THE BUFFALO MIGRATION AT SANDIBE

It’s that time again when the water levels are high and the greenery of the channels around Sandibe are attracting the buffaloes from Moremi Game Reserve. The grazing in Moremi starts to deteriorate as we progress into winter and the first herd of over 700 animals have already crossed the Gomoti River into the Sandibe concession. The herd will eventually accumulate to a couple of thousand strong. With this, the large predators start to gather, following the buffaloes. The lions with their cooperative hunting behavior have the obvious advantage and have come from all over to share in this bounty.

On a recent evening game drive we managed to find the buffaloes, which was not too difficult to do as they had left easy tracks to follow and the tell-tail calls of the Oxpecker always alerted us to their whereabouts. Once we had found them it became evident that there was uneasiness in the air. This could only mean one thing, the presences of lion in the vicinity!

Our suspicion was confirmed when shortly after arriving the calls of francolin were heard and after a brief search we found the lions. Two pride males and 6 lionesses. During my stay at Sandibe the lions relentlessly chased after the buffaloes in the hope that they would drop their defenses. I also managed to witness one of the pride males mating with a young lioness so expect to see young cubs in the next 3-4 month when you come visit.

Posted: Sandibe by Jacques van Eck, Date: 21 July 2011