Ingwe Pan Camp Wildlife Stories June 2026
Weather Report
June saw the full return of the classic Mana Pools National Park winter. Skies were clear as far as the eye could see, and vegetation has thinned out, offering exceptional game viewing in the cool early mornings, hot afternoons and cold evenings. Minimum temperatures reached as low as 11ºC while midday highs reached 30ºC.
Thanks to this dynamic range of temperatures, predator behaviour has become a lot more predictable. Hunts often happen in the cooler early mornings and evenings, leaving midday for big game spotting, the odd spontaneous hunt, and clashes between predators over already-killed prey.
Greedy Lioness
During one of our game drives, we heard baboons frantically alarm calling. Excited for the possibility of spotting a hunt, we headed straight for the commotion. When we arrived at the scene, one chacma male baboon was already tightly in the grip of a lioness. To our surprise, the female would not share her prey and devoured it all on her own while we watched the poor baboon disappear piece by piece.
“We’ll Catch The Next One”
African wild dogs are some of the most intimidating animals on the African continent. Not because of their size or bite force, but because of their numbers. That's why most predators opt not to try and steal kills from them. However, on this occasion, a lone hyena managed to get one over on the wild dogs.
We caught up with a wild dog having their fill of a recent kill and storing some for their pups in a specialised stomach. It left the kill behind with some meat still on the bones. Moments after the wild dog left, a male hyena appeared and finished off the leftovers with no consequences.
Leave It To The Ladies
On another game drive, we encountered a pride of two lionesses and two lions on the hunt. Impala were their prey, but due to the sheer size of the males, they kept giving the pride’s position away. The impala kept a close eye on the lions, running away and alarm calling to notify the rest of the herd. Maybe next time the males should leave the hunting to the ladies.
Warm Up
In behaviour reminiscent of lions, we spotted a pack of 13 African wild dogs sleeping on a dry riverbed. We stopped and watched them, anticipating a late afternoon hunt. When the time came to wake up, the alpha male rose to his feet and communicated to his hunting team that a hunt would soon occur. In response, the rest of the wild dogs started chittering, running, and jumping over each other in excitement.
Mana’s Elephants
Mana Pools National Park is renowned for its unique elephants. Only here will you be able to see an enormous elephant stand up on its hind legs and reach up into a tree to feed on the more succulent foliage.
On this occasion, we saw something extraordinary. The elephant did a little dance before lifting its massive body into the air. Hence the name Fred Stair, after the late popular American dancer.
Ingwe Pan Camp and Mana Pools did not disappoint this June. Come back soon for more Wildlife Stories with Machaba Safaris.
Until next time,
Marcy
Ingwe Pan Camp
