Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Ranger Diaries March 2012


Ranger Diaries March 2012


March was a very exciting month in the Reserve, with the season changes we are heading fast towards Autumn. The grass is slowly drying out, the evenings are getting rather nippy and we’ve had some wonderful afternoon lightning storms as well as spectacular sunsets over the bushveld.  Babies are growing fast and our game is in excellent condition and getting ready for the cold winter months, which are just around the corner!

We had excellent sightings over the last month.  Our Lion population is up to 11 as there were 4 new cubs born in December 2011. The mother is still hiding the cubs very well, but every now and then we get a glimpse of the cute little ones. The adult and sub adult lions guaranteed us great sightings on an almost daily basis. These three sub adult lions are getting independent and are showing that they are excellent hunters already. Watching them stalking a zebra is always an exciting sighting and we were able to witness a few stalk’s over the past weeks, some more successful than others.  

Our guests were very lucky, as one of the adult females came right up to our game viewer while roaring. To feel the vibration of a lions roar vibrating off your ‘soul’ is a totally awesome feeling and not something that we experience every day.

The Elephants have been enjoying the Sundays River for quite a time but have now moved to the centre of the reserve and we had great sightings of the little ones.
The 4 new bulls we received end of last year from Zimbabwe, seem to have settled in very well and made for some great game viewing. Every now and then one gets a bit cheeky and shows us who the boss of the bush is. 


The Buffalo herd is growing as we had 3 new arrivals over the past three months and the fluffy little calves are too cute for words. The lonely old bulls are still full of nonsense and guarantee us exciting sightings and a vehicle chase every now and then!

After all the terrible news about the rhinos poached countrywide, we are very lucky to have a healthy Rhino population. The dehorning done a while ago seems to have paid off and we have had magnificent sightings, most often of mothers with their calves.

We are looking forward to meeting you at this stunning Reserve WE CALL HOME.

The Springbok Lodge Rangers, Lee, Ruan and Nicole