November 2010

 

Greetings to our friends around the world!

 

It’s been a long time since we published a newsletter. To make up for it, this newsletter is jammed packed with all the news fresh from Thornybush lodges...

 

The World Cup was a great success, with lots of guests from all over the world supporting their home teams or Bafana Bafana and at the end, Baghana Baghana (the name South Africans coined for the remaining African team Ghana.) The bush also held lots of surprises...

 

We had great sightings of a small pack of Wild Dogs (the first in about 4 years). We hoped they were looking for a new den site, but they left without settling. We look forward to seeing them again and with any luck they might move in to the reserve, which would be fantastic. It was very special to see them as they are one of the most endangered animal species in Africa.

 

We received some good news in August when another of our endangered animals gave birth. One of our Black Rhino females delivered a healthy bull calf. We’ve had superb sightings of Mom and baby. It is a great addition to the Black Rhino population of Thornybush in the midst of all the heart breaking rhino poaching this year. We also have a White Rhino calf that was born a couple of months early; this little one is very full of herself, chasing her bigger sister and mom around.

 

One of the lionesses in the southern sector of the reserve had

3 little cubs. Growing up fast, they spend their days wrestling each other, pouncing on mom and dad and stalking anything that moves in the wind. Mom began specialising in killing Giraffe, young and old. We often saw the little family on the carcases.

  

  

We’re pleased to report that the female leopard (mentioned in our previous newsletter), has settled down near Serondella. We often see the mother and 2 male cubs around the lodge and they have relaxed in the presence of the vehicles so we’ve had great sightings of them playing and stalking.

 

 

The other Leopard female with 1 cub, is doing well in the northern part of the reserve. We see them often, either on kills they have just made or relaxing in the road. The cub, also a male, is growing up fast and we often find him wandering around inspecting his mom’s territory. We found the pair together with the big male Leopard, where they had come across a dead male Giraffe. We don’t think the Giraffe was chased by the male Leopard, but with Leopards anything is possible!

 

We recently discovered that our Hyena clan has a new den site with a couple of small pups and 1 older pup. It is very good news for the Hyena population and means there is not too much competition between the predators on the reserve. We look forward to many sightings of the Hyena pups.

 

On a sad note, the old male Lion, Gana, passed away in August; we believe due to old age. Gana, a majestic male had 2 sons that have taken over parts of his territory. We see the young males often, especially along the fence where their Dad also spent a lot of his time.

 

As winter came to a close and the warmer days of spring turned into the hot days of summer, everything started changing. As the first rains fell on the dry African soil, every drop was absorbed in an instant. Within 2 days, the green grass shoots poked out their tips and every pond and puddle housed a happy frog. We had our first sightings of Impala lambs and Warthog piglets as the newly returned Woodlands Kingfishers called from the tops of the trees.

 

We’ve had a lot of rain in November, the waterholes are overflowing and the smaller river beds are streaming. The bush is lush, green and beautiful. And the smaller animals are everywhere; all varieties of Dung beetles are out and about, doing what dung beetles do best... rolling dung.

 

Last but not least, the staff of Monwana and Serondella Lodges, would like to congratulate Carl and Julia on the birth of their gorgeous baby boy, Ronan, and also David and Kelly on their healthy baby boy, Kaelen, born in October. May our very own bush babies bring lots of joy to your families.