January 2026

Kruger National Park

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Kruger National Park: January 2026

January 2026 will be remembered as a truly historic month for South Africa and for the Kruger National Park. An extraordinary convergence of weather systems from the south and east formed a powerful low-pressure system, delivering almost two weeks of relentless rainfall across the region. The northern reaches of Kruger were the hardest hit, with several camps evacuated as rivers burst their banks and floodwaters surged through the landscape. In some areas, lodges built close to river edges experienced water levels rising alarmingly high, in places nearing ceiling height. Within the Singita concession, Lebombo and Sweni were fortunate to escape with minimal issues, although water levels rose to record heights and access was temporarily restricted.
As the N’wanetsi River finally began to subside, it revealed a landscape dramatically reshaped by the force of the water. Where steep banks and dense fever-berry thickets once lined the river’s edge, wide open sandbanks now stretch out, with little vegetation remaining nearby. Entire trees were swept away, and the only evidence of the torrent that rushed through hours before lies in the grass and debris tangled high in the remaining branches. Flooding is not unfamiliar to natural systems, and many animals instinctively respond by moving to higher ground. While there were inevitably some casualties - particularly among newborn mammals, birds and insects - this is nature’s cycle, where resilience and adaptation prevail.
Exploring the concession again has been both challenging and exhilarating. River crossings are unrecognisable, roads have been damaged or erased, and each drive brings moments of possibly getting stuck, getting unstuck, and carefully reopening access where possible. The Xinkelegane drainage, which usually flows only briefly after heavy rain, has been running steadily since the 15th of January, continuing to feed the N’wanetsi and push water past our lodges. The areas we have managed to reach so far have quite literally left us speechless, and we are excited to witness how this powerful event will shape the months to come.
A Sightings Snapshot for January follows:
Lions
  • The Shish Pride – This pride has only been seen on the outskirts of our concession, primarily around H6 and S37 near the N’wanetsi picnic site. On one occasion, the short-maned male was observed. We are uncertain about the status of the female, who was last seen with visible suckling marks the previous month. She was seen toward the Granophyre’s area then; however, due to the heavy rainfall, we have not yet been able to cross any of the rivers to follow up on her movements.
  • The Sonop males – These males were seen only during the first week of the month. On one fortunate afternoon, they managed to chase a leopard off its kill. Otherwise, they have been observed patrolling the western boundary of our concession, advertising their presence not only through frequent scent marking but also by stopping regularly to roar. As the air cools in the late afternoon and evening, their deep, guttural calls carry even further across the landscape.
  • The Mananga Pride – Just as the first heavy rains began, the Mananga Pride was seen moving steadily south from the north. They eventually reached the Ntsibistane drainage line, where they turned east and moved up into the mountains.
  • After the 15th of the month, drainage lines, normally dry depressions, and our major rivers began to rise significantly. This restricted our movements to the tarred roads within the Kruger National Park. Despite these limitations, we were fortunate to see Casper, the white lion born on our concession in 2014, who has since established territory around the Satara region. We also observed the N’wanetsi male and the Chava male west of the Shishangaan waterhole. These males had moved through our concession at the beginning of 2025 but disappeared as the Sonop males expanded their territory across our concession.
Leopards
  • This month’s leopard sightings were dominated by females, with the Khandziya female being the most prominent. This beautiful young female is thriving along the N’wanetsi River between Dave’s Crossing and Green-apple Hill. The area offers an ideal habitat, with numerous tall trees, deep ravines, rocky outcrops, and an abundance of game to meet all her needs. As this region forms part of her mother’s established territory, she is also afforded a level of protection from other territorial females that could otherwise pose a threat. This security, combined with the rich and varied landscape, appears to be allowing her to settle well and flourish in the area.
African wild dogs
  • African wild dogs have been a particular highlight recently, with two packs viewed regularly in the immediate area around the lodges and along the H6. One pack, numbering twelve individuals, includes a collared member, part of an ongoing monitoring programme run by Kruger National Park in collaboration with several non-profit organisations, including the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT). Through GPS collaring and detailed sighting records, these partnerships help track movements, pack dynamics, and survival rates of this endangered species across South Africa. The presence of lodges such as Singita within the park greatly enhances these efforts, as frequent and reliable sightings by guides contribute valuable data and allow for more effective monitoring, ultimately aiding conservation outcomes. The second pack, made up of three adults and six fast-growing pups, has delighted guests with phenomenal viewing, including playful scenes of the pups wallowing in muddy puddles and thrilling hunting displays as the pack targets impala - an encouraging sign of a healthy and active family group.
Elephants
  • Elephant sightings this month have been nothing short of exceptional, with the herds seemingly unfazed by the persistent rains. Where other species may be slowed or displaced, elephants thrive under these conditions, needing to travel far less in search of essential nutrients as water is abundant across the landscape. With marula trees in full fruit, food is plentiful, and the bush feels rich and alive - making it a particularly good time to be an elephant. Massive bulls, some in musth, have been a frequent highlight, slowly trudging along with an unmistakable presence, their great heads gently bobbing up and down while their trunks sway rhythmically from side to side as they move through the soaked terrain.
Spotted hyenas
  • Hyena sightings this month have been particularly interesting, as observations shifted away from the more common encounters with solitary, wandering individuals to sightings of entire clans moving together. On several occasions, groups of up to eight hyenas were seen roaming around the Dumbana Rocks, noses to the ground as they followed scent trails in looping, purposeful patterns. Encouragingly, the well-known clan along the H6, made up of multiple generations and several young cubs, has endured the heavy rains. Their original den, located in a culvert beneath the tarred H6 road, remained intact long enough for the older, more experienced females to relocate their cubs westward to a safer, drier den-site - demonstrating both their adaptability and maternal foresight in challenging conditions.
Buffalos
  • Large herds of buffalo have been roaming the central regions of the Kruger, moving steadily across the open grasslands as they feed on the lush, sweet grasses brought on by the seasonal rains. Their presence has been widespread, with the herds taking full advantage of the abundant grazing conditions available in these open areas. All buffalo sightings recorded this month occurred during the period when our concession was flooded. As a result, our explorations took us further south toward the Tshokwane area, where these impressive herds were most frequently encountered.
Plains game
  • Relentless flooding across the plains of the Kruger National Park has left soils deeply saturated, creating ideal conditions for bacterial hoof diseases and soft, unstable terrain that takes a toll on many of the park’s large ungulates. While detailed veterinary surveys of hoof-rot-like conditions in wild African ungulates aren’t as widely documented as in domestic livestock, browser and grazer species with heavy reliance on firm ground - such as impala (Aepyceros melampus), Burchell’s zebra (Equus quagga burchellii), blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), and other antelope - are vulnerable to interdigital infections and foot lesions when they stand for prolonged periods in muddy conditions, much like foot rot in domestic ruminants where bacteria such as Dichelobacter nodosus and Fusobacterium necrophorum flourish in moist soils. With the grass now exceptionally long and swamps expanded by the rains, we’re seeing impala, zebra, wildebeest and various antelope species spending more time on the firmer road surfaces to ease pressure on irritated hooves and to better spot predators. The tall grass also provides excellent stalking cover for lions, leopards and wild dogs, increasing predation risk in the flooded savanna and reinforcing why many plains game are lingering in the openness of the roads
Birds
  • In recent weeks our concession has been transformed by the arrival of red-billed quelea in their hundreds of thousands, an awe-inspiring spectacle that signals another dynamic chapter in the seasonal rhythms of the bush. These highly nomadic birds move constantly in response to rainfall and the availability of grass seeds, their feeding habits dictating vast movements across the landscape. We have been fortunate to host nesting quelea on our concession for the past few years, and this year is no exception. They have once again settled into the knob-thorn thickets along the granophyre ridge just north of our lodges, where the air thrums with sound and motion. The nesting colonies have turned the area into a hub of activity, attracting a diverse cast of predators - eagles circling overhead, snakes slipping through the branches, and various mammals drawn in by the abundance of birds, eggs, and newly hatched chicks - creating a vivid and ever-unfolding wildlife drama.