WILDLIFE JOURNAL SINGITA SABI SAND, SOUTH AFRICA for the Month of October, Two Thousand and Nineteen

WILDLIFE JOURNAL SINGITA SABI SAND, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of October, Two Thousand and Nineteen Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 19.3˚C (66.74˚F) For the month: 9.3mm Sunrise: 05:21 Average maximum: 33.5˚C (92.3˚F) For the season to date: 21.6mm Sunset: 18:01 Minimum recorded: 12˚C (53.6˚F) Maximum recorded: 42˚C (107.6˚F) Our senses tingle as the tenth month of the year commences. With the first rains for the summer season revitalising the dry dusty land, some of the smaller creatures are prompted into action. The loud raucous calls from frogs and toads accompanied by the chirping of European bee-eaters are a welcomed addition to the bushveld orchestra. With the Sand River almost completely dried up, we’ve witnessed an array of storks dominating the miniature pools, lapping up the opportunity to catch an easy meal. Predators such as leopards and lions have also been seen utilising the riverine area, hoping to catch an unsuspecting impala or nyala. The expression “keep your friends close, your enemies closer” could not be truer right now. Here’s a Sightings Snapshot for October: Lions • Many water sources have now dried up, including a large part of the Sand River. The sound of water flowing is minimal and the pools and dams of valuable water sources have become invaluable. We’ve watched predators such as lions taking full advantage of these places. The Ottawa pride in particular have used the shade of the reeds and bushwillows to lie in during the day, waiting for the inevitable arrival of water dependant antelope and buffalo to arrive. The one Matimba male has been seen with the pride on almost every occasion. A sighting on the northern bank saw one female member of the Ottawa pride stalk and kill an unsuspecting female nyala antelope. • The Mhangene pride have spent the majority of October in the south-eastern part of the Sabi Sand, opening up opportunities for other lion prides to exploit our reserve. Elephants • Scorching temperatures have driven huge numbers of elephants towards the last remaining water sources on the reserve. The sound of smacking and squelching can be heard through the bushes as these excited animals smack mud on their backs and spray water against their hot, dry skin. Excited energy exudes from these creatures as pure enjoyment and satisfaction is displayed as they cool themselves down in the water. Wild dogs • What a privilege to be amongst a pack of painted wolves. With the puppies now about half the size of the adults, it’s time for them to join on some of the hunts and move with the adults as they wander through the terrain. Whilst watching the dogs hunt, one can’t help but feel like one of the pack. Sprinting, changing direction, calling to one another, the energy is electric! We look forward to watching these pups develop. Leopards • Leopard sightings have been exceptional this month. We watch with great intrigue as the Khokovela female and her cub make more regular appearances. Their playful nature always a delight to see. The bond between these two captures everyone’s hearts as we seen them stalking each other, clambering over one another and playing in the dry grass. • The Hosana male leopard has made for some great game viewing recently. An elegant young male leopard, already scent marking and dominating a small portion of land north of the Sand river. We look forward to seeing his progress in the area as he establishes his territory. Cheetahs • A sighting that no one wants to miss, a male cheetah on a hunt! It’s been a successful month for viewing these elegant animals, with sightings of different members moving through the area. One guide and his guests were lucky enough to watch a male cheetah hunt and kill an impala! • The two sub-adult cheetah that were seen a few times in September have made a couple of appearances this month, although never spending too long in one place at a time. With an area so densely populated with hyena, leopard and lions, it’s a risky thing to linger for more than necessary. Bird List • Our yearly bird count is at 268, with a new addition of the lappet-faced vulture. Two lappet-faced vultures were seen in the southern part of the reserve, feeding on the remains of a warthog which had earlier been killed by some African wild dogs. Curiosity - close encounter Article by Marc Eschenlohr Children are born innately curious but when life in the wild African bush is a day-to-day struggle for survival curiosity could very well kill the cat, or dog in this case. For a group of wild dog pups this valuable life lesson was learnt very quickly, and thankfully without harm. We arrived at a sighting to see a group of wild dog adults and pups lying in the shade. About 100 meters away was a breeding herd of elephants feeding in the clearings, just casually going about their day - pulling some grass here, uprooting a tree there, all the while oblivious to the presence of the second most endangered carnivore species in Africa. Now intrigued by these rather odd gentle looking giants, the pups all got up and decided they wanted a closer look. For anyone that knows the bush, elephants are not to be taken lightly, least of all a breeding herd where babies are present. Startled by these mini-animals approaching them, the elephants flared their ears, began trumpeting and started chasing down the pups. Frightened for their dear lives the pups bolted towards the thickets. Hearing this commotion, the adult wild dogs themselves got up and began to run towards the herd in their own attempt to ward off the danger. An adult male came to the rescue of a pup and tried to attract the attention of the elephant cow to no avail and all adults and pups were sent scrabbling to the safety of their den-site a couple of hundred metres away. That was a valuable lesson learnt for the pups not to mess with Africa’s largest land mammals. Painted hunting dog population threats Article and photos by Paul Josop The current population status of the painted hunting dog throughout Africa is Endangered. It’s estimated that the population south of the Sahara sits between 5 000 and 6 000 individuals and that every year this number is decreasing. In the Greater Kruger National Park ecosystem, the population of these animals are estimated between 500 and 800 individuals. As the population is dwindling significantly in some parts of Africa and extinct in others, conservationists are hard at work monitoring the metapopulation in southern Africa and are carefully reintroducing them into areas where they once occurred. With interspecific competition existing, larger predatory species such as spotted hyena, leopard and lion are always a threat to these medium sized carnivores. Due to their nature of actively chasing prey as a pack when on the hunt, these animals have a higher success rate than other predators. They do however face the problem of running through snares, set up by bush meat poachers. They also face being persecuted when they escape from protected areas and kill domestic livestock in surrounding village lands. Finally, they are highly susceptible to diseases like canine distemper and rabies, that can be contracted from domesticated animals that they meet inside or outside the protected areas. Pups waiting patiently at a den-site for the return of the adults from a hunt. It has been two consecutive years that I’ve been fortunate to see this pack of painted hunting dogs mating and returning to the same area north of the Sand River to den. They gave birth to a litter of pups and have ‘successfully’ reared the young to a certain age whereby they leave the den and become nomadic. With this, they cover greater areas, looking for prey and avoiding the areas that are dense with other predatory species. When I captured these photographs of the pups patiently waiting for the return of the adults at the den-site, the adults had been seen earlier in the morning hunting south of the river and had already killed two impalas, but unfortunately got robbed by a large clan of hyenas! It wasn’t long before ten adult dogs returned and there was chaos! Thirteen pups frantically interacted and raced from one adult to the next. They were begging for partially digested, and even whole, pieces of meat that were being regurgitated. Their ears are a very distinctive feature from a young age. A few weeks prior to this sighting, a pride of lions that arrived at Singita a few months ago, wandered right past the initial den-site where the pups were born. With this occurrence, the adults moved the pups to a different location, which happened to be an old aardvark hole in the side of a termite mound they used last year! Not too long after that pride moved further north, the resident pride on Singita also managed to find themselves in the vicinity of the pack and their pups. However, this time some of our guests and their field guide witnessed how the adult dogs tried desperately to lead the pride of lions away from the den as they yapped, irritated and worked coherently to protect their young! Their inquisitive nature at this age makes them a perfect subject! As these pups mature to adults, the chances of all of them making it is unlikely, especially in an area like the Sabi Sand Game Reserve where their kills are often stolen, and they are dominated by larger predators that try to disrupt the nature of the pack! Same sex individuals leave their natal group and to find another group of opposite sex individuals to start a new pack.

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