Sightings Report
Sighting of the week - 24/05/2010 – 30/05/2010
Charleston Pride males bring down a male buffalo
One early Wednesday morning the three males of the Charleston Pride took down an adult buffalo bull, a few kilometres outside 1933. The Charleston Pride usually consists of nine members, three males, four females and two cubs of about 7 months old. Only the adult males present at the kill, as the females and cubs were on a neighbouring property at the time. The males did not hesitate to feed and made short work of the buffalo, reducing it to skin and bones after just four days. This was surprising as they spent much of their time sleeping, belly up, in the shade of the surrounding Tamboti trees.
On the fifth day, we arrived at the kill, to find that our Lions had left and were replaced by a small clan of spotted Hyena. Hyenas are apex predators and bring down more prey than Lion, but when their numbers are high and there is an opportunity, they will not hesitate to scavenge a kill from another predator. They must have located the kill during the night and successfully chased the Lions from the kill, allowing them to feed in peace on the few scraps that remained.
Sighting of the week - 20 April 2010
New Lion cubs join the family ...
The Charleston Pride has been a regular sighting on Lion Sands over the last couple of months. On most occasions when the Pride has been sighted, we have only seen the three males, one cub and three of the four females. We all had a strange suspicion that the missing female has had cubs in the North-eastern corner of the Reserve …
On a late afternoon game drive, we located a lone lioness on the Marula Road in the Lion Sands Private Game Reserve. She was unfamiliar to us for a moment, until she turned to face us, that’s when we realised that she was the missing female from the Charleston Pride! We followed her for a while, into a nearby drainage line, where she stopped to rest and appeared to be looking for something in the vegetation.
All our guests’ eyes were on the female, when suddenly we heard a soft rustle in the nearby vegetation. What could this possibly be? Suddenly to the delight of everyone, she emerged from the vegetation with a tiny cub in her mouth and another at her feet. They couldn’t have been more than a few days old.
The female appeared to be moving den sites, keeping her cubs safe from predators that could have located the old den. What an incredible sighting! Unfortunately we couldn’t view them for long, as they were still very young and we did not wish to put them under any unnecessary stress by placing a spotlight on them.
We hope to get more exciting sightings of the growing cubs …
Sighting of the week - 9 March 2010
The Eternal Battle – Lion vs Hyena
The battle between Lion and Hyena for dominance has been around since the beginning of time. These two species are fierce rivals and won’t hesitate to kill a member of the rival species. Most confrontations between these to species occur in and around a kill, with one species trying to scavenge the kill from the other.
Early on Saturday morning, our guests witnessed the Southern Lion Pride taking down an adult Buffalo bull, just outside Ivory Lodge in the dry Mlechuaan River. It appears as if they surrounded him in the reeds and flushed him up the dry riverbed, where they brought him down in the loose river sand. The Southern Pride consists of fourteen members, one pride male, seven adult females and six sub-adults - all of which were present during the kill.
The Pride did not hesitate to feed and made short work of the Buffalo, reducing it to skin and bones after just two days. This was surprising as they actually spent much of their time sleeping, belly up, in the shade of the surrounding trees.
Sighting of the week - 2 March 2010
The Strictly Nocturnal Hunter ...
Our guests once again had some incredible sightings during the past week here at Lion Sands Private Game Reserve. These included Outcrop female and her two cubs, the Southern Pride relaxing and a quick glimpse of four ground hornbills. However, the sighting of the week goes to a very close encounter with one of Lion Sands smaller residence, a white-tailed mongoose (Icheumia albicauda).
During the late afternoon game drive the Rangers decided to stop at Large Tamboti for a combined drinks stop with their Guests. Everyone was enjoying their drinks, talking amongst themselves about the sightings and activities during the day when they heard some movement in the nearby vegetation. Naturally, everyone became more vigilant, not knowing what could be out there in the darkness. The spotlight quickly went on and we identified the source of all the commotion ... a white-tailed mongoose on the hunt for insects and grubs!
He was extremely relaxed and totally ignored the staring crowd as he searched for a meal, coming within a couple of meters of the excited onlookers! This was an amazing safari sighting of one of the smaller, rarer Lion Sands residents …
Sighting of the week - 12 February 2010
Leopard cubs first kill!
During the last few months we have been seeing our Outcrop female leopard with her two daughter cubs quite regularly. As a guide you grow up with these animals, from the moment where the mother shows you her precious litter for the first time, to the proud moment where that cub you saw growing up shows you her first litter! Between these two events there were many firsts that occurred. This week's sighting of the week was one of those precious moments ...
It all happened one typical January day, whilst our guests were out on the evening game drive. Gawie, one of our senior rangers left River Lodge and about five minutes away from the Lodge, a guinea fowl alerted him and his tracker of something suspicious in the tall green summer grass. Gawie, who has been a guide for seven years, knew that this alarm call from this stressed guinea fowl could only mean one thing ... a leopard is lurking somewhere just off the road hiding away from the January sun!
Bheki, his tracker, was the first to spot her lazing in the grass. As the next Ranger responded she got up and started moving. She crossed the road and the elusive cat quickly disappeared into the vegetation on the other side. We all knew something was up when she disappeared so quickly and we tried to relocate her again.
Then, in the distance our guests saw a group of banded mongoose. One of the Outcrop female's cubs was heading straight for the mongoose in the stalking fashion she has seen her mother doing so many times! Being inexperienced she suddenly just bolted towards them. The mongoose scattered everywhere leaving the leopard undecided on which one to pursue - it was a comical sight!
The agile cat then pounced towards one and missed and as if in one motion pounced to another and another. On her fourth attempt she succeeded to barely catch an adult mongoose. The inexperience resurfaced as she bit it on the back legs. The mongoose realizing he got himself in a predicament, started biting back! He bit her on her right leg and did not let go!
The leopard was stuck in a situation where she had the mongoose in her mouth and the mongoose attached to her leg! The cub then started trotting around on three legs not knowing what to do. Unfortunately, she was alone today; her mother was not there to help ... this was her first introduction to the animal she was born to be, a solitary, elusive cat, killing by stealth and speed. She had all the tools and genes but experience was lacking.
Hurting from the mongoose bite she knew she had to do something and fast. She let go and almost before the mongoose could touch the ground she got a better grip and the mongoose was done for. She finally took her prize up a tree, away from hyenas and anybody that wanted to steel her very first, very treasured kill.
Sighting of the week – 1 February 2010
Vine Snake vs Chameleon
Generally our interesting sightings happen out on the Reserve during a game drive or bush walk, but occasionally something special happens right in the middle of the lodge for all our guests to see. This was the case earlier this week in the River Lodge car park.
While welcoming new guest arrivals in the River Lodge reception, a Chameleon came out of the confinement and safety of the trees to attempt to pass the vast dessert which was the parking lot. For those of you who don’t know Chameleons, let's just say that they are not the fastest animals in the animal kingdom. The distance from one side of the parking lot to the other is about 30 metres, and it will take a chameleon approximately 15 minutes to cover that distance.
About 10 metres into it's journey, the normally green Chameleon started changing colour in an attempt to fit into it's new environment - a mechanism it uses to avoid predation, but it was already too late! A Vine snake, with its keen eyesight already spotted his victim from out of the trees. The snake came rushing down the trees straight for his unsuspecting victim which was passing the River Lodge parking lot for the last time ...
Onlookers to this spectacle suddenly saw the snake coming out of the trees heading for the Chameleon! The snake caught the Chameleon and injected it's deadly Heamotoxic venom into it's prize catch!
Once the snake had the chameleon it never let go, staying in the open waiting for the venom to take effect. The Chameleon tried to fight back from the inevitable by biting his attacker, but it was a lost cause. After a struggle of about 20 minutes the snake took it's meal to the safety of the trees, where it could peacefully enjoy the meal.
Sighting of the week – 4 January 2010
New leopard cubs introduce themselves!
A particular female leopard in the East has become a regular sighting over the last couple of months. On most occasions, when she has been sighted, we have seen her moving in and around the dry riverbeds and associated thicket vegetation. She has been in the same area for a couple of weeks now and this lead us to believe that she might have cubs in the area.
Last week our hopes were realized, when one of our Field Rangers located her and her cubs moving through the vegetation in the area that she had been frequenting. This litter includes two cubs which are approximately six months old. The cubs were very inquisitive, playing in close proximity to the vehicle and continuously stalking it trying to see what the strange object was.
Females are capable of breeding at two years old and will produce litters of one to three cubs after a pregnancy lasting about three-and-a-half months. Leopard cubs weigh around 500 grams at birth and their eyes open after about one week. For the first two months the mother keeps her cubs hidden in dense bush, rock clefts or hollow tree trunks, to minimize detection from predators. The cubs will venture from hiding after about six to eight weeks, by which time they are rather successful tree climbers.
