A first visit to Limpopo Lipadi, Botswana.

[Bugs]

Seems I missed this updates on this thread while I have been away. I will do some catching up.

[Big_Dog]

http://africageographic.com/blog/lions-lay-claim-at-limpopo-lipadi/

@@Bugs and other share holders - thoughts?

[Game Warden]

Yes, come on @@Bugs, lets see those lion photos you took

[Bugs]

We got extremely lucky. One must remember that these lions are not habituated and the section of the reserve that they were in was the only part with few roads. We have no idea how far these lions have travel to find their way to the reserve, and how many bad experiences they may have had with people on the way. One thing for sure, was that they did not want to be found. Ted, was very patient and had waited at the giraffe kill for the lions to come in, and hit the jackpot. He managed to confirm that there were at least three lions, but their sex was still debatable. There were some extra spoor that had been seen, which appeared to be slightly bigger, and we suspected that possibly a large male had also found its way in.

 

We decided to stay an extra evening to have one last crack at finding these lions, and were lucky. We managed to spend a few hours with them and slowly they became more relaxed with our presence. We managed to confirm that there were two teenager male cubs with a lioness. The lioness was very shy, and hid away as much as possible. But the cubs were more curious - showing their faces after a while.

 

The photos I took - were sent to Simon who put them on the blog.

 

The road to introduction to lions has been a very bumpy one, and taken a few years of debates, game counts and studies. We were all set to introduce lions and all the permits were in place; even finding donor lions were readily available. But now it seems nature made up its own mind. So, its all very exciting - we have our own lions now.

[Geoff]

@@Bugs nice work with those night images of the lions.

[Bugs]

I had a mate stay with me at Lipadi who is lives in Shashe, just outside Francistown. He told me about a lion which has been seen roaming in his area. Last night he called to say that his friend nearly ran into the lion while jogging just down the road. That area is heavily populated with people and domestic animals, and the story could get interesting.

[Bugs]

[Game Warden]

Where in the reserve did you see them @@Bugs?

[graceland]

@@Bugs

 

Really great photos. Esp being night!

[IamFisheye]

Nice to see that lions introduced themselves rather than being reintroduced by man.

 

@@Game Warden - re the dogs smell. The smelliest dogs I've encountered in recent memory were at Kwando Lagoon. I actually watched one pee himself after a hunt, rolling onto his back and letting a fountain of urine cover his belly. They also enjoy laying in elephant dung. The dogs of Laikipia are smaller and darker than their cousins in the south. The adults I saw last month @laikipia also looked to be in poor condition with a lot of mange. The pups were in good health and great condition.