Sadly, a very old lioness, part of the geriatric group of the Sand River Pride has been found dead. She has been in the area for 12 years and was usually in the company of her daughter, with one-eye. It was a sight to see them hunting together! They became an effective team even with their disabilities, as she would round up the prey for her one-eyed daughter who would then kill it. As the old lioness had no teeth left she could only gum her victims to death. It seems that she was killed by the Ottawa pride.
The Schmungwe Pride of lions has been increasingly successful in their hunting. In the last few weeks, they have killed two kudu bulls, a male waterbuck, a nyala bull and many other minor kills that we have not witnessed but later come upon the pride covered in their victims blood. At one of the kudu kills, there was a little bit of interaction between two hyenas and one of the lionesses. It is great to be seeing hyena in our area again. To watch the dominant male lion, 6 females and 12 cubs in a feeding frenzy has provided outstanding viewing. These remaining cubs seem to look full most of the time, a remarkable change from their sadly emaciated bodies a few months ago.
The Sabi Sands are re-introducing another 600 hundred wildebeest within the next few days, this is the third year in a row that this has taken place. Four rhino have been exchanged with Swaziland for the wildebeest. This will give the Schmungwe Pride another kick-start, as they will no doubt be camping around the wildebeest boma to deal with any strays that might get out. The wildebeest should remain in the specially constructed boma for approximately 3-4 weeks to acclimatize them to the conditions of their new environment and to become wary of lions that they will not have known about before. We must stress that these are not brought in to feed the lions but to increase our population in the reserve! The Sand River Pride chased a large male giraffe down by the river. Unfortunately for the giraffe it tripped and fell making it easy prey. The old male, 4 females and 6 cubs have been feeding off it for the last 4 days.
Accommodation 
