BLOG - Mammals

.....is in the middle of Walking Guide Exams so very little time for taking photos, except to record new wildflowers! However, I did find this photo in my archives which made me smile! Reminds me of doing long jump at school!

After what seemed like weeks of camp building, I finally got out in the park again last night. During the rains, there is often a storm in the late afternoon, but on afternoons when there is not, the dramatic clouds and clear light make for great photos.

As it was, I didn't take many photos until it was almost dark when I came across a troop of baboons preparing to roost in some Ebony trees along a lagoon. It seems that they regularly choose Ebonies as roosting sites because they are very tall and not heavily leafed which allows them a good viewpoint to spot predators (mainly leopard) as they approach.

It was very calm and quiet as the troop made their way to the grove of trees, stopping regularly to groom a friend or just stare into space, contemplating life.

Sometimes it is....

While I was away in the North Luangwa, many of the grasses that line the dambos in the park produced their seeds. I returned to find the elephants gorging themselves on the nutritious Rice Grass - or Lupunga as the locals call it. Baboons, whose diet varies considerably depending on what is available, were making the most of it too. This female has stuffed her cheek pouches full of seeds which she can chew at her own leisure.

For a long time, the taxonomic status of hyaenas has been under discussion. Should they be classified with dogs (Family: Canidae) or with the cats (Family: Felidae)? In the end, they are sufficiently different from both to gain their own family, Hyaenidae.

Here are two hyaenas making the most of the cooling waters of the Mushilashi, while idly chewing on an old buffalo skin.

I stood in roughly this same spot about two weeks ago and watched 400 hippos jostling for space in the shallow water. In the space of a few days, they've all moved out.

Add 20 cms to the river depth, which is what the rain in surrounding areas has done, and it becomes uncomfortably deep for a resting hippos. The small amount of rain locally will also have re-filled some of the nearby lagoons, which the hippos prefer to the faster-flowing river.

Early morning and late afternoon are the busiest times for primates. Grooming, feeding, cementing relationships, caring for young and resolving disputes are common activities at this time.
This morning, I sat and watched this young female grooming an older female. Possibly a member of her immediate family, but also possibly one of her ''friends'' within the troop, offering to groom a more senior member of the troop is all part of the system of reciprocity that governs behaviour and hierarchy in baboon society. This act of kindness will be remembered and the subodinate animal will, after fostering a strong friendship, rely on the senior animal''s support during disputes.
Of course, grooming serves a practical purpose too by reducing the tick and parasite load.

A few months ago, the local pride male was regualarly seen mating with his females. Sure enough, 3.5 months on, there are lion cubs around. But this isn't always the case and we are lucky that so many of the cubs seem to be doing well.

Lions certainly sit at the top of the food chain. And apart from hunting accidents (buffalo don't like to go without a fight) adults aren't at risk from predation. However, cubs are very vulnerable. A roaming male attempting to claim a pride for himself will first kill any cubs fathered by the previous male. Females may try to protect their cubs, but it's thought that any less than a year old will perish. Such is nature's way of perpetuating only the strongest genes.

Females try to ensure that cubs are only born into a stable pride by first coming into a false oestrus, where the male will mate, but the female doesn't ovulate. This way, the male must hold the pride long enough to mate again, before he fathers cubs.

The lion pride situation has been very unstable in the last couple of years. Large prides of 17 - 22 are too big for most males to hold, so they tend to fragment and this makes females and their cubs vulnerable. Last year, a large proportion of the cubs born did not make it to their first year and there may be more that we never knew about. So to have 6 lion cubs in the local area which are readily visible to us suggests that the females feel more secure.

This youngster was the most alert when found them today, and tried to play with his siblings who were mostly too fat to move! At roughly 12 weeks, they are still suckling, but will also sample fresh kills.



These two are about 3-4 weeks old and didn't even turn round when I arrived - despite the heat, they were piled on top of each other like huskies!

Sitting in a vehicle overlooking the river as the sun goes down is a truly Africa experience. Especially when a small family of elephants comes to complete the scene.