Lions of Sabi Sands

[Wyld@Heart]

(01-01-2022, 07:04 PM)RookiePundit Wrote: I agree. As we assume a lot with others, he is ofc technically missing, but I consider him perished. But we never know with lions that is the only truth.

I think it's worth noting the vastness of the Kruger itself. We are spoiled by the fact that it is like almost no other park in Africa due to its extensive road networks that are accessible to any vehicle, the private concessions that traverse these same roads and their own, the relative ease of accessibility that allows privately safari vehicles to be operated as a business from the towns outside the park and the sighting apps that share sightings on a daily basis. 

It's not quite the same detail coming out of the Sabi Sands but then it is almost 20 times bigger and the sheer wealth of information that we can glean means we are generally spoilt but at the same time we should remember that there are blocks in the Kruger with no concessions, no roads and almost no human activity apart from ranger and anti-poaching units. Some of these blocks, even in the busy Southern section from Tshokwane downwards rival the entire Sabi Sands in size.

There is a natural bottleneck between the Sabi Sands and Southern Kruger running basically from Kirkman's (I would say) to Lion Sands. This is the unfenced  southern boundary between SS and KNP but once you run that gauntlet the entire southern Kruger is wide open to get lost in. For example, just south of Skukuza, the block between the upper H4-1, S114, S21 and back up the H4-1 is by my estimate approximately 280 Sq km. If we use the S21 as the northern boundary of the next block, then the H4-1 to H4-2 to the Gomondwane waterhole as the eastern boundary then the H5 to S114 back to S21 as the other then you're looking at another 300 Sq km. Look at the two together with those roads as boundaries as one block then you have an area almost the size of the SS traversed by just one road and with no private concessions either, the S21. I've used this block as an example as it's in relatively close proximity to the SS, in a straight line maybe 10km at most and you're across both the Sand and Sabie Rivers and into it and in a vast wilderness almost completely untouched by human activity on a regular basis. 

There are numerous other blocks like this in Southern Kruger; between the H1-1 and S1. Between the H1-1 and the Voortrekker Road and then an area bigger than the SS south of that where only Sanparks have their Wolhuter and Bushman's Wilderness Trails. It's incredible when you think of it, and when you're there seeing it stretch on seemingly endlessly. I think with males, in particular and as has happened, there are going to be cases where they pass out of knowledge and into an area that they are unlikely to come out from especially if they thrive. Reply