Machaba Camp Wildlife Stories April 2022
As winter approaches our beautiful and lush landscape is beginning to change colour from green to brown. The rivers are beginning to rise as the floods approach from the Delta’s floodplain. This time of year also sees the start of our chilly mornings and evenings.
Can You Feel The Love Tonight?
Sometimes when lions mate it is full of angry passion, other times it is a subdued affair. We were lucky enough to witness a rather quiet interaction between a male and female lion where the lioness only half-heartedly growled at the male. Over a general mating period, the lions will have frequent short mating sessions over a few days. However, it remains that our favourite part is always the end result.
A Safe Place For A Small Cub
Spotted near our camp recently was a mother lioness with just one tiny two-month-old cub. It appears she was relocating the little one to a nearby safer mopane thicket which offers much better cover for the small cub. She made sure to keep a close eye on her small cub as they moved off into the dense thicket.
A Feast Fit For A Lion
In an amazing bit of action, 10 lions took down a zebra and spent the rest of the day feasting. Only stopping for a short break to meander down to the river Kwhai to have a drink of water before continuing to feed.
Leopard Month
This month was a great month for leopard sightings! We were amazed to witness our resident female make an impala kill and then hoist it up a tree to keep it safe from scavengers. Our resident male leopard has been very busy marking his territory while the Moghoto leopardess has been spotted on several occasions with her small cub following close behind.
Hunter in Training
Our Moghoto female leopardess was recently spotted navigating through the mopane thicket while regularly calling for her cub. The calling worked, and mother and cub were reunited. The cub was extremely playful and became fascinated by a squirrel it had spotted on a nearby log. What followed was lots of stalking, running, chasing and climbing trees, but eventually, all mom's training paid off and the cub caught the squirrel, which then became a delicious snack!
Banded Mongoose Invasion
Our banded mongoose family have been seen in and around camp very often lately. They love to run amok as they dart past rooms, visit the laundry room and office area, chittering and chattering away as they do.
Two Tiny Francolins
While out on a drive we came across what looked like two balls of fluff blowing in the wind. They turned out to be two of the tiniest francolin chicks we had ever seen. They quickly scurried off into the tall grass as soon as they heard the vehicle approaching.
This month at Machaba Camp saw the return of some regular guests for their sixth visit to our camp. We love nothing more than welcoming our guests home! The changing of the seasons is always an exciting time, although it starts getting a bit cooler the action seems to increase and we look forward to seeing more playful leopard cubs, entertaining elephants drinking water in front of the camp and so much more!
Until next time,
Shaun and Elcke Malan
General Managers, Machaba Camp
