Frost in der Kalahari: Kwando-Tierbeobachtungen in Botswana, Juni 2010

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Tau Pan One of the most notable events in the desert this month was a severe frost which hit the entire region. Temperatures plummeted in the Kalahari to several degrees below freezing! Staff woke to find not only was water in the pipes frozen but even the water in the toilets was solid ice! The animals no doubt faired a little better from the cold but are beginning to feel the affect of the dry season. Even with significant late rains the grass has taken on its famous Kalahari yellow colouring as it dries out. Game is now moving further a field in search of good grazing and the herds to break up into smaller numbers. The guides are, after a year of travelling the Kalahari, beginning to see recognisable groups of animals especially predators, including a group of five mature cheetah (one female and four males – probably her grown young), including mating lions at many of the pans. The Tau Pan pride have been spotted regularly and one of the two dominant males has been seen mating with several different females. We hope to see the pride grow in size with new arrivals in the coming months.Nxai Pan The focus of activity at Nxai Pan in the middle of the very dry winter season, is the two main waterholes in the park, one of which is located in front of the camp. Our guests enjoy the multitude of animals clamouring for water from the comfort of the main area or their own private viewing decks. At any time there are up to 20 bull elephants are seen around the camp waterhole, drinking, bathing or simply enjoying a cooling mud bath. These are joined by a succession of springbok, giraffe, gemsbok, impala and wildebeest, and creates an incredible display of activity and species interaction. Inevitably the lions are never far away this type of prey concentration and as made famous in the Imax movie ‘Roar’ by Tim and June Liversedge, they have become prolific ambush hunters especially of springbok. Cheetah and leopard are both spotted regularly as well as the prolific black backed jackal, and even a flock of 37 ostrich!Kwara The high water levels in the Okavango Delta continue to affect the movement and distribution of many species especially elephant, and buffalo. The predators are regularly sighted but remain widespread throughout the area, especially the dominant coalition of seven males. The abundance of food and water allows them to remain further a field and as their territory covers an increasing numbers of different females, they are in turn forced to cover more territory to maintain their pride boundaries. Four of the original seven are still predominantly resident in the area and still seen often with various females and sub adults, feeding on various prey including warthog, giraffe and hippo. Other predators become bold with the relative distribution of the lions. Cheetah have been seen more often of late including two females feeding on a reedbuck, some shy single individuals and a band of three brothers killing a tsessebe after a short swim across a river! Elsewhere leopard have been spotted moving brazenly about the concession and seen killing impala, and feeding on kills of baboon and tsessebe.Lebala While the consistently high flood waters have cause the Savute channel to flow for the first time in over twenty years, the Kwando concession has not seen the massive floods breaking the banks of the Kwando River this year. Strangely the floods have all but passed the region by this time. This relatively ‘low’ water levels in the concession and flooding of surrounding areas will mean abundant game sightings for the rest of the season as the general game and predators will move into the drier areas adjacent to water. Wild dog were the main focus of excitement at Lebala as well as Lagoon this month. The guides were fortunate to have discovered the den site of a pack of four dogs, and later identified nine puppies. The three adults were seen regularly on kudu kills as they constantly hunted to feed the alpha female and her young. Guests have been lucky to have been able to visit and observe the interaction between dogs and puppies throughout the month. Lion were also extremely active in the region, and among individual sightings, a pride of 5 lions and 2 cubs killed warthog, zebra and a giraffe all within the space of three days! The first buffalo herds have also begun to arrive from the wetlands to the north as the rainwater filled pans begin to dry out.Lagoon It is officially ‘denning’ time again at Lagoon and not only wild dogs! A hyena den was also discovered this month about 15 minutes drive from camp which has allowed guests excellent and regular sightings of the hyena and their young. Also very close to camp, the guides had regularly spotted a pack of 17 wild dogs. The alpha female became notable by her absence around the middle of the month, leading guides to believe she had entered the den in order to give birth. The den site was later discovered within three kilometres of the camp and we are waiting in eager anticipation for the arrival of new puppies! Fortunately for the dogs, while leopard have been spotted on a baboon kill and cheetah hunting on the flood plains, lion have been few and far between this month. While the dogs are expecting puppies we are all grateful for their absence! The increasingly abundant buffalo herds are likely to change this in the next few weeks though.--Kwando Safaris betreibt Lodges in Botswana an einigen der interessantesten Plätze für die Tierbeobachtung. Lagoon Camp und Lebala befinden sich im 232.000 Hektar großen privaten Kwando-Reservat im Norden des Landes. Allein in dieser Region leben mehr Elefanten als in ganz Südafrika. Die Gegend ist bekannt für besonders gute Chancen, die vom Aussterben bedrohten Afrikanischen Wildhunde zu sehen. Das Konzessionsgebiet von Kwara liegt im Osten des Okavango-Deltas und grenzt an das Moremi Wildreservat. Die neuesten Kwando-Lodges sind Nxai Pan Camp im Nxai Pan Nationalpark und Tau Pan Camp in der Zentralkalahari. Dabei handelt es sich um die ersten und bislang einzigen permanenten Unterkünfte in diesen beiden Reservaten.