Daily Archive for June 11th, 2008

Lions eau de cologne: Video

Published
by
Wildcaster
on June 11, 2008
in videopost
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Oh them lions! If they’re not mating, they’re sleeping. And if they’re not sleeping they’re mating.
Lets hope this all pays off and we have piles of cubs in 3 months time.

Lean
3 days ago when Magwaza started mating she was heavy in milk but already there is no more sign of this. Has she lost her cubs?
And if she had would she come into oestrus so quickly?
Did the males kill her cubs?

Focussed
Too many unanswered questions. Unfortunately I was away for a few days in which time this could all have happened. But even if I was here we wouldn’t have seen anything as we can’t access where the cubs are in the hills. I’m also surprised how quickly her udder has emptied.
Last night was another night similar to the last. Sjambok and Magwaza mating, and the brother moving off for the night only to join them again at dawn.
The good news is they managed to get the snare off Nduna. It wasn’t too bad and he’ll be fine. We headed across there to see him on the zebra carcass they had given him. He was just fine and being his normal grumpy self.

Saved!
There is still no sign of Manyari. Surely she must have herself a huge carcass somewhere. I hope to fly this afternoon to find her.

Tree Dassies
Later in the morning I had to rush off to get photographs of Rock and Tree Dassies for a brochure. Amazingly these dassies live side by side and even snuggle up to each other for warmth at night. But they don’t interbreed. Apparently they can’t. Something to do with the difference in the shape of their penises.

These dassies inhabit the hills all across Malilangwe grazing and browsing and can be an important for source for eagles, pythons and even leopards.

Rock Dassie

AND believe it or not this Rock Dassie (Rock Hyrax) is the closest relative to the elephant.

Light on mating lions: Video

Published
by
Wildcaster
on June 11, 2008
in videopost
. 2 Comments

Some serious cold weather is moving in on us from the south, so we were really grateful when the cloud moved in last night and stayed. It’s amazing how much warmer it is when there’s cloud around at night. It sure helps keep in the days heat.

3/4 family
But in the early hours a gentle drizzle came with it, which thankfully we were able to escape by taking refuge under some Acacias.
And the lions? Well Sjambok and Magwaza were still mating and the brother just hung around.

By the scruff
Just after dark the huge herd of buffalo again moved on to Banyini to drink. The brother moved off in their direction and was gone for about an hour.

Spikey
In the meantime Magwaza and Sjambok had approached the herd and when only about 40m away they mated. Not the best of hunting strategies.
The herd hearing them and picking up their scent advanced on the lions. The lions moved away and the herd proceeded on to the water.

Happy couple
With only a few stragglers remaining behind the lions suddenly gave chase on a lone bull and the brother had now joined in, but they weren’t in with any luck and the rest of the night the lions lay around mating.

Nervous
The brother moved off later in the evening only to return just before daybreak.
At dawn the cloud cover was in low and the day remained cold, the lions staying in the open mating.

Perspective
Wildebeest, impala and zebra came by which sparked their attention but they were soon noticed and the game was over.
And still no sign of Manyari. No doubt she’s off killing something huge on her own.