Baboon carrying dead baby

Within baboon society there are strong social bonds and even through death it’s hard to separate, particularly between a mother and her young. Females that lose their babies, for whatever reason, often continue to carry and groom them for several days until severe decomposition causes them to abandon what remains. This type of behaviour have often been documented among baboons and I’ve personally witnessed it a few times in Kruger. It remains emotional to see how animals react towards death.

 

Simon Vegter

Wild Wings Safaris

www.wild-wings.co.za

 

March Sightings Update

March has been a pretty busy month for me.  Lions were quite tough to find, but I still managed on every tour. I had a lot more luck on leopards with almost as many leopard sightings as lion sigtings. This is very unusual. The park is gearing up for winter with temperatures decreasing slowly, particularly at night. We still had a few very hot days though and some heavy thundershowers. Some of the migrant birds have already left and animals are now approaching some of the permanent water sources that doesn’t seem to attract as much game in summer. The first fires have also been noted in the park. The recent rains caused green grass to replace the burnt areas very quickly and are now attracting the grazers. It will also improve visibility making for easier game viewing in the future.

 

Total tours: 6                           Total days: 20

			Elephant	Rhino	Buffalo	Lion	Leopard	Cheetah	Wilddog	Hyena	Jackal
		Tour	6	6	6	6	4	2	2	4	2
		Day	19	13	15	8	9	3	2	5	2
		Sights	Y	35	Y	12	10	3	2	6	4
		Nr	Y	58	Y	31	12	4	9	13	8

 

 

Simon Vegter

Wild Wings Safaris

www.wild-wings.co.za