Field Report February 2007: Botswana

African Wild Dog tracking project Botswana

The two male cheetahs returned to the area after spending more than a week in the area. They were found relaxing in the shade of a tree with very full bellies.

The pack of dogs continues to be of great value to the guests. They are seen almost on a daily basis and the guides suspect that the Alfa female might be pregnant. They created a lot of excitement when they hunted and killed an impala only 2 km from camp.

Small breeding herds and some bull elephants with very big tusks have been found in the afternoons drinking from the river.

Reptile sightings have been excellent, with 2 African rock pythons, a black mamba, rock monitor and Nile monitor being seen. The birding also stayed very good, with all the summer migrants still in attendance. Wattled cranes, ground hornbills, tawny eagles, brown snake eagles and African fish eagle were some of the many other birds seen in the area.

Night drives have been very productive with caracal, African civet, African wildcat, spotted genet and a giant eagle owl being seen.

General game sightings continue to very good, with lots of zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, kudu, tsessebe, waterbuck, red lechwe, and on some occasions even roan antelope being found.

Mongoose sightings were again very good, with slender mongoose, dwarf mongoose, banded mongoose and yellow mongoose being found. Porcupine and honey badgers was also sighted on some of the drives.

A pride of four lions, consisting of three adult females and one sub adult male have been very active in the area. They were followed whilst hunting but they did not manage to kill.

The female leopard was found hunting on the plains. She was a bit nervous and the guides decided to give her some space so that she could concentrate on getting a meal.

Cheetah sightings were fantastic. A shy female with two eight month old cubs were found and she was observed teaching the cubs how to sta their prey. The cubs and guests then got to watch her take down a big impala ram. The three brothers were also spotted hunting at Tsum-Tsum plains, but they did not succeed.

The packs of thirteen dogs have been staging kills all over the area. In one instance, they managed to kill two adult impala and a baby impala in one hunt, all in the space of nine minutes. Another pack of ten dogs also took down three impala in one go and went on to rest in the shade after feeding.

All of a sudden, big breeding herds of elephant as well as big old bachelor bulls have been found feeding on the flood plains. This is very strange for this time of the year, as they normally prefer feeding in the woodlands in the rainy season.

Good sightings of spotted hyena, black backed jackal and side-striped jackal are being reported on the night drives.

Big herds of zebra and giraffe as well as impala and Tsessebe on the plains continue to deliver good photographic opportunities for the guests.

Banded and dwarf mongoose were seen on some of the drives. African wild cats, serval, large spotted genet and a civet were seen on the night drives.

Many large, Africa rock pythons as well as puff adders and black mambas have been seen on the drives. Wattled cranes also moved in to the area and all the other summer migrants continue to provide excellent birding.

Several guests have taken the additional scenic flight activity. Accompanied by their guide and a pilot with a keen eye, they have had breathtaking narrated journeys right up to the panhandle and have seen excellent game, including large herds of buffalo.

A single lioness was located near twin- pools, sleeping. After a while, she got up and started moving away. The game drives followed her and she led them to her den where she had two 4-month-old cubs hidden. She created more excitement when she killed a warthog almost in the camp. She managed to kill another warthog after a couple of days, so her cubs were in very good condition when they were seen.

A shy male leopard was found hunting near Nari pan during the night drive but was left alone as he seemed nervous. Another young male was found near John's pan, he was very relaxed and in very good condition. Lastly a very big male leopard found hunting red lechwe near BB spot, he missed and disappeared into the thick bush.

A very relaxed and well-fed female cheetah was found near near BB spot. Tracks of two more cheetahs were found and followed and this resulted in two males being found near old hippo-pools. Another two solitary males were seen moving through the area. They were very nervous and did not stay long.

Huge breeding herds, some of them up to 500 elephant in the herds had been coming out of the mopane woodland to feed on the floodplains. This is extraordinary for this time of the year, and created big excitement.

The hyena den is still very active and many hours are spent watching the pups frolicking. One of the adults brought back a big piece of giraffe neck to the den and there was some good viewing of them feeding.

General game sightings continue to be very good, with lots of zebra, impala, wildebeest, warthogs, tsessebe, waterbuck and giraffe being seen.

Good sightings of African wildcat, hunting rodents, reported on almost all the night drives. Mongoose sightings were also very good, with banded, dwarf, yellow and slender mongoose being seen.

The birding continues to be very good. European swallows were seen feeding on termites and most of the summer residents are still around. Black-kites, yellow-billed kites, black shouldered kites and many of the eagles reported being seen. Wattled cranes and slaty egrets were some of the water birds that were seen. Very good sightings of black mambas, boom slang, night adders and spotted bush snakes also reported.

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