MANAGEMENT & WILDLIFE REPORT
June 2009

WILDLIFE REPORT

General

The winter has finally knocked at our front door this month with temperatures ranging between 10-27 degrees Celsius during the day. Still warm for a winter’s day if one compares it to most European countries. It is the early morning drives that bite with the coldest morning recorded at 3.8 degrees Celsius. Pretty chilly!!

The bush is looking beautiful with a collection of strong yellow colours. It is not dense which makes game viewing and photography just outstanding. Game viewing was very good during the month with several unusual sightings recorded.

However it is with great sadness that I bring you the tragic news that one of the Adult Shobele lionesses was killed in an attack by 3 male lions. On the positive side our newly born lion cubs are still alive and are doing well. Our leopard sighting were at their best this month with Nhkatheko being the star of the month again. Wild dogs have made return to the area however there is one dog less in the pack but are all healthy and looking great.

Lion

Lion sightings were very good. In this report I bring you an update concerning one of our most important prides namely the Shobele pride in our area. It is with great sadness that I inform you that we have lost an adult lioness from the Shobele pride. She was sadly killed in combat as she tried fearlessly to defend her pride.

The details concerning her death is very out of the ordinary. The new 3 young nomadic male lions that have been frequenting our area for the last 6 months attacked her. We are not sure what the reason for the attack was but I am speculating that it might have been unintentional.
Often lions do not realize the power that they exert and have been know to kill a member of their own pride unintentionally. One reason for the attack could be that the 3 male lions merely wanted to make a statement and in the process killed her. It is therefore assumed that it was more than likely dominance related.

I watched in horror and disbelief when she lay injured and helpless in front of us. She appeared to have difficult in breathing and tried on a few occasion to stand up but failed to get on her feet again. It felt terrible not being able to help her but as hard as it seems we have to remember that this is Mother Nature’s way.

I have followed this lioness from a cub and it is a sad loss to her pride and as a guide that has got to watch her grow up. I am also not sure how this will affect the dynamics of her pride in the future as the young sub-adults of 5 are still seen in our area. As it has been proven countless number of times that when an adult member is removed from a pride that it has effects the stability of the pride long term. Keep on watching the blog for updates. www.kingscamp.com/blog

The young mother of three cubs from the Machattan pride is doing very well and her litter are well and healthy.

The three Timbavati male lions are entering their prime of their life. I have no doubt that they will be the next most important attraction for our lodge and guests in the future. They have already replaced the notorious Shobele male lion collation, which has, came to an end. I am willing to predict that these male lions are going to produce spectacular sightings in the future. They are now starting to expand their range and have been seen moving further north where the Shobele pride operates. I am hoping that they will put pressure on the nomadic three males lions that killed one of the Shobele lionesses this month. Dominant males lions don’t tolerate nomadic males in their area especially if they are posing as a threat to their reproductive possibilities.
This is again a very interesting chapter to monitor during the next few months.

Leopard

The two most important female leopards in our area Mbali and the Rockfig leopardess kept on dominating the scene. Mbali and her daughter produced sightings daily. It is generally rare not to see a leopard in ones stay at Kings Camp but imagine seeing two at the same time at a sighting everyday. This is what we have been seeing just about daily.

Mbali is the daughter of the most famous female leopard to roam the Timbavati ever, the Java leopardess. Those thousands of guests that had the pleasure to be part of her life will know what I am talking about. Mbali is the daughter of Java and is no different in her behaviour. It is very rewarding to see three generations of female leopards during my time in Timbavati.

Rockfig and her daughter Nkateko also produced a great quantity and quality of sightings this month. She frequents the eastern sector of our range. They are healthy and doing very well. Mother and daughter were also involved in a fight with another female leopard. One of our neighbouring lodge field guides told me that he had witnessed Rockfig in a fight with another female leopard. I think what happened was that Rockfig found the intruding female leopard in the core of her territory with a kill. This is looking for trouble if you are an alien leopard in an area that is dominated by a leopard. Knowing Rockfig she would immediately try to chase the intruding leopard. Naturally the female leopard tried to defend herself and her prized kill. This is a big mistake as Rockfig unleashed her dominance and power and blew the intruding female leopard off her feet. She only sustained a few scratch marks on her face. Interestingly though, Nkateko obtained a rather deep wound on the side of her face. I am not sure if she was also involved in the catfight or was injured in a hunt. I know the Rockfig leopardess better than any another guide and she is one very strong female leopard. I have personally witnessed her fighting on 4 different occasions. She is brutal in combat and I have even seen male leopards act submissively towards her.
We are just happy both mom and daughter are fine and will continue their domination in the area.

That is all for this month bush friends. You have noticed that the cats dominated the report this month. This is because they produce the best sightings. I promise to bring you more images of them and general wildlife in my next few reports. Till then take care

Patrick and the rest of the ranger team.

Report By Patrick O’Brien. Head Ranger

Photography by Patrick O’Brien. mail@mandevo-wildlifephotography.com

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