Bush Report - May and June 2011 Combined Issue - VOLUME I, ISSUE I
Wildlife and activities experienced in the months of May/June
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| Mother and Newborn Calf - Photo courtesy of Richard Sheehan |
The past few months in the Serengeti have been host to both unpredictable weather and atypical migration pat-terns. This began with the un-seasonably dry weather in February and March, which caused the herds to split up in their need to find food and wa-ter, especially during the calv-ing season. Low rainfall levels through April further disrupted the migration pattern by scattering and dispersing the large herds into much smaller groups moving unpredicta-bly toward any possible water. The herd has never really reconnected even dur-ing the rut at the end of April and into May.
There appears to be three distinct groups of wildebeest herds. One was in the Western Corridor in May and even early June, now making their way north-ward through the Ikoma area. Another large portion of the herd remained in the central Serengeti, but was moving un-predictably between Makoma Hill to the more remote Sametu Kopjes; bordering the Barafu Kopjes. To this day, there are large numbers of wildebeest still in the Sametu are, but they will begin moving to Lobo and further northwest to the Mara River. The third grouping of the herd is scattered in the Lobo and Bologonja areas. When the herd reaches this area, they often break off into smaller groups. Large herds of zebra re-mained in the central Serengeti, but by mid to the end of June were in the Lobo area and moving toward the Mara River.
It looks as if the herds will cross a bit late this year, not until the end of July or into August. If there is rain that falls in northern Serengeti, the crossings will be either fur-ther delayed or the herds will continue to move back and forth over the Mara River. It is always good to hear the herds are re-maining longer in the Serengeti, as that makes our clients happy to be in Tanzania.
CIRCLE OF LIFE
Each year some 250,000 wildebeest will die during the migratory journey from Tanzania to lower Kenya. Death is usually from thirst, hunger, exhaustion or predation—predation being the least likely cause of death |
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Cheetah lying on top of a termite mound in central Serengeti
The black tear marks that run from the inside corner of the cheetah’s eyes through its cheeks and down into the outside corner of its mouth shields the cheetah's eyes from the sun; a definite advantage when hunting in one of the sunniest areas in the world. |
Serengeti Bush
Nearly 50 elephants were walking towards a thick bush when unexpectedly the matriarch and many of the adults began lifting their trunks and trumpeting loudly. The young calves were quickly herded into the middle for protection while the matriarch and a few of the other older elephants became very ag-gressive and began circling the bush. While the elephants closed in, the rapid movement of an animal running through the bush was spotted. Suddenly, three female lions leaped into the air to scramble up the trunk of an acacia balanites tree while the elephants charged madly at the lions. Barely escaping the conflict, the three lionesses remained up in the tree for quite some time until the Matri-arch grew tired of scolding the lions and moved her family onward.
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The Hunt
There was a lot of activity in the Moru ar-ea. One pride of lions consisting of two males, five lionesses and cubs in varying ages was congregating together when the adults began organizing a hunting party. Spotting an African cape buffalo that was nearby, the lions began stalking the buffa-lo, attempting to surround it. Once they were in position, the lions launched their attack. Unfortunately for the lions, other buffalos came to the rescue and helped disperse the hunt. With so many buffalos charging at the lions, the attack did not last long. The adult females returned to the small pride that had been watching the hunt from the sidelines and rested un-til they had enough energy to execute an-other attack.
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A Slithering Tale
Situated a few yards away from the trunk of an acacia tree, clients were gazing up into its canopy while taking pictures of green wood hoopoes birds and velvet monkeys. Out of the corner of her eye, one client noticed something moving up the trunk of the tree. At first it was difficult to recognize the source of the movement due to the dappled shades of light caused by the sun penetrating the leaves of the acacia tree. The animal also blended in very well with the trunks bark. She had spotted a snake and not knowing the spe-cies, mentioned it to the driver guide who pointed out that it was a Black Mamba, the longest venomous snake in Africa and the fastest snake in the world. It continued its silent climb up the trunk and disap-peared into the canopy where it no doubt had set its sight on the unsuspecting hoo-poes bird.
WORLD’S FASTEST
The black mamba is the largest poisonous snake in Africa. Averaging 8-14 feet in length, it is the fastest snake in the world, capable of moving 2-5 yards per |
Serengeti Sametu, Unique Safari’s newly opened year-round semi-permanent tented camp has been a phenomenal site for up-close and personal animal experiences. On one occasion, when staff from Unique Safari’s main office needed to speak with a driver guide, they could barely hear the driver guide over the mobile phone due to the giggling hyenas in the background. |
Cleaning Break
In another acacia tree somewhere in an-other area of the central Serengeti, a leop-ard was eating an impala. Observing her from a vehicle just ten yards away, it was very impressive to watch her tearing the flesh and hear her breaking the bones with her powerful jaws. She often repositioned the angle of the body to get at the tender flesh, never once worried that she might accidentally send the body crashing down to the ground. In the middle of her feast it began to rain so she took a cleaning break. Descending from the tree, she rolled around on the ground, kicking her legs in the air and licking the blood from her body. The rain shower didn’t last long and when she was satisfied that she was thoroughly clean, she ascended into the tree and continued to eat her meal.
Waiting with Bated Breath
A large female leopard with her one year-old cub were dragging an impala up a yel-low bark acacia tree when a small pack of six spotted hyena, attracted by the smell of blood, surrounded the tree desperately hoping that the carcass would fall. For 45 minutes the hyenas paced anxiously around the tree, giggling nervously and licking the blood that was dropping from the dead animal’s body high up in the branches. Barely acknowledging the stress they were causing the hyenas, the leopards took their time eating the meal. It was some time before the hyenas real-ized that they were out of luck and grudg-ingly they moved on allowing the leopards to feast in peace.
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A SOLITARY LIFE
The name for a group of leopards is called a leap.
Unlike lions which prefer to live in family groups, the leopard lives a solitary life. When seen together, it is usually a mother with cubs or mating encounters. |
Not Budging
Unbelievable clouds of Tsetse flies coated the windshields of safari vehicles in the western corridor, very typical during this time of year but worth the discomfort when given the chance to see large schools of hippos lounging dangerously close to croc-odiles. Here along the Grumeti River, troops of colobus and vervet monkeys can be seen preening each other along the river’s edge. In one nearby pool three hip-pos were relaxing when a few cape buffalos came to drink at the edge of the pool. A short distance away, a large herd of ele-phants were slowly approaching the river, probably to spend some time at a preferred watering hole. Spying the buffalos and hip-pos, the elephants began trumpeting loudly to give the current occupants time to vacate the area. Heeding the warning, the cape buffalos moved on, however the hippos did not. Even when the elephants stood at the edge of the pool angrily voicing their disap-proval, the hippos merely observed the tan-trum with mild interest.
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African cape buffalo |
Vervet monkey |
Not on the Menu
Further up the Grumeti River, a very large group of zebras was drinking along its bank while a solitary crocodile made several at-tempts to catch a meal. He quietly ap-proach the bank of the river, slowly emerg-ing his head as he got closer to a zebra. But each time, the zebra detected the croc-odile early enough and backed away from the water. After several unsuccessful at-tempts, the zebras finally figured out it was-n’t worth the hassle. Wanting nothing to do with the crocodiles shenanigans, they left the river leaving him to his own thoughts.
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Photo courtesy of John Ellert
The night sky descends on Buffalo Luxury Camp in Loliondo. |
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Sunset on the Serengeti. |
BIRDS Of Tanzania
Over 1,100 bird species call Tanzania home, making it the third largest bird population in Africa.
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| Woodland Kingfisher |
Fischer lovebirds |
White-fronted bee eater |
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| Vulture landing on a tree |
Flamingoes in flight |
Photo courtesy of Charles Hamm
Ngorongoro Crater Area
The One that Got Away
On the crater floor, about 20 spotted hye-nas were chasing a female cape buffalo and managed to pull her tail clean off her body. Her hind legs covered in blood, she broke away from the pack and ran toward the thickets in the Lerai Forest leaving a spotted trail of blood in her wake. Not will-ing to give up so easily, the hyenas ran af-ter her plunging into the forest where they were met by several other cape buffalo. Loud giggling and whooping could be heard at the edge of the forest and before long, several of the hyenas emerged from the forest empty handed and quiet.
Elsewhere in the crater another pack of hy-enas took down a fairly large wildebeest and began tearing at the animals flesh while it was still alive. It was very unsettling to watch and clients were relieved when the animal finally became silent and still.
Party Crashers
A pride of 12 lions was resting not far from a half-eaten Eland carcass. Their bellies swollen, it appeared as if the lions had al-ready fed on some of the carcass but be-came too full to finish. That was until a black backed jackal came and began help-ing himself to the leftovers. Not wanting to share with the intruder, two young cubs from the pride tried to chase the jackal away while the adults looked on with mild interest, too full and too sleepy to care. It wasn’t long before the vultures came to take their piece of the action along with several hyenas. With so many other inter-ested parties, the two cubs gave up, too tired to protect their spoils
A Foul Mood
Down in the bowl of crater, on a small lake, nearly one hundred hyenas were fighting and feasting over the carcass of a recently killed wildebeest. Bathing in its cool waters, a hippo became very an-noyed with the raucous activity. Unable to stand the loud disruption anymore, he grumpily emerged from the lake and charged at the hyenas, hoping to chase them away. Unperturbed, the hyenas sur-rounded the hippo and instead chased him back into the water where he re-mained in a very foul mood. The hyenas finished their feast and moved on leaving a few bare bones and the hippo in quiet solitude.
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WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
The main difference between black and white rhinos is the shape of their mouths. White rhinos have broad flat lips for grazing while black rhinos have long pointed lips for browsing. There are no white rhino in Tanzania See answer below |
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Baboon at home
in the trees |
Honorary
Maasai Boy |
Cooling off with a
luxurious mud bath—
Richard Sheehan |
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Tender moment between
mother and daughter |
Happy
on Safari
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Send us your images for our next Bush Report.
If you have a photograph you are particularly proud of or want to share with others, please email images to meg@uniquesafaris.biz and we will be happy to include them in an upcoming report and credit you for the image. It is wonderful to share your pictures and experiences and we would love to include them in a future newsletter.
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