Singita Grumeti: January 2022

January 2022

Singita Grumeti: January 2022

January has been a phenomenal month, a great start to the year, with the sheer volume of wildlife being astounding. We’ve enjoyed lovely herds of zebra and topi, along with great herds of eland. The giraffe numbers across the Singita Grumeti have been very impressive too with many youngsters at this time of year.

The Grumeti River has continued to flow, although very low, throughout the month. When the river is low like this it offers so many opportunities to explore the river’s magic, whether it be by foot or stopping on the sandy islands for refreshments and watching a scene unveil.

Here’s a sightings snapshot for January:

Lion:

Incredible lion sightings this month with prides hunting in the Grumeti River, prides taking down adult buffalo, and prides of up to 30 individuals lying together on the grasslands. Spectacular!
The Kawanga Pride in the western reaches of the reserve were observed with 36 members on one occasion.
The Butamtam Pride have provided great sightings this month, as usual. The many youngsters are doing very well which is fantastic to see.
Other prides hunting along the Grumeti River have offered great viewing as they ambush wildebeest and zebra as they come down to drink.
Lion prides in the Ikorongo have shown impressive interactions on the Pofu plains and the Bangwezi Hill region. They have also been spending much time on the banks and sandbars of the river.

Leopard:

The Grumeti North female is doing very well. And we’ve had some lovely sightings of her daughter close to the Grumeti River.
Mbogo drainage, just north of Faru Faru has been particularly productive for leopard viewing this month as we have seen prey species returning to the area. Sabora drainage has also offered some great sightings.
The large, somewhat shy male leopard is beginning to relax allowing for some great observation.

Cheetah:

Some great cheetah sightings this month on the central Sasakwa plains and in the Sabora region.
A mother and her five-months-old cub are doing incredibly well and we have had some really fantastic viewing from these two.
The Sasakwa male has been hunting actively on the plains south east of Sasakwa Hill and guests have been lucky enough to witness this powerful cheetah bringing down wildebeest and warthog.

Elephant:

Elephant numbers on the property this month have been awesome as they feed in the vicinity of the Grumeti River, dropping onto the golden sands during the heat of the day to drink.
Huge aggregations of up to 200 individuals have been seen drinking during the heat of the day at Sasakwa Dam.
Ikorongo region has seen some incredible herds in the area once again.

Hyena:

The spotted hyena clans have been well fed this month with the sheer quantity of prey species utilising the area. We often see hyenas hunting together methodically as they single out the weak and injured and proceed to split them from the herds. It’s always very interesting to watch them hunting as they really are experts at their game.
Great hyena interactions have been had with guests in the field this month.
Very good numbers of hyenas in the marsh area, out west, and on the central plains.

Buffalo:

The buffalo herds here on the Grumeti Reserve are always impressive.
The Ikorongo region has seen fantastic buffalo herd movements this month as well as many buffalo bulls along the Grumeti River and the Manchira drainage.

Rhino:

Rhinos continue to disperse. The majority of individuals have remained in the Serengeti National Park. 30% of the population remains within the Singita Grumeti Reserve.

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