Djuma Bush News

Bush Lodge

Lion highlights at Bush Lodge have mainly included the Styx pride of lions, which are still seen in and around the lodge. The complete pride and nine cubs were seen almost every week; however the Nkahuma lion pride has not been seen for almost a month. Hopefully they will be back soon.

Vuyatela

General game viewing has been great this month at Vuyatela; especially with the presence of different pride of lions. The other factor attracting these prides of lions is the presence of breeding herds of buffaloes. Two male lions, new to Djuma property were seen feeding on a buffalo kill. The Mapogo pride of lions is back as well; however this time it was only two of them, their faces covered in blood. By the looks of it, they had been in a fight. The Styx pride is trying to settle on the Djuma property even though the competition is strong from the Kuhuma pride that always come and go. The lone Manyeleti boy, male lion, has been seen along the Northern boundary, after a long absence, perhaps he is looking for some company as he has been on his own for some time. Sandy Patch, lone lioness, is still hanging in there with her three cubs that are growing each and every day. She has been successful in killing. The Windmill pride of lions is also pushing deeper to our reserve from Mala Mala.

These Sightings have been Viewed at Djuma Bush & Vuyatela

Lion Cub Surviving……

The young lion cub from the Ximungwe pride is still surviving, however what has been out of the ordinary is that the cub’s mother seems to have stopped lactating and this is way too early for this young cub, as it still requires a good amount of milk in its diet. Cubs are usually weaned from 6 – 7 months. They start eating meat at 6 – 8 weeks; however they require milk supplement until this age. The other uncommon event that is occurring is that this female is now mating again with the Mapogo. This is probably an indication that she may desert this cub, as committing herself for three years to raise one cub may not be an option for her.

These Sightings have been viewed at:  Savanna Lodge

News at Elephant Plains

Here is to a very exciting report from the guides at Elephant Plains Game Lodge, what a month they have had! They finally got to see their favourite lions, the Tsalala’s and their six cubs. The cubs are approximately seven weeks old and simply adorable. They are extremely active and playful. It has taken the Tsalala’s three years to produce cubs again and this time all is going well for them as they have the six Mapogo males to look after them. The guides and guests have seen a lot of the Stix pride and the Kuhma’s as well. Apparently two males have moved into part of the Kuhuma’s territory in the east, which might be why they haven’t left again, knowing that they are safe here where the Mapogo’s can protect them.

Sightings have been viewed Elephant Plains

Shinde Camp News as flood water arrives….

Even though the end of summer is in sight and the flood waters are arriving, One-Eye and the rest of the Shinde pride are permanently residing on the northern area of the concession. Four lionesses (new arrivals to the area) have been more and more successful in their hunting, often killing several times a day.

One such incident happened at the famous Killing Fields when a sounder of warthogs were grubbing peacefully early in the afternoon, completely unaware of the impending danger in the grass. The lionesses had killed a lechwe that morning and quickly closed in on the warthog. The lionesses pounced on a young warthog and when the mother attempted to rescue her offspring, the lionesses turned on her killing both female and young.

At some point during all the commotion, a male lion arrived with a definite goal on claiming his share of the feast. Initially he was fended off by the females; however he returned later forcing the females to give up their prey. Having lost their meal the females were again hunting less than an hour later.

These Sightings have been Viewed at: Shinde

Machaton Pride adds to Kings Camp Lion Population

Kings Camp is proud to announce that the one Machaton Lioness has 3 cubs and they are approximately 7 weeks old. The guides and guests have seen some incredible sightings, watch this space for some more news and updates on their progress! The Timbavati Boys are doing very well and has taken a few Buffaloes again through the month. The other 2 Machaton Lionesses kept a low profile through the month and hopefully there will be more news to report on them soon!

These Sightings have been Viewed at: Kings Camp

Luwi – Lion News – June 2009

Remarkable game sightings are what the Luangwa Valley is known for, however; every now and then one gets the chance to witness something a little out of the ordinary. A couple of weeks ago a male lion from the Luwi pride, was spotted with a hyena in its mouth. Much has been documented on the eternal feud between lions and hyena but rarely do you see an example like this one. This lion held the hyena in a “death grip” around its throat and neck for about 10 minutes or more before finally dropping it. The hyena was not yet dead, it appeared to recover several minutes later but only enough to drag its seemingly paralysed back legs off into the bushes. Nature can appear very cruel! Regardless of the story above, reaffirming the lion as the “king of the beasts”, lions are as susceptible as any other species to the indiscriminate targeting of the poacher’s snare. Wire snares, designed typically to capture small buck, are still being set by poachers both inside and outside the National Park. Regrettably guides from both Kakuli and Mchenja Camps spotted lions carrying snares last week. Luckily their diligence in reporting and assisting with the de-snaring operation meant that in both cases the lions were saved and will recover very quickly. The camps usually contact the South Luangwa Conservation Society but in this instance they were unable to respond immediately so passed the call for help over to the African Wild Dog Conservation Trust lead by Matt Becker, who came to the rescue.

These sightings have been viewed at: Luangwa Valley

Savanna Lion Population Update

There is good news and bad news with regards to the lion populations at Savanna. One of the Ximungwe females produced her cubs for in early April and once she started moving them, it wasn’t long for one to disappear. It is believed that this cub was taken by a hyena. Two and a half weeks later, the guides noticed that one of the other two remaining cubs had also been bitten quite badly and this one too disappeared after a couple of days, leaving one remaining cub, which seems to be doing very well. There are doubts as to whether the mother will invest three, to three and a half years in one cub only. She may abandon this cub and start afresh with a new litter. In the meantime, this little cub is being treated like an adult; she is walking huge distances and is probably the fittest little cub around. Normally the mother would leave her cubs hidden, go out and hunt and then take the cubs to the kill. Not with this cub: she is involved in all excursions that the mother goes on.

She has also been introduced to the other Ximungwe females and has been accepted without any problem. The remaining Ximungwe females have all been mating vigorously with the Mapogo and they seem to be making the Savanna property their core area, which will be very exciting if they decide to have their cubs on Savanna’s property.

There has been a very exciting incident whilst following a male lion on Savanna property (one of the Mapogo), when he suddenly sprinted off into the bush. The guides then heard the squealing of a warthog that had obviously been caught. The warthog had been caught on the other side of a drainage line and it took the guides approximately eight minutes to get around to the position where the lions were still busy trying to kill this warthog. The guides arrived to find one of the Ximungwe females, believed to have caught the warthog, and the male lion in a standoff situation. This huge pig was keeping both these lions at bay with his large tusks. However, in the initial fight, the warthog had been badly injured on both back legs. Soon after the guides arrived, the male lion rushed in, flipped the warthog on his back and administered the coup de grâce. Whilst all this was happening Metsi, the young female leopard, was standing on a vantage point and watching the whole scene.

The Ottowa pride has moved deeper and deeper into the camp’s driving area territory and it seems as if they are changing their core area in and around the Sand River which will be fantastic for future viewing.

These Sighting have been viewed at Savanna Lodge

The Living Legend @ Kings Camp

It was the infamous Shobele male that took everyone by surprise again this month as he suddenly made an appearance. He is looking a bit frail and he has lost a lot of body weight during the last few weeks. Sadly this magnificent animal, once one of the most powerful coalitions ever to roam Timbavati, has reached the end of his career. His dominance holds the record of more that 8 years with his brothers. His day-to-day movements have become a guessing game as he disappears for days on end with no signs of him at all.

One day he surprised everyone when he was discovered feeding on a dead buffalo that he stole from a new coalition of 3 males. The young coalition of 3 males pirated the carcass from the Shobele 5 sub-adults, which the Shobele youngsters found first. Fortunately the Shobele youngsters had had time to feed before they were chased off the carcass by the young 3 male lions. The young team of 3 then fed for a few hours before the Shobele male arrived. This is where it gets interesting. Everyone thought that the young coalition would certainly chase or even kill the Shobele male. Well, it certainly did not happen. The guides watched the stand off on the first evening. The 3 young males remained passive and submissive at every single movement the Shobele male made watching him intently. At one stage, one of the 3 young males threatened him with low growl but this attempt was not even noticed by the larger Shobele male. As old as he is, he still is deeply respected by other young male lions. The Shobele male ate for an hour and slept next to the carcass preventing the young males from feeding for a day. This old man is still as intimidating as he was several years ago, a true legend.

These Sightings have been Viewed at Kings Camp

Lioness gives birth as Excitement enters the Camp

There was huge excitement in camp when the young Machaton Lioness gave birth at the end of the month! The guides and staff were unsure of how many cubs were born, however watch this space for more news! The Machaton pride and Timbavati boys spent some quality time on traversing and the guides saw them on Wildebeest kills twice during the month.

The Schobele pride went through a spell of hardship again due to the fact that new males are moving in from the North. They are associating with the females but don’t allow the three young boys to hang around in their presence. As soon as the big males move in the youngsters, including the 2 girls, flee for their lives and run into all directions. This sometimes makes it difficult to find them as they literally run all over the show… Good news though is that for the last few weeks the seven Lions were seen together with no sign of the new males.

These Births have been recorded in & around the Kings Camp Area

Tsaro Pride doing well @ Duba Plains

The Tsaro Pride at Duba Plains is doing well and the guides estimate that the pride is left with at least four cubs. It’s hard to tell how many females have given birth as undoubtedly some have lost their litter. With young cubs the pride has split into small groups and lone females have followed the herd predating on abandoned calves and picking up after-birth. When the pride does join up, the focus is still on calves and over-protective mothers. Cubs have mostly been seen after a kill when the mother moves the cubs out of hiding to feed.

The Skimmer Male is still the only dominant male over the two resident prides, Skimmer and Tsaro, and as usual, just as the Duba Boys did, he has spent most of his time with the Tsaro Pride, probably because there is more food than in the Skimmer territory. The young Skimmer Male has also been seen in the area with Junior. This male has mated with some females from Tsaro, so some will be having cubs very soon. It is always an interesting interaction when the dominant Skimmer Male and the young male meet.

The Skimmer Pride continues to flourish although they still spend a lot of time in the west of their territory, which the game drive vehicles cannot access.

These Sighting have been viewed at Duba Plains