amidst a haven of activity and potential for food.

• With the time progressing, a few of the sub-adult leopards have or are becoming independent and, with that, means it is once again time for females to mate. This has been the case for both the Schotia Female and the Hukumuri Female who have been mating once again with the Nyelethi Male.

• In the central/southern parts of the property we have continued to see the Mobeni Female and Thamba Male mating on a number of occasions. The Thamba Male appears to now have established himself in the central parts of the property, an area which was previously held by the Torchwood Male who has not been seen since early July. While it is still early days, he is showing all signs of becoming the dominant male in our area.

Cheetah

• We have enjoyed some exceptional cheetah viewing this month with a male cheetah moving across our southern end of the property. A surprise came when two sub-adult cheetahs who had been seen a number of months ago, returned to the area. They have given us some brilliant, regular cheetah sightings.

Bird List

• We added a purple heron, fulvous ducks, African scops-owl, greater honeyguide and golden-tailed woodpecker to the list this month, bringing our total number for the year to 267.

The giraffe Article by Marc Bowes-Taylor If there is one animal that captures the heart of any safari goer it certainly is the giraffe. These runway models of the African bush truly are one of a kind. Legs as long as their neck and, with eyelashes to match, they definitely deserve the spotlight. However, every now and then giraffe do something a bit odd or strange enough to cause some laughter. Giraffe have been recorded on many occasions chewing on bones, which helps with adequate calcium and phosphate intake. We witnessed this act one afternoon when a small journey fed in the woodlands close to the Sand River. One of the older cows in the group approached an open patch where she knelt down and picked up a bone with her lips. The golden afternoon light lit the scene up perfectly for all the characters involved.

Yellow-billed oxpeckers scaled the giraffes neck nonchalantly while she chewed on her natural mineral tablet. Now giraffe are known to be curious creatures, which occasionally even helps us find leopards. Curiosity got the better of another inquisitive giraffe and she strolled in her direction. This giraffe was younger and shorter but that didn’t prevent her from trying to investigate what was going on. With what must have been two thirds of her tongue stretched out, this young giraffe did her best to get exactly what the other was feeding on. Laughter broke out among everyone on the vehicle, and reminded us once again why we always enjoy spending time with these one-of-a-kind-tree-trimmers.

When water is life Article by Nick Du Plessis Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Water is the driving force of all nature.” Everything needs water to survive and it is essential to every plant and animal on this earth!

As we move deeper into the winter dry months, it becomes more and more of a reality that without water there is no life. Almost every animal here is reliant on water and goes to some sort of water source regularly. What this does do is often help our game viewing and the consistency of it. Over the next few months most of our game drives are done from water source to water source, and we are extremely fortunate to have as many permanent water sources as we do, and our stunning Sand River frontage which stretches almost 12 km from west to east. I believe if you don’t find something around the water to begin with its actually worth a bit of patience to see what may come to you – and a little bit of patience can go a long way.

It is also not uncommon to see multiple species at a single water source at this time of year, and it always looking amazing to see a few species together. Lots of prey species use each other and the combination of their senses to their advantage. Quite simply extra eyes or ears is never a bad idea, especially when there is a chance of lions, leopards or cheetah setting up some sort of ambush around water. Generally, when you talk about this time of year, I think about how harsh it can be, but right now everything is looking extremely healthy for this part of the dry season and our game viewing seems to just be getting better and better by the day. I can’t wait for what the next few months hold if it continues like this!

The beginning of life Article by Joffers McCormick It’s that time of year again when the wild dogs are denning and extending their numbers. For the last three years we have been very fortunate with the fact that there has been a resident pack of wild dogs that have denned on the property. It is possibly one of the most incredible things to witness in the African wilderness - being able to watch these young pups grow into adults and see them facing the dangers of life in bush. From watching the adults returning from a hunt to regurgitate for the new additions, to seeing the little pups roam around the den with the curiosity of what lies out beyond the den, is a humbling yet exhilarating experience. They have sent us on a bit of a goose chase as they have already moved dens, this is done due to the high parasite build up within one particular den-site and to ensure that the pups do not pick up any unwanted parasites that may jeopardize their lives at such an early stage. They are growing up so quickly and it is truly amazing to notice the development of their coats and their individual markings and colours. We recently had guests that are avid safari goers and were very interested in seeing the new pups. We knew that it would take a lot of patience and downtime at the den, just waiting for that incredible moment, hoping for one of the pups to come out of the den’s entrance. We spent two afternoons at the den-site waiting and waiting, luckily we still had an amazing time as the full complement of the pack were there and giving a full show playing around. The afternoon it all happened, we departed the lodge early so that we could have the time to get to the den and decided this was the afternoon to hunker down. We left for our drive to firstly cross through the Sand River where the river has slowed and the pools are smaller. As we drove through we had an amazing sighting of about 15 hippos returning to the water after the heat of the day, as well as a number of bird species flying

about. We crossed the river and made our way further north towards the den. We got to the start of the off-roading section, and when we arrived at the den and we saw that the nine adults were present and we could hear the new pups calling from inside the den. This was the first time we could hear the pups. The alfa female got up and made her way towards the entrance only to lie down. You could see that the pups had recently nursed from her, but we waited and waited and, just as the sun was setting, and we were about to leave they presented themselves. Wow! Three of the small pups fell out of the den and the excitement erupted from both the rest of the pack and with us. The other pack members immediately came over to great the three little ones and then continued to play with them. The alfa female then had enough and thought it was time to take the pups back inside. She picked them up by the back of their necks and returned them to the inside of the den. This was one of the most special sightings that I have witnessed out in the true African wilderness here at Singita Sabi Sands.

A collection of images by Ross Couper highlighting the month’s activity at the wild dog den-site.