A new life

After a phenomenal sighting the night before with the female leopard and the Impala lamb kill, I was quietly pessimistic that we could possibly manage to “out do” the previous drive. The whole drive ended up being very relaxing and very much a “bumble and see” experience, not really working on any particular plan. We had already seen 4 male lions sleeping and had a wonderful coffee and felt that it was time to amble back to the lodge for some breakfast. On our way home and out of nowhere my tracker Chris says to me: “stop, go back, quickly!” While I was reversing, Chris says to me: “I think I can see an Impala trying to give birth”. He said: “she is lying down and is on her own, look at her face she looks like she is gagging”. Sure enough, there was a female Impala lying on the ground lurching every few seconds, she eventually stood up exposing her rump, where we could see the birth sack starting to protrude. She walked a few meters and lay down again pushing hard and lurching forward. After about the 6th time of getting up and lying down, out came the most beautiful little Impala lamb. The female Impala lay exhausted as the lamb shook itself off. After approximately 15 minutes since the birth sack was exposed the female impala began to lick the lamb clean and the lamb started trying to stand up. After another 10 minutes and several tries, up it stood, very wobbly, but it was up. Exactly 30 minutes since the birth sack started to show, the lamb was standing and trying to suckle. This was the first time in my whole career that I have ever seen an Impala birth. After the previous nights sighting of a lamb being killed, this mornings sighting seemed fitting. Truly a very special experience and one I will never forget.

Posted: Exeter Lodges by Craig Paulsen, Date: 17 November 2009

 
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