WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA SABI SAND, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of October, Two Thousand and Eighteen Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 15 C (59 F) For the month: 10 mm Sunrise: 05:14 Average maximum: 30 C (86 F) Since August 2018: 19.5 mm Sunset: 18:02 Minimum recorded: 11 C (52 F) Maximum recorded: 38 C (100 F) It was a promising start at the beginning of October, as we woke up with overcast and cool conditions that soon resulted in light rainfall. The rain lasted only for a day; it settled the dust and dampened the dry earth. The smell was invigorating; it was Africa at its best. The cooler conditions prevailed throughout the month and the earth soon dried up and thus has resulted in the Sand River completely drying up with a few small pools of water remaining along its course. Dry season allows guests to experience wildlife in larger herd numbers with greater predator versus prey interactions. With the mass movement of the larger herds, the dust increases allowing for spectacular sunsets of deep pinks, oranges, reds and purples as dusk descends. The first migrant birds have already appeared from the north, weavers begin breeding, it is a bountiful time of the year. A highlights package of the month's sightings follows.
Lions: With recent rain, it was the first sight of water falling from the sky for many of the litters that have been born within the latter part of this year. It was a touching moment to watch. The cubs are doing well in both of the most frequently viewed prides, namely the Mhangene and Othawa prides.
Leopards: It is starting to get very interesting with all of the leopard action at the moment. It actually has been difficult to keep up. A recent visit from the Kashane male leopard resulted in watching him hunt water monitor lizards along the drainage line, with success of course. As this large brute of a male leopard has moved out of the area and only recently returned for temporary visits, it always is a special encounter, as we all know him so well. The Hlab Nknzi female and her young male offspring are frequently sighted along the Sand River, in addition to her daughter the Schotia female and her young male cub. The leopards are definitely capitalising on the abundance of wildlife stretching along the course of the Sand River. With the lack of water running through the sandy soil, grasses have rooted and the greenery has attracted various herbivorous species. Elephants: Within the last week four large groups of elephants converged just west of the lodges which had the number of individuals exceeding well over one hundred. It was a noisy commotion along the muddy riverbed, as the elephants quenched their thirst and cooled themselves down, splashing mud behind their ears. Some of the younger elephants decided to roll in the mud as this seemed more appropriate and a lot more fun! Hyenas: An active den-site has been found this month and we are in awe as to how many hyenas often gather around these very social mounds. With cubs of different ages, it often results in activity of interactive behaviour between the ranking orders. Read more interesting facts about hyenas in the article written by Stacey Gerber. Birds The total bird count for the month of October was 191. Specials for the month included the return of the lesser spotted eagle, Jacobins cuckoo and a congregation of marabou, yellow-bill, saddle-bill, black and woolly-necked storks feeding at Pios crossing.
A marabou stork takes flight. It s hard to believe that this will turn into a green wonderland, seemingly overnight.
Close encounter Article by Marc Eschenlohr Children are born innately curious but when life in the wild African bush is a day-to-day struggle for survival, curiosity could very well kill the cat, or dog. For a group of wild dog pups this valuable life lesson was learnt very quickly, and thankfully without harm. We arrived at a sighting to see a group of eight wild dog adults and their nine pups lying in the shade of some evergreen plants. About 100 metres away was a breeding herd of elephants feeding in the clearings, just casually going about their day - pulling some grass here, uprooting a tree there, all the while oblivious to the presence of the second most endangered carnivore species in Africa. Now intrigued by these rather odd gentle-looking giants, the pups all got up and decided they wanted a closer look. Anyone who knows the bush knows that elephants are not to be taken lightly, least of all a breeding herd where babies are involved. Startled by these mini-animals approaching them, the elephants flared their ears, began trumpeting and started chasing the pups. Frightened for their dear lives the pups bolted, tails firmly rooted between their legs back to the safety of their guardian pack. Hearing this commotion, the adult wild dogs themselves got up and began to run towards the herd in their own attempt to ward off the danger now approaching their young. The alpha male came to the rescue of a pup and tried to attract the attention of the elephant cow to no avail, and all adults and pups were sent scrambling to the safety of their den-site a couple of hundred metres away. That was a valuable lesson learnt for the puppies not to mess with Africa s largest land mammals. Takeover Article by Marc Eschenlor Animals, particularly males, are often fighting for dominance. Dominance over females and dominance of territory. It is a tale as old as time that younger stronger males sometimes decide to take their chances and chase a dominant male from his territory.
This story that follows is the amazing sighting we caught whilst at Pios Crossing in the Sand River, of a bull hippo losing his precious stretch of river. As we were crossing the river we got a warning charge by a bull hippo with the resident dominant bull in the distance making his way to the water from the embankment. I recognised this charging bull as new since he was missing a canine tooth, a feature not seen in any of the others in this pod. The older, resident dominant bull charged his way forward towards this intruder with an unfamiliar grunting sound. I couldn't believe what I was seeing - a fight was imminent! Finally, now face to face, the bulls clashed with wideopen gaping mouths. Jumping, pushing and fighting, each sought to prove who was stronger, and who should rightfully rule this stretch of water. Sadly, succumbing to the realisation that he was the weaker one, the previously dominant bull turned around and showed his back to the other bull. With this move the younger bull began biting at the older bull s flanks and drew blood. Tired and feeling defeated, the older bull began to make his way to the river embankment, the younger bull then gave chase and pushed him completely out the water onto land. Because hippos are territorial in the water they will protect an area and allow the presence of females and juveniles but will not tolerate another large bull. Therefore, with this move of forcing the dominant bull out he has won the territory. The older bull will now likely move onto another part of the reserve far away and continue to live his life in solitude. This was quite a touching moment as this once dominant bull who would have been successful in protecting his territory for a number of years, walked away as the loser.
Along the Sand River Article by Quinton Paul Josop As winter slowly comes to an end, the environment is beginning to show increased signs that the bushveld is yearning the rains! Most of the waterholes south of the Sand River are dried up and the animals are forced to move to the river for greener leaves, grass and their daily drink. At Pios Crossing, our most popular river crossing, general game has been congregating in large numbers. Herds of impala, waterbuck, giraffe, elephants, Cape buffalo, zebra, waterbuck, crocodiles and the resident pod of hippos that sometimes leave the water to warm up in the sun have all given our guests amazing viewing on safari! The increased amount of plains game along the Sand River has also resulted in greater predator activity and we are regularly seeing leopards, lions and African wild dogs hunting where their prey is plentiful.
Birdlife has also been interesting with the migratory birds returning from further north, Europe and Asia! Green-backed herons have been seen nesting, common greenshanks, wood sandpipers and a greater painted-snipe have all been observed wading the shallows and sand-bars in search of food. The residents birds are still up to their usual business, pied kingfishers air perching and diving to catch the small catfish, saddle-billed storks flushing out small frogs, tadpoles and fish with their long legs and African fish-eagles calling from the tops of ancient African ebony trees! A painted snipe wades in the water. A pied kingfisher enjoys a catch.
The hyena an undeniably strange animal Article by Stacey Gerber The hyena is a strange animal. It is neither a dog nor a cat, and though it resembles a dog, it is a closer relative to a cat (genetically). Hyena are strange in almost every regard. Like elephants, hyena social structures are matriarchal (ruled by females) but hyena take this aspect to the extremes where most females (some say all females) outrank most males. They are able to achieve such social structures due to the females large size. On average a male hyena weighs approximately 59 kg (130 pounds) and on average a female weighs 71 kg (156 pounds). Females however have been known to be as heavy as 90 kg (198 pounds). The reason for the females reaching such large sizes is due to the excessive testosterone production. Some believe that this testosterone production within females has resulted in the development of their false male genitalia. Yes, you read that correctly. Female hyenas have false male genitals. Therefore it is very difficult to distinguish between a male and female hyena if you look at the genitals as they look very similar (almost exactly the same). Two of the easiest ways to tell the difference are to look at the size of the animal (as mentioned before, males are smaller than females on average) and whether the female has enlarged mammary glands between the back legs. Once a female has her first offspring, her mammary glands remain enlarged. This is mostly due to the extended nursing periods that are unique to hyena, where they will provide milk to their offspring for up to 18 months! It is believed that this nursing behaviour is a result of the scavenging nature of hyenas and that if the youngsters were not provided with milk, they would starve as they would not be able to fight off other hyenas from scavenged carcasses. A third (and certainly not last) interesting fact that distinguishes hyena from other species is their resourcefulness. Hyenas are known for their uncanny ability to consume and digest almost every aspect of a carcass. Lions for example are known to waste up to 40% of a carcass, which mostly includes the hooves, bones, skin, horns, teeth, etc. where hyenas are able to digest and consume these parts of the carcass (with the exception of very large horns from a buffalo or wildebeest). This is due to their incredibly powerful jaws and their unusually acidic stomachs which break down these parts of the animal. It has been recorded where hyena have swallowed bones up to 9 cm long (3.5 inches) and digested this in a matter of hours. It has also been observed that hyenas have placed large skulls in a body of water for several hours in order to soften the bones or horns. Hyena are strange animals. They have clearly not read the books as to what is normal and what is usual as almost every aspect of their nature, nurture and physiology goes against all that we know or read. They are unique and should be appreciated for these unusual features, not disliked for their differences or their scavenging behaviours. They are Nature s clean-up crew, reducing the spread of disease and ensuring that nothing is wasted. Perhaps if we thought about it, and looked a little deeper, we could learn a thing or two from them and apply it to our own lives. (Photo courtesy of Renain Venter)
The thrill of the chase! Article by Nick du Plessis Patiently waiting for the first decent rains of the season means that the Sand River has become more of a trickle than the flowing watercourse we usually know it as. In saying this, the sections of the Sand River which are still holding decent water are an absolute hive of activity at the moment. With the dryness, the activity that we are currently experiencing along these permanent water sources is just incredible. The interactions between species have been more frequent and more intense than I have ever experienced! It is one of those places at the moment that any time spent there is definitely time not wasted! We were calmly enjoying one of these drying sections of the river just to the west of the lodges when out of nowhere, and without warning, a female kudu came bounding straight down the watercourse towards us with a single Cape hunting dog (African wild dog) snapping at her heals! Now anything out here is thrilling to watch in full flight, but nothing can match the athleticism and excitement of trying to keep up with a pack of Cape hunting dogs while hunting! We were lucky enough to see this entire hunt without having to try keep up or reposition once as the apparent defence strategy, or at least last-ditch effort of this tiring kudu, was to run in and out of the watercourse in an attempt to shake off the dog and avoid the open clearings on either bank where the much quicker pack member would definitely run her down. Although kudus are known as incredible jumpers, they are actually not the quickest antelope over open ground. This resilient pack member wasn't having any of it, nipping at the hind quarters whenever he was close enough for a bite. Bobbing and weaving across the slippery rocks and muddy embankments the kudu was barely staying ahead so eventually she ran directly into the deepest section of the river, knowing she wasn t going to outrun the dog and also understanding how dangerous deep water and crocodiles can be. With this as quickly as it all started, it appeared to have ended. The dog heard something further to the west and without hesitation he sprinted off. We later discovered the rest of the pack had made an impala kill of their own. The poor kudu unfortunately broke her back left foot in the chase. With all the commotion, a single hyena was milling about for a while keeping the kudu in the water until it eventually also got wind of the kill the rest of the pack had made and headed off for a better opportunity of a meal. This was really a sighting I will never forget. A number of other guides followed up on the kudu later that morning and afternoon but there was no further sign of her and she seemed to have retreated into some very thick bush. Although the prey species of Cape hunting dogs varies from small mammals like scrub hares to larger antelope like kudu the majority of their kills are small to medium-sized antelope. Although unusual, taking down this kudu was definitely not out of the dog s capabilities. I actually believe if it was not for the water and the other pack members making a kill of their own, he would have brought it down right in front of us. Consistently regarded as the most efficient hunter in the field, this specialised pack hunter uses its incredible stamina, clocking speeds of over 60 kilometres per hour for up to an hour! This basically means that if they can keep the prey species in view, eventually they will bring it down. With a strike rate believed to be in the region of 80-90%, nothing can compete. As a reference, a lion s strike rate is thought to be as low as 20-30%! My guest Kathy Ritzow managed to capture the action superbly, and has kindly shared these images with us:
Photos by guest Kathy Ritzow
From one day to another Article by Andries Mohlala The season is spring and the temperature about 38 degrees Celsius. The heat was beating down on us as we embarked on our afternoon game drive. The idea was to stick close to the watering holes and the Sand River to take advantage of the large trees that are lined up along the river, while hoping that some of the animals might also be thinking along those lines. The difference was that the river itself was almost non-existent, since we have not seen water from above in about five months, so all resources are dwindling quite rapidly, including the volume of the water in the river, but hope is hope and animals still do tend to stick along the cool areas on a day like this. Fish get trapped in small water pockets, which attracts a lot of fish-eating birds. It is fun to watch how different species of birds attempt to catch a fish using all sorts of methods for their success. The first animal we encountered was a female leopard that was taking advantage of the cool environment under a river bushwillow. The next thing we knew, monkeys started alarming in the same vicinity and a minute later a male lion joined us not too far from where we had the leopard. The lion was followed by a breeding herd of elephants that came down to dig for water on the wet sand; all animals seemed to just mind their own business! Across the river a young elephant bull was showing interest in something else that he was trumpeting at and trying to chase. We followed up on this activity and found a female leopard with a cub on an impala kill! They were wisely getting out of the way of the young elephant. This game drive just turned into a standstill and all that we wanted to look at occurred around us. Later on the lion was vocalising as the sun was setting and the night sounds came alive as we left our cool spot, wondering what was going to transpire during the night. The next morning, we went back to the same spot to see what we could find. Nothing! Not even tracks from the animals we had seen the drive before. It was almost like we dreamt of the activity we had the day before. My tracker Martin and I took a walk down the river just to make sure. Nothing. We took the guests just to get close to where we had seen it all. We had some signs here and there just to convince ourselves
that we had indeed seen those animals, but it was a different day after all, and time for different sightings in different parts of the reserve. Photographs on location by Ross Couper, Paul Quinton Josop and Marc Eschenlohr Singita Ebony and Boulders Lodge Sabi Sand South Africa Thirty-first of October 2018