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

Playing the Waiting Game while just lion around

For the past month, three of the Mapogo have been resident in the game driving area, the reason is probably due to the fact that the four young females of the Ximungwe pride is starting to come into season. No real mating has taken place as yet, however judging by their flirtatious behaviour it is sure to happen soon. The older female of the Ximungwe pride has had cubs, however she has chosen an inaccessible place to have them, hence they have not been seen and the guides do not know how many there are. The guides believe she had them approximately a month ago and it will be another month before she brings them out. The Ottawa pride has been absent for most of the month.

These Lions Prides can be Viewed at: Savanna Lodge

Elephant Plains Brimming with Lion Prides

The guides happily reported that at the moment there are almost forty lions moving around the Sabi Sand Wildtuin. The camp has had some great sightings of the Mapogo’s and the Robson’s pride this month. The guides were relieved to find that the entire Robson’s pride was not totally wiped out by the Mapogo’s as initially thought. The Robson’s pride cubs are approximately ten months old and all seem to be in very good condition. Mapogo male number six is living with the Robson’s pride at present and it appears as if he wanted to mate with one of the females. The Stix have not been seen but the guides are certain that they still have all their cubs and two females are pregnant. The Tsalala’s numbers have not increased but hopefully in time they will. The Sandy patch female still has her cubs, but the guides are uncertain of the number. She was spotted feeding on a wildebeest and she showed fresh suckle marks. There appear to be new residents in the area as well. Two adult females and six cubs moved from the west and it is great to see a few cubs again.

These huge number of Lion prides can be viewed at & around Elephant Plains area

Kings Camp has new members to it’s Voeldam Pride

The Timbavati pride made an appearance and an unfamiliar male have joined up with the pride! The guides are not sure where he is from but he is very impressive. There were quite a few sightings of new males up North and that is largely due to the absence of our beloved Schobele male.

The last reported sighting of the Schobele male was weeks ago when the guides saw him far down South. This was a sign that he was becoming a rogue nomad, just wanting to stay clear of trouble and fights with stronger coalitions. Southern males roared close to him and the once fierce Schobele male stared quietly in their direction, preventing conflict. Watch this space for more news or sightings…

The Voëldam pride, with the Klaserie male, was seen twice and it looks like they are growing in strength and numbers. One of the Lionesses had cubs in early January. The guides advised that there are two little ones which bring the pride tally to 5 adult Lionesses, 1 adult Male, 4 cubs aged between 4 – 7 months and 2 new babies! They are regularly seen in the Klaserie sector and unfortunately the guides and guests only get to see them when they cross over into the Western traversing.

The Machaton pride spent most of their time just outside traversing! This however was mainly due to large kills they had made. The Schobele pride had regular trouble with the foreign males moving in. For most of the month the females and sub-adults spent time apart from each other. They are all in very good condition and it looks like the young ones are managing just fine by themselves for short periods of time.

These sightings have been viewed at Kings Camp