We are still waiting to see this year’s litter of Wild Dog pups, due to the fact that they have chosen a den site in a very rocky area that is almost impossible to access.  While last year they denned in an old advark hole in the far south of the reserve, this year they have opted for a hilly area to the north. They are still in the same area and come down to hunt before returning immediately to the presumed den site, so we are confident that there are indeed still pups there. It may be that this year we will have to be patient and wait until they are old enough to leave the den before we are lucky enough to see them.

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We are experiencing very cold weather at the moment so sitting on the front of the vehicle in the tracking seat is proving to be quite a test of endurance. The spoor counts on Mapungubwe National Park are proving to be very interesting and showing marked differences in predator densities compared with on Venetia, which is just across the road. With the fences due to come down in early 2009, it will be interesting to repeat our surveys over the next few years and see what changes occur.
Towards the end of July we will be repeating the call-ups on Mapungubwe National Park in conjunction with Northern Tuli Predator Project, our neighbours from just over the border in Botswana. It seems that there is some movement of lions between our study areas and we are hoping to track down what is going on. Our lions on the South African side are fairly stable, but they are in decline on the northern side of the Limpopo, in large part as a result of snaring along the Shashe River, which forms the border with Zimbabwe. There is also hunting of lions in Zimbabwe and due to the current political situation there is currently little control over the wildlife and hunting sector, potentially opening doors for abuse of the system. By fitting some radio-collars, we hope to be able to gather the information and proof that we need to address the issues and protect the lion population.

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It is very unusual that we come across a predator that we struggle to firmly identify, but just that happened this week. A guide brought in a dead cat to the research centre that he had found on the road, claiming it was a highly secretive Black-Footed Cat. Our interest was immediately sparked as this area is supposedly out of their range. Their normal range is in the Western dry section of Southern Africa, and as none of us come from there nor have seen these cats alive, we were a little unsure. Was it a Black-Footed Cat or an African Wildcat kitten?

We took extensive photographs and they were sent off to an expert at a museum within the heart of the range of the Black-Footed Cat, who confirms that it is indeed a member of this species.

This photo shows where the cat was put in a tree to prevent scavengers taking it overnight when it was brought in by a guide.

On suspecting we had something unusual, we froze the specimen, and will now send it down to the museum for analysis and to be a record of the cats that exist in this far reach of their range.

This photo shows just how small the cat is.

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