Addo 2019

[PJL]

I'm not sure we're going to keep up with quite so many trips to Addo this year unfortunately... it's already mid-March and we've only managed a brief visit earlier in the year whilst on our way up the coast

Anyway... as and when we do get some time to pop in, expect to see some activity on this thread

Our very brief visit earlier in January was worth the detour as we finally caught up with the new Karoo introductions - Witwarm and Niklaas

They were both very close to the road, but you could only really see them properly from one parking spot, so we pulled up behind the car that had the spot and waited patiently. Then waited some more, with slightly less patience. Then some more... it was clear these people weren't going anywhere which was a pain because it was depriving many other visitors of a decent sighting

Before we had a chance to explain protocol, one of the lions got up and started wandering off. Their collars are older VHF ones with antennas so they really do look a bit like radio-controlled lions



After he had disappeared we pulled into another spot where we could at least see the remaining lion, even though he was hiding his face behind a bush This is Witwarm





We waited a while and a bull elephant started cruising our direction which was cool as he was up a hill from us which proved to be a good B&W opportunity



Witwarm wasn't going to hang around with the elephant close by so he got up and wandered off to find his friend. All the cars disappeared very quickly and there didn't seem to be any sign of the lions, but after we had turned around we were lucky enough to spot where Niklaas had been hiding





He shuffled around in his bush a few times to try and get a bit of a view of a herd of zebra that were generally heading his direction, but we didn't have time to wait around and see what would happen



It was getting hot and it was time for us to get going up the coast... just one last pic before we left was a jackal that clearly knew who to stick close to in order to find some snacks later



On leaving the sighting we were the only car there, so we flagged down a car coming the other way with overseas tourists and pointed out the lion to them... needless to say there was an explosion of excitement in the other vehicle as we went on our way

[Flutterby]

They are handsome boys!

[Peter Betts]

I hate those collars ..the Lionesses look like Bull mastiffs..I only start going to Addo in May after I get back from Kalahari where the light at 07h00 is half decent ..June much better ..Nice pics Pete

[Lisbeth]

As Flutty said, no need to hide the face, they are both good looking boys

Where do they come from and when have the been introduced.....or should I already know it

[Richprins]

Excellent, Peej!

I think Tweety will also be joining them soon?

[PJL]

I hate those collars ..the Lionesses look like Bull mastiffs..I only start going to Addo in May after I get back from Kalahari where the light at 07h00 is half decent ..June much better ..Nice pics Pete

Agreed that the light isn't so great in the summer months... but at least when staying in the park you can get in at 5:30 now which means it's dark for the first half hour if you stay in the latter summer months
I spoke to one of the section rangers a few weeks back about the collars. Mel & Gibson currently don't have collars, and now that they have recently collared Dawn with a GPS version, they plan to take the VHF one off Duffy when they can get to her. They do also plan to replace Witwarm & Niklaas' collars as well but apparently they are proving very difficult to find. One of their collars isn't working and the other only gives a signal when you're quite close

[PJL]

As Flutty said, no need to hide the face, they are both good looking boys

Where do they come from and when have the been introduced.....or should I already know it

You may have seen (or not) that there was a bit of a swap around in lions around April 2018 Lis. These two were introduced from the Karoo NP to Addo... Roy and Nomad were moved up to Mountain Zebra NP, whilst the two dominant males from there were moved over to the Karoo. Basically a gene pool round-robin. Well, that was the 'official' statement, but the reality was that it was intended to reduce the lion population in all of the parks as the general mix-up of territories would inevitably result in fights etc. Many of us assumed that Josie's boys would end up being the first victims, but in fact is was the oldest lioness Aardlam who got injured in a fight and had to be put down. Apart from that, I believe there haven't been any other reductions in numbers in any of the parks! In fact Roy and Nomad have even been seen with the previous male's young offspring at times, which is quite remarkable.

[PJL]

Excellent, Peej!

I think Tweety will also be joining them soon?

Tweety will have trouble with his visa. Addo as a whole is apparently at its maximum lion carrying capacity at the moment

[PJL]

They are handsome boys!

Yep, descendants of some of Addo's original lions who were transferred to the Karoo a while back now. These two have gained quite a reputation already as they have both broken out the holding boma on multiple occasions

[Lisbeth]

Thank you for repeating