19 Mar What A Week!

Spotted hyena, cheetah and lion were all encountered this week with each giving an incredibly unique sighting.

Our first lion encounter occurred along a dried river bed where a male and female seemed to be relaxing after what looked like a large meal they’d devoured not that long before we discovered them.

Similar to that of our cheetah encounter who was mid way through devouring its kill. Due to their low level status as predators, after every mouthful the cheetah lifted its head out of the carcass to check if any intruders were planning on stealing its food. Cheetahs use a large amount of energy when hunting and can easily suffer from exhaustion and eventually death unless monitored. Therefore they are prone to giving up their kills when forced upon by larger predators such as lions and hyaena.

Finally on Saturday morning we came across a spotted hyaena cooling its body in the rising African climate by submerging itself in a lake. Relative pound for pound in force, the hyaena have the strongest jaw in the African bush. Although we were well and truly within a comfort zone view point, this still prompted our tracker seat volunteer to lift his legs onto the bonnet of the Land Rover!

Hopefully this coming week is filled with more incredible encounters and lots of work towards ongoing conservation projects.