April Through the Tanda Tula Lens

Technically, we are into our second month of Autumn, and still the rains fall; and still our rivers run! Another 99mm of rain fell, bringing the season's total to an almost unbelievable 1270mm, almost three times the long-term average.

The last big rains in April once again ensured that the waterholes remained full, the grasses remained green, and even a few migratory birds hung around a little longer than usual. With the forecast for a Super El Nino edging slightly higher, this might be the last time we see such a lush environment for a couple of years, so we will enjoy it while it lasts.

Luckily, we were not the only ones enjoying it; the wildlife was loving it too, and we had another wonderful month of great game viewing here in the central Timbavati.

If you read our recent blog updating you on the latest lion dynamics, then it should, once again, come as no surprise that our lions continued to hold centre stage at Tanda Tula, with all five prides showing themselves and giving our guests more wonderful experiences. So let us catch up on what they all got up to.

Whilst all seven cubs of the Sark Breakaway females are still relatively small, it is only when I looked back at the photos taken in March that I realised how quickly they are growing up. The five girls and two boys have made it another month, and the mothers are doing a good job keeping them safe and healthy.

The pride was around for most of the month, bar a few days when they moved briefly into the Klaserie, but it did not take long for the females to bring the cubs back to the Timbavati; we suspect a large kill in the area drew the pride there before they finished it and moved into the core of their territory.

From there, they spent a good deal of time close to the airstrip, and this gave several guests a wonderful welcome to Tanda Tula.

The third lioness continues to mate with the Nkombo males, and we are hoping that after almost two months of their attention she will soon show signs of pregnancy; for now, she remains the centre of attention for these two boys that barely leave her side.

After an extended period of roaming and separation, the remaining members of the Sark Breakaway pride began to reunite; it started with a few sightings of nine pride members together, but after a few days in the north and west (thereby missing the Nkombo males in the central regions), all eleven members were found together, and they appeared to stay relatively united for the rest of the month.

It gave us our first look at the exact composition of the pride; they are left with two adult females (the one-eyed female is now certainly no longer with us), two sub-adult females (which means they lost one) and one female cub of 15 months. All six young males (two older and four younger) are still alive and well. We got a real up-close sighting of them one evening as we packed up our sundowners; we had no sooner climbed into the vehicle and saddled up when we heard a sneeze to our left, and fifteen seconds later the whole pride came walking right past us. Amazing!

At the end of the month they had split up, and we found five members of the pride finishing off the remains of a giraffe kill they had made in the north, so at least half of them are well fed going into the new month.

The River Pride stayed out of trouble for another month and ended it with an impressive effort of killing three buffalo in a single hunt. This should set the pride up nicely going into May. For the second month in a row they overlapped with the Mayambula Pride as the latter continues to push further north into their old territory. Perhaps in response to this, we followed up on roaring lions at Machaton Dam, fully expecting to find the Mayambula Pride there, but were pleasantly surprised to find all the noise was coming from the River Pride.

Announcing their presence like that, at least whilst all members were present, is a sign of confidence that they are safe in their space despite not having a dominant male. I did wonder if the oldest lioness was coming back into oestrus, and perhaps calling for the remaining Vuyela male to return to this pride, but I have no idea how he would react if he came across them after ten months of absence.

Over the past few months we have begun seeing this pride pushing back into our concession after many months of sporadic visits. April saw a continuation of this pattern as the pride once again showed up in our eastern sections, and on many occasions they pushed further north than they have done for over a year.

As mentioned, this is pushing into an area presently occupied by the River Pride, and after a large amount of roaring one morning we found the two prides in close proximity to one another; seven Mayambula females and the Vuyela male were finishing off a wildebeest on the southern side of the block, and some well-fed River Pride lionesses emerged on the northern side, heading away from the kill. My suspicion is that the River Pride made the kill, and the Mayambula Pride heard the feeding and came in and stole it.

The Vuyela male had the lion's share, whilst the usual seven lionesses nibbled on the scraps. Whilst heading to the lions, a few tracks caught our attention, but we suspected they were from the same lions we were about to see. To our surprise, those tracks belonged to the two missing lionesses and their three eight-month-old cubs; it was the first time I had actually seen them, and based on their jumpiness around vehicles, not too many people had. They soon settled down, and it was wonderful to finally confirm all nine adult lionesses still alive after last year's anthrax outbreak that killed the four other Vuyela males. Hopefully, with a good pride providing meals for him, the remaining Vuyela male will keep control of this territory long enough to sire more cubs and settle the pride back into the area they once called home.

The pride that everyone wants to see, but they made us work for them, well, at least for the portion we all wanted. The eleven lionesses spent most of the month split across their territory, with the mothers and cubs in the central part and the non-mothers further to the west.

We headed west one morning hoping to have luck with the white cub, and after some tracking the other guides found a full-bellied and bloodied lioness taking the cubs back to a kill. We arrived just as the three youngest tawny cubs were being brought to join their older, white cousin at a zebra kill in an open clearing. The three little cubs were not too sure what to make of the scene, but the white lion drew our attention as he tucked into the meal, ending up looking more like a pink lion by the end. The pride spent several days in that area before moving north and out of the concession. We shall see if he pops back a little more next month.

With the bush being lush and green, these spotted beauties have ample cover to conceal themselves, but we were treated to some decent leopard viewing across the month, with both our regular and less frequently seen friends showing face. With the rains slowly coming to an end, we can expect an uptick in leopard viewing as we move into winter, but considering the conditions, we were pleased with our viewings.

I was most pleased to lay eyes on Sunset female again for the first time in almost a year. She was seen in the south-west with an impala kill hoisted up a marula tree, so I made the journey down there and was well rewarded with a great sighting of this beauty as she rested by her kill before coming down to rest in the grass.

For a leopard that must be just over 12 years old, she looks in amazing condition, a condition that constantly makes me question her age. She was also showing signs of being pregnant again, so this year could be very good for leopard cubs.

Nyeleti female continues to raise her two cubs in the far north, and whilst a number of our guides have had sightings of them, I am still awaiting my first. I was shocked to see how big they are when I was shown photos of them, and whilst I am missing out on the cute stage, the bigger they get, the greater their chances of survival, so we will keep fingers crossed.

Sadly, my belief that N'weti was pregnant seems to have been unfounded, and after we had her on an impala kill near Machaton Dam for three days without once leaving to tend to cubs, I am certain I again misread the situation. However, when she was posing in a large knobthorn for us, I was not too upset at being wrong.

I was about to write that I got to see a new face for the first time in the form of the Lebombo male, the leopard that arrived in the Timbavati after being born in the Lebombo mountains on the far eastern side of the Kruger National Park, but then realised I had actually seen him mating a year ago, only I got no pictures back then. This month I headed west when I heard he had a waterbuck calf kill; it was a little sad seeing the mother waterbuck standing close by looking for her calf, but what a treat it was to see this impressive, and relaxed, male leopard. I hope I do not have to wait a year to see him again.

Apparently there are a few leopards I have not seen for ages; Kisimusi female is another. According to photos, it could be almost two years since I last saw her. She had hoisted two kills in two adjacent trees, and whilst she was shy in the daylight hours, she was super-chilled at night, giving us a great sighting as she rested by her kill. A week later we found her again with another impala kill in the same area; I have a feeling we will get to see more of her over the coming months.

Dzindza female seemed to show for the other guides when I was not driving, but only showed herself to me a few times during the month; it was nice to bump into her sister, Rihati, one evening on the way back to camp. After dark she was surprisingly relaxed and put on a good show to round off a great drive for my guests and me. She was seen several times through the month, but most of the time she prefers to be left to herself. She remains a work in progress.

Whilst I personally only had one cheetah sighting this month (a couple of others were reported, but I did not get to see them), it was a potentially exciting one, as the cheetah looked very pregnant. She was walking through Tortillis Plains and back to the east; she seemed to have teats, and her belly was bulging in a way that made both Jack and I suspect she was more than simply well fed. Sadly she did not spend too long in the area, and we followed her to an impenetrable thicket before leaving her to her own devices, but it was good to see her for the second month in a row.

Our wild dog sightings were a little less frequent this month, but we caught up with both a pack of five and a pack of nine. The alpha female of the pack of five is looking very pregnant and will be denning next month; we keep our fingers crossed that they den close to our concession.

The pick of the sightings for me was the pack of nine finishing off scraps of an impala kill, and then spending 20 minutes running circles around the vehicle after a rainy morning invigorated them.

After their usual periods of extended absence during summer, we began seeing the herds returning to the area more regularly at the start of autumn. I was not so sure this would be the pattern this year, given the abundance of food and water around, but we did indeed see buffalo herds more regularly than we have over the past months.

The herds numbered from around 80 to over 400, and they were filled with calves; some were a couple of months old, others barely a few weeks. Aside from the River Pride's three-for-one hunt, the lions largely left them alone this month, meaning they stayed in the area for longer. Perhaps their good health is making them more challenging targets for the smaller prides?

Our elephants continued to enjoy their extended summer grazing, and the plentiful food meant these pachyderms were around in good numbers for most of the month; there were odd occasions when the herds gathered in specific areas, but for most of the month they could be found spread across the central Timbavati.

It was also good to see a little more elephant bull activity in the area; we typically see far more breeding herds than bachelors, but this month brought good male activity, including a couple of impressive bulls with nice tusks.

One of the surest signs that winter is approaching is the annual return of our small ostrich population to the eastern regions of the concession, and as usual our first male ostrich arrived back this month. We can expect a couple more males and a number of females to follow in the coming weeks, but for now we are happy to have these oddities of nature back.

They were not the only good birds; we still had some of the summer specials around, however by mid-May most of the migrants should have headed back north. The abundance of food this summer meant many could refuel and head off early, but we still found some species not yet choosing to move off.

The impala rut kicked off this month. It is that time of year when the males run around making a big noise, which apparently endears them to the females in their territory. Sounds simple? Well, not if you are a male impala having to chase off all competition and herd females back into your territory. This activity should intensify next month, but it is always a good time of year to enjoy these often overlooked animals.

The other antelope species like waterbuck and kudu will have their breeding seasons over the next couple of months, and whilst not as intense, it still provides an opportunity to see their big bulls fight it out.

And that, folks, is that! I hope you enjoyed it, and be sure to keep a look out for more updates next month.

Until next time!

Cheers, Chad