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News > Thanda Ranger Report, March 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Thanda Ranger Report, March 2008
Mariana Ventor
Mariana Ventor, wildlife researcher at Thanda Private Game Reserve, writes a monthly report on the sightings and activities in the reserve. March 2008 brought lazy Wild Dogs, an elusive lioness and playful leopard cubs to the delight of the rangers and guests alike.
Mariana writes, On the morning of the 3rd I went out to track the Wild Dogs and got signal for them close to the Villa. Almost an hour later they came racing down the hill chasing after some Impalas. They then went to drink water at the waterhole in front of the Villa and rested there. A little later there were Zebras, Giraffe, Wildebeest and Warthogs at the same Waterhole. The Dogs chased the Warthogs and the Zebras chased the Dogs. It was quite funny to watch them running around! Eventually they all just minded their own business and the Dogs went to sleep in the shade next to the waterhole. On the morning of the 5th I went out to look for the Lions again. I needed to find the one female without the cubs so that the vet could dart her for a check-up. The guides found her with the Male, but when I got there the Male was busy eating a Warthog and the Female was gone. I went out again just after lunch and saw the Lioness for a few seconds close to the Tented camp just before she disappeared again.
On the 9th and the 10th I went to look for the Lioness again to no avail, although I found the Male eating a Warthog under a bush. On the 11th we saw all the Buffalo and heard that the Lions had been spotted on the road right behind us. I turned back and saw the Lioness that I was looking for walking towards us. She stopped on the road in front of me and I actually started laughing. I'd been looking for her for such a long time so that we could dart her and on the day that I had guests with me she came and stood on the road right in front of me. I found some Giraffe close-by and we had coffee and tea there while watching these majestic animals. On our way back we saw the Buffalos again and found 3 Rhinos in the same area.
Another morning only one of my guests went out with me and we found the two Male Cheetahs close to North Gate. They were sniffing everywhere and calling so I think there must've been a female in the area that they were looking for. On the 25th I went looking for the Lioness again. I followed their tracks for a long time before Russell saw her in an open area close to where I was. I followed her to where the other Lioness and two cubs were busy eating a Zebra. They went to a dam close-by and rested in the bushes. When the vet got there they went deeper into the bushes. We drove around the block a few times and heard that the Male Lion had dragged the Zebra carcass into a thicket. We found all of them close to the carcass and darted the Lioness. It was almost dark and we had to hurry to find her. The others moved away and we took the Lioness to the Bomas.
After she woke up we opened the gate for her to go out. We saw all the Lions again the next afternoon and the darted Lioness was doing very well.
The last day in March I found the female Leopard with 2 cubs close to the same area. She went to hide behind some bushes and one of the cubs started stalking my vehicle. The cub came right passed me and crossed the road behind my vehicle. Another cub showed up and did the same thing. He was calling the first one and then disappeared into the bushes. After a while when one of the guides was there with me one of the cubs jumped out a tree and went to sleep on the ground. The other one came from behind the bushes and jumped onto the sleeping one. They played for a long time and 3 hours after I first found them I left them there. Amazing.
