The winter in South Africa’s Lowveld region is usually dry and the bush brown, and beautiful of course. But this winter, thanks to unseasonal rain, the bush is still green and thick. The herbivores have being making the most of it, keeping well fed and strong, and despite this the large carnivores of Painteddog.tv’s immediate home range, Pridelands, are doing very well, in particular the big cats as the land reaps the rewards of being turned back into a completely wild area only a few years ago, 2017 to be exact.
Both the Break-Away and original Ngati lion prides as the Ngati prides are doing particularly well because both have now learned to hunt buffalo. A much better diet plan than small impalas for entire prides. Pixie Pan’s latest litter of leopard cubs is doing well at 2 strong, while her two older daughters, Sexy One and Two on account of their spot patterns, have been seen regularly too. Finally, there have been sightings of a female cheetah in the Northern parts of the reserve, with the latest signs of cheetah as recently as last Saturday when an abandoned impala carcass was found in the middle of Impala Plains.
Conservation CORNER
Collaring a Painted Dog Pack with EWT
The pack of four painted dogs we are hoping to collar have not been seen in the area for a couple of months now, and Grant Beverly, from the Endangered Wildlife Trust‘s Greater Kruger National Park Wild Dog Project, is confident that they are denning elsewhere – which is great news for the species! We will of course keep our eyes and ears open for that pack, or another, which we can help fit with a radio collar so that EWT and other conservationists they work with can continue to revive and protect these beautiful endangered carnivores. Thanks again to Connie O’Neill and Christina Jones who donated the funds to cover the veterinary bills and broadcast of the collaring.
Keep you eyes on the free Painteddoog.tv phone app and on your inbox for updates!
Remember Bears, in Africa?!
On 25 June Painteddog.tv donated a Private Live Virtual Safari, guided by Brent, to Remembering Wildlife, as way for Remembering to say thank you to those who have donated a collective £145,998 towards the production of their latest book, Remembering Bears. The profits from the book will go towards bear conservation. A massive congratulations to Margot Raggett, and everyone else at Remembering Wildlife, for bringing these fantastic projects to life and making it so easy and pleasurable for the public to be able to contribute to a host of important conservation organisations, and it is our honour to be associated with it.
Following the success of the Remembering African Wild Dogs launch last year, Painteddog.tv are very happy to announce that we will once again be hosting the virtual launch of the book alongside the live launch, and we will keep you posted on the dates and time when confirmed.
Painteddog.tv Safaris
Painted Dog Conservation Safari in september 2022
The are still four spots available on September’s one-of-a-kind Painted Dog Conservation Safari, privately guided by Brent Leo-Smith. From only ZAR 40,000 pps (± USD 2,500), or contact us for SADC rates. This includes:
- 2 nights at Khaya Ndlovu Manor House – Rietspruit Game Reserve.
- 4 nights at Siviti Timbavati Homestead – Thornybush Private Game Reserve.
- A day in the field with the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Grant Beverly monitoring Painted Dogs, as well as a talk and dinner.
- A Generous donation of ZAR 20,000, included in the price, made directly towards the conservation of Painted Dogs!
- A talk and dinner with Ben Muller or Joel Alves from Wildscapes Veterinary & Conservation Services.
- Twice daily game drives, guided by Brent, in an open safari vehicle for your stay at Khaya Ndlovu and Siviti Timbavati Homestead.
- A totally unique safari experience – exploring the Rietspruit Game Reserve and the Greater Kruger National Park.
- Big 5 sightings and perhaps a realistic chance of seeing most of major mammal species in Kruger National Park!
- Fully serviced, luxury accommodation with delicious tea & coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks daily.
To download the full brochure and itinerary click here.
If you would like to enquire about this or any other safaris with Painteddog.tv, expertly customised to suit your needs, please contact us on travel@painteddog.tv
Live Virtual SafariS
The Launch of Weekly Themed Safaris
A number of guests requested that we mix it up a little, with regular themed safaris. And so in the last week of June we began with a safari focused on trees, guided by Khaya Tlou. Trees are vital. As the biggest plants on the planet, they give us oxygen, store carbon, stabilise the soil and provide food and shelter to wildlife and humans. The guests thoroughly enjoy learning about trees, and for the next themed safari on Friday 9 July, Brent will be birding with his guests, which is sure to be a challenge for the cameraman, and with 504 different bird species in the Lowveld to try spot and learn about, it’s sure to be a good one!
a synopsis
We guided 91 live virtual safaris over May and June, with lots of great sightings! The safari we will cover in this newsletter was the sunset safari on the last day of June, and such a great way to finish end the month.
On 30 June at 4pm South African time, safari guide Khaya and guests set out for a sunset safari on Pridelands. It was a cool but sunny and beautiful afternoon, which began 3 giraffes, 1 male and 2 females, with hitchhiking red bill ox-peckers grooming these beautiful giants. Ox-peckers beaks are pointed and laterally compressed which helps them to work through the coats of the giraffe in a comb like fashion and pry out parasites.
After quality time with the giraffes, Khaya and guests moved further into the reserve where black and orange rosettes got everyone’s hearts racing. It was Pixie-Pan, a beautiful female leopard, and in fact one of the first leopards the Painteddog.tv crew ever saw on Pridelands in 2020. She was wonderfully positioned on a marula tree branch in golden sunlight, using her elevated position to scan the area for potential prey. After soaking up the sun she descended from the tree and melted into the grass below and out of sight.
Moving on there were wonderful sightings of interesting and beautiful smaller fauna, including dwarf mongoose and a lilac breasted roller. All this on the way to enjoy time with the Ngati Breakaway pride of lions who were on the hunt, followed by another beautiful African sunset. What a wonderful sunset safari it was! Book your seat on a Private Live Virtual Safari here, or email info@painteddog.tv for more information.
Thank you to our Pack Members and our sponsors – LedLenser SA, Rogue Outdoor Gear – as well as Pridelands Conservancy and Kwenga Lodge, where you will find our ‘Dog Den’. And of course, to all our supporters for running with the pack.
Be sure to keep an eye on the Painteddog.tv app, as well as Painteddog.tv on YouTube, Instagram on @painteddogtv, and Facebook. Until the next newsletter, goodbye.