Blog 16 - Mankwe GAMETRACKERS

The cats are out!

The last week has definitely been a cat week in Pilanesberg. Lots of cats!!! We have had some remarkable big cat sightings while out on game drive from Lions to cheetahs and even the elusive Leopards. Here are some of the big cats we would like to share with you.

Pride of lions on a kill, seen while on afternoon game drive.

The three cheetah brothers have been seen a few times over the last couple of days.

Lions and leopards rock jumping, same place on different days.

All we can say is what a sighting!

Blog, Seen on Game Drives

Field guide Patrick Sefako tells the story: “While on a game drive in Pilanesberg with guests we came across a pride of lions. It is always exciting when we get to share these big cats with our guests”.

“There was a troop of baboons not far from where the lions were headed. When they saw the approaching lions they made a run for the trees. They were clearly not happy with the approaching big cats as they were alarm calling and even fighting amongst each other. At one point one or two fell from the tree, one youngster ended up being injured in all the commotion. He seemed to no longer have control of his back legs. So he was left hanging quite low down in the tree with the others watching from above. The struggling youngster captured one of the lionesses attention and that marked the end for him”.

As sad as it may seem this is nature’s way and it is probably a good thing that this little guy didn’t suffer for long as he would never have been able to keep up with the troop or look after itself.

Pilanesberg Bird Watching 1

Birds of Pilanesberg, Blog

Sometimes we all concentrate on the big things so much that we forget about a whole other kingdom that is out there …

The bird kingdom. In these posts we would like to share Pilanesberg Bird Watching with you.

Lilac-Breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus)

Rollers get their name from their impressive courtship flight
Their call is a loud harsh squawk, not what you would expect from such an attractive looking bird.
The diet of the lilac-breasted roller is primarily insectivorous such as: ground-dwelling insects, arthropods, amphibians, and other small vertebrates.
Their amazing colouration gives them the title of one of the most photographed birds in South Africa.

African fish eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer)

African fish eagles are believed to mate for life (monogamous)
The African fish eagle feeds mainly on fish but will also eat rodents, small birds, and other prey items.
We often see them around the dams in the Pilanesberg.

Southern red bishop (Euplectes orix)

An iconic bird to see around the bird hides during summer.
The males have this vibrant red and black plumage during the breeding season to attract females. The rest of the year they will be dull brown like the females.
The nest is most commonly built among reeds and is woven out of grasses and other plant materials.

Warthog wonders

Blog, Did you know?

An animal that I know as “ugly cute”, often seen while on a gamedrive and often overlooked Warthogs are actually remarkable creatures.

Here are some interesting facts you may not know about them:

Warthogs have inherited their name due to the big wart like bumps that they have on their faces. The males get larger warts then the females especially close to their eyes, this is used to protect their eyes from another males tusks when they are fighting. You can see the difference between the male and female from the photo above, the female is on the left and the male on the right.

Warthogs are good at digging up roots and other food items but they don’t dig their own burrows. Warthogs will make use of burrows or tunnels made by other animals such as aardvark or porcupines. Sometimes sharing the burrow with one of these nocturnal animals as they are active during the day. When going into the burrow the warthog will go in bum first that way the head is facing the entrance, not only for a quick getaway but also so that its weapons (tusks) are facing the right way if needed.

Piglets are always so cute! The female will give birth within the safety of a burrow where the little piglets will stay until they are around 6-8 weeks old. When warthogs run their tails take to the sky making it easy for them to follow each other through the long grass, hence the reason this is called a “follow me sign“.

A warthogs main diet is vegetation but like other pigs they are omnivores and have been documented eating meat off carcasses.

During hot days you will often see these mammals wallowing in mud pools which they love to do. This not only works as a sunscreen and to help cool down but also works as a parasite control. Once the mud hardens the warthog will go and rub against a rock or tree stump removing the dry mud and any parasites such as ticks that get trapped in it.

Pilanesberg’s super star “Rain”.

Blog, Seen on Game Drives

In April we did a blog post introducing you all to “Rain” the only female cheetah in Pilanesberg ( https://www.mankwegametrackers.co.za/meet-rain-and-her-three-cubs/).

Her three male cubs that we wrote about in the last post are doing very well and thriving in the North of the park. Rain was seen with the two big males a couple of months ago and there after no sightings of her had been reported. We were all starting to get a little worried that something had happened to her. Something had happened to her but it was something exciting that we were all ecstatic to find out about…

Rain has four new cubs that are estimated to be around 8-10 weeks old. Since they were sighted last week there have been numerous sightings of them and both them and mom seem to be doing well. It is very exciting to have yet another litter of cheetah cubs to watch grow. Rain did a fantastic job with the boys and we hope she will be as successful with this litter.

A sighting to remember.

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A sighting that the guides and guests will not soon forget.

Field guide Tarryn Rae elaborates for us: “It was a rather cold morning in Pilanesberg and I was actually taking guests to do the hot air balloon safari. The weather wasn’t playing along and at the last minute the wind picked up and balloon had to be cancelled”.

“As we were making our way back I heard an update on the radio that there were lions on a kill down one of the dirt roads we were going to be passing. I told my guests about the sighting and everyone agreed that it would make the early start to the day worth it, if we could go to the sighting. . . So glad that we did”.

“When we arrived you could see the lions were on a wildebeest kill. They had probably killed it during the night in the open grass area where they now lay. We sat there for awhile watching them eat and move around to a more comfy spot to have a snooze. I noticed some movement behind us as a “crash” of White Rhinos emerged from the tree line. At first I didn’t think they would come too close to the lions but they kept coming as if they were inquisitive about all the commotion”.

“They seemed to have a mutual respect, the lions however were not comfortable with the intruders. We were all so excited, it was so great to see this type of interaction between two phenomenal animals”.