WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA PAMUSHANA, ZIMBABWE For the month of August, Two Thousand and Seventeen

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1 WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA PAMUSHANA, ZIMBABWE For the month of August, Two Thousand and Seventeen Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 13,1 C (55,5 F) For the month: 0 mm Sunrise: 05:59 Minimum recorded: 10,0 C (50,0 F) For the year to date: 632,5 mm Sunset: 17:45 Average maximum: 27,5 C (81,5 F) Maximum recorded: 33,9 C (93,0 F) August is always a beautiful month here the knobthorns have a shawl of cream lacework blooms, the cassia trees are festooned with yellow blossoms and the sausage trees show an extravagant display of ruby red pendulous flowers. There is still quite a lot of water about for this time of year, thanks to the great rains we had last season, but it is in small patches and puddles. The larger animals are now being drawn to the deeper permanent pans and water sources and this is ideal for game viewing and photography from the sunken hide in the drier section of our reserve.

2 Here s our wildlife overview for August: Lions Lions have been seen almost every day this month. Sometimes a sighting is not only of lions alone, such as when we were turning off the road to view lions and came across a single old bull elephant. Then, while sitting with the lions for a while, a crash of white rhino moved past behind them. One evening while spotlighting our way back to the lodge we found four lionesses chasing a subadult hippo. The hippo survived, making a bee-line for the water and vanishing in the inky darkness. Some guests got more of a sensory experience than they bargained for when photographing a pride on the banks of the Chiredzi River. The 11 lions, including cubs and large males, put on quite a show by roaring at point blank range, so much so that everyone could smell the male lions breath! Leopards Leopards are elusive but if luck is on your side there are wonderful sightings to be had like the guests who had a fleeting glimpse of a male leopard, but then their guide was alerted on the radio to another leopard sighting. Arriving there they found the leopard was in hunting mode and not distracted by human onlookers. She was focused on a herd of impalas. Then she moved to a rocky area and could not be seen, but was soon relocated back at her original spot where she had just dispatched an impala and had it in her jaws. There was a good sighting of a male leopard up a tree. As the sun set he descended and slipped into the undergrowth to melt into hunting mode. It seems that sometimes the leopards here toy with us in a ridiculous cat and mouse game. After hours of game drive searching, one of our safaris decided to call it quits and returned only to find a mother leopard and cub sprawled on a rock at the base of the hill where the lodge is. Rhinos The black rhinos have given us a run for our money, and there have been several explosive sightings of them. Some of these have even been on foot - on one occasion the guide led his guests to a resting rhino. After viewing him from a safe distance the wind turned and the bull picked up the human scent. He stood up, tried to locate the malodourous interference and then left in a huff.

3 The white rhino sightings have been excellent! They have been seen on almost every game drive. If you stay at a waterhole from mid-afternoon to evening you could see a dozen maybe more! The Malilangwe Reserve, thanks to excellent management and farsighted strategies implemented many years ago, is at a high carrying capacity for rhinoceros populations. Elephants A breeding herd of elephants has been frequenting the river crossing we use which makes viewing them a real pleasure. Watching them descend the banks in all their glory and be excited about the prospect of drinking is an awesome spectacle. There is also a pan nearby and some of them go there for a mucky mud bath before moving off for a siesta in the shade. Buffalo Although there is still a surprising amount of water around it is in small amounts, and the large breeding herds of buffalo need an abundant source. They have been gathering in their hundreds on our central area that is fed by a large pan. We also located a dead buffalo being eaten by seven very large crocodiles in the Chiredzi River.

4 Cheetahs A couple of cheetahs have let us see them this month. There was the pair of full-bellied males in the road that we watched for a while before they went into the bush and lay under a tree. On another occasion we found a lone cheetah walking down a road. The short-tailed female, now very old, was seen at the entrance to our Nduna camp, with an injury to her shoulder area. Wild dogs It has been an excellent month for wild dog sightings although we had a moment of concern when they slipped into the adjacent Gonarezhou National Park for a day. We are seeing a pack of about 12 most often. We ve watched them sleeping, greeting, grooming, playing, killing and chasing. One afternoon we watched them playing with two white rhinos! The rhinos seemed to enjoy the tag game, and spectating on the outskirts were three hyenas. On another occasion the dogs scanned a vast open area and started to chase wildebeest but the wildebeest turned and started charging the dogs. Soon a big herd of elephants joined in the chasing of the dogs, and what a show it was with dust all over the place! Hyenas Hyenas have been scattered about all over the reserve. At one sundowner spot there were four white rhinos and three hyenas drinking at a pan. One of the hyenas was very intrigued with us and came right up to the vehicle while we were having drinks. Some ice had spilled from our cooler box and the hyena crept up and began crunching away on it, only a few metres from us. Plains game As always the general plains game sightings have been terrific. Added to this have been sightings of a eland, sable and Lichenstein s hartebeest. Unusual sightings These include porcupine, civet, genet, flap-naked chameleon, raucous toad and seven bush pigs in very good light. Birds The summer birds are starting to return and there have been several sightings of raptors with kills. A highlight was seeing a lesser flamingo, as it has been about five years since we have seen flamingos. Fishing and boat cruises The water is starting to warm up resulting in better fishing. The boat cruises have been idyllic. On one we stopped to watch a fish eagle and, as the boat drifted towards the bank, we found a female leopard feeding on a bird. A memorable afternoon was when two elephant bulls were bathing and swimming and then began throwing water into the boat! Walks and rock art It s the ideal time for bush walks and many of these have been to the rock art sites. Discoveries made along the way and in the caves include pottery shards, an intact pottery bowl and an ancient walking stick.

5 An extraordinary scene At first we thought the large grey shape being fed on by lions at the edge of the dam was a hippo carcass. A closer inspection by boat revealed that it was a dead black rhino! Lions were feeding from an opening on its rump and had chewed off an ear. (A rhino s skin is around 5 centimetres thick but thinner, at about 1.5 centimetres, in places like the base of the ears.) Our scout force immediately moved in, bravely chased off the lions, and proceeded to try and identify cause of death, which specific rhino it was, and remove the horns for safekeeping as per official regulations. (Rhino horns and elephant ivory are always removed as one of our many antipoaching security measures.)

6 They established that the rhino was a male and had been horn stabbed by another male in territorial combat. The victor s horn had punctured the rhino s vital organs. We have seen black rhinos try to take refuge in water during a fight before, or to wade in the shallows to try and soothe their wounds. Once the scout force left the scene the lions quickly returned. Over the next few days hyenas took over and, after them, hundreds of vultures. It was a huge meal and ultimately nothing went to waste even the crocodiles and fish had their fill.

7 Browsing and grazing I came across this family of kudu demonstrating their varied feeding habits. They browse on a wide range of plants and will eat freshly flushed green grass. Forbs (herbaceous flowering plants other than grass) are favoured. They can survive without drinking water as long as green food is available. Kudu live in savanna woodland or valley bushveld they need the cover it provides. Notice how streamlined their bodies are. This allows them to slip through dense bush, like an arrow, and not get caught up in it. Their stripes break up their body pattern (known as disruptive coloration) and their cinnamon colour lets them blend into a woody environment, especially when it is devoid of leaves and they are at their most vulnerable to being seen by predators. These are all females as only the males have horns.

8 Gentle giant We came across this old bull elephant late one morning. He ambled down the bank to the river and began drinking. We drove over to the bank and joined him. He was completely relaxed at times he even closed his eyes, hung his trunk over his left tusk and seemed to have a nap. There was a gentle rain falling and for that time all seemed to be at peace in the world. He was a handsome specimen with strong rounded conformation and carrying good weight. Added to his load were his tusks which were balanced and thick. You could see a clean piece of ivory where his tusks met his gum line. This is the new growth where the tannins and mud hadn t yet stained. One third of an elephant s tusks is below the gum line. Elephant tusks never stop growing so some old bulls display enormous examples. Elephants have long lifespans, reaching years of age. This was such a special sighting to see how he calmly drank the cleanest water and cast a mirror image reflection over its surface, and joined it with the tip of his trunk.

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10 Blooming marvellous Top, left and right: A long-tail cassia (Cassia abbreviata) festooned in yellow blossoms. Middle left: A knobthorn (Acacia nigrescens) in a lacework cream shawl. Middle right: A bulbul sips the nectar from a ruby red sausage tree flower (Kigelia africana). Bottom left: Acacia robusta Bottom right: Sand ochna (Ochna barbarosae)

11 To quench a thirst African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) are sensitive to extreme heat and tend to feed in the evening, at night and in the morning when it is cool. They spend the hottest part of the day in the shade, ruminating. They drink at least once, and typically twice, a day, morning and afternoon. This is in stark contrast to another large ruminant - the eland (Taurotragus oryx). Eland weigh more than buffalo and will drink water if it is available, but get most of their water requirement from the food they eat. They feed at night when the vegetation contains more water. Also, rather than sweating to stay cool and thereby losing moisture, they allow their body temperature to rise during the day, then unload excess heat at night.

12 White-fronted bee-eaters in the riverbank White-fronted bee-eaters (Merops bullockoides) nest in colonies by digging holes in cliffs or banks of earth. They have one of the most complex family-based social systems found in birds. Colonies comprise socially monogamous, extended family groups with overlapping generations, known as "clans", which exhibit cooperative breeding. Some non-breeding individuals become helpers to relatives and assist to raise their brood. In white-fronted beeeaters, this helping behaviour is particularly well developed with helpers assisting in half of all nesting attempts. These helpers may contribute to all aspects of the reproductive attempt, from digging the roosting or nesting chamber, to allofeeding the female, incubating and feeding the young; and have a large effect on increasing the number of young produced. Whether or not an individual becomes a helper and to whom it provides aid is heavily dependent on the degree of kinship involved. They are most likely to help breeding pairs who are close genetic relatives. When faced with a choice of potential recipient nests, helpers preferentially help the breeding pair to whom they are most closely related, suggesting that this behaviour may serve to increase the helper's inclusive fitness.

13 Quelea bait balls As described in our May Wildlife Report red-billed quelea (Quelea quelea) are the most abundant bird on earth, with the total post-breeding population sometimes peaking at an estimated 1½ billion individuals. Their breeding season finished in early May and only straggly remnants of nests remain in the 20 km long breeding colonies. Now millions of beaks are searching for seeds daily, and it is a spectacle to see them come and drink from the river at dusk. They fly in such dense flocks like a bait ball and swoop over the water to snatch a sip. The flock formation is instinctual behaviour and a defence mechanism, as lone individuals are more likely to be caught by a predator than an individual in a large group.

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15 This male lion found the noise of the tiny birds all too much and pretend to be asleep although every now and again his tail would belie his nonchalance with an annoyed flick. Written and photographed by Jenny Hishin, unless otherwise indicated Singita Pamushana Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve Zimbabwe Thirtieth of August 2017