Cover Photo taken by Brian Rode

WILDLIFE JOURNAL

SINGITA KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of June, Two Thousand and Nineteen

Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 13.37˚C (56˚F) For the month: 0 mm Sunrise: 06.36 Minimum recorded: 11˚C (52˚F) For the year to date: 250 mm Sunset: 17.16 Average maximum: 27˚C (80˚F) Maximum recorded: 30˚C (86˚F) Here’s a Sightings Snapshot June: Lions

• We had a total of 82 different lion sightings for the month of June.

• The Shishangaan females were seen on a regular basis around the area of the lodge and one of the females was seen mating with a Khumana male over a period of about four days.

• The Khumana males were quite active around the lodge area and could often be heard vocalising in the evenings and early mornings. As mentioned above, one of the males was seen mating with a female from the Shishangaan Pride.

• The Mananga Pride, consisting of seven adult females, was seen regularly around the Gudzane area, in the company of Xihamham, who is part of the Shishangaan Male Coalition.

• The young Shishangaan males (outcasts), together with the white lion were seen back on the concession, following large herds of buffalo that moved in and out of our area. The guides were fortunate enough to watch them successfully hunting a buffalo.

• The Mountain Pride were keeping a lower profile than usual, possibly due to the Mananga Pride spending a lot of time in the Gudzane area. The three sub-adult cubs are still healthy and doing well.

Leopards

• The Dumbana male was seen at the beginning of June, and had an impala that he had killed, stolen from him by a group of spotted hyenas. He was seen again on another two occasions during the month.

• The Nhlangulene female was seen on the 12th of June stalking some impala. She is still in great condition, and it was good to see her again.

• The Ndlovu male was spotted near camp, and the guides managed to follow the big male leopard for a while, as he moved off into the Granophyre Ridge.

• An unknown female with the cubs was glimpsed on a few occasions, on the rocks along the N’wanetsi River. We were unable to identify the mother, as she kept at a distance, trying to hide her cubs.

Cheetah

• A female cheetah was seen on a few occasions in the beginning of June in the Sticky-thorn area, presenting great photographic opportunities, as she climbed onto fallen trees to scan the open plains. Later on, all the scanning and searching she did paid off, as she managed to spot a steenbok, and successfully managed to stalk and hunt her quarry.

• A female and her three, fourteen-month-old youngsters were seen in the Dumbana area hunting impala coming down to drink, towards the end of June. We believe that they are the same cubs that were born on the concession in early 2018.

• There has also been a coalition of two male cheetahs roaming around the central plains.

Hyenas

• The Granophyre den-site is still inactive, however we are delighted that the Nyokene den-site is active again, providing incredible views of these animals. An additional bonus is that this den-site is situated close to the lodge, and therefore provides for a great afternoon excursion, for those guests that want to see a spotted hyena.

Elephants

• This time of the year, as the water dissipates from the smaller dams and rivers around the Kruger, we are finding huge numbers of elephants moving into the area of the N’wanetsi Concession. There have been many sightings of these great grey beasts on a daily basis, with large herds of up to 50+ animals moving through on a continuous basis. There was one incredible sighting of a herd of around 120 elephants seen towards the end of June, moving through the Sticky Thorn thickets.

Buffalos

• Due to the abundance of good grazing and availability of water, the buffalo herds have concentrated in the Western-central area of our concession. We have viewed multiple large herds of between 300 to 500 individuals moving to and from the larger water sources in the early mornings and late afternoons.

Plains game

• There has been a massive influx of general game moving into the area. The permanent water supply at various points on the concession are allowing for large herds of zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, kudu and impala, to quench their thirst in the late mornings.

Rare sightings

• There have been some great nocturnal sightings this month, with sightings of honey badger, white-tailed mongoose, porcupine and African wild cat.

• There have also been a few great sightings in the Lebombo mountains of the shy Sharpe’s grysbok. Birds

• With it being mid-winter, it is not unexpected to have our lowest count for the year of 157 species recorded.

• We did have a few wonderful sightings of a greater painted snipe seen with its two chicks.

• There was an abundance of different species of storks gathering at some of the diminishing pools, hunting fish that had nowhere to go.

Wonderful welcome back to the bush By Benjamin Ackerman When you are out of the bush for a few months, or even weeks, you really start to crave the fresh air, authentic peace, raw beauty of nature, and you itch to get out into the wilderness. A few days ago, myself and Gert, the newest edition to the SKNP guiding team, were sitting in the guides’ office, listening to the rest of the team speak about the incredible morning that they had spent on the concession watching three young male lions hunting buffalo. My ears pricked when I heard that one of the lions on the hunt was the famed white lion of the Shish Pride, who has been absent from the concession for some time. Seeing this elusive lion, along with his hunting companions, was not an opportunity that Gert and I were willing to miss. We jumped into a Land Rover and drove out into the concession to search for the lions, following the tracks from where they had been seen earlier in the day. It was just past midday, and in true lowveld winter style, it was boiling hot. We explored the area, combing the shady spots for a tuft of lion tail, where we were sure the notoriously lazy lions would be snoozing through the heat of the day. All hope seemed lost because we could not find hide nor hair of the cats, until we came across a herd of buffalo. We thought that maybe the lions weren't so lazy after all, and were still trailing the herd hoping for a spot of lunch. We maneuvered into a position where we could see what was happening without disrupting the herd or causing the animals any alarm. We noticed a badly injured cow falling behind the herd, and the stealthy lions not far behind her. Our excitement started to build as we realised what we were about to witness, and our adrenalin started pumping as the great cats started to close in on the injured buffalo. The rest of the herd had pushed on, leaving their fallen

comrade behind and extremely vulnerable. As the lions came closer to the buffalo, she showed great courage and strength and got up and bellowed and used her last reserves to chase them away. The rest of the herd was now too far away to hear that their cohort was in distress and facing her mortal enemies and unparalleled danger. The lions converged on their quarry. One jumped on her back, claws hooked; the white lion was at her rump with snapping jaws; and the third hit her from the side knocking her feet out from under her and attempting to cover her muzzle and suffocate her. The first take down attempt was unsuccessful and after adjusting his grip, he bit down on her snout again, silencing her bellows. The coalition of three young males then had a very substantial meal for to satiate themselves for the next few days. However, the three youngsters were chased off their hard-earned kill later that night by the dominant males in the area. They were found two days later near Tshokwane, about 50km away from where they were last seen on the buffalo. It was an incredible sighting to celebrate my homecoming after spending a few months in an urban jungle, and a superb welcome to the SKNP family for Gert, seeing one of only three natural born, free roaming white lions in the wild.

Impala lily Adenium multiflorum By Benjamin Ackerman

If you have visited Singita Lebombo recently, as winter reaches its zenith, you would have had your eyes drawn to a striking plant that looks like a miniature baobab covered in dazzling pink and white blossoms - the impala lily. This small succulent tree is native to southern Africa and is somewhat of a floral icon of the Kruger National Park. During the summer months, the Impala Lily is easy to overlook as its drab bulb goes unnoticed among the plethora of greenery and foliage in the bush. During the winter months, when the flowers bloom, it is one of the prettiest and most dazzling plants to behold. Once the grass starts to wilt away and the hue of the landscape fades to dusty gold, the Impala Lily bursts into life and colour, tinting the bush with shades of vibrant fuchsia. The Impala Lily, also known as a Sabi Star or the Desert Rose, surprises and delights people when they spot the pretty star-shaped blooms in a winter landscape that is all but devoid of colour. There is an interesting history of the uses of the impala lily. The latex found in the bark and trunk is a highly toxic substance that has been used by indigenous tribes for hunting and fishing. The tip of the arrow head is dipped in the poison and then used to hunt animals, or shavings of the bark are put into small pools of water which is then filtered through the fish gills, stunning and eventually suffocating them. It is also used as somewhat of a ‘magic potion’ in traditional medicine by various tribes in South Africa and Mozambique. The impala lily has a limited range, and is a threatened species in Swaziland and Zimbabwe, due to collection for horticulture, medicinal use, agriculture and browsing by wild animals. In South Africa, however, most of its range falls within the Kruger National Park where it is protected, so we are fortunate to see this beautiful floral species brighten up our winter days on our N’wanetsi Concession.

June Gallery

Photographs by Benjamin Ackerman

Brian Rode