WILDLIFE JOURNAL

SINGITA PAMUSHANA, ZIMBABWE For the month of July, Two Thousand and Nineteen

Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 15,6˚C (60,0˚F) For the month: 0 mm Sunrise: 06:25 Minimum recorded: 11,8˚C (53,2˚F) For the year to date: 268,4 mm Sunset: 17:34 Average maximum: 30,8˚C (87,4˚F) Maximum recorded: 34,3˚C (93,7˚F) July is one of our busiest months for safaris – the bush is dry and fairly sparse, the animals are drawn to waterholes, and the weather is chilly in the mornings but wonderfully warm during the daytime. When the moon has been full and bright some of our guests have enjoyed late night wildlife viewing from the comfort of our sunken photographic hide at a well-frequented waterhole. It’s an excellent time to enjoy bush walks with all of our experienced guides, and since the baobabs are hanging heavy with fruit many a walk has been interrupted by trying to dislodge fruit with thrown sticks, and enjoying the white fizzy seeds from the fallen fruit. Here’s a Sightings Snapshot for July: Lions

• Most of the lion sightings have been of the Southern and River Prides.

• The Southern Pride’s three cubs are looking chubby and healthy.

• Some interesting kills have been on the lions’ menu this month, including eland and giraffe.

Leopards

• There have been some wonderful sightings of relaxed leopards including one at Croc Creek, a male strolling along the water’s edge while guests were enjoying a boat cruise, and a mother and her cub on the banks of the Chiredzi River.

• Some drives have achieved ‘Big Five One Drive’ status when the usually elusive leopard has put in an appearance.

Cheetahs

• We’ve been privileged to see the coalition of two cheetahs again. They were trying to hunt impala but were unsuccessful when a giraffe interfered and gave them away!

Wild dogs

• We haven’t seen pups yet, but hope that the pack we’ve been seeing has a den overflowing with little snappy faces at this time, and that soon they will be out on hunting forays with the adults.

• The pack has made many impala kills this month, as well as a nyala. They also set their sights on an adult female kudu, but the alert antelope gave them the slip.

Elephants

• Now that the grass is low there have been several excellent sightings of large breeding herds, some numbering about 70 elephants, with lots of tiny babies.

• Big bull elephants can be seen at almost any hour of the day enjoying the water and mud of the various pans.

Buffalos

• Some enormous congregations of buffalo herds have been seen this month. No sooner did we think a herd of 300 was big when a few days later it was eclipsed by a herd of about 700!

Rhinos

• This sounds implausible, but it’s true – a crash of 16 white rhinos were seen together, with 25 being seen in total at that afternoon sighting.

• One safari outing decided to leave the lodge with a packed dinner and sit out of the vehicle at about 100 metres from the most popular rhino and elephant waterhole, on a full moon evening. The highlights were two very close encounters with different elephant bulls, mere metres from the group, and multiple small groups of white rhinos approaching, sometimes coming within 10 metres of the awe-struck guests. By the time the group left late at night, they had seen 32 white rhinos, 2 black rhinos, over 10 elephants and 2 buffalos.

• There are also some adorable newborn white rhino calves to be seen at the moment.

• Black rhino sightings have also been great, a highlight being three specimens that strolled up to inspect the Land Cruiser and its occupants!

• Some guests had the once-in-a-lifetime experience of being invited by our conservation team to watch and participate in the darting, ear marking and DNA sampling of three rhinos. They got stuck in with jobs like holding up shade for the animals, cooling them with sprays and monitoring the oxygen supplies. It was a truly special experience for all.

Gregory Taylor, a helicopter pilot involved in our conservation work, took this photo of a magnificent white rhino.

Hyenas

• A clan of hyenas has been seen with some young bear-like cubs near one of our main game-drive roads.

• A rather macabre sight was seeing vultures feeding on a dead hyena – its cause of death unknown.

• An unusual sight was of five hyenas on the runway chasing each other for a piece of baboon meat! Plains game

• The common species of impala, zebra and wildebeest abound, as well as giraffe – one of which is a gangly newborn!

• There have also been good sightings of the rarer plains game such as a herd of six Lichtenstein’s hartebeest and about 12 sable antelope.

Unusual These include:

• A rare sighting of a bushy-tailed mongoose.

• A warthog dashing out of a previously used hyena den-hole.

• A relaxed sunbathing adult otter who could not be bothered about the safari boat or its camera-clicking occupants.

• Two porcupines taking an evening stroll.

Boat cruises & fishing

• These have been enjoyed by all, especially when they include moments like a hippo doing a full spinning water dance, an 11-foot crocodile contemplating life, a breeding herd of elephants on the banks and watching three wild dogs chase impala into the dam!

• Despite the cold water there has still been some fishing success. Walks & rock art

• It’s the best time to walk, and these have been immensely enjoyed by adventurous guests. Calmer walks have included sneaking up to the largest baobab tree on the property, while more adrenalin-filled ones have had close encounters with white rhinos and a pod of hippos making their way back to the water with a tiny baby in tow.

• Walking to some of the many precious rock art sites on the reserve is a wonderful way to see the wilderness and learn more about our human ancestors.

Activities

• It is always a pleasure to visit the Kambako Bushcraft Museum with Julius, as passionate as ever, edutaining guests with his bushcraft knowledge.

Some exciting and informative Bush Stories follow, as well as a July Gallery of images.

Bowing to the crowds By Jenny Hishin I could hardly believe my luck when these two black rhinos appeared out of the gloom to drink, but I had to use all my powers to emerge from my awe-struck reverie and photograph the scene when a magnificent bull giraffe also wandered into shot, and gracefully bowed to the water while flanked by the rhinos. I would have thought that all well-educated people, the world over, know about the threat of extinction to all rhinos due to poaching and the trade of their horns, but I was shocked to find on a recent trip overseas that many people are blissfully unaware of the peril these animals face. To recap, black rhinos are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as CRITICALLY ENDANGERED – that is a tiny side-step away from EXTINCT IN THE WILD and then truly EXTINCT forever. What is less well-known is that the world’s tallest animal is experiencing a silent slide towards extinction. Giraffes as a species are listed as VULNERABLE and two subspecies have been listed as CRITICALLY ENDANGERED by the IUCN. They are the Kordofan and Nubian giraffes, with respectively 2 000 and 2 645 individuals remaining in East, Central and West Africa. Giraffe numbers have plummeted by a staggering 40% in the last three decades, and it is thought that less than 100 000 remain today. Habitat loss through expanding agriculture, human-wildlife conflict, civil unrest, and poaching for their meat, pelts, and tails, are among the reasons for the decline. Here in southern Zimbabwe, South Africa, southern Botswana and Mozambique we get the South African giraffe (Giraffe camelopardarlis giraffe).

The great greater kudu By Alex Kadziyanike The greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) is the tallest antelope after the eland, with the longest horns. It is a browser and feeds on many kinds of leaves, herbs, fallen fruits, succulents, vines, tubers, flowers, and a little new grass. Kudus drink in the dry season but can subsist in waterless regions. In some areas kudus make wider seasonal movements than other antelopes, dispersing in deciduous woodland in the rains; and concentrating in riverine and hillside base areas where the richest vegetation is found in the dry season. Kudus tend to freeze if startled, allowing their disruptive colouration to blend them into the dappled environment. Disruptive markings on a kudu are the white lines that break the solid outline and give them camouflage in the bush. When threatened their first response is to dart into thick bush where the camouflage works best. When kudu bulls flee through thickets, they lift their noses to allow their horns to lie flat against their backs thereby protecting their flanks and not getting the horns snagged on bushes. (Only kudu bulls have horns.) This magnificent male was nibbling on some leaves, and you can see how his long spiralling horns would protect his body when he runs with his head low and nose held high. Kudu are highly alert and notoriously hard to approach. When they detect danger – often using their large, radar-like ears – they give a hoarse alarm bark, then flee with a distinctive, rocking-horse running motion. This is exactly what happened when the pack of wild dogs tried to hunt a female kudu this month.

Leaving the herd By Alex Naert In preparation for this article I have been reading up on zebras and found some really interesting information in the book, ‘The Behaviour Guide to African Mammals’ by Richard D. Estes. I’ve paraphrased it as follows: Foals follow at their mothers’ heels from the time they can stand. A mother makes all other zebras keep their distance, until the foal becomes imprinted, recognizing the mother’s smell, stripe pattern, and voice. The bond with previous offspring is broken or weakened at this stage. However, it is quite common for zebras to foal only every other year. The young stay in the natal herd until adolescence. Males are not driven out by their fathers but leave on their own accord in search of peers with which to compete and play. Young males interact far more than females, making bachelor herds a much livelier society than female groups. In the absence of other playmates, foals try to play with their mothers, but mares tend to be singularly unplayful. It’s a common misconception that the young colts are driven out by the stallion, but in light of Estes’ explanation and my years of observance I can attest to the fact that bachelor groups are far more playful and feisty than family groups with mares and foals. This evocative photo by Jenny Hishin shows a tender moment of a foal suckling, while clouds of dust are backlit as other members of the family herd galloped off.

Knowledge is power By Japhet Diza Snakes are one of the most feared creatures in the world, especially in our African culture. If my non-guiding peers were asked to choose between touching a lion or a snake, automatically they’d prefer to touch a lion. It is because of a mistaken belief that all snakes are venomous, big or small. So, how do you know which snake is venomous or non-venomous? The rule is to always ask a professional person to identify it for you. We do have very good examples of non-venomous snakes like the western yellow-bellied sand snake (Psammophis subtaeniatus), and they are very beautiful snakes to watch when they are hunting. They have no fear of man and they often live near human settlements as they prefer short grass and rocky areas where they find their favourite delicious meal – lizards. Some lizards have developed a skill of losing their tails - the tails are brighter than the rest of their body and when the snake is coming to attack them the tail breaks off and the lizard escapes while the snake is fooled into thinking it has the whole meal in its mouth. Sometimes the lizards get caught and when the snake does not swallow them quickly the lizard bites on to the end of the snake’s tail. The snake ends up chasing itself in a circle with the lizard as the link between its mouth and tail! It’s an African belief that if a snake swallows a lizard the lizard bites it from inside! These snakes also feed on frogs, insects, rodents other small snakes and birds. When they are chasing their prey they move at amazing speed, which makes them successful hunters. If you manage to watch one closely you’ll find out that they are such marvellous creatures which don’t want to harm you. The suspicious bulge in this western yellow-bellied sand snake is made by a lizard that didn’t get away! Look at the beautiful blue colour of its stretched skin between the scales!

Shotgun hunting By Tyme Mutema During a morning game drive, we passed through the airstrip heading east on the Orphan Road. As we drove towards Buffalo Fence Road, we were stunned to see an impala in full flight clearing the road in front of us. We knew immediately that some sort of predator was within the proximity, but there’s only one hunter that causes that reaction… When impala come across other predators like lions, leopards or hyenas they normally move within a safe circle and give an alarm call, telling the predator that they know it is there and the element of surprise is gone. But when it comes to impala getting the scent or sight of wild dogs they are out of there like a bullet; so this morning we knew that dogs were around. We first saw one member of the pack and all of sudden we were rewarded by seeing all 13 members as they jumped on and playfully nipped each other before trotting down the road in front of us as they resumed their hunt. During this period, as we move from winter into the dry season, there is an increased concentration of game in the more open areas, and antelope such as impalas will spend their nights in more open areas to be able to see or smell the predators in the dark. We watched as the dogs later bomb-shelled in all directions to flush out and chase prey, and eventually came back together after another failed hunt.

It was so spectacular, special and wonderful to see the whole pack on the road in front of us with the ever epic morning light. What a pleasure! A lovely addition to this story is that guests were alerted to wild dogs calling early one morning this month. One of the guests suggested that it sounded like church bells ringing in the distance as the sound echoed through the hills. For many people the wilderness is a cathedral where they practice their religion, so how apt this guest’s observation was.

All a twitter By Jenny Hishin

The migrants are all enjoying the warmer weather in northern areas, but two species you will absolutely definitely see at this time are turtle doves and oxpeckers. Here a fling of oxpeckers crowd a giraffe’s neck, enjoying the sunshine and ready supply of ectoparasites. Below, these angelic turtle doves flock to the water to anoint their beaks and baptise their bodies. Some special birds that we saw this month were a pair of secretary birds as well as white-backed night herons and black crowned night herons from the boat.

July Gallery A lioness just too relaxed to lift her head. It’s quite the opposite for these little impala lambs who always need to be alert and looking out for danger.

It’s all fun in the sun as these elephants cavort about in the cooling mud.

Peace prevails within a breeding herd of elephants, and dawn at the dam.

All photographs by Jenny Hishin, unless otherwise indicated.