December sightings, wildlife monitoring and interesting research projects.`
Sightings of the month
Thank you to all who recorded their sightings in the book this month! Here is the number of recorded sightings of some species:
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Thank you to all who recorded their sightings in the book this month! We had 179 recorded sightings, with an average of 5.8 per day. The number of sightings of some species is below:
(Donut graph)
The overall number of sightings has increased drastically for the month. Total recorded sightings in the book totalled 179, of which recorded leopard sightings totalled 40 - a whopping 22%! Lion sightings totalled 14, while Wild Dog sightings totalled 15. Here are some of the highlights and notable sightings for December:
- A leopard was chased up a tree by a pack of wild dogs, while another leopard was seen chasing a porcupine with two small porcupettes!
- A genet with a young kitten was seen at the swimming pool.
- A hyena den was discovered on Buffelsbed, with two tiny cubs present. Unfortunately, a rather shocking sighting was witnessed when an adult hyena killed one of the tiny cubs at the den.
- A large pack of wild dogs was seen multiple times, which has been identified as the Klaserie pack. They seem to be taking over the area of the Umbabat pack. Following an incident where three wild dogs were killed by lions, the Umbabat pack has moved further south towards Ngala Private Game Reserve.
- A Spotted Bush Snake was seen and photographed eating a Foam Nest Frog at Elephant Pan Hide!
- Birding highlights were a Bat Hawk in camp and a Dwarf Bittern on the reserve. Along with this, the return of the migratory birds was a welcome sight, as plenty of European Rollers, Woodland Kingfishers, European Bee-eaters and plenty of swallows were seen.
- Mammalian species recorded: Lion, Leopard, Wild Dog, Elephant, Buffalo, Honey Badger, Wildebeest, Hippo, Genet, Sharpe’s Grysbok, Vervet Monkey, Chacma Baboon, Nyala, Kudu, Bushbuck, Impala, Steenbok, Klipspringer, Spotted Hyena, Warthog, Porcupine, Tree Squirrel, Dwarf Mongoose, Banded Mongoose, Zebra, Giraffe, Slender Mongoose, White-tailed Mongoose, Springhare and Scrub hare.
- Reptile species noted: Crocodile, Serrated Hinged Terrapin, Marsh Terrapin, Rainbow Skink, Rock Monitor Lizard, Leopard Tortoise, Spotted Bush Snake, Mozambique Spitting Cobra, Yellow-bellied Sand Snake and Black Mamba.
- Bird species listed during the month are on the following page, along with a comparison of the species recorded through 2024.
- Bird species recorded in December: Dwarf Bittern, Bat Hawk, Verreaux’s Eagle-owl, African Fish Eagle, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Saddle-billed Stork, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Red-billed Oxpecker, Tawny Eagle, Wahlberg’s Eagle, African Hawk-eagle, African Harrier-Hawk, Grey Go-away Bird, White-crested Helmet-shrike, Helmeted Guineafowl, Southern Ground Hornbill, Retz’s Helmet-shrike, Grey Heron, Black Crake, Fork-tailed Drongo, White-backed Vulture, Woodland Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Three-banded Plover, Bateleur, African Scops Owl, Woolly-necked Stork, Golden-breasted Bunting, Arrow-marked Babbler, Crested Barbet, Chinspot Batis, Little Bee-eater, White-fronted Bee-eater, Dark-capped Bulbul, Grey-headed Bush-shrike, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Ring-necked Dove, Laughing Dove, Namaqua Dove, Jameson’s Firefinch, Crested Francolin, Egyptian Goose, Green-backed Heron, African Grey Hornbill, Southern Red-billed Hornbill, Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill, Hadeda Ibis, Yellow-billed Kite, Red-crested Korhaan, Blacksmith Lapwing, Crowned Lapwing, Black-headed Oriole, Brown-headed Parrot, Black-backed Puffback, Lilac-breasted Roller, European Roller, European Bee-eater, Double-banded Sandgrouse, White-browed Scrub-robin, Magpie Shrike, Southern White-crowned Shrike, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Natal Spurfowl, Swainson’s Spurfowl, Burchell’s Starling, Cape Starling, Violet-backed Starling, White-bellied Sunbird, Amethyst Sunbird, African Openbill, Water Thick-knee, Groundscraper Thrush, Southern Black Tit, Blue Waxbill, Cape Weaver, Red-headed Weaver, Spectacled Weaver, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Green Wood-hoopoe, Kori Bustard, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Jacobin Cuckoo, Levaillant’s Cuckoo and Golden-tailed Woodpecker.
To summarise 2024's sightings, the recorded numbers of sightings for some species throughout 2024 are below, as taken from the sightings book at Reception:
(Stacked row chart)
Highlight bird species seen during 2024 included:
- Greater Painted Snipe
- Lesser Flamingo
- Kori Bustard
- Narina Trogon
- Bat Hawk
- Dwarf Bittern
- Common Ostrich
Overall, recorded sightings for 2024 were truly spectacular, and we thank you for taking the time to report and record them for us!
(Images courtesy of Tessa Woollgar)
- Leopards were the most recorded species of the month, with Lions and Southern Ground Hornbills in tow. Of 86 recorded sightings, Leopards formed 22% of the sightings.
- Three Side-striped Jackal sightings, one African Wild Cat sighting and two White-tailed Mongoose sightings formed mammalian highlights for the month.
- The biggest highlight overall was a leopard with a kill in a tree, surrounded by 11 wild dogs and some hyenas which were jumping at the base of the tree trying to steal the kill!
- A Kori Bustard, an African Openbill and an African Fish Eagle in a nest were birding highlights, as well as the return of the Woodland Kingfisher!
- A strange sighting of a Leopard Tortoise was recorded in the book as such: “Leopard Tortoise - Fell into dam Elephant Pan. Was underwater for 15 minutes & crawled out.”. A highly unusual sighting, and incredibly impressive that the tortoise was able to get out after so long underwater. Thank you for sharing!
- Reptilian highlights: Crocodile, Serrated Hinged Terrapin, Marsh Terrapin, Rainbow Skink, Rock Monitor Lizard, Leopard Tortoise, Spotted Bush Snake and Black Mamba.
- Other general species recorded: Lion, Leopard, Wild Dog, Elephant, Side-striped Jackal, Buffalo, Honey Badger, Wildebeest, Hippo, Genet, African Wild Cat, Sharpe’s Grysbok, Vervet Monkey, Chacma Baboon, Nyala, Kudu, Bushbuck, Impala, Steenbok, Klipspringer, Spotted Hyena, Tree Squirrel, Dwarf Mongoose, Banded Mongoose, Zebra, Giraffe, Slender Mongoose, White-tailed Mongoose, Springhare and Scrub hare.
- Bird species recorded: Verreaux’s Eagle-owl, African Fish Eagle, Black-chested Snake Eagle, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Saddle-billed Stork, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Red-billed Oxpecker, Tawny Eagle, Wahlberg’s Eagle, African Hawk-eagle, African Harrier-Hawk, Grey Go-away Bird, White-crested Helmet-shrike, Helmeted Guineafowl, Southern Ground Hornbill, Retz’s Helmet-shrike, Grey Heron, Black Crake, Fork-tailed Drongo, White-backed Vulture, Pied Kingfisher, Three-banded Plover, Bateleur, Martial Eagle, African Scops Owl, Woolly-necked Stork, Golden-breasted Bunting, Arrow-marked Babbler, Crested Barbet, Chinspot Batis, Little Bee-eater, White-fronted Bee-eater, Dark-capped Bulbul, Grey-headed Bush-shrike, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Ring-necked Dove, Laughing Dove, Namaqua Dove, Jameson’s Firefinch, Crested Francolin, Egyptian Goose, Green-backed Heron, African Grey Hornbill, Southern Red-billed Hornbill, Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill, Hadeda Ibis, Yellow-billed Kite, Red-crested Korhaan, Blacksmith Lapwing, Crowned Lapwing, Black-headed Oriole, Brown-headed Parrot, Black-backed Puffback, Lilac-breasted Roller, Double-banded Sandgrouse, White-browed Scrub-robin, Magpie Shrike, Southern White-crowned Shrike, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Natal Spurfowl, Swainson’s Spurfowl, Burchell’s Starling, Cape Starling, Violet-backed Starling, White-bellied Sunbird, Amethyst Sunbird, African Openbill, Water Thick-knee, Groundscraper Thrush, Southern Black Tit, Blue Waxbill, Cape Weaver, Red-headed Weaver, Spectacled Weaver, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Green Wood-hoopoe, Kori Bustard, Woodland Kingfisher and Golden-tailed Woodpecker.
Sightings: a new focus area
We are incredibly grateful for the continued recording of sightings from Members, both on the radio and in the book at Reception. Without this, we would not have any long-term data on the animals in the area. This has also shown to be of immense value when injured animals are reported, especially those with snares and other man-made injuries. Thank you!
Using EarthRanger we record those sightings on a platform that allows us to filter and monitor sightings of different species, particular individuals and even long-term movements or patterns, which adds greatly to the developing historical data and potential research opportunities. Following on from this, conservationists in the area have noticed that there is a gap in historical data and ongoing research in this area of the Greater Kruger: predator-prey interactions and relationships.
We are particularly interested in gathering data on predators and the prey they are focusing on. What we need is recorded sightings of predators and the prey species that they hunt, whether successfully or not. This is incredibly valuable information as it allows us to see trends of predators in relation to population numbers of various other species, environmental conditions, seasonal changes, etc. and allows us to note any potential “specialisation” in particular species or individuals. This type of data has been well-recorded in other areas of Africa, particularly smaller, fenced reserves, but is currently lacking in our region.
We want to ask for your help in this regard, if you’d like to assist us: if you see any predator stalking an animal(s), attempting a hunt, hunting successfully or feeding on something, please make a note of it for us! The most important information we need is what species they are, both predators and prey. If you are recording this in the book at Reception, please include the predator species, prey species and if you can any numbers or sexes of both. Please also record whether the hunt was successful or not, if you witness a predator attempting a hunt. If you’d like to report it to us directly, you can call the Conservation team on the radio, or send us an email at
As part of this, the Conservation team will also be going through historical sightings data from Ingwelala’s previous sightings books to contribute to this research. If you have any such sightings from previous visits that stand out to you, please feel free to share those with us directly as well. Thank you!
Kills over the last 3 months
Sightings over the last 3 months
Southern Ground Hornbill Research and Information Session
We have had seven recorded sightings of Ground Hornbills this month. This was mostly a group of four adults recorded in the vicinity of Argyle and Op Goedehoop, and one sighting of a group of five birds.
We have noticed an increased presence of Ground Hornbills near the previous nesting site on Argyle as we enter the breeding season. With the assistance of the APNR Ground Hornbill Project we have seen promising results from both the condition of the natural nest and the camera trap footage from the area over the last two months.
The APNR Ground Hornbill Project will be joining us at the Members Area in December to present an interesting talk on what the project does, the status of Ground Hornbills in the area and other interesting aspects of working with these incredible birds.
If you’d like to join us, please come to the Members Area at 10h00, on the 20th of December. This is a great opportunity to ask questions, learn about the birds we see at Ingwelala and find out what else we can do to contribute towards the conservation of this species. We look forward to seeing you there!
Words by Tess Woollgar, images courtesy of Josh Hibbet, Tess Woollgar & Earth Ranger