Hyaena cubs live their early lives in the safety of a den, usually in which only they have access. Their mothers call them out to suckle and then leave them sometimes for days knowing they are safe from harm in their den. The cubs are responsible for enlarging their dens over time.
Yes I made it to the big apple! Pretty big it sure is.
Even with all the first world technology my bags didn’t arrive. Luckily I wasn’t spending the day in the city and headed out to spend the day at a most wonderful farm.
I don’t think jeans and a t-shirt would have gone down too well at the Emmy’s but thankfully my tuxedo wasn’t in my bags and is waiting at my hotel.
23rd September 2000
War torn Tjololo is pulling through yet again. He sure has an incredible resistance. But for some reason he sure seems to be in the wars all the time. When we worked with Tjellers I think she was only injured once. But it’s probably more common for males to sustain injuries except Tjololo seems to be one of those guys more prone to injury than others.
He was active for most of the night continuing south to the river and then east into Kruger. We then expected him to continue north on his eastern boundary, but he fooled us and headed back west along the river. He was walking with ease and his wound is very clean.
At dawn he was west of Rocky Crossing when suddenly 2 leopards came crashing through the undergrowth in front of us. Tjololo was hot on the heels of Shololwane, both leopards at full pace. Shololwane was yeowling as Tjololo closed on him but made it up a tree in time. Shololwane now about 2 years old was not welcome by Tjololo in his territory. This was the first time we’d seen them together for many months. In the tree Shololwane was clearly terrified as he couldn’t control his bowels.
Tjololo didn’t push his point too hard and soon left Shololwane in the tree, and wandered off to rest up in the river.
My usual daily run had a bunch of adrenalin thrown in to it today. Not far out of camp I ran into a pride of lions, 6. I was just about on top of them when we saw each other. Suddenly surprised by my approach they grunted and took off. I think they got more of a fright than me, luckily. Having regained themselves they lay down about 50m from the track and watched me run on past. On my return there was no sign of them although I was on the look out for them half expecting to be followed.
22nd September 2000
Back at camp I was very surprised to see in the last 3 days of gentle soaking rain we’d had 45mm. This was very evident as we headed out on the trail of Tjololo. The roads were very muddy with puddles everywhere.
After much searching we eventually discovered a very sorry and sore Tjololo. He was fast asleep and as usual didn’t bother to acknowledge our arrival. Not even bothering to open an eye. This pricked a little concern in my mind, although it was his normal behaviour, and had me looking to his chest to make sure he was breathing. Breathing fine, Tjololo sleeping, we settled in to await his next move.
I saw a little mark above his left elbow but thought it to be a leaf and ignored it. But over the next hour watching him sleep he does move slightly the whole time. He would stretch every now and then and I started noticing his reluctance to stretch his left front leg whereas the others were all fully extended at one time or another. My curiousity got to me and with my binoculars I stood on the bonnet to get a better look at him. He had a huge gash, 2-3inches long and nearly an inch deep, above his left elbow. It was oozing with puss. This got me scanning the rest of his body for any signs of injury. The only other visible injury was a slight nick at the base of his right ear.
It’s hard to know what happened but looks more like an injury incurred from running into a tree stump or the likes, probably when chasing after prey. This may even have happened when he chased the female impala with the broken leg so far the other night.
Tjololo was reluctant to move or even roll over and obviously very sore. But soon after midnight he got going and after 5 minutes he’d warmed up enough that it was hardly noticeable he had an injury. He carried on as normal with his marking and headed south down the center of his territory. The pain was obviously there as he would rest up every hour or so.
By dawn he was well south and soon rested up.
The night before Manyari’s injury the pride had killed the buffalo calf and followed this up with a drink at Lojaan dam. Life seemed so good for the pride. They were at a peak in their hunting and it looked like their skills would keep them on an indefinite high!
Of course this all came to an instant halt when a tree stump ripped through Manyari’s chest putting her out of action the following night.
In a very distant world I’m now sitting at Oliver Thambo International Airport all excited as my journey starts to the US for a very different couple of weeks to my normal life in the African bush. A little culture shock indeed but a change is always great. So long as it’s not too long.
Oooops! Just had a final boarding call. Hope this gets uploaded before I get locked out of my plane.
If you here from me shortly you’ll know I didn’t make it.
See you in New York City the next time I log in.
Another day in Africa! Johannesburg! Lucky me?! Now I’ve really had a serious taste of pollution and traffic to cure me of the city for many many years to come.
A few days after Manyari’s injury her cubs were getting desperate to go hunting, so when mom called them they were all over her seeming to be totally oblivious to her painful state. In such pain Manyari was unable to swat them aside and could only snarl in disapproval before lying up to rest further.
Back then I thought she would be out of action for many weeks but seeing her on that buffalo kill the day before I left, she’s sure to recover a lot quicker than I thought.
And I’m sure she’ll be going strong when I return but her injuries will still be a long way from mending. Thankfully she has time and knows she must keep them clean. Her discomforts will continue for some time but I’m confident she will one day again be charging after zebra and jumping on the backs of buffalo again.
21st September 2000
Leaving Tjololo to battle away with the elements, wind, rain and cold, we enjoyed a very successful book launch where Dale was highly complimented for his great work with “A Time with Leopards”.
Today’s clip of the Nduna pride drinking at Nyamasikana pan is from last week, a couple of days before Manyari was injured.
Why am I going backwards? I’m going to be away for a few weeks to travel to the US for the Emmy Awards on Monday and then the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film festival.
I’ll still be posting daily clips of footage shot over the last couple of months.
Right now I’m stuck in Johannesburg for the night and of course on my arrival was greeted by the usual rush hour traffic. Not really where I want to be. But hopefully it’s stepping stone to better things.
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