Safari Blog

At SUNSAFARIS we love the lions from Duba Plains in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Read the latest update from the camp below.

The buffalo herd is still in good condition despite the dryness of the grass. In August, as a result of the buffalo herd spending most of the time in our prime game drive this month, the interaction between the Tsaro Pride and the buffalo herd seemed to have dominated most sightings. We have also been able to cover most of the area as the water has receded a lot. The area along Tswene Road west of the bridge has not been accessed in the last four months due to the water level being very high for example. Recently the Tsaro Pride led the game drive vehicles on this road following the herd (the lioness posing for the picture is the Silver Eyed Female about five minutes before taking down a buffalo cow on the edge of this floodplain).

The Tsaro pride has been very successful this month. We have been seeing more interaction, resulting in 7 buffalo kills witnessed over the month. We are very proud to announce that 'Junior' (the sub-adult male in the Tsaro Pride) has recently proved his worth in the pride. This happened after full five hours of following the Tsaro pride hunting buffalo when we were delighted to watch Junior sneaking through the grass with full concentration to target an older buffalo. After a chase of several metres, he jumped on the back of the cow and brought it down to the ground without any assistance from the adults. After a long time of desperation to do it the right way, eventually he has done it!

Not only Junior has been doing us proud - James 007 was also surprised recently, when watching two of the Tsaro females taking down a cow, to see the small female cub (about 8 months old) swiftly leaping over the buffalo trying to reach the throat for suffocation! She did it a little bit early and was nearly taken by the swinging horn of the cow. She must have learnt a lesson there as she did stay back for a while until the cow was dead. As we mentioned in last month's report, we are still convinced the female cub will make it to the next stage of sub-adulthood. She is also growing at a tremendous rate which is evident by her size versus her age. The other cub of which we reported last month was sadly seen recently badly injured on her back. The cub could not walk with its hind legs, but rather was just dragging them, a sure sign of a back injury. We feel this has been caused by one of the females and she has been seen following her mother almost everywhere she goes. This has made her very easy to track as she leaves a significant trail behind from dragging the hind legs.

The Skimmer Pride still consists of three females and is still very elusive. They were seen only once in August on a buffalo kill on the northern side of the camp. The adult Skimmer male has also been seen once along Molapo Road recently, which is the boundary line between Tsaro and Skimmer Pride territories. The aging Duba Boys are still strong and very confident of protecting the Tsaro Pride and their territory, and still fight viciously for dominance when it comes to feeding and mating.