WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of November, Two Thousand and Seventeen

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1 Photo by Brian Rode WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of November, Two Thousand and Seventeen Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 19 C (65 F) For the period: 26 mm Sunrise: 04h55 Average maximum: 30 C (86 F) For the year to date: 406 mm Sunset: 18h26 Minimum recorded: 14 C (57 F) Maximum recorded: 36 C (97 F) November was another amazing month. Right at the beginning of the month we saw the first baby impala. Since then the majority of pregnant female impalas have given birth and the babies have gathered into small crèches. They are very cute! We are well into spring now and have already had a few drops of rain. The deciduous trees are starting to come into leaf and we are seeing more and more green vegetation sprouting. On the 10 th of November we experienced an electrical storm in the area and the lightning managed to start a fire just to the west of the concession. The grass was extremely dry and the fire spread quickly, the flames stimulated by the strong breeze that was blowing. The fire continued to burn the grasslands for quite a few days. The dead leadwood logs continued to smoulder and it was an amazing sight to see the glowing red patches in amongst the black of night. The winds stirred the embers causing sparks to fly which resulted in much of the unburnt grass to catch alight. Eventually the majority of the large block between the S41, the H6, the S100 and the H1-3 public roads was burnt, leaving a blackened, scorched area. While the fires burned we saw many birds of prey and other insectivorous birds chasing and catching the insects and smaller creatures that were fleeing the inferno. It was quite an amazing spectacle. Fortunately, the fire did not enter into the concession. In the next few months, as the summer rains arrive,

2 we are expecting the new grass to start sprouting in these charred patches, which in turn will attract many grazers such as zebras and wildebeest to the area. Photos by Brian Rode Although we have had a little bit of rain the rivers have not yet started flowing and the remaining pools in the N wanetsi River have been attracting quite a lot game to the central and southern areas of the concession. Many of the migrant birds have started returning to the area and we have seen, amongst others, woodland kingfishers, European bee-eaters, yellow-billed kites, barn swallows, red-backed and lesser grey shrikes and quite a few of the cuckoos. The warmer temperatures, longer daylight hours and the little bit of the rain that we have had has encouraged many of the smaller creatures to make an appearance and we have been seeing frogs, snakes and various insects again. Our wildlife review for the month of November is as follows: Buffalos Most of our sightings this month have been of small groups of bachelor bulls. We have also had a few sightings of small breeding herds, although these have not exceeded twenty individuals. The buffalos have been seen mainly in the area near the N wanetsi River and near Gudzane Dam. Unfortunately for the buffalos the Shishangaan (Shish) Pride have been actively hunting these bovids this month and have killed at least four individuals, including a pregnant cow. One morning we found an old bull resting in the water near Gudzane Dam. As we were watching him a large male lion came down to drink and saw the dagha boy lying in the water. The bull was very thin and when he stood up we could see that he was limping slightly. He also seemed to have a milky layer over at least one of his eyes and therefore was probably slightly blind in that eye. The lion watched the buffalo and saw that he was old and weak and therefore decided to stalk him. Fortunately for the buffalo, he saw the lion approaching him and immediately got up and ran towards the cat, who got a fright from the charging beast and hastily made a retreat. The buffalo then headed in the opposite direction to the one the lion took. Nick, who had also been watching the lion, then drove past the buffalo, who saw the vehicle moving and decided to charge towards it as well. Fortunately, Nick had seen the bull and managed to evade it! Photo by Brian Rode

3 Spotted hyenas The Xinkelengane den is still active but it s situated very far in the north of the concession. On the few occasions that the guides have ventured to this otherwise unproductive dry area in the far north they have seen the hyenas (including at least two youngsters) near the den. One morning a cheetah was seen close by the area of the den. It had killed a baby impala and after feeding, a hyena arrived to clear up the remains of the carcass. On another occasion five adult hyenas were seen resting in the shade of a knobthorn tree near Golf Course Clearing. Although we know that there must be one or two hyena clans denning in the southern part of the concession we believe that these dens are probably in the hills or possibly in the steep-sided valleys where we cannot access with a vehicle. Photo by Brian Rode Elephants Photo by Brian Rode We have had some great elephant viewing this month! All in all, we have had over 100 recorded sightings. Most of these sightings have been of bulls or bachelor herds. There have, however, been a few sightings of breeding herds, including a sighting of a herd of approximately eighty individuals in the hills just north-east of the camp and another of over sixty individuals near Pony Pan towards the end of the month. Since the marula trees are just starting to come into fruit we assume that many of the herds of elephants have

4 moved towards the west of the Kruger Park, where Marula trees are more common. This last month most of our elephant sightings have been in the vicinity of the N Wanetsi River and in the hills nearby. Lions Once again, the lion sightings have been phenomenal! The central grasslands of the Kruger National Park tend to attract quite a few zebras and wildebeest, which in turn attract lions. This part of the park is therefore well-known for lion sightings and many tourists come to the Satara area looking for these big cats. The Singita Kruger Park Concession lies to the east of Satara and we are in the fortunate position where we also have amazing lion sightings. In fact, one of the prides that we see in the concession, on occasion, is possibly one of the most famous prides in the Kruger Park. This pride is known as the Shishangaan Pride (often referred to as the Shish Pride). Approximately 70 % of this pride s territory lies outside of the concession, but fortunately we do see them fairly often. This pride is very large - at present there are between fifteen and nineteen members. The pride used to be larger, but a few years ago it got so large (approximately thirty members) that it split into two (or more) separate groups. The smaller portion moved out of the concession and seemed to have settled in the area nearby our staff quarters (which is a twenty-minute bus drive from the lodge). There are no roads in this area and as it is not part of our concession we do not venture there, other than driving the access road to the staff quarters. A few months back three lionesses were seen in that area and they had six small cubs with them. We believe that these lionesses are part of the break-away group from the old Shish mega-pride. The portion of the Shish Pride that we sometimes see in the concession is not only famous because of the numbers of individuals, but also due to the fact that it has a leucistic individual (a white lion) in it. This leucistic individual is a sub-adult male and is of the age where he will have to leave the pride soon and he will then have to go and search for a territory of his own. In fact, many of the subadults in the Shish Pride are males and they are all at the age where they will have to leave the area soon. Once they leave it may give one of the other prides, such as the Mountain Pride, to start growing in numbers and to become more dominant in the area. Photo by Brian Rode The Shish Pride have been pretty active in the concession this last month and we have had great sightings of them. On at least four occasions we have seen them feeding on buffalos. On two of these occasions the guides and guests were lucky enough to witness the whole stalk and kill. On the afternoon of the 6 th Chantelle, Nick and Henry plus their guests were watching the pride resting in the river. Nick describes the sighting as follows: The pride was resting up along the northern bank of the N Wanetsi river just east of Dave s crossing and to begin with it was a standard lion sighting. As impressive as it is to see 19 lions there wasn t much sign of life! There were one or two who looked half-awake while the others were completely out for the count. It actually always amazes me how much they tolerate us. Even with three vehicles moving in and around the pride they didn t bat an eyelid! We were actually describing exactly that - how our noise and movement is

5 treated like white noise and completely ignored and can be compared to us being in a foreign country with everyone speaking a language we don t understand. That foreign noise simply goes over our heads but if someone speaks our first language we listen to the conversation. It is the same for the lions - they completely ignore us but if they hear something relevant to them, like an impala alarming, elephant breaking a branch or something moving through the grass (their language) they react quickly and respond to it. Suddenly, a few lions rose to attention and started staring towards the southern side of the bank, all eyes and ears fixated on something moving through the brush. It took us a while to see what it was but eventually we could see a small bachelor herd of buffalos heading straight towards the pride! With all of us parked in and around the pride we actually couldn t move as we did not want to affect the outcome of the hunt. Of all the hunts and stalks I ve been lucky enough to see I ve never seen them escalate as quickly as this did. I think the sheer number of lions boost their confidence, especially when it comes to hunting old arthritic buffalo bulls! The chase wasn t a long one, and as we came up and over the rise half the pride was on top of and all over the bull, while the others were still chasing after another bull. The take-down was an impressive one as well, where even with the strength of the buffalo the big pride was just too much! From beginning to end it look less than ten minutes; the buffalo was down and entire pride was feeding. The next morning the entire carcass was finished and all the lions were once again resting in N Wanetsi River, sleeping in a food coma. Photo by Nick du Plessis On the afternoon of 15 th the Shish Pride had split up into two groups, which were lying on either side of the river by Dumbana Pool. Henry was watching one group sleeping on the southern side of the river when he noticed that they all suddenly perked up and then started running towards the northern side. At the same time Wessel came on the radio saying that the other group of the Shish Pride were in the process of bringing down an adult female buffalo. Henry quickly crossed the river to the other side and Jani, who was also close by, quickly headed there to watch the action. The lions managed to pull down the unfortunate buffalo and then started feeding upon it, growling and fighting amongst each other to get a position at the dinner-table. At one point, one of the lionesses managed to get inside the buffalo carcass and, with a loud popping sound, pulled out a foetus. The lioness quickly ran away from the rest of the pride, that were squabbling over the meat of the adult buffalo, and managed to feed on the delicacy on her own, without the harassment from the other members of the pride who were still fighting to get a mouthful from the bigger carcass. Some of the guests were a little distressed by what they had witnessed (it was quite graphic), but most were completely enthralled by what they had just seen.

6 The four dominant male lions in the concession are known as the Shish Males. We have had regular sightings of these male lions this last month. They were seen on at least thirteen occasions. On the morning of the 7 th we had found a female cheetah on a large mound of sand at Sticky-thorn Quarry When one of the Shish Males (the male with one blind eye) came walking across the grasslands behind the cheetah. At first the cheetah did not notice the large male lion approaching and luckily for it the lion had not seen the cheetah either. We were all wondering what was going to happen next as the lion was getting closer and closer to the spotted cat. We were all hoping that the cheetah would realise that the lion was in the vicinity before it became too late and, luckily, she turned and spotted him early enough. She rapidly slunk into the grass and sneaked down the mound, quickly disappearing out of view. The lion walked straight past the area where the cheetah had, just seconds before, been resting without even noticing that the other cat had been there. One can say that the cheetah just cheated death, because if the lion had managed to surprise her he would easily have killed her. Photo by Nick du Plessis Towards the beginning of the month we found two of the Shish Males and one lioness near Pony Pan. One of the lions was sleeping while the other mated with the lioness. We are hoping that this coupling will result in new cubs for the Mountain Pride in a few months. We have seen the Mountain Pride regularly in November. This is the only pride in our area whose territory falls entirely within the concession. At present the pride consists of three adult females and a cub of approximately one year of age. This pride is often seen with one of the large Shish Males. On the morning of the 23 rd they were seen feeding on a waterbuck to the north of the dam. The Xhirombe Pride were seen on a few occasions. This pride usually consists of three lions viz. an old lioness, a subadult male (of approximately 4 years of age) and a subadult female. The younger female has not been seen for a few months now. We initially assumed that she was pregnant and that she had left the pride to give birth to cubs but, due to the fact that we have not seen her for quite a while, we are not sure if she is still alive. The other two lions mainly utilise the area along the Mozambique border, high up in the

7 hills to the east of camp, although on occasion they are seen near the N wanetsi River close to the camp. The young male now has a full mane and is starting to look quite impressive. Photo by Brian Rode Cheetahs This month has been fantastic in terms of cheetah viewing. We have had 16 recorded sightings, and most of these have been of a single female cheetah. On the morning of the 8 th, however, we had three different sightings of cheetahs. On one occasion guests were fortunate enough to see the female cheetah chase after and catch a baby impala. The morning of the 23 rd was quite incredible. Brian and Nick were both driving a large group of guests. Brian describes the morning as follows: The previous day had been extremely hot, but this morning it was cold and drizzling. We had seen very little, even the general game such as zebras and wildebeest seem to have disappeared. We stopped for our coffee break at Golf Course Clearing and were thinking of heading back towards the camp when Solomon came on the radio saying that he had found the Mountain Pride north of Gudzane Dam, feeding on a waterbuck. We decided to go and take a look at the lions before returning to camp to warm up and have breakfast. As we got close to the area Solomon called, saying that he had heard monkeys giving alarm calls to the south-west of where he had been watching the lions. Upon investigating he found the female cheetah walking towards the dam. Nick and I, knowing that we could return to the lions, decided to rather respond to the cheetah. We found Solomon following the cheetah towards the edge of the dam and had magnificent views of her drinking water. When she had finished drinking she got up and started heading north. She disappeared through a guarri thicket and we lost sight of her. As I went around the eastern side of the thicket I spotted an old male buffalo wallowing in the water approximately 60 meters from where the cheetah had been drinking. By now Solomon had found the cheetah again and announced that she was eyeing out some impalas. I left the buffalo and headed west again, following the road around the thicket towards where Solomon was viewing the cheetah. As we turned the corner we saw a large male lion heading to the position where we had seen the cheetah drinking earlier!

8 Photo by Nick du Plessis In the meantime, Solomon had told us on the radio that the cheetah had chased down and caught a baby impala. It was quite close to where the Mountain Pride were feeding on the waterbuck. The lions were feeding behind a large sickle-bush thicket and were unaware of the cheetah and its kill that were within 60 meters of where they were concentrating on their meal. While the cheetah was throttling the poor baby impala a black-backed jackal was circling the cat, hoping to get some scraps. The cheetah started feeding as soon as the baby impala was dead. We were busy watching the cheetah eating when we noticed the big male lion walking past the area. He looked towards the vehicles, but did not see the cheetah with her prey. The cheetah was, however, aware of the lion moving past. She sat up and watched him disappearing in a northerly direction. The cheetah grew visibly relaxed again, realising that the lion had not noticed her, and returned to her meal. We then noticed a vulture descending out of the sky. It landed nearby the cheetah and then another vulture arrived. By now the male lion had found the Mountain Pride on their kill and had obviously stolen the carcass from them. The lionesses had, however, noticed that the vultures were dropping nearby and because they knew that they had no chance of getting the waterbuck back from the bigger, stronger male one of the lionesses decided to investigate where the vultures were going. We were busy watching the cheetah when we saw the lionesses come running out of the thicket towards where the cheetah was. The lioness saw the jackal that was still trotting around in the area and quickly gave chase, not noticing that the cheetah was lying in the grass feeding. The cheetah did, however, see the lioness and she quickly deserted the kill and ran away. The jackal had managed to avoid the lioness and saw that the cheetah had run away from the impala carcass. It immediately ran in and grabbed hold of the carcass. What an opportunist! The jackal managed to get a few mouthfuls of meat before the lioness realised what was happening and ran towards it. Then the jackal dropped the carcass and the lion immediately grabbed hold of it in her mouth and started walking back towards where she had originally come from. Since the cheetah had run away we decided to follow after the lioness. She carried the baby impala back to the Sickle-bush thicket and we watched as she allowed her young cub to feed upon it. We left them feeding and then headed back towards camp. What an incredible morning!

9 Leopards: Photo by Brian Rode This last month we had 17 recorded sightings of leopards. We saw the young Dumbana Male leopard on four occasions. This leopard is much more relaxed with vehicles now and quite a few of the guests in camp at the time got to see him. At the end of the month he was seen feeding on an impala in the Nyokeng Valley. The Ndlovu male was also seen on two occasions. This large male leopard does not seem to care about the presence of vehicles. Solomon was the guide who found this leopard on both occasions. On the afternoon of the 23 rd he was spotted feeding on a baby impala on top of a ridge to the east of camp, and many of the guests got good views of him feeding. Late one afternoon Nick was on his way to have sundowners on top of the cliffs overlooking the N Wanetsi River when he found the Tingala female leopard stalking impalas. Jani came to join the sighting, but the leopard soon moved into an area that was inaccessible to vehicles, and they both left her following after the impalas.

10 The Canids (dogs) of the Singita Kruger National Park Concession Article by Brian Rode The black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) Photo by Brian Rode The black-backed jackal is one of two species of jackals that can be found in the Singita Lebombo / Sweni area (the other one is the side-striped jackal). The black-backed jackals are the more common of the two that occur in our area. The black-backed jackal is a small canid (dog) that is fairly similar in appearance to a fox. It has a shoulder height of approximately 38 to 48 cm and weighs up to 13 kg. It has big ears, longish legs and a bushy tail (with a black tip). It is predominantly reddish in colour (hence the name Rooijakkals in Afrikaans meaning red jackal) on the flanks and legs, and has a black / grey, grizzled back often with a black stripe separating the saddle from the sides. Black-backed jackals tend to live in open areas with short grass cover and are highly territorial animals (although they can be seen in greater numbers where there are large carcasses to scavenge from). They form monogamous pairs, although previous youngsters may remain in the area for a while and help raise the next generation of pups. Black-backed and side-striped jackals are some of the oldest dogs known to man and fossils of jackals have been found in East Africa and Southern Africa, showing that they were around at least two-three million years ago and that they have not changed much since then. Jackals are carnivores and black-backed jackals feed predominantly on invertebrates (such as insects, spiders, scorpions etc.), small vertebrates such as rodents, reptiles and birds, and even small mammals (up to the size of small antelope). A particular pair of black-backed jackals in our concession have been seen attacking and killing full-grown adult impalas. Black-backed jackals are seen as problem-animals in many farming areas of South Africa due to the fact that they can and do often kill sheep and cattle calves. Blackbacked jackals will also consume various fruits (although not as often as side-striped jackals). In Namibia

11 black-backed jackals are seen regularly along the coastline (particularly in the areas surrounding seal colonies), where they scavenge on the carcasses of seals and even hunt sick or injured seals and their pups. Black-backed jackals will also scavenge from carcasses that have been killed by larger predators such as lions and cheetahs. The jackals are much smaller than these large cats and therefore usually only scavenge on the carcasses once the cats have left the area. Photos by Brian Rode The jackals in our area usually give birth to between one and six pups during late spring and early summer, after a gestation period of two months. The pups are often hidden in a den, which usually consists of a hole in the ground. The pups become sexually mature at approximately one year of age and then start to look for a partner and an area to set up a territory. Black-backed jackals mark and advertise their territories by defecation (they often defecate at obvious sites such as on top of exposed rocks, on top of impala middens or on grass clumps), urination, posturing and calling. Black-backed jackals have a very distinct wailing, high-pitched howl. They also tend to call when they see large predators in the area, which can be a good indication to our guides as to where the big cats may be moving. Jackals are seen as sly and clever animals and are featured in cultural stories, where they often outwit larger carnivores such as lions. The side-striped jackal (Canis adustus) Side-striped jackals are seen less frequently in the concession than their cousins, the black-backed jackals. Side-striped jackals differ from the black-backed jackals by both their coloration and their size. Side-striped jackals are slightly larger, with a shoulder height of between 35 and 50 cm (they tend to have longer legs than the black-backed jackals), and can weigh up to 15 kg. They are generally grey in colour, often with a white stripe along the side of the bodies which is underlined by a black stripe. The end of the tail of the side-striped jackal is often white in colour. They tend to have more of a wolf-like appearance as opposed to the black-backed jackals that look more fox-like. Even though side-striped jackals are slightly larger than Black-backed jackals they tend to be less aggressive and are therefore often displaced by their smaller cousins. Side-striped jackals prefer to inhabit areas that have longer grass than those areas preferred by blackbacked jackals, and also inhabit woodland areas. These jackals also form monogamous pairs. The bitch gives birth to between two and six pups after a gestation period of approximately two months. These pups are also usually hidden in a den-site, which is usually a hole in the ground or in a disused termitaria.

12 Photo by Brian Rode Both species of jackals that occur in the area tend to be nocturnal (active at night), although black-backed jackals are seen being active during the day (particularly on cold or overcast days) more often than sidestriped jackals. Side-striped jackals (even though they are carnivores) tend to be more omnivorous than their cousins and they often feed on various fruits. The jackalberry tree (Diospyros mespiliformus) was named as such because, supposedly, these jackals love to eat the fruits that fall to the ground beneath the tree. Sidestriped jackals also feed on various smaller vertebrates such as rodents, birds and reptiles and also invertebrates such as insects, spiders and scorpions. Although they may feed on carrion they do not scavenge as much from larger predator kill remains as black-backed jackals do. They also do not generally hunt down larger mammal species and are, therefore not generally seen as a problem animal to farmers. Side-striped jackals are also highly territorial animals. Side-striped jackals have a very distinctive call which sounds much like a yapping sound, as opposed to the high-pitched wailing howl of the black-backed jackals. The African wild dog or painted wolf (Lycaon pictus) African wild dogs are also known as Cape hunting dogs or painted wolves. The scientific name Lycaon pictus comes from the Greek word lykaios, meaning "wolf-like", and the word pictus is derived from the Latin word, meaning painted, and refers to the blotchy black, tan and white markings all over the body. They are medium sized predators, with a shoulder height of approximately cm and a weight of up to 30 kg. They are similar in size to a small German shepherd dog and have beautiful mottled coats, large round ears (like Mickey Mouse) and a bushy tail that usually has a white tip. They are diurnal animals (active during the day) and have black colouration around the eyes in order to reduce glare when running during brightly lit hours. They are mainly active in the mornings and late afternoons and often rest in the shade during the heat of the day.

13 Photo by Brian Rode African wild dogs are said to be the second rarest large carnivores in Africa (the rarest large carnivore in Africa is said to be the Simien wolf, which is found in the highlands of Ethiopia). According to the I.U.C.N (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) it is estimated that there are only African wild dogs left in the world (of which only are adults). The main reasons for their low numbers are persecution by humans, susceptibility to dog diseases such as rabies and canine distemper, habitat destruction (and corresponding prey number reduction) and being killed by larger predators such as lions and leopards. The biggest populations of these rare creatures occur in northern Botswana and in southern Tanzania. In the Kruger National Park there are said to be only between 350 and 400 African wild dogs. Most of the wild dogs in the Kruger National Park occur in the western half of the park, where the granitic soils allow for large termite heaps, which is often where the dogs make their dens (in old aardvark burrows). We very seldom see African wild dogs on our concession, possibly only two or three times a year. African wild dogs are extremely interesting animals. They have a strange social system, known as an Alphapair breeding system. In this system only one pair of the pack (the Alpha Pair) mate and the youngsters are raised by the whole pack. In most packs the males greatly outnumber females. Packs generally number between 3 and 27 individuals. In Southern Africa wild dogs usually den during the winter months (June / July). In our area the dogs only breed once a year. The Alpha female gives birth to between four and sixteen pups, after a gestation period of almost two and a half months. Female dogs usually disperse from the pack at the end of the second year, after having witnessed the raising of a litter of pups. When numbers in a pack get extremely high small groups of males may also disperse and thus start new packs.

14 Photo by Brian Rode Painted wolves are said to be the most efficient of the large hunters in Africa. It has been estimated that wild dogs are successful for about 85% of their hunts. In comparison, lions are only successful between 20 and 30% of hunts, leopards are successful between 14 and 38% of hunts and cheetahs are successful on an average of 58% of hunts (statistics quoted from BBC Wildlife Magazine). African Wild dogs prey predominantly on small to medium-sized antelope. In the Kruger Park the main prey species is impala, although wild dogs do, on occasion, kill larger antelope up to the size of female kudus and tsessebe. Cape hunting dogs typically chase down their prey. As a pack they often spread out while running through the bush, effectively beating the bush, causing the antelope to flee. The dogs then chase after the running antelope and start biting at the flanks and legs, often disembowelling the antelope, which then goes into a state of shock and is rapidly ripped apart by the dogs. The kill generally happens very quickly and the entire carcass is devoured within minutes of it being killed. Wild dogs are incredibly social animals and are known to care for even the old and sick members of the pack, bringing food to them or regurgitating meat for them after the hunt. Wild dogs are not considered to be territorial animals (although when two packs meet up there may be aggression between the two) and have extremely large home-ranges. Painted wolves do not bark like domestic dogs, but rather have a whooping call. This call is usually heard when individuals of a pack are trying to locate other pack members, particularly when they are separated during hunting activities. Wild dogs also give off a high-pitched chittering sound particularly when greeting each other, just before going out hunting and when feeding. They may also give a short growl when surprised by other predators or humans on foot. These animals are not considered to be particularly dangerous to humans and there have been very few records (if any) of wild dogs attacking people.

15 November moments in time

16 Photos by Brian Rode

17 Photo by Margaux le Roux Articles by Nick du Plessis & Brian Rode Photos by Margaux le Roux, Nick du Plessis & Brian Rode Singita Kruger National Park, South Africa Thirtieth of November, Two thousand and seventeen