The event, which was attended by key individuals from the area, lodge representatives and the Phelwana clinic staff, was extremely special as much work has gone into the new clinic, and it will certainly make a big difference to the local community.

Everyone was treated to a fantastic performance by local dancers, before Alois Adlkofer, who kindly made his land available for the clinic, officially cut the ribbon.

Visit www.htt.org.za for more information or if you are interested in offering your support.

Here are a few images of this special event:

Male buffalo charging in

The lions, who had been alerted to the presence of the buffalo by the sounds of a female giving birth to a calf, cautiously made their way after them.

Lions are very opportunistic hunters and will take any opportunity presented to them – so we knew that something exciting was about to happen.

The female was clearly exhausted after giving birth, and as such she and the calf were targets. The lions decided to first move in on the calf and then onto the mother.

Buffalo are incredibly powerful and resilient animals, and were certainly not going to take things lying down.

Female Buffalo Still Fighting Hard

When the lions went after the female, one of the larger bulls came storming in trying to chase them down, resulting in the pride scattering in all directions. The lions kept coming back and cleverly tired the female out even further.

When the bull decided enough was enough, he headed off in search of safety within the herd, with the female not far behind.

The exhausted female, who couldn’t keep up with the bull, was no match for the lions and was quickly brought to the ground. Even though she had been down for over 25 minutes, she still managed to get up again to try and fight them off, but as one of the lions had a firm grip around her mouth it wasn’t long until she was down again.

Large Male

The Machaton pride stayed on the kill until the next evening, until two large nomadic male lions arrived to challenge them. The large males proved to be a formidable force and soon chased the pride off the kill to enjoy it for themselves.

That night we could hear the males calling often, perhaps to find out which other males were in the area. The following morning we found the Machaton pride’s tracks in the riverbed in front of our safari camp. They were clearly on the lookout for another kill after being chased away from the buffalo.

Two Large Nomadic Males

We will continue to watch these two males very closely, as their presence will certainly add a new dynamic to the existing lion prides in the area.

Images by Brendan Schmikl

Tanda Tula works with reputable road transfer companies to ensure your travel needs are met efficiently, and safely.

This special offer is available from 01 May until 31 July 2012.

Terms and conditions

• This special is applicable to both the current rack rate of R3800.00 pppn and the 4 night special at R3525.00 pppn
• This special is not applicable to single bookings
• Only applicable to new bookings
• STO rates are applicable
• This special cannot be used in conjunction with any other special or package
• This special is subject to availability

The happy couple, who were found in the late afternoon, really played it up for the cameras. Spending almost an hour with them, we were completely captivated and spoilt by the interaction.

Mating Lions

The lioness is part of the Mayunbula pride and is in the prime of her life. The male, one of the Timbavati boys, looked incredibly regal and kept a close eye on his lioness not allow her to wander off too far.

Lion mating behaviour is legendary and they can mate up to forty times a day over several days. We managed see the couple mate three times while we sat with them. The gestation period is fairly short and will vary between a 100-110 days, where they will have between 1 and 6 cubs.

One of the Timbavati Boys

This pride already has a few young cubs and the new additions will be welcomed. The male will have very little to do with his offspring other than securing a safe environment for the lionesses to raise the little ones.

We left the pair to themselves and were later serenaded by them happily roaring away!

Text and images by Dale Jackson

View the report and tracking maps below.

Many thanks for Save the Elephants South Africa for providing us with this report. For more information, visit their website at www.savetheelephants.org.

Tracking Animals for Conservation

Elephant Tracking Report No. 11: April 2012

We bring you an update of the movements of 24 collared elephants in the Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR), Kruger National Park (KNP) and the Limpopo Transfrontier Park (LTP) in Mozambique.

The positions of six elephants that were collared within the Pafuri – Makuleke Concession of the KNP, indicate that with the exception of Zingi, who is still in Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe), the majority are staying within the northern section of KNP whilst Nwambi has slowly started to make his way north west from within the central section of the LTP.

Mac is enjoying his area of choice in central KNP, only moving a little further south this month. At the time of writing we have noticed that Mac is rapidly moving south for his annual musth cycle! In our next report we will show you how far and wide he has roamed while in musth. Tussle has also stayed within central KNP moving slightly further north towards Shingwedzi. Wessa has been utilising his area of choice between the Letaba and Olifants Rivers. Diney has also been enjoying her area of choice around the Olifants River.

We have a newly collared elephant in the APNR, an adult cow (Charlize) that was collared on the 23rd April in Balule PNR and is already starting to show movements along with Soshangane between Balule and Klaserie PNR’s. We are very grateful to Mr. Song Lin, chairman of China Resources (Holdings) Co., Ltd (Hong Kong), for paying for the collar as well as the entire collaring operation. Irving has stayed in Southern Timbavati, with Summer also moving into the area from the south.

Joan spent the month in the northern section of Klaserie PNR along with Lapajuma. Matambu, Proud and Yvonne have stayed in the Umbabat area. Classic is still in musth and has travelled a across wide area between KNP and Umbabat PNR. Both Umbabat and General moved north heading back towards Umbabat PNR after spending a month in Timbavati PNR. Gower has not moved far in the last month, heading slightly south west from Umbabat PNR into Klaserie PNR.

To help you understand the elephants and their movements the first position of the month is indicated with a diamond and the last position of the month is indicated with an elephant. Cows point to the left and bulls point to the right.

A special word of thanks to the following individuals who have kindly donated collars:
Stefan Breuer — Joubert De Lange — Phyllis Gower — Martin & Sophie Haupt
Charlie Irish — Bruce Jenkins — Andreas Liebenburg — Brian & Claire Makare — Robert Mann
Marlene McCay — Tony McClellan — Barry & Mandy Mence — Chris Pearson
Lonnie Strickland — Irving & Yvonne Tucker — Nelda Villines

We hope you enjoy this latest report.

Save the Elephants – South Africa
Report prepared by Amy Clark
P.O. Box 960 Hoedspruit 1380 Tel: +27 (0)15 7930369
www.savetheelephants.org

Image 1

Figure 1: Positions of the Elephants in Northern Kruger National Park (Pafuri–Makuleke Concession)

Image 2

Figure 2: Positions of the Elephants in Central Kruger National Park

Image 3

Figure 3: Positions of the Elephants in the APNR

Image 4

Figure 4: Colleen (Green) and Mangala (Red). Colleen and Mangala have both moved closer to the Luvuvhu River, with Colleen moving further north after spending a week near the Luvuvhu River.

Image 5

Figure 5: Nwankwimbi and Agnes. Nwankwimbi hasn’t moved far over the last month staying within the Makuleke Consession, whilst Agnes has stayed south of the Luvuvhu River.

Image 6

Figure 6: Zingi. Zingi continues to move north to south in Gonarezhou NP close to the Malapati Game Reserve Boarder.

Image 7

Figure 7: Nwambi. Nwambi has left the Limpopo Transfrontier Park in Mozambique since our last report and continued to move
north from the Mphongolo River towards Pafuri – Makuleke Consession.

Image 8

Figure 8: Tussle and Mac. Mac has travelled south from his usual area of choice and is now staying close to the Tsende River. Tussle has stayed within central Kruger this month also near the Tsende River only crossing the river and heading east
towards the end of the month.

Image 9

Figure 9: Wessa. Wessa moved east along the Letaba River before heading back south to his area of choice.

Image 10

Figure 10: Matambu (Green) & Diney (Blue). Matambu has come back to the APNR after spending some time in Kruger National Park. As you can see above he spent a couple of days along the Olifants River before heading south to Umbabat PNR.

Image 11

Figure 11: Joan (Purple) & Lapajuma (Pink). Joan has spent most of her time in northern Klaserie not far from the Olifants River only heading to the Phalaborwa Mining Company at the end of the month. Lapajuma crossed paths with Joan a couple of times
this month, but spent the majority of her time within the vicinity of the Klaserie River.

Image 12

Figure 12: Yvonne (Red) & General (Yellow). Yvonne has stayed within the Umbabat PNR this month, crossing paths with General who moved north after spending a month between Klaserie and Timbavati PNR.

Image 13

Figure 13: Proud (Orange), Classic (Red). Both Proud and Classic are still in musth this month. Proud has spent the majority of his time within the Umbabat PNR and Classic has moved south through Klaserie PNR since last month leaving Kruger National
Park and ending the month in Umbabat PNR.

Image 14

Figure 14: Umbabat (Purple) & Gower (Blue). Gower and Umbabat have almost mirrored each others movements this month, with Gower moving southwest into southern Klaserie PNR and Umbabat moving north east into northern Timbavati PNR.

Image 15

Figure 15: Soshangane (Orange) & Charlize (Pink). Soshangane has stayed consistent with his movements between the Olifants River and Klaserie PNR traversing the same areas as our recently collared cow (Charlize) who since being collared on the 23rd April has been
crossing backwards and forwards along the Balule – Klaserie boarder.

Image 16

Figure 16: Irving (Blue) & Summer (Pink). Summer after spending the last two months within the Sabi Sands and Manyeleti PNR’s has made the long journey back to Timbavati PNR. Already crossing the Timbavati River and continuing north. Irving has
continued to spend his time in southern Timbavati, never moving far from the Timbavati River for long.

Ends

We feel these videos are very special as they highlight the true experience which Tanda Tula and the Timbavati offers. Why don’t you let us know what you think.

Click here to view the official Tanda Tula video

Click here to view the Overnight Walking Safari Video

Martin Meyer, an experienced guide who often visits the Timbavati, recently wrote a fantastic article on these cheetah sightings, as well as his encounters with other big cats.

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

Using ‘green’ materials, in line with our focus on responsible tourism, the new deck offers even better views of the riverbed and African bush below. We are now completing the roof.

View the pictures here:

Hyaena

As we approached the area, we heard loud ‘whoops’ from a thicket close by. This was the distinctive call being made by a group of hyaena. We made our way into the bush and found three hyaena tearing into an impala carcass, with the wild dog pack close by engaging in a heated skirmish with the hyaena. It was fascinating to watch these two predators having a go at each other.

The hyaena had the upper hand and were taunting the dogs by charging in at them and then turning back to the safety of the clan.

Wild dog moving in

At first we thought the dogs had tackled the impala and the hyaena had taken the carcass off them, but in the midst of this fight a young male leopard appeared! While the hyaena and dogs were having a go at each other, he took the opportunity to sneak in and grab some leftovers and high tailed it up a nearby tree!

Leopard taking the scraps up a nearby tree

We slowly pieced the scene together: The young leopard had killed the impala only to be chased off by the clan of hyaena who tore into the carcass making quite a racket. The dogs must have heard the commotion and made their way towards the kill to investigate. This is when things really kicked off!

In the end the hyaena triumphed while the leopard managed to get a few scraps. The wild dogs had no choice but to simply go on their way.

To see these three large predators in one sighting is an incredible experience and one which will not be forgotten. The interaction between them was sensational, and our guests were in awe.

What a morning!!

Text and images by Dale Jackson