A Week in Moremi - 02:20 pm

09 May 2010

I have come to the Earth Touch film camp to assist Jason, while Brad is on leave. I have been friends with Jason since we worked together 2 years ago in the Makgadikgadi pans and I jumped at the chance to join him in Moremi. The last time I was here, was over the New Year and a lot has changed. Most areas are almost unrecognisable. It’s all due to the annual flood of the Okavango Delta having arrived in the last month. As such, my week has been rather interesting. It quite remarkable to witness how the flood has affected the roads and crossings of Moremi. Some crossing are now impassable and home to large crocodiles; floodplains, once dry, are now small lakes; roads have become rivers.





All this has made getting around and following the Xakanaxa pride interesting to say the least. There was 3rd Bridge being closed for repairs, well to vehicles anyway, but not the big Xakanaxa male lions. Then the very next day, her sister bridge, 4th Bridge, collapsed under our very wheels as we followed the rest of the Xakanaxa pride. Now that bridge needs repairing, which is underway and should be completed soon.





The Xakanaxa pride themselves, have covered much of their territory during the week under the cover of darkness. First arriving from the south, crossing back over 3rd Bridge onto Mboma Island, then returning east. With most of their days, being spent sleeping in the shade.





With the constant drenchings from driving anywhere in Moremi, a fair amount of our time in camp has been spent under the film truck, checking the oils of gearbox, differentials and transfer case for water. Luckily the seals are holding and the oils and grease are still water-free.

All in all, it has been a memorable week, spending time with the Xakanaxa Pride. My week’s highlight was a first for me, the fight between the 2 Mboma males. In 12 years working with African wildlife, that is something I had never seen and will remain with me forever.
With more water coming, filming in the Moremi will only become more and more challenging.
Who knows what the next week will bring?
- Leo Hughes

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Lions Return East - 02:55 pm

08 May 2010

Around midnight there was much commotion coming from the 3rd Bridge area. There was the roar of lions (Panthera leo) combined with trumpeting of elephants (Loxodonta africana). It was clear that lions were heading back east and had a run-in with a small herd of elephants, which we saw when returning to camp yesterday evening. We headed for the 3rd Bridge area, but about half way there we picked up lion spoor heading east.





Judging by the amount of tracks there were at least 6 individuals. The lions generally follow the roads, but with many covered in water, the lions were keeping as dry as possible. This made tracking them harder than normal and we eventually lost the tracks at one of the many channel crossings. While checking to see if the lions had followed the channel rather than crossing it, we spotted the distinctive silhouette of a lion in the grass. It was the Xakanaxa pride and they were already snoozing and not looking like being very active. They again chased the shade for the remainder of the day.






The 2 older young males really seem to be bonding. They will always be found sleeping alongside each other, grooming, playing and moving together. This could be the beginnings of a new Moremi coalition.





It is a cause for concern that 2 lionesses have disappeared and one of the young males has been missing for nearly a week. Towards the end of last year, the same male was missing for nearly 2 weeks and eventually rejoined the pride, so hopefully he could still return. He is easily recognisable as he has a distinctive scar on his upper lip.
- Jason Loughran

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Clash on Mboma - 02:01 pm

07 May 2010

We were straight back onto Mboma Island to hopefully find the Xakanaxa pride, but it was not to be. The prides tracks headed south into a newly flooded area, one where the water was far to deep for us to follow. While we were attempting to make our way through the water, we heard lions (Panthera leo) roaring to the north and decided that these would be a better bet. About 3 kilometres up the track, we stopped to listen and heard the roars a couple of hundred metres away. Heading into the thick mohata (Kalahari apple-leaf, Lonchocarpus nelsii), we found one of the big Mboma male lions. He looked very agitated and was constantly sniffing the ground and bushes. We eventually lost him in even thicker bush and headed back for the nearest track.





Just as we passed the number 12 campsite, more lions were spotted. The male looked like one of the young Mboma males and the lioness, who was in estrus and receptive to the males advances, I have not seen before, but I presume that she is from one of the Mboma prides. The lioness in estrus could explain the older males earlier agitation, as he must have been searching for her and must have also picked up the scent of the younger male.





Mating is never a casual affair and there was much snarling and growling between the 2 lions.
It was about 30 minutes later that we spotted the older male, approaching from the long grass. Once he had seen the younger male, he headed straight for him. I thought that the younger male would turn tail and run, but he stood his ground an waited with a small look of concern in his eyes.





The confrontation was brief, with little physical contact and more noise. Lions will prefer to dominate each other vocally rather than physically, as even a small wound could spell disaster. The older male won this battle, his younger rival ran away at speed, closely followed by the older male. We followed for as long as we could, but eventually lost sight of both males, again in thick mohata. We could not see any wounds on the younger male, but the older was sporting a bloody nose and mouth. We returned to where we had left the lioness but she had moved off.
- Jason Loughran

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Lions Head West - 01:40 pm

06 May 2010

We heard the Xakanaxa pride move passed our camp during the night. In the morning their spoor headed west, straight for 3rd Bridge and continued onto Mboma Island. One lioness is still absent and so is one of the male cubs. This area has many resident impala (Aepyceros melampus) herds and the pride was on the hunt.





The lions (Panthera leo) did not even get close to the impala, who barked and bolted for the far tree line. The alarm barks of the impala had alerted all potential prey in the area to the lions presence and with their cover blown they turned their attention to each other, stalking and pouncing one another. The lions did not continue much further and not long after they were all lying flat in the grass. They only lifted their heads to listen to the distant roars of other lions, who could perhaps be the missing lioness and cub or the pride males.







The lions then did what they do best and chased the shade for the remainder of the day. Even when another herd of impala stumbled across them at only about 40 metres, the lions showed little interest and the impala eventually lost their nerve and headed back from where they had come.

- Jason Loughran

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Overhauling an Icon: Part 2 - 12:48 pm

05 May 2010

It seems as though bridges and lions do not mix. After Sunday mornings 3rd Bridge incident, it was a case of de-ja vu yesterday morning. The Xakanaxa pride did not continue on to 3rd Bridge, but instead headed back south. We were following their fresh spoor along the main track and it was at 4th Bridge where we could not follow the lions any further.





The condition of 4th Bridge has been deteriorating and when crossing, one has had to be cautious.
We could hear the lions roaring no more than 500 metres away, on the eastern side of the bridge. When we crossed the rotten wood collapsed under our vehicle. On closer inspection, we were stuck up to the axle and springs, the rear tyres were not touching the ground and the situation at the front was pretty much the same.
I’ve been stuck like this in mud before, but to be on a bridge, this was a first. It was a case of jacking the vehicle and packing the broken logs under the tyres, which did not do much. As soon as the full weight of the vehicle was on the packed logs, the logs simply gave way and we were back to square one.






As we were on our third jacking attempt, other vehicles approached the bridge. This was the break we needed as it was a simple matter of just pulling us out. Thanks to Clinton and his clients for the tow.





We were now not stuck anymore, but were on the wrong side of the broken bridge, to get to the lions. To make matters worse, when we initially dropped into the bridge a loose log must have hit the front propshaft and damaged one of the universal joints, condemning us to only 2 wheel-drive. Before we could get to the job of removing the propshaft, it was all hands on deck to repair the bridge. It was only a temporary repair job, which allowed the backed-up traffic to cross. So hopefully the construction crew who were at 3rd Bridge, will return soon.






By the time the front propshaft was removed the lions were way ahead and had crossed a deep channel, one which could not be navigated with only 2 wheel-drive. We returned to camp and did not have the correct spare universal joint, so it meant a quick trip to Maun. The propshaft was not repaired in time for us to make the return trip to camp yesterday, so it was an early start from Maun this morning and a speedily installation of the overhauled propshaft, allowing us to go lion hunting, with no success.

- Jason Loughran

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Pride Moves Back North - 01:05 pm

03 May 2010

The Xakanaxa pride has moved north from Bodumatau and we found them on the main track to 3rd Bridge.
It is possible that they could be following the males, who crossed the bridge yesterday.





The lions after walking a fair distance during the night, were not interested in moving and spent the entire day chasing the nearest shade. They all looked in good condition and showed little interest when various prey species moved passed them. There was one lioness who was absent. It was not the one who was mating a couple of weeks ago, so she must have lagged behind and should catch up soon.

- Jason Loughran

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Overhauling an Icon - 12:35 pm

02 May 2010

The wooden bridges in the Okavango are iconic. Unfortunately the water rots the hardwood of the mopane (Colophospermum mopane) and regular maintenance is required. 3rd Bridge has been unusable for the last 2 weeks, but now the construction crew have nearly completed the needed upgrade.






In the early hours of the morning there were lion (Panthera leo) roars that moved passed our camp towards 3rd Bridge. We were out early and found 2 sets of male spoor just after 06h00. Regrettably the tracks headed straight for the bridge and we caught a millisecond glimpse of the rear end of one of the lions as it turned the corner on the other side.
By lunchtime the bridge was completed and we headed across onto Mboma Island. Eventually we lost the lion tracks in the thick bush, but did find a herd of buffalo (Syncerus caffer).

- Jason Loughran

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Pride Dynamics - 12:20 pm

28 Apr 2010

The Xakanaxa pride, well the 5 lionesses and 5 cubs, as the males are still hanging around with the 2 interloper lionesses with the new cubs (Click here to see the story), have headed south towards Bodumatau, presumably in search of buffalo (Syncerus caffer). It is not uncommon for males to move with different groups of females within their territory, but it has now been about 3 weeks that the males have been absent from the pride and the more they are away, the more chance nomadic males have of moving in.





The lioness pictured below was seen, a couple of weeks ago, mating with one of the young Mboma males, whom has been sighted more and more in the heart of the Xakanaxa lions territory. The pride males could accept the potential cubs as their own, as long as they are convinced that the cubs are theirs, something the lionesses seem to be able to do with ease.






The older male cubs are now as big as their mothers and their manes are starting to become heavier and darker. These young lions could voluntary leave the pride or be chased out by the males by the end of the year, reducing the pride numbers and making them less dominant.
Interesting times lie ahead for the Lions of Moremi.

- Jason Loughran

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Injured Leopard - 12:53 pm

27 Apr 2010

After hearing reports of 2 leopard (Panthera pardus) being sighted in the 4th Bridge area, we headed there in the hope of sighting one. This would be our first leopard sighting in nearly a month.
We found a young male, our most seen leopard, but he was not looking his normal relaxed self.





During the night a nearby campsite had heard the growls and scuffles of leopards and in the morning it was clear that this young male was not the victor. The leopard was unable to put any weight onto his front left leg. On closer inspection there was a puncture wound through the paw, these types of wounds will normally heal relatively quickly not hindering the leopards movements too much.





It was clear that this leopard was in some pain as it would grimace with every step. There is a possibility that there could be broken bones in the paw, this could spell disaster. If the bones do not fuse back correctly the leopard may lose the use of its paw, which will hinder its movements and hunting success and could lead to an untimely death.

- Jason Loughran

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Just a Carcass Remains… - 12:50 pm

26 Apr 2010

While we were out of camp last week, the Xakanaxa pride managed to kill themselves an adult giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis).
The giraffe would have more than fed the entire pride, who have now moved on and have not been sighted since.







The remaining vultures, mostly white-backed (Gyps africanus)and a couple of hooded (Necrosyrtes monachus), were getting what scraps they could, but there was very little left on the carcass. It was surprising that there was very few signs of any spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) activity. There was only 1 young adult in the area and even after we moved to the other end of the pan it paid the carcass scant interest.

- Jason Loughran

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