WEEK IN PICTURES #50
” Even the colors of a chameleon are for survival not beauty ” – African Proverb
The bush is very dry at the moment and this week we could see how the wildlife of Africa are of great beauty to us but have adapted for survival.
Close to the hyena den a lioness managed to take down a female impala during the week. She did not have the kill very long as a few hyenas quickly came to steal her hard earned meal. Unfortunately we did not see any of this but it was the picture that our experienced trackers painted by looking at the tracks and evidence left on the ground.
There are only a few small herds of buffalo currently roaming around. The bush is to dry to sustain large herds and so the buffalo have split up in smaller herds until the wet season, where they will join up to form herds of 500+ again.
Chavaluthu was once again regularly seen this week. He has not managed to get himself a big meal and was left several times stalking a herd of impala but upon inspection the following day it was clear that he failed.
The elephants this time of the year are interesting to watch as they dig for the roots of some trees. They can sometimes spend 10 minutes or more digging in one place just to get to a few roots. The way that they are able to find food in areas that are bone dry is simply fascinating.
There are only a few permanent water sources with much of the natural reservoirs all dried up it almost guarantees some animal life late afternoons. Here two young white rhino bulls came in for a drink one afternoon during sunset.
The Machaton males have been all over the reserve lately marking their territory. The Kudyela lionesses have just been focusing on making a sufficient amount of kills, now that the cubs are getting older by the day the demand for food is also increasing.
