February 2025

Singita Sabi Sand

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Singita Sabi Sand: February 2025

Less rain for the month of February compared to that of January but a consistent drizzle throughout the day on a few days in February. Everything remains very lush and green. Late afternoon thunderstorms are accompanied by the most beautiful rainbows (sometimes even a double rainbow) and that late afternoon glowing light! The sun is also starting to come up later on and before we know it the sunset has crept up on us during the afternoon game drive. It certainly feels like winter is just around the corner. The river has come up on several occasions and we can observe some of the islands in the river disappearing, over breakfast at the lodge! New lion and leopard cubs have been found on the reserve north of the river so it is exciting times!
A snapshot of the sightings for February follows:
Elephants
  • Large breeding herds of 60 or 70 elephants have been observed in the grasslands of the south! Almost like scenes out of the Serengeti for us here in the Sabi Sands. They seemed to have turned their attention the silver cluster leaf trees, and most days there are new obstacles across the roads for us as we go out searching for animals.
Buffaloes
  • The large herd seemed to have splintered off into smaller pockets of around 50 to 100 buffalo. Still frequenting the southern grasslands and as far north as our airstrip. Maybe with all the lion activity in the reserve the herds have fractured somewhat.
Lions
  • The Mhangeni Pride have been trailed once again by the older Tumbela male whose condition has worsened a lot over the last while. Their movements have been erratic over the central/southern parts with the Nkuhuma and Talamati males frequenting the area.
  • The Plains Camp males have been seen with the Othawa Pride and their new litter of cubs in the north, as well as the Ximungwe Pride and their new litter of cubs!
  • Other lions observed over the month have been the Tsalala lioness and the Nkuhuma sub-adults who all seem to be doing really well given their tough circumstances.
Leopards
  • The Thamba male has been frequenting the Sand River very close to the lodges, making the most of the thick vegetation. He has been targeting the bushbuck in the area, and providing us with some great leopard viewing. Considering he has been seen a lot further east of his usual territory we haven’t seen much of the younger Ntomi male.
  • The Nkuwa female also seems to elude us and then surprise us at the best of times when we need a leopard the most. There is speculation as to whether or not she is heavily pregnant at the moment.
  • The Ntoma female and Xipuku males have also been seen a handful of times this month.
Cheetah
  • The Makatini female has been off our radar for a while this month but was found towards the end of the month with all three of her cubs looking happy and healthy.
  • The male cheetah was found in the south on an impala ram kill. Guide and guests had initially stopped to watched a rainbow and enjoy the scenery when guineafowl alarm calls alerted them to something equally as special just around the corner.
African wild dogs
  • The Othawa Pack of wild dogs have been a crowd favourite. Consistently hunting, and successfully at that, several times in a morning or afternoon session. They are still 13 members strong and we are hoping again for a strong number of puppies this year.
Unusual sightings
  • An afternoon spent with the wild dogs for some of the guides out on a tracking team led them to a pangolin! Kayla writes more about it this month in her article.
Bird List
  • We have added five more species to the list taking the total to 251 birds. Capped wheatear and white-backed night heron being the highlights for the month.