With more than half a million acres of epic wilderness spread across three countries in Africa, Singita is home to a diverse number of flora and fauna. Our Wildlife Reports are a monthly chronicle of the goings on in the bush, from notable game sightings and animal activity to interesting anecdotes and weather patterns. Here on the blog, we regularly round up the most recent reports and give you a snapshot of life in each of our five concessions:
There is something universally amusing about the antics of young elephant calves; their short, stocky bodies, unwieldy trunks and ears, stubby tusks and the shock of hair that sprouts on their heads combine to produce a very comical creature.
Against a backdrop of plummeting vulture numbers worldwide Ruaha National Park and southern Tanzania are lights in an otherwise gloomy tale.
Currently vultures are the fastest declining group of birds in the world. The IUCN Red List was updated in 2015 to indicate that of the eleven African species four are now listed as critically endangered and three as endangered.
If ever there was a creature that was the perfect complement to the vibrant colour palette of Singita Pamushana Lodge, then the Picasso bug is it!
One of the first things that visitors see when they come in to land at Singita Sabi Sand is the thatched boma that serves as a rustic, safari-style airport terminal. Alongside this small building, guests will usually find the welcoming committee of their field guide and tracker, a table of refreshments and the waiting game viewing vehicle. Visitors arriving at the concession last week were in for an extra treat however; one of the resident leopards was snoozing in the boma!
The competition for attention between siblings is something many people will be familiar with, but imagine having 20 of them to contend with! This is the norm for the unusually large lion prides that roam Singita Kruger National Park; family groups that can reach up to 40 members.
Singita Grumeti, situated adjacent to the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, is an integral part of the Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem. Singita manages the concession on behalf of the non-profit Grumeti Community and Wildlife Conservation Fund, and is responsible for the long-term sustainability of the reserve. Elephants, the gentle giants of the grasslands, form an essential part of this ecosystem. Here field guide Ross Couper tells us more:
Every week we select the best safari moments captured by our guests and guides.
We update our Asilia Africa Facebook Page with these new shots so keep checking our page for the latest ones!
Enjoy the highlights of October 2015 below.
Field guide and wildlife photographer Ross Couper was born in Zimbabwe and grew up in the Matopos National Park, so he has a special connection to the country and its fauna and flora. Here he shares his knowledge and memories of the local African Wild Dog population with us:
“You can lie out on the bare ground and look like a heap of pebbles. You can lie out on the naked rocks and look like a piece of pudding-stone. You can lie out on a leafy branch and look like sunshine sifting through the leaves; and you can lie right across the centre of a path and look like nothing in particular. Think of that and purr!”
