WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA SABI SAND, SOUTH AFRICA

For the month of June, Two Thousand and Eighteen Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset

Average minimum: 13˚C (55˚F) For the month: 0 mm Sunrise: 06:36

Average maximum: 28˚C (82˚F) For the season to date: 568.2 mm Sunset: 17.11

Minimum recorded: 9˚C (48˚F)

Maximum recorded: 34˚C (93˚F) (*Note: rainfall figure for the season is the total received to date since beginning of August 2017)

Waking to the sound of a male lion roaring outside, then drinking a perfectly made cappuccino on the lodge deck whilst looking over the misty Sand River, followed up by embarking on game drive with a blanket and hot water bottle for an adventure that will change your life every time; this is winter at Singita Sabi Sand. The bush is drying out rapidly, but it is providing the most beautiful scenery, amazing lighting conditions and the game viewing… well, the game viewing has been nothing short of spectacular! Tree-climbing lions, leopardesses and cubs, potential puppies and wild cats. With the Ebony and Boulders lodges based on the river, days spent at the lodge are filled with elephants drinking, a variety of antelope wandering around and the occasional leopard strolling by. It is an experience not to be missed!

Here's a highlights package of the month's sightings Leopards: The Schotia female and her two cubs have still been spending lots of time around the river and the lodges. The cubs are growing quickly and becoming more confident every day. We have enjoyed great views of them on a young nyala kill, climbing trees and wrestling with mom; all in preparation of them being the next generation of successful leopards in the Sabi Sand reserve. The Hukumuri female and her two cubs are also being seen regularly in the north of the reserve. The Hlaba Nkunzi young male leopard is spending more time on his own and has been seen venturing a little further afield, exploring his mother’s territory as he gets closer to independence. Lions: The Matimba male lions are still spending time close to the lodges, vocalising on a nightly basis, providing a majestic melody for our guests to fall asleep to. The Mhangene lionesses have been spending a lot of time close to the river with the one lioness showing clear suckle marks. This means that we do have new cubs on the property and it is hopefully only a matter of time before they appear! We have had three sightings of lions climbing trees to steal kills away from leopards (two sightings of the Mhangene lionesses and one of the Matimba males) in just the past three weeks… so much for lions not climbing trees! Elephants: Large herds of elephants continue to roam the concession, fairly well spread out but as the water sources dry out, we will begin to see a congregation of herds around the river and the waterholes that are still holding water. There are many young calves amongst the herds, entertaining us with their antics and providing the most memorable sightings. Wild dogs: We have had two different packs moving on and off property in the past few weeks, with the one pack showing signs of having begun to den in the north of the reserve. As mentioned in the article ‘Puppy kisses’, Chene and Rebel found a potential den-site and we are now just waiting for puppies to appear! Guests have also enjoyed great viewing of wild dogs on the move and hunting, occasionally chasing leopards up trees and giving hyenas a very hard time.

The Schotia female grooming one of her cubs after feeding.

The winter season always seems to produce amazing sunrises…

And the most incredible stargazing…

And the dry, dusty conditions create beautiful backlighting, especially with hundreds of buffalo walking towards a waterhole in the late afternoon sun…

Misty winter mornings provide great photographic opportunities with interesting lighting conditions.

A special winter sighting Article by Paul Josop In the winter the bushveld changes; firstly it gets cold, secondly the colour of the bush changes and thirdly there is a race against sunlight on the afternoon safari! With these changes we adapt and the safari continues. Guests put on their warm layers, blankets and water bottles are provided on the morning safari to alleviate the cold - especially felt in the low lying areas! The advantage of the winter safari is that it becomes a bit easier spotting the animals with less foliage to look through and the grass slowly dying off. With this in mind we look for the nocturnal animals that are difficult to spot in the summer. These include secretive animals like the ground pangolin, aardvark, African civet, side-striped jackal and lesser galagos (bushbabies). One evening, after stopping to stretch our legs and our guests enjoying a hot beverage, we continued on our night exploration into the southern open areas of the reserve. We passed a small waterhole where a crash of rhino was busy having a drink. We stopped the vehicle, turned the lights off and listened to them slurping up the water with their square lips! Not too far from the waterhole Emmanuel, our tracker, had a glimpse of flickering eyes through the grass with the help of his spotlight. We scanned through the grass for a short while not seeing anything, but with a bit more patience the animal showed itself. In our sight we could see what appeared to be a small cat, posed just like a domestic cat looking straight at us. It was in fact an African wild cat! Small, shy and often solitary or a female accompanied by kittens, we had found a resident but very rarely seen feline.

We watched the small cat grooming itself and noticed the rufous brown colouration behind its small ears confirming one hundred percent that it was an African wild cat. It then started moving and I was able to capture a few photographs to support our story!

The African wild cat showing off its impressive stalking skills.

Never say “never” or “always” Article by Leon van Wyk Having guided for more than 25 years, it is inevitable that I have learnt a great deal about many things. About wildlife, about trees, about guests, about food, about wine, about stars, about geology… the list goes on and on. Of course I have also forgotten a lot of what I learnt, and of course I am still learning. Undoubtedly I have learnt a lot about myself too. And I don't necessarily like everything that I have learnt about myself. One thing that I have learnt, which I would like to share with the reader, is to be very careful about how certain I am about what I say. I may be experienced, but I am not THE authority on any subject. I therefore steer clear, if possible, of making statements which are too definite or authoritative. Even as recently as a few weeks ago, I was made to swallow my words, having stated that a leopard's kill, which was at least five metres (16 feet or more) above the ground in the fork of a large sloping jackalberry tree, might not be safe from lions, but would be safe from hyenas. Half an hour or so later, I watched in open-mouthed amazement as a hyena slowly but steadily made its way up the 45-degree trunk of the tree, all the way to the position of the impala carcass, and proceeded to feed on the carcass in the tree! What made me feel even more sheepish was the fact that when one of my guests, who was a novice to safari, had first seen the hyena more than 200 metres from the tree with the carcass, asked, “Will the hyena steal the kill?” I had answered “It will probably find the kill, but it will never be able to reach it.” Never? Really? Other sweeping statements to avoid, are things like, “Cheetahs never hunt at night,” or “Cheetahs always prefer open areas.” While these claims are for the most part accurate in terms of describing cheetah habits and preferences, the words “never" and “always” are just too strong. Many years ago I did indeed see a cheetah hunting at night, shortly after 20h00, and she succeeded in catching a steenbok. Granted, it was a moonlit night. We consider cheetahs to be daytime hunters, but I have heard of cheetahs doing a lot of nocturnal hunting too, mainly in areas where there are no lions or hyenas. I should perhaps mention that we have a protocol of not using a spotlight to view cheetahs. If it is too dark to see them in the natural light, then it is too dark to view them, and they must be left alone. One should also be careful when making statements about what animals eat. Zebras are considered to be strictly grazing animals, which means that their diet is grass, rather than leaves of trees. Does this mean that they never browse from trees? Never say “never” – I personally witnessed a zebra browsing the leaves of an apple-leaf (Philenoptera violacea) tree about two years ago. The reason for this behaviour at the time was the fact that this was during a prolonged period of extreme drought, and there was very little in the way of suitable grazing material. So the zebra had to “adapt or die”. I have never said to guests that hippos always eat only grass. I do know very well that this is their diet, but I have also heard stories of them scavenging from carcasses, and some of my colleagues even saw one chase a pack of African hunting dogs off a freshly killed impala, and then start to devour large pieces of the impala flesh. While I have not yet personally witnessed this behaviour, it does show that animals are opportunists and don't always behave in the way that books say they should! What about breeding behaviour? As guides we often tell guests that within a pack of African hunting dogs, there is only one breeding pair. The highest ranking or alpha male mates with the alpha female, and she is the only bitch in the pack that produces pups. I have no doubt that many guides have said that it is always only the alpha female that gives birth, or that in the rare cases where a second female produces pups, that these are always killed. Does the alpha female never allow a second female to raise a litter in her pack, while she has a litter? Right here at Singita Sabi Sand in recent years, we have witnessed a second female (beta female) in a pack, give birth to and successfully raise a litter of pups, several weeks younger than the pups of the alpha female, and with no objection being demonstrated by the alpha female. Yes, this behaviour is certainly extraordinary, but Nature is full of extraordinary surprises. What about seasons and weather patterns. In this part of South Africa, our rains fall in the summer months, particularly between November and March. The winter months of May, June, July and August are

notoriously dry. Does that mean that the wettest month in any year is always going to be one of the summer months? Not necessarily! A little more than a decade ago, there was so much rain in mid-winter that the Sand River came down in a strong flood, bank to bank. Guests who spend time here would certainly be introduced to marula trees, of which there are many at Singita Sabi Sand. They generally lose their leaves over the dry winter season. The female trees typically bear fruit in late January, through February and into March. Is this always the time that fruit are borne? Probably yes, in that the vast majority of marula trees that do bear fruit, bear them during those months. However, I saw a marula tree north of the Sand River with large green fruit in its leafy branches during the month of May this year. Vervet monkeys had discovered these green fruit, and were feeding on them in the tree. Mother Nature is amazing, and she will surprise us from time to time. Even those of us who have been privileged enough to have spent many, many years in wild areas, are still humbled and surprised by events or behaviour that might seem totally contrary to what is expected. Rather than telling guests in an authoritative manner what is going to happen, I have learnt to rather have the attitude that together we should watch what unfolds. We are out there to discover and observe Nature together. Yes, certainly I will guide them in a way to benefit from what I am expecting is going to happen. Perhaps if I correctly anticipate that a lion or leopard is about to yawn, guests can be ready to photograph this. Sometimes it doesn't happen the way I expected it to, and that is great. I then try to evaluate or interpret what happened and why. But I am definitely a good deal more cautious to avoid using the words “never” and “always.” I won't say I never use them… but I will say that I am always cautious about their use!

Puppy kisses Article by Chene Wales-Baillie Being out in the bush every day is a magical experience in itself, but there are times out there that are completely exhilarating and quite literally breath-taking. I’ve been asked a number of times before by guests whether or not we ever get bored driving the same areas and seeing the same animals all the time, but the truth is every single day is different and you can never ever find the same animal in the same place, doing the same thing, ever again. I experienced this recently with a few guests of mine who have travelled all over Africa and had been to many reserves before. The plan I had for the afternoon was to take a drive to the north of the property, over the river, to see if we could find wild dogs. Well, more specifically, their den-site. We had seen the pack moving around the property more often lately and it was due time for them to begin denning. My guests had seen wild dogs a number of years ago and this is an animal we are very privileged to see here at Singita due to how endangered they are. We all thought it would be a great plan to check, even with the thought in mind that we may come up with nothing. My tracker Rebel and I thought the best place would be to check was at the den-site they used last year, so we moved into the area and that’s when Rebel and I left the guests and began to track on foot. It was very quiet out in the bush, the soft sound of the breeze moving through the dry leaves and the feeling of our feet against the earth as we brushed through the long grass were very noticeable as we looked and listened all around us. We found our way to the one termite mound with a large Schotia tree growing on top of it. There were wild dog tracks! They had been here! Yet there was still silence and no movement around us. We followed the tracks which led us to another termite mound, this one placed on the bank of a drainage line surrounded by tamboti trees and a fallen over knobthorn. There were signs of them all over the place - footprints, scat and a smell of wild dogs - they smell quite bad actually, like a very dirty dog!

As we walked slowly down the drainage we heard a faint ‘squeak’. Rebel and I stopped and looked at each other puzzled at the sound we heard. We took three more steps and heard what you could imagine a guard dog waiting at the gate of your home may sound like when someone is approaching - a low growl. In that moment we knew they were there and I couldn’t contain my excitement! Rebel and I shared a quick (quiet) “high five” and walked back toward the vehicle, looking back to see the flash of painted spots on one dog moving through the drainage. As we arrived at the vehicle the guests could see our excitement, the biggest smiles you could ever see on a guide and tracker - also to be quite honest my hands were shaking with exhilaration! My first time to find a den! This was special! I drove the Land Rover with Rebel guiding me along the way to where the position was and there they were! Out of nowhere the wild dog pack was moving all around the termite mound along the drainage, checking for danger and making sure their alpha female and her pups were safe inside! Our guests were so full of excitement and emotion, seeing these magnificent animals scouting the area in their natural habitat, making sure to preserve their future generation was an amazing sight to behold. The wild dogs were there for only a few moments, enough for us to see them beautifully before they left once again to go off hunting in an area too thick and bushy to follow. With complete amazement, we moved out of the area. This was one of those extraordinary moments out in the bush that make what we do phenomenal! There just simply is no way to get bored working out here and we are exceptionally privileged to be a part of this immaculate wilderness area. Now with the knowledge of being aware where the den-site is, we look forward to meeting the precious little wild dog puppies in the next few weeks!

Ground hornbills Article by Piet Marimane This is a very endangered species of birds that we have in our country, which looks similar to a turkey. Traditionally the ground hornbill is considered a sacred ‘wise spirit’. Damage to a hornbill can only be atoned through the sacrifice of a calf, and the bird is not spoken of for fear of retribution. Their distinctive call is supposed to indicate rain and in some countries their skulls and bills feature in hunters’ headdresses. Ground hornbills are conspicuous by their size and their striking black plumage and red wattles. A dominant female can be recognised by the patch of blue amidst her red throat patch. Juveniles have drably coloured faces that turn red at about three years old. They habitually occur in groups of four to five birds (but up to 8 or 9) and spend much time in the open scouting for their prey, which comprises lizards, small mammals, snails, birds, insects and snakes. They are specialists at feeding on tortoises and are able to break open their shells with their strong bills. Ground hornbills are long-lived birds and only reach maturity at six years old, at which time female birds will leave their natal flocks and join up with a group of males to form new flocks. The dominant pair within the flock mate for life and the cooperative group defend a territory of about 100 square kilometres, advertised with a booming ‘hoo hoo hoo-hoo’ duet that carries over 4 km in distance. They also chase offending neighbours in flight. Their nesting sites are hard to come by. They require large tree cavities at least 40 cm wide and located four to seven metres above the ground. These are found only in the largest trees such as jackalberries and baobabs. They are becoming scarcer due to logging, local wood collecting and elephant damage. They do not close up their entrance to their nests in the manner of the southern yellow-billed or red-billed hornbill. The female will enter the cavity when she is ready to breed and the male and helpers bring nesting material and food to the female. They continue this ritual throughout incubation as once the first egg is laid the dominant female will not leave the nest except to defecate. One or two eggs are laid but the second chick normally does not survive as the first chick is much further advanced by the time the second hatches and the second is quickly out-competed. The second egg is produced as an insurance policy should the first not survive. Chicks are altricial (blind, helpless and nest-bound). The breeding process is particularly protracted. The incubation of the eggs takes 40 days and the nestling period continues for sometimes over 85 days. The chicks only start

to feed themselves at 6 to 12 months old but are supplementary fed by the members of the flock for two years, at which point their development is far enough advanced for them to become helpers themselves. Breeding is irregular in ground hornbills and thought to be linked to rainfall. Generally flocks produce a chick only once every six years, and for this reason the species is quite endangered as viable populations can only be sustained if birds survive for a minimum of 28 years.

The Schotia female’s cub growing in confidence and curiosity.

Photographs on location by Warrick Davey, Paul Josop and Piet Marimane Singita Ebony and Boulders Lodge

Sabi Sand South Africa

Thirtieth of June 2018