Reflections on Umlani – photos captured in the past month

Every month, Umlani puts together a series of photographs highlighting sightings from the month. These reflections on Umlani perfectly accentuates the quote by Will Smith saying, "It's really beautiful, it feels like God visits everywhere else, but lives in Africa".

Providing some of the best sightings in a long time, June was a rather spectacular month. From lions, to buffalo herds; it appears as though winter has set in and the bush has faded to browns (increasing the chances of sightings). Below are some of the top sightings captured by Greg McCall-Peat.

Lions

The Mbiri males, the dominant males of the area, have continued to demonstrate their dominance by patrolling the area. They were even seen claiming the kills of both the Ross pride lionesses and the Zebinine pride.

Elephants

Elephants are saturating the wild at the moment. At times, you can find herds of close to 300 individuals on a daily basis. It is a truly magical experience being able to witness these beasts in the wild.

Leopards

Marula has been mating again with Rothsay male. Although she is relaxed, he isn't during the daylight hours and so he tends to stay away from vehicles. The Mazinyo male was found on top of a termite mound one morning, waiting for warthogs. He eventually grew impatient and moved on to find a meal elsewhere. Despite these sightings, Nthombi has been the star of the show. Heavily pregnant, she has been seen searching for meals, attempting to catch scrub hares and securing a red crested korhaan.

Buffalo

Buffalo sightings have also increased significantly this month. It is not uncommon to see herds moving in search of food and water - picking up smaller herds along the way.

Wild dog

There have been regular sightings of wild dog this month as a pack has been denning on the neighbouring property. One particular sighting that stood out was catching the wild dogs on their hunt. After struggling to keep up with them, they were eventually found feeding on an impala. They then moved to a nearby waterhole and began playing and chasing each other.

General sightings