WEEK IN PICTURES #40
It is time for another selection of our weekly highlights in the week in pictures. It was a very cold and windy week here at Pondoro with a few ‘quiet’ drives.
Although we had more than our usual rainfall earlier this year, it was only in certain areas of the reserve. Due to the lack of rainfall some of the dams have dried up and forced their inhabitants to move somewhere else. Here a young male hippo was seen in a dam where there is still a good amount of water.
The buffaloes have been spending most of their time in the Northern side of the reserve where the grass is still widely available. They ventured to the south early in the week, by looking at their tracks one morning they definitely encountered the lions and immediately returned to the North.
The Kudyela pride along with the Machaton males enjoyed several well deserved meals, we unfortunately did not get too see a kill or even a carcass but the presence of vultures and full bellies indicated a large kill was made. At this point in time, together the Kudyela pride, Machaton males and the cubs are a total of 20 lions and a lot of mouths to feed.
Thuli made a kill during the week and spent about two days feeding off it.
A white rhino bull enjoyed his afternoon in the mud. It is truly amazing to see such a large animal rolling from side to side trying to cover his whole body with mud.
The elephants are still gathered in large herds with a few young bulls trailing these breeding herds. We are seeing many marula trees pushed over where a large number of elephants gather around to feed. A few of the young bulls were play fighting with each other.
Two curious little hyena cubs came out of their burrow to nurse one morning.
