Wildlife Report. For the month of March, Two Thousand and Fifteen

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1 Singita Grumeti Sasakwa & Faru Faru Lodges Serengeti House & Sabora Tented Camp Explore Mobile Tented Camp Tanzania (Photo by Ryan Schmitt) Temperature and Wind Wildlife Report For the month of March, Two Thousand and Fifteen Rainfall Recorded Average maximum 32.8 C Sasakwa 24.8 mm Average minimum 18.5 C Sabora 45 mm Average wind speed 0.5 m/s Faru Faru 16 mm Samaki 16 mm Risiriba 32 mm We expected this March to be much like years past. Occupancies tend to drop slightly. Wildlife sightings are steady and there is a nice amount of general game. The first few showers of the long rains arrive, bringing cooler temperatures, a release from the heat of January and February. The views across the plains are a beautiful sight as patches of rainclouds mix with large spaces of clear blue skies across the Serengeti. Overall, March at Singita Grumeti is peaceful and serene. Mayhem. Incredible. Surprising. Spectacular. In March 2015 we were all thrown for a loop, and not just at Singita Grumeti. The entire Serengeti Community was left scratching their heads.

2 What was causing all the commotion? What was it that was captivating the attention of everyone in the Serengeti? What else, but the Great Migration! On 2 March reports came in that large herds of wildebeest were entering the Singita Grumeti concession from the south. The gnus were crossing the Grumeti River into the Grumeti Game Reserve at an area we call the triangle. By 5 March tens of thousands of wildebeest along with thousands of zebra were covering our Singita Grumeti concession from west of Faru Faru all the way onto the Nyati Plains and north to the Sasakwa Plains. On 6 March they were still on Nyati Plains, but also on Sasakwa Plains near to the dam and moving west. On one day during this time we suspected that there were at least wildebeest on the acre Singita Grumeti concession. For the rest of the month large numbers of wildebeest remained a fixture on the property, mainly covering Nyati Plains, Sasakwa Plains and Sabora Plains.

3 The wildebeest, which usually begin filtering into Singita Grumeti in June, arrived three months earlier than expected. Usually in March the migration is in the short grass plains of the southern Serengeti and Ndutu. The cows feed on the nutritious grass, which in turn provides nutrient-rich milk for their newborn calves. Unfortunately this year there was a large drought throughout the Serengeti. Because of the lack of rain the grass yield of the southern Serengeti was not enough to support million wildebeest, so they moved north in search of better grazing. The central Serengeti also had very little grass, and what grasses were there were very dry and brittle. For this reason, a significant portion of the migration moved into Singita Grumeti over the first days of the month. Although our property had also seen very little rain and the grass was by no means green, we still had a lot of it and it was palatable enough, which was much better than the majority of the Serengeti. So the wildebeests stayed on the property for the month. Toward the end of the month the rains started falling, and on 30 March the Sabora and Nyati Plains were thick with hundreds upon thousands of wildebeest. To us it seemed as if the entire migration was right in that area, and head guide Ryan Schmitt said that in his eight years working in the Serengeti, he doesn t think he has ever seen that many wildebeest. On 31 March the herds had spread out onto the Sasakwa Plains and east toward Faru Faru, and on the morning of 1 April you could be forgiven thinking that an April Fool's trick was playing out, as the wildebeest had formed endless lines to the east, out of the central areas of our property and toward the Serengeti and Ikorongo. Only time will tell what happens next!

4 The plight of the wildebeest calf At Singita Grumeti we are used to bigger calves arriving with the migration, but because of the early arrival all of the calves were still very young, ranging from a few days to a few months old. As fun as it was to see all of the adorable little calves around the property, a lot of sadness came with it. Calves of the migration often get separated from their mothers, especially when they are very young and can be too weak to keep up. We encountered many wildebeest calves in this situation in March. Seeing the little creatures all on their own, visibly desperate and in distress is nothing short of heart-breaking. Without their mother, they will not get milk and they will eventually die. (Photo Eugen Shao) Because their need for their mother is so great, lone wildebeest calves will often try and cling to pretty much any living creature they come across. I witnessed two such interactions in March, both involving elephants on the Sasakwa Plains. The first one was very brief. Head guide Ryan and I were at Sasakwa Dam with a few other people watching a group of elephant bulls walking toward the water for a drink. I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and looked to see a small abandoned wildebeest calf running toward the herd of bulls and trying to latch onto them. The bulls were not interested and seemed a bit frightened of this strange small creature approaching. One bull charged at it so that it would keep away from them. The calf backed off, then tried one more time to slowly approach and was rebuffed again. It stayed where it was as the elephants continued to move toward the dam.

5 A few weeks later Ryan and I were on game drive with guests and we had just watched a large breeding herd of elephants having a drink from Sasakwa Dam. After their drink the elephants left the dam and we were following them as they walked. We saw a very small, weak, baby wildebeest standing about 20 metres away from where the elephants were walking. (Above and below photos by Ryan Schmitt) An elephant cow saw the calf and broke out of the line, seemingly curious about the little thing. A couple others followed her. The cow and her entourage slowly walked towards the calf, and then stopped a few metres away from it. The cow stared at the little calf with interest. The calf could barely walk, but a few moments after the elephants approached it took a few extremely slow and feeble steps toward the cow. The cow backed up slightly and shook its head warningly at the calf like the bulls she was also seemed slightly frightened of the situation. She then stopped and watched the calf again and the calf again feebly made a step or two toward the group. The cow reacted the same way as before. This interaction between the elephants and the wildebeest calf repeated several times, but after about five minutes the cow moved off, followed by the other elephants that were with her, leaving the small calf all alone once again.

6 Predator action The predators of Singita Grumeti benefitted immensely from the migratory herds, and there was hardly ever a predator sighting without a carcass (or two) in tow. Ryan and his guests were out late one morning when a call came in that a female cheetah and her single cub had been seen in the vicinity of Faru Faru. After eventually arriving there the two cats were seen to be lazing in the almost midday heat. Having viewed the cheetah for about 20 minutes, Ryan turned around to look behind him and found a solid column of wildebeest moving directly towards the cheetah and her cub and the vehicle. As they got closer, the wildebeest stopped to have a look at the vehicle but completely failed to see the cheetah, who was now completely focused on the herd. The wildebeest decided to continue their march, altering their course by moving slightly away on the diagonal to avoid the game viewer. The leaders started a slow gallop, and as they do, the rest followed. This was the mother cheetah's cue, she never missed a beat, she slowly trotted out towards the line of migrants and then turned her speed dial up a few notches. (Above photos by Adas Anthony) Within 10 seconds she had successfully grabbed hold of a small wildebeest calf. The rest of the herd just carried on, regardless of the lost calf. The cheetah took a small recovery break for about 10 or 15 minutes, after which she called her cub over to help her enjoy the spoils. All in all it was an amazing experience for the guests, some of whom are seasoned safari goers.

7 (Above photos by Ryan Schmitt) Sightings update Lion: 84 Leopard: 16 Cheetah: 12 Elephant: 46 Buffalo: Multiple sightings daily Special sightings Python on Butamtam Drainage, on northern side of Serengeti Road. 2 Porcupines along the Grumeti River, junction Eagle Nest and River Road. Serval, west of Grumeti North drainage. 2 water mongoose at Colobus Crossing. 2 adult and one juvenile ground hornbills, east of Old School. 2 honey badgers south of Koroya Hill. 2 honey badgers northeast of Marula Camp. Hyena feeding on a buffalo carcass 500 m west of Marula Camp. 6 hyenas killed a buffalo calf right in front of Faru Faru lodge. Male leopard chasing and missing a silver-backed jackal, at Marsh Area.

8 (Photo by Adas Anthony) By Lizzie Hamrick Singita Grumeti Serengeti Tanzania 31 st of March 2015 (Photo by Brad Murray)