January 2025

Singita Kruger National Park

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Singita Kruger National Park: January 2025

The rain has worked its quiet magic, transforming the landscape with an astonishing swiftness that almost feels otherworldly. The grasses now surge to chest height, a lush sea of vibrant blades swaying in the breeze. The tree’s branches are heavy with new life, weighed down by an explosion of fruit. The air hums with the melodies of countless birds, their songs filling the sky in a symphony of joy and renewal. Everywhere, insects buzz, their wings a blur as they revel in the abundance around them. An old bridge, once weathered and forgotten, has been restored, its sturdy beams now spanning the confluence of the Sweni and N'wanetsi Rivers. This new gateway has opened up a breath-taking route, revealing the rugged beauty of the granophyre landscape. The view from the bridge is a living canvas, a harmonious blend of earth, sky, and water, all infused with the spirit of renewal brought on by the rains.
A Sightings Snapshot for January follows:
Lions
  • The Mananga Pride spent New Year’s Eve, and the heavy rains the day after, on our concession in the southern central depression. It appeared as if they had fed and consequently spent the next two days just lying around digesting. The week after they managed to take down two adult buffalo, on which they fed until they were presumably chased off by the presence of other male lions. They then retreated into the mountains. A few days later they returned with one less cub, and now there are only ten cubs in total. Cub mortality is high in lions, with starvation, predation and disease being the main culprits.
  • The Chava Pride and the blonde-maned Sonop male were found on a buffalo bull carcass in the north-west. It seems as if the fact that the large herds of buffalo have dispersed into smaller groups has resulted in their demise. On the 11th we found the Chava Pride with full bellies near Gudzane Dam. One of the females was walking steadily in a northerly direction. Her mammary glands seemed to be filled with milk and lionesses don’t usually leave the pride with a carcass unless they are heading to… new cubs! We followed her to a rocky ridge, with vegetation creating the perfect den-site. Little cries from inside the vegetation proved our suspicions. At the end of the month three of the Chava Pride females managed to take down a wildebeest on Cassia Open Area where the game has been prolific the last couple of weeks.
  • The Shish Pride has been elusive this month, with only tracks near the Mozambique border confirming they are around.
Leopards
  • The Dubana female showed us her mountain climbing capabilities when we found her on top of the ridge near Xinanene Poort. She scaled down and then up the other side of the valley with a graceful fluidity. Once we had looped around the ridge, we found her moving steadily in a southerly direction, stopping every once in a while, giving us the impression she was on the hunt. With two, year-old cubs to provide for, every opportunity must be taken.
  • At the beginning of the month, three male leopards found themselves a bit too close for comfort. It started with Mbiri-biri, who was spotted moving north, seemingly following the scent trail of another leopard, stopping to scent mark and scratch his hind paws through the dirt. He descended into a drainage line and we lost sight of him. Deciding to rather loop ahead, anticipating where he might exit the drainage, we came upon another male leopard! At the base of a large leadwood tree was the Zamani male, his golden amber eyes and scared nose unmistakeable. After a minute, we spotted a third male up in the leadwood. He was smaller, and so we thought perhaps it was the Massia male, a younger male, named after the Shangaan clan that used to live in that area. He climbed higher into the leadwood, while Zamani, who initially looked chuffed with himself, was now straining his neck to see Mbiri-biri, who had come into site on the horizon. Mbiri-biri approached proudly, and the two squared off. Taking the opportunity, the Massia male jumped out the leadwood and ran in the opposite direction. The two larger males, now walking parallel with each other began to pick up the pace, until they were almost sprinting side by side. With drool spewing out of their mouths, we thought this was it, there was going to be a clash. We lost sight of them in the drainage, but as they emerged on the other side, they increased the distance between them and both lay in the shade of an apple leaf tree about 50 metres away from each other.
  • Nungu female (Nhlanguleni’s previous female cub) was seen again near the end of the month resting in a leadwood tree in the basalt plains, now a beautiful lush grassland.
  • Kalanga male seems to have been enjoying the area around Puffadder Crossing this month, taking advantage of the readily available water, the open areas nearby abundant with game, and the tall trees, perfect to rest in or hoist a carcass out of reach of the ever-present hyenas.
  • The Lebombo male is courting a shy female near the Fig-In-The-Lead (an old strangler fig that is atop a dead leadwood tree).
  • We also saw tracks for Nhlanguleni with a male leopard, so she is also potentially mating again.
Cheetahs
  • The beautiful mother and cub that first arrived on our concession at the beginning of December, has found a home in our central regions. Just after New Year’s Day we found her early one morning stalking along the western edge of the central depression, obviously using her local knowledge on where the general game tends to rest during the evening to look for any new and vulnerable impala lambs. She spent the morning watching a large herd, and when the time was right, used her speed to snatch one of the lambs. The small cub was left behind during the chase, and the mother moved the carcass under a guarri thicket to hide it from vultures and other predators. She headed back west and called in the typical, almost bird-like, chirp until her cub ran excitedly towards breakfast.
African wild dogs
  • The pack with the floppy-ear member have been moving through our entire concession with sightings every week this month. A few lucky guides saw them hunting impalas, or lying around waterholes with full bellies.
  • The pack of three males that move around the Mozambique boundary were seen once this month.
Spotted hyenas
  • A large female was seen carrying what appeared to be the femur bone of a buffalo. We had received over 70 mm of rain the day before and, interestingly, this behaviour is quite common amongst hyenas after it rains - perhaps the scent of the bone is stronger once it’s been soaked. While watching her, a slightly smaller individual snuck up behind the vehicle, sniffing the side and slowly, with much curiosity, walked around the entire vehicle, stopping to investigate Sunday, who was sitting on the tracker seat.
  • There is a clan denning in the small caves in the northern granophyres. A few adult females and two cubs were seen sleeping nearby.
  • Solitary individuals are seen regularly skulking along roads early morning and late afternoon.
  • Over 100 vultures perched in Kori Clearings one morning led us to the remains of an adult zebra, only bones were left, and a hyena was dragging the last bits away.
Elephants
  • The tables have turned, and the elephants are now spending the majority of their time in the northern half of the concession where, after the winter fires, the grass has bounced back, forming a lush green carpet. A much tastier treat than their dried bark and roots diet from the dry season.
  • Large gatherings of up to 60 elephants congregated near the Central Depression and were seen one morning crossing the Gudzane River.
Buffalos
  • The buffalo herds have been scarce this month, with the large herd of 200 being seen once in the far north.
  • Four bulls have been spending time around the Xinkelegane drainage.
  • A herd of around 50 are moving around the grasslands east of the Gudzane Dam.
Plains game
  • A troop of Chacma baboons exploited the alate eruption from the small termite mounds, offering a hilarious show of running and jumping to catch these new flying termites packed with protein.
  • Zebra and wildebeest have been congregating in their hundreds in the open areas with shorter grasses. The rest of the concession is already boasting chest-high grasses, creating the perfect camouflage for any stalking predators.
Rare animals and other sightings
  • The leucistic kudu has been seen again in the area just north of the lodges. She is growing up quickly and looks like she might just be pregnant with her first calf.
  • A white-tailed mongoose - a large, nocturnal mongoose not often seen, dashed across the road one evening on our way back to the lodge.
  • While following some fresh leopard tracks, we noticed something bouncing through the long grass, getting closer we were surprised to see it was an African wild cat!
  • A single female eland has been spending time amongst the hundreds of impalas, zebra and wildebeest on Ostrich-Link open area. It would be interesting to know if this is the same one we saw around this time last year?
Birds
  • Two ostriches have been moving through the western basalt grassland and found their way to the central depression.
  • A little bittern was seen fishing in the rank emergent vegetation, that was built up after the flooding at Dave’s Crossing.
  • The Amur falcons took advantage of elate eruptions, as well as a few other eagle species, the booted eagle and lesser-spotted being some we don’t see very often.
  • A flock of ostriches with over 20 chicks sped across the H6 near Sonop. A rare sighting as most of the chicks were fairly large. Of the average sized clutch of 10-16 eggs laid, usually only a handful survive.