Mana Magic and Hwange Highlights

[mvecht]

@@michael-ibk

Thank you for sharing this report with all these wonderful sightings. I have had many good dog sightings but have never seen them play like that.

[michael-ibk]

Edwin hoped that maybe they would come out again, and so we drove along the fringes of the woodlands trying to spot some golden ears.



And yes - here they came again!



Soon the pack was out in the open again - what had gotten their attention?



A dazzle of Zebras!



What would happen now?



The dogs made their intentions clear immediately!



The Zebras were surrounded, and didn´t like this situation one bit.



But they seemed to realize what was going through my mind as well looking at all of them - the Dogs are tiny compared to us, can they really do us harm?



The Zebras did the right thing - they just stood their ground, and tried to ignore the dogs best they could.



Not easy, the pack hassled them again and again, circled them, jumped up and down.



And there were situations when one of the Zebras lost it a bit and it looked like they would start to run.



Which would be a big mistake, if they ran nothing would hold the dogs back - then they would go into full hunting mode.

Do the Zebras know that? Because they seemed to force themselves to pretend to be be totally cool about the little predators, and stopped reacting to being hassled - even to the point that they would start grassing.





And that was too much for the dogs - they seemed to be mortally offended that they were ignored like that, and would have none of this impudence.



It was a scene like Shepherd Dogs herding Sheep, only with Wild Dogs and Zebras.







And then - the Dogs just gave up! They had enough of this game which didn´t seem to go anywhere - and so they just left (for good this time, we wouldn´t see them again.)

And the Zebras seemd to go "Pheeew", they were visibly relieved.



"Relax kids, that was nothing - we´ve had far hairier situations, haven´t we?"



Indeed they have.

Edited December 8, 2015 by michael-ibk

[Big_Dog]

The scarred zebra...now there's an image that tells a story.
Fantastic, dynamic dog photos too. When you get lucky, you get lucky...should be the title of your TR!

[Alexander33]

How fortunate you were to find wild dogs in Hwange, much less dogs frolicking and then getting stirred up by a dazzle of zebras. You've had a rich experience in Hwange so far, and you are only on your second drive!

[Marks]

Great dog sightings, golden or otherwise. The videos are quite entertaining, too.

 

 

When you get lucky, you get lucky...should be the title of your TR!

Maybe this applies to the zebra, as well!

Edited December 9, 2015 by Marks

[Zim Girl]

@@michael-ibk

 

No such thing as Dog Overload, just simply amazing sightings and pictures to tell the tale!

[TonyQ]

@@michael-ibk

Amazing sighting of really beautiful dogs

Great to see them playing and then to see the Zebra trying to ignore them

Excellent photos - and the videos really add to the report

Lucky indeed!

[Atravelynn]

The water cheetahs are extraordinary. What perfect timing, especially if they appear twice or three times a month. It takes a waterhole to get that low angle that you had. I commend you for having the presence of mind to focus and click. You have cat behavior down well in describing how the cheetahs showed their contempt of the elephants by ignoring them.

 

When you are lucky you are lucky and the dogs wait for you. You captured that youthful dog energy beautifully! The zebra encounter is fascinating. What a couple of days!

 

Love the night shot with the moon, the ele, and the bird!

Edited December 10, 2015 by Atravelynn

[elefromoz]

@@michael-ibk, what fun and excitement you guys had. Cheetahs just beautiful, what a clever Mum to bring 3 of them to adulthood, yes do look a bit "lean". No such risk to you with all those cakes and treats though! Many smiles from reading your report.

[michael-ibk]

Thanks, @@mvecht , @@Big_Dog , @@Alexander33 , @@Marks, @@Zim Girl , @@TonyQ , @@Atravelynn and @@elefromoz (happy to give you smiles! )

 

It was about 07:30 now and we drove around between the pans to see what else we could find. Mainly elephants, herd after herd was enjoying the fresh leaves from young trees, and it was quite clear what all that does to the environment - with so much feeding pressure there´s little chance that any of these trees will ever have a chance to grow to a decent size.

 

Still, even knowing about "Hwange´s Dilemma" - as a tourist one can´t help but enjoy the number of elephants around, especially their young ones.

It was the time for the first migratory birds to arrive, and we saw the very first European Bee-Eater of the season - at least according to our guide Edwin.

 

Bradfield´s Hornbills are numerous in Hwange.

 

A tricky bird to get - the African Golden Oriole:

 

 

Today we had our only trip sighting of Africa´s probably most iconic bird - the Ostrich:

Mr. Red-Legs:

 

We returned to Somavundhla Pan, and the lone Pelican still was holding down the fort there:

 

Poor guy. In September he was apparently resting here with lots of his flock buddies when a Martial Eagle attacked. He got away but his wings have been badly damaged ever since and he´s unable to fly. All of the others have long left, and he´s all alone in the shrinking waterhole of Somavundhla. Really hope he made it to the start of the rains, but there seems to be little chance of him ever getting airborne again.

 

Edited December 10, 2015 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

The rest of the morning belonged to - Buffaloes.

We saw some of them coming through the trees - and then more. And more. And then more.

 

Only when they were coming out on the plains did we realize that this was one of Hwange´s famous mega-herds - hundreds of the grumpy Bovines were going to have a drink. (Edwin said 700 - 800.)

 

The residents remained unfazed.

 

Not every Buffalo can have imposing horns - something went a bit wrong with this one.

 

At first they seemed quite relaxed and moved slowly.

 

But then they apparently got wind of the water and got quite agitated - their thirst let them move faster and faster, they were obviously looking forward to having a good drink.

 

We almost worried about the waterhole - would there be any water left after the buffaloes would have had their share?

 

That´s what poor Mr. Pelican was apprently thinking as well, but the Buffaloes just ignored his agitated flapping.

 

"This is my waterhole - get out of here you ugly hairy lot!"

 

We had our morning coffee here - a good thing since that also meant we could get out of the car. After Mana sitting up there all the time was weird somehow, and it felt right to get animal shots from the ground again.

 

 

They took their time with drinking, and often one of them would eye us suspiciously, but generally they were totally relaxed about our presence.

 

Several of them were collared - a lot of research is done in Hwange. No idea what they are doing with the Buffalo data - it felt a bit wrong to see them like this, especially the red-clipped ear reminded me too much of our cows being driven up to alpine pastures.

 

Buffalo calves drink from behind - I don´t think many other animals do that, do they?

 

[Marks]

Don't think I've ever seen a collared buffalo; I'd also be interested to know what the study being done is.

Poor pelican really is in a tight spot.

[Atravelynn]

You've provided some background on that lovely moonlit pelican shot--a far more melancholy scene than at first glance.

[Big_Dog]

That poor pelican. A very sad story.
The collared buffalo also looks very peculiar...collars seem to 'fit' carnivores better for some reason.

[Zim Girl]

Love the first picture of the buffalo coming to drink at the waterhole

[FlyTraveler]

Fabulous Wild dogs and dogs-zebras interaction photos, @@michael-ibk!!! Love the size of the buffalo herd and the overall look of buffalo + scenery. You've been really lucky on this safari trip!!! Looking forward to seeing more...

Edited December 13, 2015 by FlyTraveler

[michael-ibk]

It was hard doing "nothing" at siesta time. The waterhole was always active, and even when lying on the bed I never managed to dose off because I couldn´t stop having an eye on it in case something "special" would show up. Mostly it was Elephant at the main waterhole ...

.... while Zebras preferred the smaller drinking through camp had established to give all the smaller animals a chance against the often bullying elephants:

 

And yes, something "special" would show up indeed:

 

Sable! As mentioned before the chance of seeing them had been a big reason to come to Hwange at all.

 

And from what I´ve experienced here this region of Hwange and Little Makalolo especially must be strong contenders for the best "Where to see Sable" place.

 

They were coming in numbers - and they were coming every single day!

 

Admittedly they preferred to appear in the harshest light of the day between 01:30 and 02:30 - but no complaining when you have a breeding herd of Sable in camp every day.

 

How close did they approach? Quite close, this is taken from the Swimming Pool:

 

Antelope King.

 

They even were relaxed enough that not only would they have their drink and be then gone as fast as possible, no, they took their time browsing:

 

 

I think this would be the "Black Sable" (Hippotragus niger niger) here in Hwange. Wikipedia gives the numbers for this subspecies in Zimbabwe with only 450, which seems very low - the latest game count (not estimate) for Hwange had 230.

From IUCN:

 

"Listed as Least Concern as Sable are currently estimated to number ca. 75,000, and population trends are more or less stable in protected areas, increasing on private land and decreasing elsewhere (25%). The overall conservation status is unlikely to change, since any further decrease in the free-living population may be compensated by the continued growth of its numbers on private farms and conservancies. The latter should continue in view of this spectacular antelope’s aesthetic appeal and its high value as a trophy animal. Nonetheless, certain subpopulations remain vulnerable, in particular that of the Giant Sable in Angola."

 

Still, recent game counts suggest that they are one of the animals suffering from the ever-increasing elephant numbers - they are decreasing in Hwange.

 

The waterholes were the only places where Sables were quite approachable - when we saw them elsewhere they were quite shy in comparison. It seems they just accept that there´s no possible way to avoid humans when they want to drink, but in other places they keep their distance.

 

[michael-ibk]

Some birds of the afternoon drive:



Juvenile Bateleur



Southern Yellow-Billed Hornbill



Greater Blue-Eared Starling



Swallow-Tailed Bee-Eater



Kori Bustard

We found some members of the lion pride and spent the bulk of our time with them. They were doing nothing, but a dazzle of Zebras was grazing nearby, and we were hoping for some "interaction".





After almost an hour the Zebras did indeed move very close to the lions, totally unaware of the Big Cats, and we were watching with baited breaths - what would happen now?



The lions crouched down low, muscles tense, ready to strike any given moment. They let one Zebra after the other pass, apparently waiting for the weakest link, for the perfect moment to attack ...



... which would have been this foal, last in line. But I think the lions must have had some serious miscommunication issues.



"Hey idiot that one was as easy to snatch as a burger at McDonald´s - why didn´t you go grab it?" - "Me?!? Listen, sister, we all agreed YOU would ...that was the plan. " - "ME?!? We did not! YOU were supposed to ..."




Sigh.

Edited December 14, 2015 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

We had enquired about the chances of seeing some of the more elusive animals (Aardvark, Pangolin & Co.) in Hwange and Edwin had told us that there´s a fairly good chance of seeing Aardwolf at night. One is denning near the airstrip and seen several times a month - even at daytime if one is very lucky (but only when temperatures are lower). So our plan for the "night drive" part was clear, of course we wanted to give it a shot.

 

On the way there we had a very nice sighting of a trusting little Steenbok. They are such cute animals, and this one was almost posing for us.

He was too trusting. We realized something was not right. We were not more than 10 metres away from him, but he didn´t move, seemed to be torn between his natural instincts to flee and something else, something stronger that was keeping him back.

 

And we soon saw what it was that was holding him back.

 

His partner was lying on the ground - dead. Edwin got out of the car to check on it and she was completely stiff, perished for more than a day. No signs of injuries, so probably a natural death.

 

Even when Edwin had left the car the Steenbok would stay. Totally incapable of leaving his partner. Wikipedia claims that "Steenbok are typically solitary, except for when a pair come together to mate. However, it has been suggested that pairs occupy consistent territories while living independently, staying in contact through scent markings, so that they know where their mate is most of the time."

 

Even the latter seems somewhat of an understatement to what we were witnessing. It was obvious how strong a bond had existed between these two animals, and it was hard not to feel with the Steenbok, hard to see how it could be anything but deep grief we were seeing here.

 

This sad little scene had kept us for quite a while, and so we missed the sunset at Airstrip 2 Pan Edwin had promised us to be quite spectacular with the Elephants turning to silhouettes. But even late as we were it was beautiful.

 

 

Our Aardwolf mission was not successful. But at least we managed to take some semi-reasonable photos of the incredible number of Springhares around the airstrip - we would see hundreds of shimmering eye-pairs hopping around.

 

[Atravelynn]

What a poignant and touching steenbok encounter.

 

Great springhare and sunset eles.

 

I think you saw all 230 sable. Your observation and comments on sable fit into the discussion on Hwange, ele management and the boreholes.

Edited December 15, 2015 by Atravelynn

[Marks]

That poor steenbok.

 

Elephant silhouettes are perfect - the kind of photo to go to Africa for.

[Alexander33]

Just wonderful posts, Michael.

 

So glad you got your sables. If I missed it earlier, I do apologize, but can you explain in a bit more detail about the connection between the increase in elephants affecting the sable population? The answer may lie in Lynn's post above regarding available water sources?

 

That starling photo is really nice. Such iridescence. And, wow, the springhares. There I was carrying on about them at Tswalu, and you seemingly had them everywhere.

 

I agree with the description of the steenbok encounter as "poignant." Fascinating and a bit melancholy at the same time. The photos really tell the story there.

 

Lovely elephant silhouettes to close things out.

[Zubbie15]

Wow Hwange really delivered for you! So many special sightings, but the dogs were just amazing.

[TonyQ]

Great to see so many buffalo - and then all of those beautiful Sable as you lay in bed thinking about your afternoon tea

A very sad steenbok episode.

[optig]

I've certainly seen sable before, but never such massive herds. Those photos of steenbok are priceless, as are those shots of elephants.