Serengeti National Park

Topi, kongoni, gazelles, and at night, hyenas and jackals, are nearly always to be seen close to the lodge. A pride of lions may occasionally walk right through the compound. Hyraxes have become very tame and can easily be watched as they sunbathe on the rocks. Also easy to watch is the male Agama Lizard, with his coral pink head, shoulders and throat, and blue body, legs and tail. Female agama lizards are a drab brownish-gray and less conspicuous. Baboon troops regularly come to the lodge to visit the rubbish pit. These animals can be dangerous and should never be fed.

Among the smaller birds, the starlings are perhaps the most obvious, with their glossy plumage and iridescent colors. Commonly seen at the lodge is the Superb Starling, which can be recognized by the narrow white band that separates the deep blue of the chest from the chestnut of the thighs. Also seen is Ruppell's long-tailed glossy starling, which can be distinguished by its long tail. Hildebrandt's starling is superficially rather like the superb starling but without the white band on the chest and with red, not yellowish-white eyes. The starlings are very busy birds, always chattering and whistling.

Also found here are vultures, Marabou storks and white-necked ravens, whose cawing call is typical of settled areas in Africa.

The Bare-Faced Go-Away Bird, a species of turaco, is commonly seen in the acacia trees near the lodge and can be recognized by its pale grey and greenish-white plumage, crested head, and habit of running and hopping up the length of a branch rather like a squirrel. The name is derived from the bird's call, which is said to sound like 'go away', but is perhaps more like a shrieking laugh.

Other common birds around the lodge include speckle-fronted, gray-headed social and masked weavers, Swahili sparrows, cordon-bleus, petronias and ashy flycatchers.

One of the most entertaining and interesting birds of the Serengeti is a regular resident of the lodge area. This is D'arnaud's Barbet, which is easily recognized by its speckled brown, white and yellow plumage. The male bird is extremely aggressive and will not tolerate another male in his territory; it can sometimes be seen attacking its own reflection in the hubcaps of cars! The mechanical sounding song, constantly heard around the lodge is, in fact, a duet. The male bird bobs and bows to the female while repeating his part; the female meanwhile bobs and twitches her tail as she sings the monotonous chorus.

During daytime grass-mice are to be seen everywhere feeding on grass and seeds. They live in burrows underground and are very gregarious. They are quite harmless. At night you may hear the African dormouse chattering in the roofs of the buildings.

Three species of mongooses may be seen and heard around the lodge kopje: dwarf, slender and banded.

At night several animals may be seen by the light of a torch. Spring Hares, named after their kangaroo-like method of getting about, are large rodents with long powerful hind legs. Often the first thing noticed is their great luminous eyes bobbing in the dark. Spring hares feed on vegetation and live in underground warrens.

African Hares and Porcupines can also be seen. African hares are usually solitary, although in the breeding season several males may be seen with one female. They are mainly vegetarian, feeding at night on bark, roots and berries. During the day hares lie in well-hidden depressions in the ground, often under a bush. Their sandy color and ability to lie motionless makes them difficult to be seen by day.

Porcupines weigh about 20 kgs and are hunted by leopards and lions. Porcupine quills are very sharp and when an animal is attacked it erects the quills and jumps backwards to drive the points into the attacker. If it is pursued it may suddenly stop, allowing the attacker to run into its quills. The quills easily detach and embed themselves, soon festering.

Common trees here are the umbrella or flat-topped acacia, the 'stinkbark' acacia, also found in the west of the park, and species of Albizzia, which look like thorn trees but, in fact, have no thorns. In October, when these trees are in blossom, the scent is delightful and the wild bees are kept fully occupied.

Seronera Valley
The Seronera valley is justly famous for leopards and lions, both of which can usually be seen and photographed here without difficulty. Leopards should be looked for in the branches of the yellow-barked acacia and 'sausage' trees along the water courses. They often carry their prey up into the branches of tall trees to get it out of reach of lions, hyenas and, to a lesser extent, vultures.

Leopards are solitary creatures, the male only associating with the female when she is in season. Their markings are roseate clusters of spots and differ from the cheetah's, which are single dots. Leopards are traditionally one of the most dangerous of the wild cats, but in the Seronera valley they sometimes are remarkably placid. However, if a leopard has cubs with her you should approach with care.

Whereas the cheetah hunts by speed, the leopard catches its prey by careful, stealthy stalking. Leopards have a wide range of prey, and are particularly fond of Bohor reedbuck, impala and gazelles, but will also eat dik-diks, hares, game birds and very rarely monkeys and baboons. When baboons spot a leopard from the safety of trees they will often bark loudly at the intruder. Leopards, although expert climbers, can only hunt on the ground. Vervet monkeys make a particular vocalization when they see a leopard and the whole group responds by rushing up the nearest tree. Leopards do not roar like lions, but 'grunt,' cough, or make a noise like sawing wood.

Baboons are particularly common in the Seronera valley. Much of their diet consists of grass, roots, fruit and insects, but they frequently hunt and kill the young of impala, reedbuck and other antelopes. A single baboon troop can range in an area as large as 10 sq km.

A baboon troop consists of between 30-100 individuals, and is made up of females and their young, adolescent animals of both sexes and a number of adult males. At adolescence males leave the troop into which they were born and 'transfer' into another troop. Males can be distinguished from females by their larger size, thick mane and large canine teeth. At first, females carry their young on their stomachs, but after about a month the young infant rides jockey style on the mother's back near the tail. Female baboons form dominance hierarchies, in which the members of the same family assume similar ranks. High-ranking females have a greater opportunity to get the best food and sometimes have more offspring. The hierarchies of males are not so clear cut and depend less on their mother's rank than on such factors as fighting ability and age. Females in oestrus develop large pink swellings on their rears, which signal receptivity.

The Vervet is a smaller kind of monkey with a black face, white cheek tufts and grey fur. It is commonly found in wooded areas of the Park. Male vervets are easily identified by their azure blue scrotums. Vervets feed on insects, fruit, leaves and seeds and may also eat young birds and eggs. Their social structure is similar to baboons although vervet groups are territorial and defend their ranges against nearby groups.

The Waterbuck found here is the defassa race, which has a large light colored patch on the rump in place of the ring found in the common waterbuck. As their name implies they usually live near watercourses and will take to water when pursued. Only the males are horned. They are territorial, but waterbuck are unusual in that several adult, subadult and juvenile males are sometimes found mixed with herds of females and young. The territorial bull will tolerate them as long as they behave submissively, approaching him with head and tail extended while licking the air. Females perform the same display.

The scattered trees in the Seronera red-oat grassland are mainly species of acacia and commiphora, with the flat topped or umbrella acacia predominant. Along the valley itself the yellow-barked acacia tree and the wild date palm are present. Balanites aegyptiaca is a very common tree on the edge of the plains and is also seen in the area of Lake Magadi and the Moru Kopjes.

During and just after the rains, in May and June, tall purple flowers of Erlangea cordifolia often grow side by side with the yellow, daisy-like Bidens schimperi, with its clinging 'black-jack' seeds. Also common is the white morning glory Ipomeoa mombasana, and after the long grass has been burned off, pyjama lilies Crinum kirkii, with their purple, red and white stripes often decorate the plain.

Along the valley both Helmeted Guinea Fowl and Grey-Breasted Spurfowl are common, and form an important part of the diet of the smaller predators such as civets, servals and wild cats, genets, the larger mongoose species, and jackals.

The greatest attraction to most visitors of the Seronera valley is the chance to see large prides of Lions, many of which are resident here. The plains are not a hospitable environment for lions, except during the rainy season and most lions keep to the wooded areas of Serengeti where food, water and prey are always available.

Lion prides consist of a core of related females: mothers, daughters, sisters, cousins and aunts. These groups of females have a territorial range within which they capture prey and raise their cubs. Cubs of different females are often born close together and are 'raised' by several females. The cubs can suckle from any lactating female and if a mother dies, her orphans will be adopted by the other females.

The role of male lions is very different. A band of male lions, often brothers, have a range, which they mark, patrol and defend. Within this range may live one or more prides of females and the males will join these prides and mate with any receptive females. The more prides they hold, the more cubs the males are likely to sire. Some lions live a nomadic life, roaming singly, in pairs or in small groups, with no fixed territories.

You are most likely to find a pride of lions resting, as lions spend a large part of their day sleeping. If they are awake, they may be licking, grooming, playing and greeting one another. Lions greet whenever they meet after being separated or upon waking. Greeting behavior is easy to recognize and consists of rubbing heads together or even the whole body. A cub greets its mother by rubbing the top of its head and then its whole body and tail under her chin.

You can easily distinguish the males from the females in a pride by their manes and larger size, and if you spend some time watching you can soon recognize individuals. Most lions have scars on their faces and ears, and some may even have broken teeth. Scientists have been studying the lions in the Serengeti for 20 years and use these marks to distinguish individuals. Also, (much like human finger prints), the pattern of the whisker 'spots' is unique to every lion, and is useful for identification because it never changes.

The lions of the Seronera area often hunt along the river courses in the daytime and you may be lucky enough to see a hunt. A high proportion of hunts is unsuccessful but fascinating to watch, particularly if several members of the pride are hunting together. Lions hunt by stealthily stalking their prey. Crouching low to the ground they advance close enough to make a rush. Lions generally knock running prey over with a swipe of the paw, or pull it down with both front paws, whilst keeping their hind legs on the ground. As soon as the prey is down, the lion either grasps the throat, biting down on the windpipe or grabs the muzzle, and suffocates the prey.

Once the animal is dead, lions will sometimes move it to a secluded or shady spot. Depending on how hungry the lions are, they may feed quietly or if they are a large group, grab anything they can get hold of and begin dragging pieces away as soon as possible. Cubs start to eat at a kill from about three months old, but adult males usually get priority at a kill even over the females that hunted it, and can eat up to a quarter of their body weight. The main prey species in the Seronera valley are buffaloes and Thomson's gazelles, but when migrating wildebeest and zebras pass through they are often taken as well.

If you find a kill with lions eating, please do not go too close. Although the Seronera lions are familiar with cars it can be dangerous to approach.

When lions are feeding on a kill their presence is often made known by the concentrations of vultures and marabou storks, either circling overhead or waiting patiently in nearby trees. Six species of Vultures occur in the Serengeti: Egyptian, White-headed, White- backed, Lappet-faced, Ruppell's and Hooded.

White-backed and Ruppell's are adapted for pulling out large, soft pieces from the carcass, while lappet-faced and white-headed are better able to tear and twist off the tougher and more sinewy meat. Hooded and Egyptian vultures peck up the smaller pieces off the bones with sharpened beaks. Usually vultures will not attempt to feed from a kill while the lions are still in possession of it, but the hooded vulture is bolder than the others in this respect because it does not need as long a take-off distance as the others. Although principally scavengers, both lappet-faced and white-headed vultures have been known to kill their own prey, taking young Tommies, bat-eared foxes, fledgling secretary birds and even wild cats. Egyptian vultures have been seen to feed on ostrich eggs, which they break open by using rocks held in the beak. This is an unusual example of tool using by birds.

Often seen on a kill once the lions have finished are hyenas and the three species of Jackals that occur in the park. It is unlikely that you will see all three at once, because the side-striped, with its white tail tip, is rather rare and the golden jackal is mainly to be seen on the short-grass plains. Most likely to be found is the black-backed jackal, which can be distinguished by its silver-streaked black saddle and yellowish-rust colored flanks and legs. Apart from feeding on kills, jackals eat a variety of small creatures including scarab grubs, which they extract from the enclosing ball of dung. They may also hunt larger animals such as Tommies.

Jackals have a very interesting social system as they are one of the few mammalian species in which the male and female mate for life. Black-backed jackal pups are usually born in July and August and remain in their den for the first few weeks. The mother stays in the den with them and her mate regularly feeds her by regurgitating meat. At about three and a half months old, the cubs no longer use the den and by months they are hunting on their own with some success.

In many cases when pups have matured, they will stay with their parents and become 'helpers' for the next year's litter and help raise their younger brothers and sisters. Helpers regurgitate food to the pups and also to the mother while she is lactating. They also contribute by baby-sitting and guarding pups. Hyenas do attempt to prey on young pups but can be successfully driven away if one adult jackal is present. Studies have shown that more pups survive when helpers are present.