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
