With only 2 teats to suckle 3 cubs this hyaena mother’s in a predicament. Usually hyaenas suckle their young for long periods at a time and it’s a peaceful time which is also very important for bonding. But these cubs are continuously fighting for a teat. Will these cubs survive as they’re hardly getting to suckle or will the mother come up with a new strategy to suckle her cubs? After all hyaenas are very intelligent.
My luggage didn’t arrive in time for my function last night, but luckily there was time to purchase a new pair of shoes, so I didn’t have an excuse to go barefoot.
The evening was fun with piles of glamour. None of which exists normally in my life, although I do find my work rather glamorous. But unfortunately Hyaenas didn’t win. The Eye of the Leopard rightfully took the honours. Congratulations to my friends Dereck and Beverly Joubert!
25th September 2000
What was a really great night for us, turned into frustration when we found the cam to have been down all night.
Tjololo was on the move early in the evening. After a failed attempt on a large herd of impala he later moved on to a burnt area. Here he picked up 2 female impala and followed them for quite a distance. He found it difficult to get in close as the fire had removed all the grass cover and he now had to make use of the stems of trees. Eventually he took a chance, and charging in from about 40m he caught the impala. He had difficulty in controlling it, but did eventually get his jaws clamped around its throat amidst clouds of dust. Then he dragged it some 200m. Realizing no hyaenas were on their way he proceeded to feed on the ground again going straight for the foetus. Having savoured that he proceeded to open up the stomach and having tried to remove the stomach contents he treed the carcass. All safe, he returned to ground to groom before taking a nap.
This provided us with some great filming opportunities with the area being so open and not having the hassle of grass always obscuring our view.
Obviously Tjololo’s wound is still there and open, but it’s really just a presence now and not hindering him in any way.
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