With the tough drought conditions that have plagued the Kruger Park this year, it’s no surprise that the grazing animals are weaker than they would be if they had fed on the green grass of summer. In the Klaserie, we’ve seen the buffaloes falling victim to hungry lions regularly, meaning that the king predators are getting well fed. This is the circle of life, and as much suffering as drought causes, it is a natural process, and it is a time when predators such as lions might benefit from the population of weakened prey. Last night, rangers at Africa on Foot were alerted to a commotion in the darkness…
Guests were already tucked in to bed when the sound of stampeding hooves and panicked bellowing echoed into the night, but Kevin and Mike were not going to miss the action, so they took the vehicle out in the direction of the noise – pleasantly surprised by White Rock the leopardess, minding her own business in the bush near the rangers’ block! This was, however, not the cause of the noise, and the guys carried on in search of the buffalo, but alas, were unlucky. Back at camp, the unmistakable sound of lions and hyenas at battle rang out into the night, and we knew we were in for a treat come the morning…
As the sun rose, both Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp guides took their guests in the direction of the action from the night before. Sure enough, on the property right next door to Africa on Foot, both the Ross Breakaway lionesses were busy tucking into a freshly killed buffalo! Naturally, guides started checking for signs of the Mapoza males, but other than one or two clear tracks, the boys were nowhere to be found. The lionesses were bloodied and beaming over their reward without the bullying of the two male lions who would have dominated the carcass.
Both lodges had a fantastic view of the females before nThambo moved on to continue with their game drive, and Africa on Foot headed back to camp to embark on their scheduled walking safari! What a fantastic way to start another day in this special location, surrounded by the wilderness.
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