Today we were lucky that the rain stayed away for drive! Though it is still uncharacteristically cold for this time of year! So we wrapped up warm and were prepared with ponchos! Our first sighting this morning was that of a black backed jackal (one of my favourite animals!) carrying a dead spurfowl  across the road. Who knows if he caught it himself or whether he found it by chance. Jackals readily scavenge, and when we later found our dominant male lion with one of our lionesses lying bellies full next to a wildebeest kill, we saw another pair of jackals lurking in the distance waiting to steal some food! Jackals are omnivorous and will eat antelope, ungulate calves, insects, rodents, hares, lizards, snakes, and fruits and berries. They are not fussy eaters and take whatever is easy and readily available. When they do hunt, they are very successful indeed. Black backed jackals are also known to stash food supplies, sometimes burying supplies underground to eat later. Hence we often see them sniffing around trying to remember where they buried their food supply! We were also lucky enough to witness the mating display of a Korhaan which is very entertaining. The bird first starts to sing an elaborate song and make “popping” noises and then flies vertically up into the air about 20ft and tumbles elaborately back down to the ground.
Story by: Sarah-Estelle Sangster -Kapama River Lodge Ranger