Early Green Season in Drought stricken Northern Botswana; Tracking Wild Dogs and cheetah; Sting of the blister beetle; Thrilling Wild dog hunts ; A million laughs - yet another Kwando Safari !!!! December 2023

[michael-ibk]

Awesome Cheetah photos Hari - love the "Zebra background".

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks @michael-ibk

 

thanks to my sister @Genie67for these …. I missed the shot …. He went for the foal, but, the mum came in the way 

Edited December 31, 2023 by madaboutcheetah

[madaboutcheetah]

Back to the boys of lagoon .... 

 

The boys had spent the best part of a week trying to locate a female around that 10km valley (for those of you familiar with the concession) ...... They were in that vicinity the entire time.  

 

These following images are from when we were based out of Lebala. 

 

The 10th of December was a mixed bag for us ..... We spent 5 hours in the morning tracking them from where we left them the previous evening and yes, the tracks were heading back north towards the lagoon area.  We had a bit of a boo boo with communication with the lagoon vehicles and we'd only realised at nearly 12noon that one of the lagoon vehicles had bumped into them around Watercut ...... We did take a quick look and indeed they looked hungry so we marched back to camp for a very quick bite and to head back out (there was also a heavy T'storm brewing) ..... Heavy winds and a storm forced the boys to walk just in the nick of time when we arrived ..... (STAY TUNED TO THE NEXT POST) ..... The skies continued to threaten as the boys gave us some nice poses for all the hard work of not just a frustrating morning, but, to just watch them sleep all week when it was bloody hot!!!! 

[madaboutcheetah]

The boys are super experienced and really are getting on in age ...... I have them at approximately 10-11 years old at a minimum (they took a strangle hold on the territory in about April 2016 when they took over from the two remaining boys from the old boys of lagoon coalition) ...... anyways, they know exactly the game movements in the area and just waited patiently for the impala movement and then just like that !!! Bam!!! no long chase needed ...... We just happened to be "Johnny on the spot" for this ....... To quote a Spencerism "Patience pays"; "Early bird catches the fattest worm"; "You snooze, you lose"; "High tea, no high tea" ......  

 

I don't know if their teeth aren't sharp enough or that they just are too damn lazy???  They started feeding on the impala before it was actually dead as you can observe in some of these images ......  They finally brought it down, but, there was a lot of noise not sure if it woke up the neighbourhood .... We did see the jackals start to appear.  

We didn't wait for the entire feast as we had to race back to lebala to avoid the storm that was brewing and boy - it rained through the night !!! 

 

Bold prediction for 2024 ..... Cheetah cubs in Lagoon ..... I just have an inkling!!! 

[madaboutcheetah]

Sorry if this is gory …. Here is an iPhone picture of a prior kill or the remains of it of the two boys ….. while we were at lagoon , they seemed to have already fed before we were able to track them down and while we weren’t interested in sitting with full bellied cheetah … we were able to back track and find this!! Just to ascertain what they’ve eaten so that we predict the time line of their next possible hunt 

Edited January 7 by madaboutcheetah

[Pangolin]

Great to see this report right now! We are starting to plan for a Jan. 2025 trip that will most likely include Four Rivers plus one additional Kwando Camp to be determined. 

[madaboutcheetah]

@Pangolin- Happy New Year and good to hear from  you!! Hope you keeping well!! 

[madaboutcheetah]

Back to the editing ...... 

 

Few more of the wild dogs from Kwara 

[madaboutcheetah]

General game at Kwara ....... A couple months ago, they had huge fires move through the concession resulting in fresh new grass after the first rains..

[madaboutcheetah]

One gloomy morning in Kwara after a lot of overnight rain ........ Two Male lions on Patrol (2 of a 5 male coalition) ........  I have no idea, but, the guides claim that they  supposedly came all the way from the Kwando concession .....  

 

Anyway, we only saw two of them....... 

[AKR1]

Looks like another epic trip, Hari. How is your tribute statue that Kwando should have built many years ago coming

The cheetah boys toying ( more like slowly eating alive) the poor impala picture series is amazing. Thanks for doing this report. 

[madaboutcheetah]

Haha Thank You @AKR1- Yeah ...... They still are in terrific shape, but, getting on in age!! 

[madaboutcheetah]

After we left the Lions ..... We heard on the radio that the dogs had been located ........ Here we go they look on the move and hungry (stay tuned) 

 

 

[madaboutcheetah]

A pack of 22 can take down an adult Tsessebe .....  We weren't far off whist hanging with the puppies (they are always playful) - looks like the Tsessebe was down in an instant (no pictures of the take down as the dogs were already on top of it by the time we swung around to position the vehicle ..... Hopefully @janzinwas on the spot for the take down) ....... anyways, what a super morning!! That's Kwara for you!!!

 

Interesting behaviour of that one dog taking a dig at the snout of the Tsessebe??

 

Edited January 6 by madaboutcheetah

[John M.]

   Remarkable!  Have to feel sorry for that handsome antelope, but that's nature.

[madaboutcheetah]

@John M.- Thanks John ...... I was speechless at first sight at that sighting.

[janzin]

I don't think I have any of the actual take-down either. We had to stop to transfer another couple to our vehicle because of the 3 vehicle limit (long story which I'll tell in my report eventually.) But it sure was a gruesome sight. I'm not even sure my photos are fit for display!

[madaboutcheetah]

Back to the dogs ......

 

After they finished up the Tsessebe, they weren't going to sleep off a hearty meal ..... It was an overcast and cool day and they used the day to cover the ground to scan their territory and by that I mean they really took us on a looooong drive !!!! 

(to be continued) 

 

[madaboutcheetah]

(continued) and there's much more to come still from the same morning ..... 

[madaboutcheetah]

Continued ....... They did cover a lot of ground ...... Sniffing around for intruders while they were away etc etc., 

 

During the course of the day, I tried my best to get side profile shots of as many of the dogs as was possible ...... I won't bore you with all of them!! 

Edited January 7 by madaboutcheetah

[madaboutcheetah]

Then they bumped into some zebra ...... They really weren't hunting, but, from memory I think the foals were surrounded by the adults whilst keeping an eye on the dogs moving through ...... 

 

Then a reedbuck that was watching them for a few seconds before bolting away ...... 

We left the dogs on the edge of a patch of mopane woodland and a couple of the dogs seemed on edge always keeping a watch on something (we didn't find anything out of the ordinary) ....... However, there was a serious afternoon Thunderstorm and they had left before we could come back to the spot having waited out the storm. 

 

Lo and behold they were still on the move and we had to quit tracking as we followed the tracks and they crossed over into the Shinde concession next door .......  UGH 

 

Edited January 7 by madaboutcheetah

[madaboutcheetah]

Interlude .......  Until I edit the next batch later in the week

 

Here's a journey of giraffe moving through the water  ...... 

 

EDIT - Will re post it tomorrow.  It needs a re-edit.  Apologies!! 

 

Edited January 7 by madaboutcheetah

[Alexander33]

Some really memorable experiences with the dogs!  Love the shots of the cheetahs against that moody, stormy sky. 

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks a lot @Alexander33

[madaboutcheetah]

Just a quick edit for today ........

 

I am going to title this instalment :

 

"why I love Lagoon" ...... 

 

I do believe that bird at the end is a "Dark Chanting Goshawk" ?? ..... I'll just throw that into the Super Predetor post to say, I stopped for that bird !!