Wildlife Report. For the month of May, Two Thousand and Thirteen

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1 Singita Grumeti Sasakwa & Faru Faru Lodges Serengeti House & Sabora Tented Camp Explore Mobile Tented Camp Tanzania (Photo by Saitoti Ole Kuwai) Temperature and Wind Wildlife Report For the month of May, Two Thousand and Thirteen Rainfall Recorded Average maximum 31.1 C Sasakwa 90.8 Average minimum 13.4 C Sabora Average wind speed 0.6 mps Faru Faru Samaki 163 Risiriba 91 The long rains continued to fall in the beginning of May, but eventually the sun came out, the rain disappeared, and the land began to 'de-sog' itself. All areas of the reserve became accessible again and there was much to be seen...

2 An enormous feast Our guide Saitoti Ole Kuwai was with guests on Rhino Rocks Road when he noticed some leopard tracks. He got out of the vehicle and followed them a short distance on foot. The tracks were going north towards Mbogo Drainage. The group drove to Mbogo Drainage and, after an in-depth look, they could not find any sign of a leopard. Saitoti picked up his binoculars and looked back towards the south. (Photos by Saitoti Ole Kuwai) He soon noticed something red in a tree very far away. "There's a leopard over there", he told the guests. They drove quite a distance and the red soon came visible. A zebra foal was hanging lifeless from the tree. His haunches had already been feasted upon. Draped above the carcass was an impressive male leopard. It's a great accomplishment for a leopard to catch a zebra, and very rarely witnessed - let alone hoisted up a tree for all to see!

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4 Land or babies... or both? It seems the Butamtam pride found themselves a new favourite spot: Sasakwa Hill. They have been seen frequently roaming the hill in its entirety and could be heard roaring loudly at night. They started showing up in late March, and continued to be a presence throughout April and May. The two main reasons they may have decided to make the move up the hill are either because of territory or babies, or both! The coalition of five males has been slowly dominating and extending their territory further throughout Singita Grumeti plains areas. The Butamtam pride, who up until recently have controlled the central and eastern side of the reserve, have run into confrontations with these five males. Sasakwa Hill is possibly a safer place for them to claim.

5 Almost all of the sightings on the hill have been of lionesses, and some of the females are lactating. We think that one are two females are hiding cubs in safe spots around the hill. Whatever the reasons, we are happy to have them around and hope they know that they're welcome to be our guests for as long as they like! Jackal and vervet monkey Witnessing a kill is considered the pinnacle of sightings for the majority of safari goers. When most of us think of kills, specific situations come to mind: a pride of lions taking down a zebra or buffalo, cheetahs catching a Thompson s gazelle, or even, on the rare occasion, hyenas hunting a wildebeest. What about a jackal killing a vervet monkey? Never thought of that before? Neither had we, but it is exactly what happened one day in May as guides and guests witnessed a jackal stalk and kill an unsuspecting vervet! We don't have photos of the actual event - but these were the predator and prey species. (Photo by Saitoti Ole Kuwai)

6 Sneak peak When will the migration be there? This is a question frequently asked by guests interested in coming to stay with us. Luckily we are able to give them an approximate idea of when the majority of the herds will most likely be around. Usually they are here at some point between late May and the end of July, we respond, and then we add the very important disclaimer, but the Great Migration is one of the great wonders of the world and we can never accurately predict where the wildebeest will be, and when they will be here. We thought the Great Migration had begun to arrive at Singita Grumeti in late May when a whole lot of wildebeest showed up at the waterholes in front of Faru Faru Lodge. Guests and staff alike were very excited about the herds moving in. But no more than two days later the wildebeest were gone without a trace. They had disappeared in the night, were not on our land, nor were they seen again for the rest of the month.

7 Anything you can do... (Photos by Saitoti Ole Kuwai) Not to be outdone by leopards the members of the Sabora pride show off their tree-climbing skills.

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9 Sightings report Lion: Leopard: Cheetah: Elephant: Buffalo: 32 sightings 6 sightings 27 sightings 22 sightings Multiple sightings daily Special sightings: 500 Wildebeest on Grumeti West (Photo by Saitoti Ole Kuwai) By Ryan Schmitt and Lizzie Hamrick Photos by Ryan Schmitt, unless indicated otherwise Singita Grumeti Serengeti Tanzania Thirtieth of May 2013