WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of August, Two Thousand and Seventeen

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1 WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of August, Two Thousand and Seventeen Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 15 C (59 F) For the period: 13.5 mm Sunrise: 06H06 Average maximum: 27 C (81 F) For the year to date: 331 mm Sunset: 17H40 Minimum recorded: 10 C (50 F) Maximum recorded: 33 C (91 F) Photo by Brian Rode We had an amazing month of game viewing at Singita Kruger National Park, with interaction between species, hunts, kills - you name it! With the concession drying up and the N Wanetsi River and Gudzane Dam holding water, it can only get better! The concession is also looking absolutely beautiful at the moment with the knobthorns, flame creepers and cassia trees in flower. The bright yellow hues of the cassias are a welcome splash of colour to the otherwise neutral time of year. Uncharacteristically, we did have a few days of rain towards the end of the month, which settled the dust. We are all interested to see what effect it has on the bush, especially the burnt areas in the next few weeks.

2 Photos by Brian Rode Buffalo: (Article by Jacques Briam) Photo by Margaux Le Roux There have been over thirty different buffalo sightings recorded during the month of August. The vast majority of the sightings have been of old buffalo bulls. There have been just under ten sightings of breeding herds. One of the most impressive buffalo sightings this month was of a herd of probably well over one thousand buffalos. They were all spread out throughout a prominent drainage line, where they had gone to have a drink in the late afternoon. The sun s rays illuminated all the dust that the herd kicked up, and it made for a surreal sight. Most of the herds that we have viewed have been found around Gudzane Dam. That being said, there have been some herds entering the concession further south during the night, but they ran back into the public areas of the park after having been hunted by lions. On at least two occasions this month, buffalos herds were chased back into the park by lions. One of these instances happened just north of the Gumba drainage system, where three of the Shish Males as well as a large portion of the Shish Pride successfully hunted at least two different buffalos. The Mountain Pride were also found with one of the Shish males feeding on the remains of a buffalo.

3 Spotted hyena: (Article & photo by Nick du Plessis) There is some great news with regards to our hyena sightings this month. The Nyokene den which is very close to the lodge on our concession is active again! Interestingly, the cubs are older than what we expected and we don t know where they have been hiding before now. So far, we have seen at least two new additions to the clan. As always, at this age they are very inquisitive of the vehicles. The other two dens are also still active. The Xinkelengane den in the very northern parts of the concession has been an extremely active den-site for almost two months now, and the once nervous cubs are growing in confidence by the day. The other den on the H6 is not as busy as it once was but when you do see them it s a real treat, especially on the transfers to and from the airstrip. The den, which is in one of the storm culverts under the road, has some of the most relaxed hyenas you could ever imagine. There has also been a lot of interaction between leopards and hyenas this month, with at least three recorded sightings during the month where they sat patiently under kills that where hoisted by leopards. On one occasion, a fight was witnessed between a male leopard and single hyena having a tug of war with and impala as the rope. Even though it was a fully grown male leopard it stood no chance against the large hyena. One of our guides, Blaine, has written up some more information about spotted hyenas in an article further on in this report.

4 Elephants: (Article & photos by Nick du Plessis) Elephant viewing has once again been amazing this month. More than two hundred sightings of elephants were recorded and a large amount of those sightings were of breeding herds. With the dry conditions at this time of year, and the concession still holding a lot of water in comparison to the surrounding areas, there have been multiple sightings on a daily basis. There is still a good amount of water along the N wanetsi River, Gudzane Dam on the west, and Pony Pan in the central area of the concession.

5 The feeding behaviour of the elephants this month has revolved around the change between grazing and browsing. Although the grazing is not of bad quality, it is just not enough to sustain these large herbivores at the moment. This has meant that the elephants have been browsing on trees more, and removing the bark to get to the moist cambium layer. They have also been uprooting trees to get to the roots which are holding most of the moisture at this time of year. This is always a tough time of year for them when the grass starts to dry out like it is right now. As a result, you start to notice a lot of elephants weeping from their temporal glands, which is situated in between the eye and the ear indicating signs of stress. Lions: (Article by Blaine Moolman) This area has always been a place of incredible lion viewing. We are pleased to report that there are no changes on that front. In total, there were 83 lion sightings this month. The iconic Shish Pride has been sighted often in August, though with a slight slump in the middle of the month when they followed the big herds of buffalo further west than our concession extends. We are pleased to say that they came back with a bang at the end of the month, after 13 mm of rain brought about a flush of green and the return of the buffalo herds. The Shish Pride also brought down a giraffe not too far from the lodges during this period. It is not uncharacteristic for a pride of this size to fragment and then come back together. There was an interesting period when two of the older lionesses were seen alone a few times, most memorably unsuccessfully chasing a wildebeest bull right in the open in front of our guests on the Mananga Trail. A mention must be made of the white lion, of course. He is still with the pride and has occasionally taken a central role in their interactions. Though the numbers fluctuate, the number of lions in the pride seems to have remained at 19, though one of the young males is in poorer condition than the others. This is probably due to muscle atrophy in a bad back leg, and the malnutrition that comes along with this as he struggles to keep pace with the pride and loses out in squabbles over food. Photo by Brian Rode

6 The Mountain Pride has been a bit of a mystery this month. Even though we have had regular high-quality sightings of them, their movements have occasionally left us scratching our heads. An example of this was once when we found their tracks heading right off our concession in a westerly direction where we could not follow, which is an area where they rarely go. Usually they are seen in the central sections of our traversing area. They are still often trailed by the Shish Male who has still not recovered completely from his injured right hip. The last remaining cub in the pride is still doing extremely well. She keeps up with the pride on small but strong legs, and was even seen on a full chase after an entire herd of impala rams. She is almost a year old now. We suspect that one of the females may have cubs in the rocky ridges in the centre of our concession, as the pride are spending an inordinate amount of time there. Photo by Margaux Le Roux The Xhirombe pride have been seen quite a few times this month. In true Xhirombe Pride style, they have popped up when we least expect them. They managed to kill a large male kudu near the Mozambique border early on in the month. The younger female remains absent, and we suspect she has cubs in Mozambique. The Shish Males still call in the night, signalling their continued dominance over much of the area. They caught a buffalo right out in the open, near the lodges. They were found early in the morning, and the viewing and interaction around that kill, in the face of the rising sun, was nothing short of spectacular. Of course, so much happens we know nothing about, but in terms of our sightings and the lack of injuries seen on the Shish Males this month, it seems to have been relatively stable for them, with few intrusions from rivals. There were two days where unusual male lions were seen. On one occasion two nomadic males were found. These males have been heard calling in the past and may possible be threats to the Shish Males in the future. Also, three very nervous males were seen on a morning drive, though they were tracked off the concession the next day.

7 Photo by Brian Rode Cheetahs: (Article by Margaux Le Roux) Photo by Brian Rode

8 We had three sightings of these rare, big cats this month. The most memorable sighting was when Margaux noticed a large gathering of vultures circling and rapidly descending to the ground. Initially it was believed that the lions had made a kill, as fresh male lion tracks were seen heading towards the same direction where the vultures were landing. Upon closer inspection over fifty vultures were seen milling about on the ground, and between the mayhem a spotted hyena was seen rapidly pulling a carcass apart. Out of the blue, a cat suddenly leapt out of the long grass towards the hyena, who momentarily backed away from the carcass. At first it was believed that it was a small lioness that was charging in to steal the hyena s kill, but it was soon realised that it was in fact two male cheetah that had made a kill and that the hyena had claimed their prize. Being a relatively small predator, cheetahs often get displaced from their kills by larger predators, and the hyena moved back to the kill before devouring it in front of the cheetahs that could do nothing but look on in disdain. Leopards: (Article by Margaux Le Roux) With the vegetation dying back and the grass becoming flattened by the trampling of hooves, these normally elusive cats have been sighted over 20 times this month. The Ndlovu male was seen on a few occasions as he was patrolling the Sweni River and the Granophyre Ridges in front of camp. As one of the most relaxed big male leopards in the area, it is always a treat to get a glimpse of him, especially when Solomon found him walking along the bank of the N wanetsi River. In the perfect afternoon light, he delivered quite a show as he set off on a territorial patrol, even leaping from boulder to boulder as he crossed the last remaining pools of the N wanetsi. Photo by Brian Rode The Dumbana female and cub were seen seven times this month. On one occasion Walter managed to track her down at the Ntsibitsane Drainage Line where she had caught an impala. On this particular occasion both mom and cub were so busy indulging that they did not notice a spotted hyena that had stalked up to them. The hyena suddenly charged in from the side and dragged the carcass away from both

9 of the cats, and with copious amounts of snarling and hissing, the leopards ended up lying in close proximity to the hyena as it was feasting away, unable to reclaim their kill. Fortunately, she managed to kill another impala several days later, and this time she hoisted it into a big Marula tree. This lured in members of the Nyokene Hyena Clan, but with the carcass out of reach the hyenas could do nothing but wait in anticipation for any scraps that might fall down. Because of the positioning of the kill we had great sightings of both mom and cub for three days in a row. The real star of the show however was the Xinkelengane Female. Since she was seen with her cubs two months ago, sightings of one of our most relaxed females have been few and far between, as her cubs were denning in a rather inaccessible area. This was all about to change when Wessel and Rogers found her feeding on the last remains of an impala kill along the Mhlangulene Drainage line. She slowly climbed out of the tree before grooming herself and setting off on patrol, scent marking as she went along. Out of the blue she sat down in the middle of the road and she started to call softly. The soft calls and the rustling of leaves and grass coming from the cliffs could only mean one thing cubs! She proceeded to walk towards a clearing where she continued to call, before not one, but two leopard cubs appeared. Initially quite shy, the youngsters soon mustered up the courage to come out to mom. With big blue eyes looking at the vehicles, they soon relaxed and mom started to groom them and nurse them out in the open. This was a real memorable experience, with both guests and guides being left speechless. Hopefully the new youngsters will start to make more regular appearances. Photo by Margaux Le Roux

10 There s more to spotted hyenas than meets the eye (Article by Blaine Moolman, Photos by Brian Rode) This species has been shrouded in myths since time immemorial. Even the great Ernest Hemingway had this to say about them in The Green Hills of Africa in Fisi, the hyena, hermaphroditic self-eating devourer of the dead, trailer of calving cows, ham-stringer, potential biter-off of your face at night while you slept, sad yowler, camp follower, stinking, foul, with jaws that crack the bones the lions leave, belly dragging, loping away on the brown plain. As you can see, there is not much by way of praise in the great writer s view of this animal, and he is not alone in his belief. They are, however, essential and important to the ecosystem. Despite the mostly negative impression of them that most people have, and there is a lot more to them than meets the eye. The Facts, Figures and the basics: Oddly enough spotted hyenas are more closely related to cats than dogs, though they are completely in their own family. Males are actually lighter than females, weighing in at 45kg rather than the 65kg of their counterparts. In some areas can live in clans up to eighty members.

11 Within the clan, male spotted hyenas rank below the females in the pecking order. Females are larger and this slightly abnormal situation for a large mammal is attributed to a high level of the hormone, androgen. It allows females to mimic the male physical dominance that is evidenced in other large predators such as leopards and lions by making the females bigger, stronger, heavier and more aggressive. It is also this hormone that leads to the unique appearance of a female hyena s sexual organs. They are not hermaphrodites as many believe, despite the misleading looks. Incidentally, the unusual genitalia play an important role in the greeting and bonding ceremonies of hyenas, with meeting individuals adopting a head to toe position, raising one leg and sniffing. What do they eat? Yes, we have all heard the tales. A beast that slinks through the night, feeding on the remains of carcasses, and profiting off the hard work of other animals. There is an element of truth to this, but this is not unique behavior to hyenas, nor is it the only way they get their food. They are actually excellent hunters and catch and kill about half of their food themselves. They do this by simply running down their prey and then using incredibly powerful jaws to kill it. Once down, it will be consumed at a mind-boggling rate, with very little left for anything else. All but the largest bones of the prey will be eaten, which is evidenced in the calciumrich white colour of the faeces. The rest of their food is sniffed out and found. If there are enough hyenas at a carcass where lions are present, they will even press their numerical advantage and displace those lions. Although much demonized for this behavior, lions do exactly the same thing to other lions and other predators. It s not easy staying alive in the bush, and any animal must take what they can get, whatever the means. Hyenas can even smell things that are underground, meaning that they will actually dig food up from underneath the earth.

12 They travel massive distances each night in search of a meal, sometimes covering more than 30km on their travels. The Young: After a 110 day gestation period a hyena will give birth to one or two little cubs. They are born with sharp little teeth, and if both are the same sex, they may fight to the death to establish the hierarchy before they can walk. If one is born male, and the other a female, the female will automatically dominate and there will be no need for them to fight. The mothers milk is extremely rich, which allows the cubs to go long periods between feeds. They are fed at the communal den to which the cubs are moved a few days after birth. The cubs are fed solely on milk for the first seven months of their lives and are only totally weaned after a year of dependence. They are sexually mature after three years, after which life becomes very complicated for young spotted hyenas. Males are forced out of their natal clans to find potential mates. Young females have a choice to make: Because they have a class system, if the female in question is not the offspring of a high-ranking female, she can never rise in the clan hierarchy. Therefore, she must either remain a subordinate within the clan, find a new clan or start her own.

13 Spotted Hyenas Today: The modern world presents the wildlife of today with numerous challenges. The growth in population of the human race is not slowing down by any stretch of the imagination, and in many ways, it is the wildlife that suffers most because of this. Spotted hyenas are extremely adaptive, and their competition with humans has led to some interesting developments. One of the most interesting of these is their incredible interactions with the hyena men of Harar in Ethiopia. Here, these much-maligned animals encounter humans more so than ever. They rummage in the garbage dumps, and live in the cities. There are men who have trusting relationships with the hyenas, and even feed them from a wooden spoon held in their mouths! The hyenas have reportedly never hurt their handlers, except when their young have been threatened. According to the IUCN Red-list, although decreasing, the spotted hyena population numbers are still high enough for them not to be listed a threatened or endangered just yet, with up to individuals in Africa today. Nevertheless, seen as problem animals, spotted hyenas do face persecution from humans in the form of culling. They also die in snares and their body parts are used in traditional witchcraft because of the powers they are erroneously believed to hold. Beautiful as they are brutal, intelligent as they are cunning, they play an incredibly important ecological role in our environment, and are always a pleasure to see on any game drive.

14 Photo by Nick du Plessis Photo by Brian Rode Photo by Nick du Plessis Photo by Nick du Plessis Photo by Nick du Plessis

15 Photo by Sean Bissett Photo by Sean Bissett Articles by Jacques Briam, Margaux Le Roux, Blaine Moolman & Nick du Plessis Photos by Jacques Briam, Margaux Le Roux, Sean Bissett, Brian Rode & Nick du Plessis Singita Kruger National Park, South Africa Thirty first of August, Two Thousand and Seventeen