Howdy! I am back from a weeks leave in Johannesburg, and I can tell you that I much prefer the warm weather in the bush!
The game viewing at Motswari seems to have been pretty good over he last few days, and the good news is that no more of our lions were killed, except one of the young Machaton pride cubs that seems to have been killed by a leopard, probably Rockfig Jnr female that was seen skulking around the den site not long ago.
The lion sightings were not too bad, and the three Mahlathini male lions were seen feeding on a buffalo for several days, and this seemed to assist our attempts at getting them used to the vehicles, as they are no doubt here to stay. From the tracks, it appears as though the Sohebele pride stumbled upon the carcass and were chased off, although evidently the three young Sohebele males went and fed on the buffalo carcass. Unfortunately this also led to a split in the Sohobele pride, and the three males were seen on their own for the remainder of the week, and the adult female and the young female spent time on their own.
Leopard viewing remained good, and it was pleasing to note that the impressive Argyle male leopard was seen on at least four occasions up north, and is now getting very relaxed with the vehicles, even during the day. Godfrey noted that he was again eagerly following the scent trail of something; presumably a female leopard, but so far, no mating has been recorded. Mbali female leopard was seen with a fresh impala kill up north, a female leopard was seen at Vyboom dam, and Rockfig female leopard was seen for the first time in weeks all the way down south, so things seem to be going well! Shongile young female leopard also popped up on the odd occasion.
There were also two sightings of a female rhino with a sub-adult calf up in the north, and the Nhlangula male rhino was also sighted. The elephant herds and buffalo herds have also been rather prevalent as the dry winter months push on.
So all in all, not a bad week, and I now have another month of game viewing to look forward to, so be sure to keep on checking the blog for the latest updates!
The game viewing at Motswari seems to have been pretty good over he last few days, and the good news is that no more of our lions were killed, except one of the young Machaton pride cubs that seems to have been killed by a leopard, probably Rockfig Jnr female that was seen skulking around the den site not long ago.
The lion sightings were not too bad, and the three Mahlathini male lions were seen feeding on a buffalo for several days, and this seemed to assist our attempts at getting them used to the vehicles, as they are no doubt here to stay. From the tracks, it appears as though the Sohebele pride stumbled upon the carcass and were chased off, although evidently the three young Sohebele males went and fed on the buffalo carcass. Unfortunately this also led to a split in the Sohobele pride, and the three males were seen on their own for the remainder of the week, and the adult female and the young female spent time on their own.
Leopard viewing remained good, and it was pleasing to note that the impressive Argyle male leopard was seen on at least four occasions up north, and is now getting very relaxed with the vehicles, even during the day. Godfrey noted that he was again eagerly following the scent trail of something; presumably a female leopard, but so far, no mating has been recorded. Mbali female leopard was seen with a fresh impala kill up north, a female leopard was seen at Vyboom dam, and Rockfig female leopard was seen for the first time in weeks all the way down south, so things seem to be going well! Shongile young female leopard also popped up on the odd occasion.
There were also two sightings of a female rhino with a sub-adult calf up in the north, and the Nhlangula male rhino was also sighted. The elephant herds and buffalo herds have also been rather prevalent as the dry winter months push on.
So all in all, not a bad week, and I now have another month of game viewing to look forward to, so be sure to keep on checking the blog for the latest updates!
Photographs for this post were taken by Johannes Makarhi, one of our guides.
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