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Today, love is in the air for Jojo and Nura. Back here with a honeymoon couple. The wild dogs make not one but two appearances. Amazing. We actually caught up with these dogs. The Black Dam Pride shares a family meal. What an amazing morning. Two in a row and the tank returns. Fantastic. The leopard guards have been listening to us. We also go behind the scenes to see one of Africa's most important conservation efforts. Welcome to Safari Plus. Oh, sweetheart. Hello. Oh, ladies and gentlemen, you are very lucky to see this animal. Wow, this is pretty crazy.
We begin in the Eastern Cape where Andrew is back and sharing some special smaller moments with us, proving to us once again that even a quieter safari can produce memorable moments. Rarely seen and often misunderstood, the brown hyena is one of Africa's most fascinating carnivores. This week was a great time to witness one at Amakala. Yo, we've just had a very, very quick sighting of a brown hyena. I don't know if we're going to get it again. It's quite looks like quite a nervous one, but it literally just climbed out of its hole in front of us and then scuttled off into the bush here.
Oh, ladies and gentlemen, you are very lucky to see this animal. is okay. Is this animal laying down? Yeah, it is. Morgan is just asking me if I've ever managed to show you a brown hyena. Um, I think so, but I not actually sure. I know we've done it on virtual safari before. I actually think this brown hyena probably wants to come back to its burrow. It's a bit hot now at the moment. There you go. Look there. It's up. Look at this animal. So brown. Hey, you see that reddish brown? Right. So, we've got an elephant that has just woken up now. Well, he's he's been slowly moving, but he's been catching a nap every few yards. So,
temperatures are starting to cool now. Night time is slowly but surely kicking in. We've got about maybe about another 15 minutes, a little bit more, 20 minutes of sunlight left. And these animals, the elephants, will completely disappear. cannot believe how difficult it can be to find elephants even in the daytime but let alone at nighttime can be very tricky Mandy not necessarily. Oh man that is such a difficult question to answer. So with elephant bulls that are in must their testosterone spikes. Okay different bulls their testosterone spikes different levels but then every now and then you're going to get a bull that testosterone just spikes too high and aggression is too high. those animals are quite aggressive. But then
you also have these younger bull elephants that don't have the mentorship of these older bulls. Those are the ones that become problematic and they start to play with vehicles and try and push vehicles and things like that. So it really depends on the scenario that's happening on that reserve. Um is there a balance of adult bulls that can mentor the younger bulls? If there's not, then you have chaos and carnage. And then also with older bulls or mature bulls when their testosterone spikes very high, they can be quite dangerous. But we haven't seen such elephants here in Amakala. We've got an amazing sighting of elephants. It's all just unfolding as we speak.
Beautiful. Look at this big cow here. Right. Tuskless. You see that? One of the tuskless females of Amaka Game Reserve. and not a case that the tusk broke. They just never grew. Okay? It's a genetical thing. And if you have a look at her trunk, if you get a chance to see the base of the trunk, you'll notice that it's very welldeveloped compared to the tusk elephants. And it's because she needs to do so much more work with her trunk. Very adaptable animals. Myself and Morgan were just chatting earlier on how these elephants um it seems like they really enjoy our vehicle. Well, our vehicle is very unique to the vehicles that they are going to see on a daily basis. You know, the game viewers with roofs and so on.
Our vehicle is got no roofs. It's really flat. And then we have a whole lot of equipment in the vehicle as well. So, sometimes they get very curious by us and they get very close. We don't quite know what it is. is if they're hearing the fan in the backpack that we have here or if it's all the electronics that we have. We still can't figure that out. From the Eastern Cape, we head north to Maboula where predators and elephants kept Bibbo and Sele busy. We have Katejo and Isaho that just decided we are going to relax, lay down and just take the sun and warm up a little bit. Falling asleep a little bit.
Trying to balance in between moving, hunting, resting. It is not easy being a predator. Yes, you do pray on others, but balancing your life also comes at a cost. You got to know when to actually sit and lay down, when to move, when to hunt, and when they get a place to relax like this and call it a day, it also has to be a safe place. Oh yes, Troy. Depending on the age of that cheetah that would be introduced, we have seen a coalition that was not bloodline coalition. It has happened before. So yes, they do accept other males. The more we are, the better it is to bring something down.
We have seen that happen where males the coalition went up to about five and maybe three was uh brothers of the same leader and additional members similar age that makes the balance in that coalition. little bit in the thicket moving through it's it's it's surprising on how there's a road Mr. Elephant and you just go through that thicket and pushes everything to the side. But that benefits other animals because these guys are engineers of nature. Them moving through the thicket like that, breaking branches, pushing down trees, the area doesn't become as thick and it allows traffic for other animals to move through the thicket without having to worry about thorns and branches closing in. That means they are able to get to watering holes easier.
Everything just works together in one. A fact that I am just not going to get over with elephants is that trunk about 40,000 muscles there. It's an important tool for an elephant. We are having a multitask there. We urinating at the very same time we are scratching ourselves using that tree. I don't think you chose quite a strong tree there lady. It seems to be irritating just behind the ear. As it began to cool down after a long day of rest on the esping for any plane to land, Klejo and Isaho has started the move.
I love it when they pose like this. It gives them that elevated view at the very same time resting. Good afternoon, boy. The feeling is always exciting when I see KJO and Isaho. Not that it's different with others, but there's just something that makes these two boys special. Their bravery. I have seen them. They came here while still fairly young and having to see them chasing ahead of buffaloos trying to get a buffalo cup in front of me at that age was just out of this world. Their bravery and the way they work together, the way they hunt makes everything interesting about them. Love this voice.
Love them so much. Okay, what did we see? Can see that the naps and the rest midday is quite important for them. See now the energy is there. The sun allows. It's not hot. Oh, there is some wild beasts in the background. See that instinct? So they seeing the wilderbeast and the brother ran using the tree lines stopping on every tree. It's actually sables and getting closer is quite important for them because as much as they are fastest on land they do not have the stamina to carry out that distance. So mostly for them to be quite successful about 150 m gives them a very good chance
because the animal is going to also start running increasing the distance that the cheetah will also have to run. You might have been wondering where Bibbo and Tippo were this week. They had the privilege of witnessing one of Africa's most special conservation efforts, the very careful relocation of a black rhino in an attempt to secure their future. Take a look behind the scenes. I think when you're getting common all vehicles and a yanda It's uncat. Next, we head to the SIS where predators, elephants, and a few familiar faces ensured that there was never a dull moment.
We begin with a leopard who needs little introduction. Tortoise Pan has become one of the most recognizable cats in the area. And like always, he was on the move and treated us to an unbelievable sighting. Our cat search is going pretty well. It looks like the leopard gods have listened to us. Just be a little bit patient. That anticipation is killing me. Here we go. There you boy. Fantastic. The leopard gods have been listening to us. Oh, that's amazing. What a champion and so nice to see him. Last time I saw him was uh was at night.
I'm really excited, I must say. Like to find this guy is such a privilege. you know, we had um you know, I heard about this tortoise pad male and always wanted to um connect with him and being able to come and do this and then have such an amazing sighting is just Oh, we've got uh mom and two youngsters. Mom's decided to come towards the road. Uh she's going to be feeding closer. So that's a sign that she's not too threatened by us, which is great news. And especially the fact that she's got this youngster that she thinks that we are fairly safe. But yeah, I'm not sure where the other eddies are. We sort of just got here. And uh I wonder if this is mom and sibling.
Yeah, Chelsea, even if that was a male, it seems young enough. Hello, mom. Okay, you're okay. Yeah, she's pretty relaxed. She just looked at us now. She's grabbing a looks like a leadwood. Um that is quite a young baby, but this other one looks pretty young as well. So normally when they get to about sort of I don't know I've read from like 11 12 to a little bit older the youngster doesn't like her so much. So he's going to push through that thick bush there. When wild dogs appear all plans get thrown out the window and things change very quickly. Their energy alone is something to keep everyone excited. We
just had a brief visual of a wild dog chasing um chasing Impala. They're up against the uh camp fence. This one's got a bit of a limp. So, we've managed to catch up with it. The other one has run into the camp. But yeah, amazing. We actually caught up with these dogs once they were on the northern cutline and they were moving away from us. Anyway, we made it and I'm delighted. It's the first dogs I've had here at uh at Chitva. But yeah, sorry to see the leg. Yeah, these two were on a mission, that's for sure. Um the one was hering across the fields chasing an impala and um when we drove to try and find the other vehicle, we drove past a huge herd.
Once again, the black dam pride stole the show here at Sandringham, proving to us that lions really are one of Africa's most formidable predators. Every hunt starts with a decision. And today, the pride set its ambitions super high. And we've just managed to find the black dam pride or some of them. And it looks like these females that are in the road here are interested in something. What that is, I'm not sure. Check. Have a look at their body position. Oh, that one's stretching. Maybe warming up for But you see how that one that went off the road at the left there is kind of like hunkered down, ears down. Even this
one walking in the road is posture's low. There must be something up ahead here. There are a few little cubs on our left here that are I've actually just seen them right now hidden in the grass. Oh, there's an impala alarm call. Have a look how this little cub is. He did have his position and posture right down. He's listening. I hear running. I see giraffe in the distance. We have just found these lions who are taking down this giraffe. He is kicking and moving.
Those lions better be careful of not catching a hoof to the face. Oh my word. Look at that leg. You better be careful, lions. That's not where you want to be. Here comes the other male running in, charging in. Oh, he's pulled out right at the end. He seems like everybody else is on it. What an amazing morning. Two in a row. Can you believe it? Wow. These lions are providing for their pride in an unbelievable way. They are hunters. Wonder where the cubs are. They are. See that little strangling cub who we were following needs to wake up.
Needs to catch up and be the first in here. And when patience pays off, the reward can be substantial. It's amazing the amount of food that these lions have eaten in the past hour or two. I haven't seen there was a quick glimpse of the skull on the right hand side there and it was almost completely bare. This carcass is so almost finished. So by the time it warms up enough that the scavengers are arriving, there's not going to be much left for them. They will still defend it. It'll be very interesting to see where they go. There's not that much shade around here today. I mean, maybe where I'm parked is probably the best shade. They may move from there to here. You don't want to move too far. Even if the scavengers
start coming down, they'll try and chase them away. I wonder. I mean, this tree that's kind of leaning over the carcass. It's been a bit of a nuisance to some of the lions that have been trying to feed theirs. You stand up and try and pull the carcass. You stand up into that tree. But I wonder if that tree wasn't the tree that actually tripped the giraffe. You can see how it's strangely angled. almost a perfect footie for a giraffe. And if it didn't jump over that tree and it got tripped up, it would give the lions the perfect opportunity. And if they were close by, just grab it before it stands up again.
We finally made our way back to where that giraffe was brought down this morning and it's not far off what we thought was going to be happening here. We have got some pretty full tired lions and there's not many vultures around here at all. Um, not many that I can see. At least I can see one two hooded vultures I think. Not much left. It's amazing to think about how many vultures there were for that various caucus that was in a similar timing and similar situation to this the other day. Um there must have been three different species and about
50 of them. They proven once again at what expert giraffe hunters they are. This terrain suits it so well and it's really been one of the keys to their success is being able to bring down large prey and being able to feed 10, 15, sometimes 20 lions at a time. Can hear a little bit of growling around the carcass. Maybe some of the cubs pushing and shoving each other for whatever's left there. Sure. There's a few big bones, bit of cartilage. This male got up and came over to the small little mud wallow of sorts here to have a drink and this herd of elephants just came out of nowhere and they've chased the whole pride off the right side there. Chased him deeper into the bush. I think this
male's quite happy that he was not involved. He watched it happen and in fact it's just lay down. Tim, you don't understand the beef between elephants and lions. I mean you are right. They are on the opposite ends of the spectrum and they don't really compete for much. But size and strength is what really pull calls the shots out here. You know when this Yeah, he's going to go drink again. Put his head in this well. But the elephants particularly with young calves can often feel threatened by the presence of particularly of lots of lions. I mean this morning I don't
know how the group split up but there were at least 10 to 12 lions here. So that herd of elephants would have been startled by them and they are much bigger and much stronger than the lions. So they just force the intimidation factor and force the I mean lions will opportunistically from time to time try and hunt elephant calves and the herd knows that. So while they have an opportunity in the upper hand of size and strength they will 99% of the time chase lines particularly in thick dense areas like this. Sandringham is well known for its lions and elephants. However, this week it is one of Africa's most social and successful predators that surprised us all. We've just found some wild dogs
here at Sandringham. Wow, this is pretty crazy. Is that a nala? It looks like a nala that the three of these guys have caught. I thought they might have chased something into the water when they were running down that steep bank there. Now I wonder if that yala drowned. It's amazing. They've got in there very quickly and pull themselves up and they'll head back. It's one of the only times of the year when you can accurately predict well I mean not accurately but you can kind of predict relatively accurately wild dogs movements when they are dening and those puppies are born. Look at them dragging that. I mean, that's a pretty gruesome sight, but look at them.
What is it? It does look like a yala. Yeah, those are stripes on the antelope. So, start to see their bellies fulling up a little bit more like the lions starting to bulge a bit, cover themselves in blood. Now, I mean, lions, you can sit around a carcass and then the next day you see them and they are spotless. These guys don't clean themselves or look after themselves nearly as well as lions do. So all that gory blood and guts around their faces can stay there for quite some time. And if you've ever followed wild dogs in the back of one of these vehicles close enough where you can smell them or the wind blows the wrong way, they can smell horrific to us. I'm sure to each other they love that smell.
Our final stop takes us to the Masamara where the pace slowed down a little bit. However, the wildlife remained as captivating as always. Here we are with more of a calm scene. It's a mom and the young one. The young one was having a bit of milk and it was stretching its head a bit higher up because mom is quite tall. Can see our friend right there with a tiny trunk. And she's pretty big, too. What are you doing with your trunk, buddy? The young one is really trying to put things in its mouth. But mom is very big, very healthy. You can see another Ellie in the background.
They really do enjoy coming to these locations here in Masamara. Ray, thank you for your optimism because yes, every day or every time it's beautiful just to spend time with elephants. Look at our cutie pie. So tiny. Like mom is so big. Mom is very healthy. Look at that view. So many of them. I think in total this her most likely boasts about a thousand buffaloos, maybe a little bit more. Some beautiful females right there. You can tell from the boss. Those are the horns. The females do have more of a gap in between the two horns. The male is like one solid structure and that's usually when they combat each other, which
honestly I've never seen a full combat with two males versus each other. I've seen them pushing each other with their horns, which does look painful cuz it does look like the sharp point at the edge can cause a lot of damage, which is true. Even for lions themselves, if you're taking down a buffalo, they usually have to look at this whole her. Wow, beautiful. Look at that. It's just ongoing. Here we are, the Mar River. We always like to come and say hi to the hippos, but oh, looks like that hippo is not alive. Oh, we were wondering what that smell was cuz we're just not too far.
We're like, hm, there's something dead in the area. And here we usually do come to see our hippos. We like to see how they're doing, even the crocodiles. But I've never seen this many crocodiles on this section. I've counted up to 19. Oh, look at that other crocodile. Are you walking over another crocodile? Excuse you. Really? What? Like you could have gone around, but no. I'm a big crocodile. You better move. Uh, the crocodile is really going in. Even the leg is swollen. My goodness. Oh, and oh, I can we can smell it now. I can definitely smell it now more. Look at that swollen leg.
There is one lioness who was walking in the tall grass. So, we saw her walking down as we were driving away and we said, "Oh, wait. There's a beautiful uh lioness walking in the tall grass." So, at least when they're moving, it's easier to spot. H. Now you see we're reading body language right now. Her body language is I see buffalo and she's like lowering herself a little bit like how she's walking slower. If she wasn't caring, she'll just be walking around like kind of carefree. What is going to happen? And also we have Ellie's coming through. Look at them. shiv. I know, right? Yeah, she's a bit on the side. I think it's cuz of the young ones also.
Look at them. You just let them pass. They'll be okay. From conservation in Africa to the daily dramas of life in the wild, the past few days have really reminded us how remarkable Africa's wilderness truly is. Thank you for joining us on Safari Plus.
