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Jack headed home at the end of the week, and whilst the leopard sightings did dry up, I will blame the return of the lions for that as opposed to our luck running out. After over a week’s absence, the Giraffe Pride eventually made a return to the West. We would have found them in the morning had I not suggested to Scotch that the tracks he was following up on were for the Sark Breakways and not the Giraffe Pride. With intel that the pride was presently lying in the Klaserie and looking at where the tracks went, we had little reason to doubt my hypothesis. That evening when we saw four members of the Giraffe Pride very close to where Scotch had stopped tracking, I realized I may have been wrong…although I did think they may have been some unknown lions.
However, when I bumped into another eight pride members about a kilometer away, I knew that I had been wrong twice, and the Giraffe Pride had returned. We woke up to a roaring lion on the plains in front of Plains Camp the next morning and went out and found the whole pride – the two males included – resting on the plains. It was a most welcome sight for my guests on the last full day of their nine-day stay (and John’s birthday). While it was great to have the lions back on the plains, we hadn’t struggled too badly for lions in the days leading up to their return. A Vuyela male had got lucky and found the carcass of a hippo and gorged himself for two days before one brother and all nine members of the Sark Breakaway pride (the real ones this time) arrived to share in the feast. To round off the week, the Mayambula Pride had also returned to the south-western parts of their territory and had been moving in and out of Nkhari, but sadly tracks were all that the guides were seeing – I tried for them one afternoon but had no luck in the fading light. We hope that they do show themselves soon though.
I then welcomed some return guests to Plains Camp and this time Jan and Ann had brought their families. We had a great few days around Plains Camp, and in fact, we didn’t even need to leave the area around camp for the first five-game drives as everything was playing along close to camp. Although the majority of the Giraffe Pride had headed to the south, three members remained in the area around the plains for a few days, and we caught up with them on three occasions during those five drives. Only later in the week did the pride make a brief return to the Klaserie River, but they soon headed south and out of view. So not quite the send-off that we were hoping for, but in exciting news for our return to the central areas, the Mayambula Pride was found on Nkhari, and we hope that this is a sign of things to come. With the three Birmingham males having moved to the north-eastern Timbavati, this is likely what has pushed the Mayambula Pride back to the western side of their territory. Sadly there was no sign of the Skorro males at a time when the pride really could use their presence in the area.
As the week drew to a close, there were some ‘unwelcome’ arrivals in this same area as all six Birmingham Breakaway males were reunited and found in the central parts of Mayambula territory. This presence of a growing coalition could cause the pride to run in a different direction altogether, so time will tell how this plays out. Earlier in the week three of these breakaway males reportedly encountered the Giraffe Pride in the southern Timbavati which sent the pride running to their western sections and away from danger. With three coalitions numbering three (Birmingham), five (Vuyelas), and six (Birmingham Breakaways) moving in the central and northern Timbavati, there are no doubt some interesting times ahead, especially as the dominant male coalitions are all relatively small at the moment – one (Nharhu male with the Western Pride in the north), one-and-a-bit (Hercules and the decrepit Sumatra male of the Giraffe Pride in the west) and two (Skorro males with the Mayambula Pride in the east). I have learned that speculation over the fate of lion prides is about as useless as buying lottery tickets, it is still always good to dream about what might happen!
If that wasn’t enough, Tristan and I had headed east in the hope of catching up with a big male leopard following the scent of a nearby leopardess, but despite coming up empty-handed on the leopard front, Tristan did call me back to come, and see the gorgeous Guernsey male lion as he walked purposefully through the Mayambula territory. I have only seen this male once in front of Plains Camp, but he has remained active in southern Timbavati until this visit to the east. He was walking around sniffing all the guarri bushes, but not scent-marking himself.
He looked a little flustered, so I am not sure who had been chasing him, but he seemed keen to get out of the central sections as soon as possible.
06-09-2023, 08:17 AM( This post was last modified: 06-09-2023, 08:18 AM by Gavskrr )
lame monwana male seen again in the company of the young giraffe male, good to see the two together and as healthy as possible. The images are in low quality because they were taken from the original video
Monwana leg is even 100 times worse and atrophied than last time he was seen, but he still is doing well alongside with his partner the Giraffe male. This is a show of how resilient these cats are. Truly amazing
On patrol! A fantastic sighting of three of the five Vuyela males on a territorial patrol at Shindzela Tented Camp in the Timbavati Game Reserve
Photo credit: Michael Clark
