A pair of 16-week-old lion cubs, known as Moran and Amayi are the latest members of the team at Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve.
The lion cubs are a 'first' for Mwabvi, where predators have long since vanished and they will be used to promote environmental conservation and education in local schools and the communities surrounding Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve.
The lion cubs also signal the beginning of Project African Wilderness's big cat breeding programme. Moran and Amayi are half white lion and half brown lion, so in three years time when they can breed them, the offspring can be sent back to South Africa to strengthen the white lion gene pool by breeding with true white lions.
It is also hoped that their presence at Mwabvi will attract more visitors who may never have travelled to Mwabvi. Kirsten, the 12 year old daughter of the PAW managers at Mwabvi, will be taking care of the lions but there are also opportunities for volunteers to help out.
The recently opened Bua River Lodge is proving popular already. The lodge is the first privately-run lodge to be operated in the untouched wilderness of the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve. The reserve is Malawi's third largest but least known protected area. Nkhotakota is an area of rugged scenery and beautiful woodland, with a rich diversity of flora and fauna - including big mammals. It is only now starting to be explored properly. Having only been open a few weeks, Bua River Lodge is already receiving good reviews from its guests and getting repeat bookings. New offers include full moon weekends and birding weekends.
This past month’s rare sightings mostly came from Sanctuary Chobe Chilwero in Botswana. Guests here were lucky enough to see two male cheetah, a leopard being forced up a tree by a troop of baboons and even sable antelope along the Chobe River, a very unusual sighting indeed.
The yearly migration has arrived in Kenya with the first zebras and wildebeest entering the Masai Mara. The fore-runners arrived alittle earlier than usual but millions more are expected to arrive behind them. Familiar noisy grunts fill the air as wildebeest cross into the plains. The crocodiles and other predators seem to sense their arrival, moving in to take advantage of an easy meal at the crossing points. All exciting sightings for the nearby guests as they experience this amazing annual act of nature.