As most of you probably know it is the rainy season, that means there are plenty of little hooves ( and 20 little paws…..but coming to that ) running around. At the moment there are an explosion of baby impala and wildebeest. When we go out early mornings and we stumble onto a rank of impala or an implausibility of wildebeest the first thing you see is the babies all clustered together in a crèche almost on top of one another to keep warm. There will be one or two adults to keep an eye out while their young are sleeping.
The below image is probably not the best but these females are trying to avoid any confrontation with anybody or anything. So it was just great to get the image of these cubs for the first time.
Now for the big news! We have been missing the two Tshabala females for quite some time now. We had no tracks or no signs of them. Until one morning I found her walking towards Phiri hill and I could see something was different in her behavior and appearance, she was clearly lactating with dirty nipples. That only means one thing…..NEW CUBS! After that morning we haven’t seen any trace of them anywhere. At least we knew they were still alive and with a few new additions to the pride. That got us all buzzing and more determined to find them. The morning of the 10th of November myself and Gavin decided to go South and see if we could get lucky with some lions. In the distance I could see a few small figures running around and bouncing up and down. At first I had no clue, when a large tawny shape appeared from underneath a Buffalo Thorn with ears flat, snarling lips and tail twitching up and down when she saw us. Then I knew it was them!! I started counting 1,2,3….and there were 5 cubs with the 2 females. And I quietly said: “Well done girls”. I could see they were very skittish and aware of the vehicle. It was probably the first time these cubs have seen a land cruiser. I got on the radio and called Gavin to come and join. We didn’t really follow them because the mothers are so overly protective. So we gave them space and they went back to the hill where they were born. Gavin and I, and even the guests were so excited! Because I was the first ranger to find them I got to name them as well, so I decided on Maropeng youngsters. That means Place of origin. Before lionesses give birth they leave the pride for a few weeks and seek shelter on a rocky outcrop or thick cover where she then gives birth. After the birth she moves the cubs to a safer place. The reason for this is to get the cubs away from the scent of the birth, hyenas and other lions pick it up very quickly. When the cubs are strong enough to keep up she will go and introduce them to the pride and the males. The Maropeng youngsters’s fathers are the Kgala Etali males.
On the 27th of December I went out to look for a leopard the guys had spotted the previous night on the Western airstrip. We drove along slowly scanning every Marula tree and bush. My eye then caught fresh lion tracks on the road. I followed them for a while and they went off on an elephant path. I left it there and then Malcolm spotted a Red Hartebeest. We stopped to view him and we could see he was focused on something, so we waited a few minutes, I then heard it to our right. Cubs fighting over food! What a sound those little ones can make. I got out of the vehicle and walked in about a 100 meters. I stood behind a tree where I could see clearly how the cubs were dominating one another over the fresh wildebeest. The lioness saw me and kindly asked me to back off in her own loving way. We then went in with the vehicle. The lions backed off from the kill and I switched off. It wasn’t long before the hungry cubs returned and gave us a sighting of a lifetime.
Hope you enjoyed the update
Grant
No comments:
Post a Comment