Just like that, we rip another page off the 2025 calendar, and move one step closer to spring! According to the early-flowering knobthorn trees (Senegalia nigrescens), spring has already sprung!
It is a period of the year that I always await with an eagerness that I never bestow on other flowering species; this usually happens in September, but for the second year in a row, the knobthorns have begun flowering in mid-July; I do not know of it is selective memories, or merely age that is affecting my powers of recollection, but I cannot recall these trees having flowered this early before.
Perhaps it is the warmer than usual winter that we have experienced (together with late rains) that have made for more suitable conditions to bloom their blossoms. Either way, it is a sign that spring is coming, and winter is almost done. July was warm for the most part, but there were a couple of periods that reminded us that bushveld winters do still get chilly, and I am not proud to admit it, but even I had to don some long trousers on occasion!
As always, the winter months provide for some wonderful game-viewing of all species big and small, and July was a continuation of the rich run of good-quality viewing we have enjoyed of late. The food remained plentiful, and many natural pans were still hanging on to their precious water – some of the larger ones should even make it through August with some water to spare. These factors led to favourable conditions for the wildlife, and that showed itself in the game-viewing. So sit back and enjoy some of the highlights of the month that was.
Highs and Lows for Our Lions
We called it last month. The Vuyela males have been so engrossed with the Mayambula Pride, that they have all but neglected the River and Sark Breakaway Prides. Last month it led to the loss of one of the River Pride cubs, and this month, tragedy struck the cubs of the Sark Breakaway Pride. It was a horrible end to a month that otherwise belonged to the Sark Breakaway lions.
The pride had been very active in the area for the first part of the month, and they were particularly active around Tanda Tula. They could be heard fighting over an impala kill close to camp one evening, but a week of great viewing kicked off when we heard the distinctive bellows of a buffalo in distress as we were waking the guests up one morning; with a great deal more haste in our knocking than usual, we rushed the guests and arrived to find the whole Sark Breakaway Pride as they tucked into their fresh buffalo kill.
Resting off their fat-bellies at a pan close to Tanda Tula a couple of days later, the pride were not going to let their distended tummies get in the way of another meal, so when a small group of buffalo arrived to drink at the camp waterhole, the lions wasted no time in rushing in to grab one – I got to watch the whole thing from my house! The pride finished this buffalo in less than 18 hours!
We thought we were going to be in for a hattrick of buffalo kills at the camp when a herd of 600 buffalo came to drink at the dam with a portion of the Sark Breakaways in tow, but despite the whole pride reuniting during the night, it was a wildebeest that ended up adding to their growing guts and not another buffalo. This was their last day of peace.
We couldn’t figure out why the pride had walked so far by the next morning, but upon investigating the tracks, that night whilst they roared in unison staking their claim over the central Timabvati, the two Nkombo males decided to go and investigate the roars, sending the pride running in all directions. Fortunately, the two males settled just north of the pride, and when the Vuyela males roared their way back into the area that night, we believe the Nkombo males beat a hasty retreat. The Vuyela males however never stayed in Sark Breakaway territory, and by morning their roars were too far north to be heard by yet another coalition of males trailed a herd of buffalo into Sark Breakaway territory. The distress calls of a buffalo drew the pride to investigate as two intruding males fed on their buffalo kill. Rather than backing down, the Sark Breakaways stayed in the area, and at some point, two cubs confused by what was happening ran up to the intruding males, greeting them like they were part of the family. They weren’t. It was a fatal mistake. Despite chasing the males from the kill, the damage was done, and after five years of peace, the Sark Breakaways now had not one, but two threats to deal with. The movement that followed as the pride ping-ponged around the area showed just how unsettled they were. The ended the month in absentia. We can only hope they return soon, and settle down in their new world.
Tall Stories
The River Pride started the month with a fixed presence, but they too moved around as the month moved on. It is pleasing to report that the pride was having a good, successful month of hunting, and finding free meals! At the beginning of July, two Vuyela males found a large male giraffe that had somehow died in a small waterhole. If didn’t take long for the River Pride to find them and join the feeding party. They say the more the merrier, but I am not so sure that the River Pride were overly joyed to have the single Mawondane lioness sharing the carcass with them! She had been with the Vuyela males when they found the kill, and from all accounts, she was allowed to feed on the giraffe even when the River Pride lionesses and cubs were there! With so much food to go around, it probably did not make sense to fight over the food and risk injury, and everyone got a meal and walked away unscathed (except for one of the Vuyela males that had his lip ripped!).
The River Pride subadults have come along to such a degree that we even watched them trying to go for some buffalo at Machaton Dam one morning – something that the pride has not been confident in doing for a long time now. Although they did not win that battle, they did have success with another young giraffe that night, leading to more well-fed felines.
Eastern Activities
The Vuyela males continued to be most active in the east where the Mayambula Pride have begun showing themselves more regularly. Although we have mostly been seeing only three lionesses in the area, one sighting of the pride saw nine adults together, along with two older cubs. Exactly why they have been splitting is unsure, but the local hyenas have used this to their advantage – we watched one morning as a dozen hyenas succeeded in chasing three lionesses off of a wildebeest kill.
On another occasion, it appeared as though the same thing had happened, but this time it drew in a Vuyela male, as well as a young Sark Breakaway male (who looked like he had already been in a fight), only for the large Vuyela to quickly put the young male in his place. The lionesses headed back to a spot where we suspect one of them has a new litter of cubs hidden. Fingers crossed we get to see them next month – we need some positive lion news!
Western Front
With all of the lion activity in the central regions, we did not venture out west to see the lions there too often, but they were active most days – the Birmingh Breakaway males continue to mate with the Giraffe lionesses, and this pride – much like the Mayambulas – are usually found in small numbers, but occasionally as many as 12 members are seen together. Four of the now-dependent males from the Giraffe pride showed they have what it takes to succeed on their own when they kept 15-plus hyenas away from their buffalo kill. Sadly, they couldn’t do the same against a single Birmingham Breakaway male that came in and stole their meal!
Back from the Dead
After more than a month without a sighting or a sign, we began worrying that we had lost another of our leopard stalwarts; Nyeleti. The last update was that she was seen fighting with a young female in the far north. Then silence. Fortunately, she proved us wrong and appeared out of nowhere, back in the heart of her territory, and from her behaviour – and the tracks – her cub is also alive and well. We still await our first sighting of the youngster. With our new traversing area in the north, we are hopeful that it we will get to see more of the cubs soon.
Speaking of the north, we got to enjoy a few sightings of the northern cats this past month. The first was a stunning young male called Mashangaan. Fathered by Timbavati royalty (Ntima, son of the late Nthombi), he is not only gorgeous, but has a wonderfully relaxed temperament. I am sure we will see more of him over the coming months.
Another leopard that had been absent for a long time was N’weti, and we got surprised by her at Machaton Dam one afternoon, but then she disappeared again until she showed up with an impala kill in the north, providing us with our best sighting of her in some time!
Dzindza and Rihati continue to be our most frequently viewed leopards in the central areas, but the good grass cover has made finding them regularly a challenge. Nkaya Dam female and Rhulani females were reported more regularly in the west, but as she approaches 18 months, I suspect the days of this amicable union remaining in place are numbered.
Chad’s Cheetah Curse
I am sure you all think I am joking about it, but I firmly do believe that I am cursed; twice this month the drive after I finished my driving stint, a cheetah showed up. Considering I was only off drive three times, that seems like more than coincidence to me! Luckily, I was around when the Moya male cheetah was found not too far from Tanda Tula. We watched as he eyed some impalas, but the alarm calls of a magpie shrike sent the impalas scurrying away, and the cheetah without a meal.
After four drives spent tracking cheetah, one set of guests left empty-handed; needless to say, that afternoon Formen went out and found the Ximuwu male cheetah in the same area I had spent my morning looking. Ginger also found a nervous male one afternoon very close to camp (his tracks had walked past our solar panels!) – but whether it was the presence of the lions in the area, or just a new male, he didn’t hang around for too long. A fourth different male cheetah also moved through the central regions early in the month, but he proved very elusive, and he too was a little nervous.
Welcome Back Wild Dogs
It was definitely not the month for wild dogs, but we did welcome back our northern pack after several weeks absence. The pack – now numbering nine – spent two days in the area late in the month before returning to the Kruger Park. When we last saw them there were only seven members, with one lost soul running around desperately looking for the pack. This makes me wonder if their demise from 16 to nine was through a pack split, or if something more sinister happened to them? There was also a pack of four running around Tanda Tula in the latter part of the month, and they did look like they could possibly have come from the northern pack, but this statement needs further investigation.
Scavengers
With a number of large kills in the area this month, we got to see some very good scavenger activity as the jackals, hyenas and vultures came to clean up after the lions – their efficiency never ceases to amaze us!
Life’s A Beach
At least it is when you are a crocodile or a hippo! With access to a beautiful large dam in the north, we had far more regular sightings of large hippo pods and basks of crocodiles this month. That being said, the dams in the west also provided for some excellent hippo viewing, with a number of new baby hippos being on display.
Apollo Has Landed
Like clockwork, the gentle giant that is everyone’s favourite elephant made a timely return to the Timbavati this month. Apollo is even bigger and more impressive than he was when he left us last October, and I can’t help but wonder what he would have looked like today if he had not broken his tusks. They would be touching the floor if they were still intact. We look forward to more viewing of him over this coming spring.
The Herds
Usually I would talk about the buffalo and elephant herds, but this month I feel like the mantle belongs to the giraffes as they graced us with their presence in good numbers – some groupings numbered over 30, and it was possible to see 40-60 giraffes per drive as they enjoyed the greenery along the dry riverbeds. They would usually be in the presence of at least a dozen zebras too!
Two very large buffalo herds moved in and out of the area, and how much time they spent depended upon how the lions treated them! It is always impressive seeing over 600 of these animals in one place!
As always, elephant numbers remained high in the area during winter, with some gatherings at the waterholes being in excess of 50 or 60 animals. This made finding the one snared elephant a bit of a challenge for the guiding team after she was spotted with the wounded trunk at our camp dam. Fortunately, persistence paid off, and our Timbavati conservation team were able to help her and treat her injuries.
And that was the month that was! If it is any indication of what we have in store for the remainder of winter, we have a load of good viewing to look forward to!
All the best
Chad
