I’ve been getting some daily exercise walking up and down the hyena hill to check on the new den.

I eventually found the two older mothers using a den right on the top of the hill in a different den than I thought previously. When I first spotted one of the older cubs roaming the hill I used my “special call” to attract their attention so they wouldn’t freak out by my presence. They came straight away to inspect and then strolled over to a crack in the rocks.

I followed and took up a position on a nearby rock. One big mother then came out the den to see what new clan member had arrived; surprisingly, she was completely relaxed with me being there. I stayed for the morning to observed and take photos and get them used to me being around the new den.

The hyenas and wild dogs had a huge confrontation South of Manyuchi two mornings ago, but nothing serious enough for them to eat each other.

I received an update on Magwaza the lioness and her three cubs. They were hanging around Chitindigova Hill just North of Bandama Pan, always in the hills these lions, the cubs are growing strong and the ex-Nduna lioness is still mixed up with the pride with one other lioness. This unknown lioness seems to be lactating, which means there might be some more little ones on the way. It may be too soon to jump to conclusions, there is really no way to tell for sure, unless some mad person climbs into the hill to take a look. I think I might camp out in my vehicle over next few days to see what I can spot.

I was just thinking how quickly the year has gone and how it’s so important to savor every moment. “Do what you love… and you’ll never work another day in your life,” my friend always said to me, today I’m in agreement.. But I also say, “do what you love and love what you do, “ that way you’re never disappointed.

I’ve been trying to track down where the older cubs have been disappearing to with a few of the other adults. They always come in to Manuchi from the Southern side of the pan, while the others from the old den in the North. I had finally found their secret den in the hills and while nobody was home, I heard some shuffling off as I found the den site.

This is an old den they’ve used before and one the wild dogs have use also. I climbed down the hill side to get back to Manuchi before I missed out on the sunset sports, but none of the hyenas were there. They were all at the old den carrying on with the usual social activities. The younger cubs are both competing for a medal in bravery going on walk about and also all over my car. The one cub has a nice nature about it, but the other looks as if it will be a spirited one.

I’ve been out with Kim on the dogs during the last two afternoons, they are doing well and starting to stretch their legs again. With the pups growing fast , they are moving greater distances and also killing Impalas by the half dozen. The other day they killed five in one hunt! They had a festive morning with hyenas at Forma Danga pan. The dogs got the better of them and chased them off, but never underestimate those spotties. We are making headway on the film side, but as one project draws to a close so it marks the birth of a new idea and project – exciting times.

So it was from the rhinos in the South to the wild dogs in the West. Something similar to that song where they sing “from the east side to the west side”, well I think all rap songs have that line in them, but you get the picture.

The dogs were back at Chidumu rocks, which is quite a picturesque setting with its rock figs and its huge bolders. They had a festive session, where the adults regurgitated and the pups all tried to climb into the same piece of meat. Kim has returned so I will let him continue on all wild dog happenings.

I headed for Manuchi hide after “Dozer” suffered from a high temperature when the waterpump seized – I am again limited as to where I can venture. Anyway, it turned out to be an incredible time in the pit. I waited a little while as the Giraffe began to filter in along with the Impala. It was a fairly hot day at around 36 degrees, so they get fairly desperate to drink.
But, it was not long before the hyenas move in to claim their spot.

The giraffe were not that easily intimidated this time and they all seemed to move around the pan following a peace agreement. The hyenas were on to me in the hide fairly quickly, which in turn left the giraffe wondering what was burrowing in the ant mound. The sun went down and with the last remaining light the hyenas left along with me as I had to walk back to the car. The giraffe was left in peace to drink his fill.

Readjusting his grip on what looked to be a Zebra front leg, he continued his trot along the road back in the direction of the den. After three kilometers or so he took a short cut through some thickets and I went around to meet him at Manuchi Pan. He was already there when I pulled up and the one older cub was at the pan gnawing on the limb. It wasn’t long before the gathering of the clan and the party once again got out of control.

The males love hanging around with the cubs, they run up and down chasing each other and wrestle around in the pan, this is very funny to watch.

I have been checking up on the dogs while Kim is away finalizing things on the Wild Dog movie. All the dogs are all doing well, they seem to be hunting early and catching quickly, because they are back at the den by 9:30/ 10 am. They’ve been heading straight into the hill where the den is after a short greeting ceremony and stay there until after 5pm every day so far. The pups are growing up fast, it’s been great spending time with them again.

I took a visit to the Hwata Pan which has dried up, and also to Chimize Pan, which is full at the moment. The white rhino have been drinking there and this is exactly what I’d hoped for. There were five rhinos nearby the pan, with a large male trying to chase the younger calves away from the female so he could get down to business. Things don’t always go as planned and for now he had to come up with a better plan to maneuver his way in there.

It feels good to be back in a routine after the whole buffalo capture saga, it really pays off, putting in the hours with the animal you’re working on, I’m getting some amazing footage at the pan lately. Yesterday I watched the hyenas take over the pan once again and refuse entry to all other animals waiting in the shadows. Eventually three warthogs were brave enough to challenge the hyenas and eventually came out tops. The hyenas end up giving each other a fright and when one panics they all high-tail it out of there. Another one for the hooves.

For now I’m happy to get back to my hyenas, and they must have heard me coming, because the first came ambling out of the woodwork right away, followed by the others as the heat began to dissipate. It was wonderful to see some real behaviour from the clan, this is quite a change from filming humans performing tasks.

After a good time at the den I thought that Manuchi must be rocking and I was right. The adults had once again taken over the pan, they were sprawled out all around the entire area. Hyenas can be quite possessive over their watering spots, they tend to hang around longer than what is required to just rehydrate, they rather enjoy sporting around in the water.

One of the mothers was carrying what looked like a dead cub in her mouth. She proceeded to drop the lump of flesh in the pan and then submerge herself in the water. This all looked a little horrifying to begin with, but it turned out to be what seemed like a foetus of some sort from a kill - what a relief.

Alan called on the radio and mentioned he was near Sosigi so a quick detour was in order to catch a glimpse of Tanga. Nothing like spotting a leopard on the road home, this may have been with the help of a little cheat, but it was still just as sweet.

This is part of a buffalo capture, where we willfully place ourselves in the path of a herd of buffalo being herded by a chopper into a boma. When they run past, the curtains get closed and the buffalo are then ready to be selected and inoculated. It may sound simple, but it is not easy - it is very hard work! Temperatures have been hitting the 40 degree mark in the shade, this is how Africa treats its finest.

I have been at this buffalo capture for the past three days now and being out in the sun really knocks you out. I also managed to squeeze in an aerial shoot, so I might put a grand aerial clip together to end the week with a bang.

Besides doing the buffalo capture I managed to slip away to spend time with the hyenas and I caught up with them at Manuchi Pan where they had completely taken over. One of the cubs wanted to investigate a young giraffe waiting its turn to drink and the other five older cubs came in to enjoy some water sports. All in all there were thirteen hyenas at the pan wading in the water and just enjoying the cool water after a scorcher of a day.

I hope to catch up with the hyena on Sunday again after the buffalo capture is on its back. For now I need to get some shut eye so I don’t fade on the last day of the buffalo capture.

My first destination had to be the hyena den to check up on how the little guys were doing. I arrived at the den to find no one home, but this was nothing to be concerned about because I had guessed they were moving around a little more often after running into the cubs at Manuchi Pan two weeks ago. I checked in at all the other dens hoping to pick up some signs of movement - and hopefully no evidence of lions reeking havoc.

Finding nothing nothing there, I continued on to do a loop around the reserve to catch up with what was happening while I was away. Driving through the hills one notices how the Knob Thorn trees are all standing out with their green leaves. The Mopane Trees are still dry which is giving the woodlands that eerie feel with the blackened grasslands also leave the animals finding grazing elsewhere. I had organised a cruize on Malilangwe Dam for the afternoon, which is a real treat for me not having to drive and just take a camera along to shoot all the action.

This then inspired a fishing trip for the following day, but first I needed to get back onto the hyenas’ disappearance. I pulled a late night shift to catch th cubs in the act, this turned out to be a winner.

There were five cubs with the two younger cubs, but the new borns seem to have been moved. The usual excited greeting cerimony followed and they all remained comfortable with me hanging around all the time. This morning I managed to do a recount on the cubs and all six were there with the little guys still missing. I will be trying to pick up on their location tonight, hopefully they have not gone too far.

With an early start the next day I was back in the area searching, climbing all the highest koppies hoping to get a signal from Chevvy’s transmitter. In this mountainous country, using telemetry becomes rather hit and miss, but being up on the highest peaks usually produces success. By lunch time and with many conquered hills under my belt, I was still no closer to finding the dogs.

So I’d decided that I’d fly in the late afternoon. But just before heading to the airstrip, I climbed another mountain, this time close to home base, and sure enough I got a signal a long ways to the west.

The whole pack, including the pups had moved to another den having travelled about 5kms from the previous den. This is a long way for these 12 week old puppies, but they all seemed just fine.

They only spent a couple of days at this den and moved to another further south. This was far more user friendly to me than the last one.

But after being there only 2 days, disaster struck. Getting to the dogs at dawn, I only counted 10 puppies. One was missing and the pack had now moved away from the den. Searching the area there was no sign of foul play, until I got to the den and peering into the crevice I saw the curled up body of an African Rock Python. I could only see the one coil and then I saw the dead puppy. Shortly the python had disappeared. Not an easy feeling as I wondered which crevice it might appear from next. And then of course I went even more against the grain and wedged myself deep into the crevice to retrieve the puppy. Which I did and found its upper body covered in saliva. The python was already beginning to swallow the pup and my appearing on the scene must have disturbed it. I left the puppy there, but the python never returned.

The pack subsequently moved their den back to the previous one. Hopefully no more pythons up there!

It’s amazing how the animals are not really perturbed by the blaze and carry on as normal, just keeping out of its way. The fire swept past the hyena den but was stopped short by the trampled, there was no sign of any panic at the den, they just go underground and let the smoke pass over. I surprised the cubs at the Manuchi crossing yesterday and they were quite glad to see me tagging along.

The mothers were doing their usual “Jack-in the Box” type neck stretches eyeballing me out, but just making sure the cubs were alright. The cubs then scurried back to the den, which gave me an opportunity to follow the females on a little hunting excursion in the cool drizzle. Temperatures soared at around 40 degrees during the week and then dropped to 20 degrees on the week-end. The drizzle brings a little relief from the harsh rays of the sun, allowing the hyenas to move around during the day. They eventually came nose to nose with a herd of zebra, but nothing came of it. This is the first time I’ve been able to follow them with my vehicle and they were quite relaxed about it. So a small staring session and everyone went their own way. The hyenas headed in-between the hills and I was left stumped.

I met up with Sjambok earlier in the week, he was looking like a true king. He had eaten far too much, was over weight and lazy. He’s in charge, so I guess he can do what he likes.
One interesting thing I spotted was a White-tailed Mongoose.

This light footed creature is a little larger than a Spotted Genet and shows a lot of intelligence by hanging low and sitting on its white tail while I was scanning for it using the spotlight. Kim and I swapped blogging days while I head off to my sisters wedding for the week, so until next week – over and out.

The cubs have been extremely playful of late and just amazing to watch.The adults often join in the fun surrendering to their social nature. Its been another week at the hyena den and also up on the hill with Kim catching a few extra shots of him with the wild dog pups. Two nights ago we spent the night out close to Lojaan Dam, where a giraffe had died. It didn’t seem like anything killed it, probably just a natural death, but this is any predators dream find. I took along the “Bose” boombox and sounded the hyena calls at full volume.

I was amazed at the immediate response from across the valley. Leaving it at that and catching a little shut eye, it wan’t twenty minutes later that the first male hyena arrived on the scene ready to devour. He ran around scouting the area confused by the lack of other hyena presence. A nibble and a lick and he guarded the carcass until the others arrived. Nothing much happened until early morning besides one adult chewing on my car during the night. I was hoping a lion would appear or something interesting would happen, but nothing of the sort.

Sunrise came and the hyenas had barely made a dent in the carcass. A giraffe has such a thick hide, even hyenas battle to penetrate to the meat. Guided by a fresh morning breeze the vultures arrived in their hordes trying to stake their share of the carrion.

The fun then started all over again, the adults are such a laugh chasing the vultures, chasing each other up and down, basically, it was one big party for the hyenas – and they were enjoying every minute of it.