Chobe Game Lodge Newsletter, June 2006

Apart from being an important food source for browsing mammals, the camel thorn acacia is also the preferred species of tree for white backed vultures to nest in. We have already spotted a few pairs of white backed vultures nesting in the tops of these trees as we are entering their breeding season. Most bird species breed in times of abundance and for vultures this is the dry season.

This is when there are most deaths among herbivores due to their losing condition because of the reduction of both quantity and quality of their food. Poor condition results in susceptibility to disease and predation, which in turn equates to good news for vultures.

Reptiles

Since Botswana is enduring the coldest two months of the year, the reptiles are not very active and sightings of the larger reptiles were limited to mainly water monitors and Crocodiles. Johan Bruwer, General Manager of Chobe Game Lodge, witnessed two water monitors near the Serondela picnic spot as they were engaged in a strange wrestling act.

This could easily be interpreted as mating, but could also be ritualized combat behaviour. Female water monitors normally lay their eggs inside active termite mounds. She will simply open the mound, lay her eggs, and the termites will repair the mound after she left, enclosing the eggs inside the mound where the temperature and humidity is kept at a constant level which is also favourable for the incubation of the eggs.

Mammals

Game viewing in June was very rewarding with especially good sightings of predators. The Lions were particularly cooperative with only five days in June with no recorded sightings of Lions.

On the 12th our local pride of Lions killed a Giraffe at the old airstrip and with that amount of meat available it guaranteed Lion sightings for the subsequent 3 days as they didn't move very far from the carcass.

On the 21st they killed a Buffalo not very far from the area where they took down the Giraffe and again this provided guaranteed Lion sightings for the next few days.

Leopard sightings are normally far and few in between but during June our guides were fortunate enough to have come across quite a number of different sightings of these elusive cats. They were most notably active in the Nantanga/Serondella area where they were sighted at least 4 times.

One of these sightings was of a male and female together, which most probably indicate that the female is in heat and that they were mating, since Leopards are solitary creatures and adults are not often seen together unless they are mating.