WILDLIFE REPORT

We bring to you in this months report the following wonderful and exciting news:

• The Mbali leopardess and her cubs were seen on several occasions.
• The Shobele pride finally got off to a good start and managed to make several large kills, one of which was a buffalo they found dead.
• A large bull elephant decided to check in at the lodge late one night and proceeded to pull out the water pipes in the camp. The end result being no running water in the taps.

The bushveld is now transforming with the onset of autumn. The colours of the veld are rich and the light is ideal to capture those perfect images.

Leopards

Mbali leopardess finally took her cubs on an exciting excursion. We had an extraordinary but wonderful sighting of her and the two cubs feeding on a buffalo carcass they found on the riverbank of the Nharalumi River. We are not sure why the old buffalo died but we suspect that the old buffalo might have succumbed to old age.

Nevertheless the leopardess was rather happy with the free meal and so were we as it produced several breathtaking sightings for two days. The cubs spent their time playing around the vehicle, climbing up trees and at one stage decided to inspect the game drive vehicle for a loser inspection.

Where in the world can one sit in a vehicle next to a female leopard with two 5-month-old cubs oblivious to our presence? I wish that every single guest could be a part and share such a wonderful sighting. The cubs are still very small and the mother still needs to keep them hidden for the next few months to safe guard them from the dangers of the bush. This is crucial for survival and it will be sometime before she will take her cubs with her on hunts. If you would like to monitor the progress of these little guys, please have a look at our web blog, (www.kingscamp.com/blog) for frequent updates.

I will post short updates with the latest pictures of the cubs every time we have confirmed sightings of them.

Ntombi leopardess is fast becoming a frequent visitor around Kings Camp and I am glad that she is marking her territory in the Kings Camp region. Her frequent marking and pasting at certain spots indicates that she is using Kings Camp and the northern part of the camp as her core territory.

What doesn’t it mean to us as a lodge? It means that you, as a potential and return guest will have a good opportunity to see her. She is a stunning little cat, which never seems to tire. I managed to capture this unusual image of her sitting up right typical of a meerkat.

Macujani male leopard is as impressive as the first day he arrived in our area. This beautiful tom is just breath taking. He is powerful, majestic and just sheer raw power. Sightings from him are top class and during this month most of the guests got an opportunity to see him. One fact that really impresses me is how active this tom is during territorial patrols. This male walks up 15 km during a single night and then to top it all still manages to hunt and successfully kill an antelope. Please explore the post about him on the blog.

Lions

The Shobele pride is doing well. This sturdy and dedicated pride appears be as strong as can be. During the beginning of the month they had a difficulty in providing food for the cubs. But during the second week, things changed for the better.

After leaving the pride walking past my vehicle during the evening drive, I found the pride on a fresh Waterbuck kill the next morning. I could not believe that the pride almost finished the carcass in several hours. They must have been very hungry. The feeding lasted one day whereupon they moved up north and added another two kills to the list. It was then a few days later whereupon the pride found the buffalo carcass that was already a few days old. Luckily, the Mbali leopardess and cubs had moved away from the carcass before the lions found it. I have a feeling that the two lionesses might have been responsible for the death of Mbali’s last litter.

The Machattan pride made a sort return to our area of traversing. The pride was found hunting a buffalo during early hour of the morning. Several attempts were made but failed due to poor commitment from the lionesses. The males seem to be eager and applied the pressure on the buffalo herd. Which intern responded aggressively!

Afterwards, some of the younger members of the pride played a game of hide and seek much to our delight.

Elephants

Last but not least, a large bull elephant named Dawson, a frequent visitor in our area somehow managed to get in to the camp. A staff member forgot to close the electric fence after returning from a game drive. This gave the large bull time to get in to the camp and make use of the camps water resources. Much to my dismay I bumped into the huge elephant on my way to work at 5 am in the morning in darkness. Of course one never expects to phyiscally bump into an elephant a mere 2 meters away. Nevertheless I managed to get him out of the camp after using persuasive methods.

Anyway that is all for this month friends. Please follow the Kings Camp Web blog to get frequent updates concerning the game drives.

Till then take care.

Patrick O’Brien – Head guide.

Photography by Patrick O’Brien - patrick@kingscamp.com.