The bush bursts into life as spring arrives in the Timbavati
Another month gets ripped off the calendar as 2025 draws ever nearer to its close, and that means it’s time for another look at what’s been unfolding in the wilds of the central Timbavati.
In this latest edition of The Month in Pictures, we recap some of the incredible wildlife sightings that our guests at Tanda Tula Safari Camp were lucky enough to witness during the first month of spring.
It was, on average, a warm start to the spring, and this influx of the sun’s energy continued to trigger the flowering of different tree species across the reserve, much to the delight to of the browsers that found a much-welcomed burst of nutrition. Weeping boer-beans (Schotia brachypetala), russet bushwillows (Combretum heroroense), knobbly creeping bushwillows (Combretum mossambicense) and dwarf bush cherries (Maerua parvifolia) joined the still-flowering long-tailed cassias as they all burst into flower across the reserve, adding more welcome colours, and stirring up a hive of insect and bird activity as they drew in their pollinators from far and wide.
Whilst the lengthening, warmer days did their job in bringing out the flowers, it also ensured that the last remaining natural pans eventually dried up; whilst this might sound like a bad thing, this is a conversation that we usually have in July, so they did well lasting so long into the dry season. This meant that the remaining large dams and pumped pans remained very active through the month; this included our waterhole at Tanda Tula that produced daily sightings of elephants, nyala, warthogs, impalas and kudus.
The first month of spring ended on a very good note as we recorded our first rains of the season, with a small-but-meaningful 14mm of rain falling on the closing days of the month. It should be enough to get a few bushes budding, and some of the perennial grasses sprouting fresh growth. We still need a good deal more rain to see the real push towards the green season, but this is a start, and we are ever grateful for it!
THE REAL KINGS OF THE JUNGLE
For a change, I am not referring to our lions – instead, this month belonged to none other than the abundance of elephants that made Timbavati their home this past month. Whilst we still await the final report, the early indications of this year’s annual aerial census over the vast Timbavati indicates that elephant numbers are up around 40 percent on what they were last year, somewhere in the region of 1400 animals. This meant that we saw many, many elephants this month.
Many of these sightings took place around waterholes, and when they arrived to find lions sharing the same space as them, then we got to see who the real kings of the jungle were!
ANOTHER MONTH OF GREAT LEOPARD VIEWING
We enjoyed yet another month of great leopard viewing – and although there were times that they made us work for sightings, we enjoyed a plethora of sightings this month; one morning drive even saw the guides finding six different sightings of these spotted beauties.
Dzindza was more active around the central regions than she has been for a while, and was recorded with a couple of small kills across the month. Interestingly, despite enjoying small kills like duikers and steenbuck, she spent on average almost three days at each; with one steenbuck kill she didn’t even begin feeding on it for the first day.
It was also a month that saw Nyeleti showing more of herself, in some very distant parts of her territory. Early in the month, Dale was enjoying sundowners at Machaton Dam when a fat-bellied Nyeleti rocked up for a drink. The next day Given tracked her down to a large impala kill in the east – an area of her territory that she hadn’t been seen in for some months. Given then told me that he had seen tracks for a female leopard and a sub-adult cub in the area too, and we began wondering if Nyeleti’s cub was potentially still alive, and the reason we hadn’t seen it was because we had been looking in the wrong area? It turns that that this was a pipe dream, and she made her way back to the north-west, with no cub in tow. Later in the month, following a windy night, Nyeleti was one of several leopards found with kills.
In fact, the handful of windy nights we experienced during the month led to a good number of leopard kills – sadly, a number we found belonged to shy individuals that didn’t produce much in the way of sightings, but there were reports of a young zebra hoisted up a tree, and incredibly, one skittish male in the west managed to get a young giraffe up a tree! The good thing was, even when we had these shier leopards with kills, if you were patient, respectful and visited them after dark, they were incredibly relaxed, giving the guests some great viewing opportunities. We enjoyed such a view of an unknown male in our area late in the month. Upon spotting the leopard in a marula tree, I briefly scanned it with my binoculars and too hastily concluded it was likely N’weti. Upon approaching, the leopard came down from the tree and I realised the error of my ways. However, returning after dark, we found him relaxed as any other leopard, chilling up a tree with five hyenas below him.
We saw several other males of a similar nature this month. One male that didn’t hang around long had an impala kill hoisted up a tree close to a road, and as we passed one morning, just to see if we would be lucky, we spotted a leopard feeding in the tree. Taking more care with my binoculars time, I soon saw it was not a male leopard, but a smaller female. I took a wide arch to get closer, but at no point did the leopard even stop feeding to look at us. As we drew closer, we managed to identify the leopard as Marula Jnr – our enigma of the central areas. She clearly spends more time in the area than we realise, but we just don’t see her often. Luckily, this morning she gave us a good showing as she fed on the stolen meal, but she kept looking into the thickets and growling. I assumed the male leopard was in the area, but when we returned after a cup of coffee, we found a second, young female leopard close to the kill, and no sign of Marula Jnr.
This is the same young female we had seen a few days before at sunset. Hearing that a young female leopard had been found, I wasn’t holding my breath on her being relaxed, and producing anything in the way of a sighting for us. I was delighted to be wrong yet again! Giving her space, we followed her to a waterhole where she calmly came and had a drink in the last light of day, leaving the guests with a lasting impression. This same female was seen a handful of times across the month, and she is showing great signs of promise for becoming one of the stars of the future. The big question is – where does she come from? It is a possibility that she is Marula Jnr’s daughter, but previous sightings of her were so fleeting I never got a chance to grab a photo.
It wasn’t just the new faces that graced us, but the older ones too. N’weti has not been the most active of late, but she was seen a few times this month, and dazzled with her beauty whenever she was on display. One particularly enjoyable morning saw her showing off by climbing up and down the large trees as she passed, before settling on a termite mound.
Sunset female also made an appearance this month – a couple in fact, but only a couple that our guides went to see. We headed west one afternoon for leopards, and were not disappointed – Sunset was perched in the perfect leadwood tree in the late afternoon, feeding on her steenbuck kill as hyena, elephant and giraffe all walked past her. Not too far away, Xivati male was also up in a flowering cassia tree munching on a kudu kill he had salvaged from the hyenas.
Rihati female was also seen a couple of times this month, and the slow path to habituation continues, with sightings of her getting better each month. She provided a bit of a surprise when we found her lying up in a riverbed with an unknown male. Approaching them slowly, he appeared to be even more relaxed than she was, and barely moved. Rihati eventually got up and was throwing herself all over this new male, but sadly for Rihati, he was rejecting her advances. Based on the tracks that we saw over the coming days, the union eventually grew into something, and she got what she wanted!
Speaking of Xivati, he continued to be a presence in the west, and was seen mating with Nkaya Dam female yet again. I had wondered how he would fare in the face of his neighbour, the aging Mondzweni male who was also seen this month. Sadly though, none of us knew that this was the last time he would be seen, as we soon received reports from the guides in Klaserie that they had found his lifeless body. Whilst not a permanent presence in the area, it is always sad to say goodbye to a cat that you watched grow up from a cub. RIP big boy.
Change is Coming
This was sadly not the only goodbye we said this month. After a short illness, two of the Vuyela males were also found dead in the east, leaving the future of their dominance up in the air. At the moment, with three males still presumed to be alive and well, they should maintain control over the nine Mayambula lionesses and their cubs, but we can only hope they stay strong enough to do so.
The Mayambula pride showed themselves with some regularity this month, and some guides even reported seeing three of their newest cubs – so that is some good news to share! The females are looking as impressive as ever, and will hopefully have good success in raising this next generation.
Irrespective of their loss of two members, the Vuyela males remain the largest lions in the Timbavati, and should be able to hold off any challenge for the Mayambula Pride from the lions presently in the area. The same can not be said for their two former prides. Having not visited them in several months, both the River and Sark Breakaway Prides are wandering around without protection. The younger Sark Breakaway lionesses have already drawn the attention of the Nkombo males, and have been seen mating with them and spending time in their presence.
With these new males joining the show late in the month, it meant that the Sark Breakaways were split into various fragments for the vast majority of September. The nine members that comprised the six younger males and three females had some success bringing down a buffalo early in the month, and then we found them with another buffalo kill later in the month. The next day, they were joined by a few more members taking their total to eleven. The remaining five members (including two of the youngsters) kept out of view for most of the month, and were only reported sporadically. The pride also wandered far and wide during the month, especially in the early parts when they were seen with two different kills in the west – a kudu and a waterbuck. Fortunately this did not draw the attention of the other lions in this area.
With the arrival of the Nkombo males, the two larger Sark Breakaway males moved off on their own. They were seen on Nkhari, and the next we heard of them, they were some 20km away in the neighbouring Thornybush Private Game Reserve! Time will tell if this is the much delayed push to independence, or if they will get homesick and return to their natal pride.
What will happen with the River Pride remains to be seen. The pride stayed healthy and were seen regularly this month, and ended the month looking as good as I have seen them for some time. With six out of the eight lions, being vulnerable in the event of a pride take over, the next few months will be of crucial importance for the survival of this pride, as they need to stay out of the way of the Nkombo males. For now, they have been doing that, but lets hope it continues. Be sure to check out our next blog which will be detailing the latest happenings of the lions of Tanda Tula.
The Giraffe Pride were quite active in the west, and showed up in various portions during the month. Whilst not seen in our concession yet, another three cubs from one of the females have been introduced to the pride, so they continue to grow under the protection of the Birmingham Breakaway males. One of the young males that has been ousted from the pride was desperate in his search for food, and was seen hanging around close to Sark Breakaways at one of their buffalo kills, but he wisely kept his distance.
And just for good measure, we also had a very random, lone lioness pitch up in the central regions one morning. Sitting watching the hyenas at the den site, the hyena cubs suddenly jumped up and ran off – the reason soon became clear as a young lioness approached. Realising she was alone, the adult hyenas set about regrouping and chasing her off. She walked straight to a spot where two Sark Breakaway lionesses had been the day before, but seeing her age, we had soon figured she was not one of them, as she was too young. It turns out, she doesn’t match the age or whisker patterns of any of the lions in our area? She was also contact calling for other lions, but none showed up. She (or they) were not seen since, so her arrival and disappearance remain a mystery. Once again, this is the joy of guiding in an open system – you just don’t know who or what you will see out there each day!
Painted Wolves
It was a slower month with the African wild dogs this month. It started well when we found an impala that had clearly been killed by wild dogs, but none were present. Circling around, we soon returned to find only two wild dogs feasting on the carcass, before running off once again. The next day, the pack of 16 were in the area, so we assume that these two dogs left their carcass to go look for the pack. That was sadly the last time those wild dogs were seen in the area during the month.
Fortunately, we had two other packs moving around the central regions; the first was a fragment of our regular pack – now six members that seem to be settling back into their old rhythm of moving between the central and northern Timbavati with some regularity, so this will hopefully provide some good wild dog viewing as summer approaches.
The second pack was the smallest technical definition of a pack and consisted of only two members that were running around close to Tanda Tula. They proved that a small pack size is not a hinderance to success as that afternoon we saw them shortly after they caught themselves an early evening meal!
Feathered Friends
As much as we love our big and hairy inhabitants of the Greater Kruger Park, no safari would be complete without stopping to enjoy the smaller, feathered friends. We alluded to the migrants that have been arriving over the past two months, but even without them, we are still blessed with a large variety of resident birds in the Timbavati. Somme of those that posed nicely for me this month included: helmeted guineafowl, Swainson’s spurfowl, gabar goshawk, saddle-billed stork and a pearl-spotted owlet.
And A Little of Everything Else
This month was not simply about the big cats and elephants, but could also have been called the month of giraffes, as we again had a wonderfully large number of these unique creatures moving around Tanda Tula, giving all the guests wonderful opportunities to spend time in their company and capture some great images!
Zebra numbers were not as high as we have enjoyed lately, but that appears to be down to the fact that many have moved into some freshly burnt areas of the Kruger National Park adjoining Timbavati, and the early flush of green grass has drawn in these grazers. That being said, we still enjoyed daily sightings of them.
We enjoyed only the odd visit of a large herd of buffalo into the area this month as some 250-plus buffalos headed towards a central dam for a drink. That afternoon their search for drinking water brought them into contact with the Sark Breakaway Pride, but as the lions were already bloated from eating a buffalo at another pan, the lions did not put any effort into trying to get another meal. The pressure from the lions on the resident buffalo bulls did temporarily push our resident bachelor group (now down to 10 members) out of the area towards the end of the month, but with water scarce in the area, they will be back.
Our two new hyena cubs popped out of the den from time to time, but visits from the local lion population appears to have forced the mother hyena to find a new refuge.
A treat for us as we enjoyed our new traversing area to the north was the chance to see a rather uncommon nocturnal creature more regularly. Prior to this, someone like Jack (our master tracker with over 35 years experience in the bush) had only ever seen this creature once before! I in fact had only ever seen twice in my 8 years at Tanda Tula. This photo isn’t a great one, but as I am learning, energetic springhares are not the easiest subjects to photograph at night! Hopefully, I will get many more opportunities to perfect the art!
One last highlight for the month was getting to enjoy a lunar eclipse early in September, when the earth’s shadow cast an eery red glow over the full moon, making for a magical mood in our spectacular night skies.
And if that wasn’t enough, we also ended the month with a pangolin sighting!
It is with that, we close up the month that was! Be sure to follow our social media feeds for more updates on what is happening in the bush.
