SANParks.org Forums

@Neilo It must have been a great sighting. Glad we could make sense of it. Having both species together usually just confirms the suspicion more so than if it was just 1 of the species alone I guess.

I like this thread. It has already alerted me to possible signs that I had never taken much note of.

Neilo, that must have been such an interesting encounter with the Leopard.

Great thread. Another sign is monkeys chattering excitedly. Look in the direction in which they are looking and more often than not you will see a leopard.

Another hint is impala snorting. If you hear impala snorting and most the herd is facing in a specific direction look which way they are facing and you are likely to see a predator.

Great and interesting thread.
I have found many a preditor by watching the behavior of herbivores,
giraffe looking in the same direction= lion
impala snorting and looking=leopard(many times)
kudu staring in one direction=lion
and many others
watching herbivores behavior is very often looked over by many visitors, often causing them to miss out on some fantastic sightings.

image by chavaluthu, on Flickr

This tree squirrel was seen on the Trunk of a tree giving loud alarm calls, We searched the area & eventually found an African wild cat moving in the long grass a distance away. I have seen them do this to a host of predators, even Lions. They flick their tail up & down while looking in the direction of the threat. I often see them mobbing snakes this way, usually they are joined by Burchell's Starlings when this happens. Difficult to find out what they see most of the time though.

Very interesting thread.
Pops - agreed. a couple of years ago I was driving from Skuk to LS and heard Vervets giving alarm calls. I stopped and sat there for 5 mins and was rewarded with a Leopard walking down a clearing and into a culvert below the road.
I knew some sort of predator was approaching but so many people drove by ignoring the Vervets calls and it would be so easy to miss this sort of natural indicator.

Learn to recognize the alarm calls of the plover species - sometimes it's just a water lizard getting a bit to close too their nest/chicks, sometimes awc, jackal, etc.

If you do not see anything, stop, switch off the vehicle and listen - after about ten minutes of silence, the veld comes alive

Hi All. This shows that it pays to drive with the vehicle's windows down. You get to hear things you didn't know could help you with your spotting.

I remember my frustration once close to Pretorius Kop camp. All the birds were going crazy. I knew that there must be a predator, but the grass was far too high.

Another moment was seeing a whole troop of baboons frozen it a tree. It was amazing to see these gragarious, noisy creatures frozen solid.

Lovely squirrel photo.

I agree, this is a great thread!!!

I have heard impala making their alaram call and looking in one direction and after a few minutes of waiting we spotted a huge male lion! The sightings are so much more special if you can track down the animals by reading the signs. You are really in nature then!
At my previous job in a reserve I was always aware of predators in the vicinity, thanks to the vervets! Most of the time a leopard would be seen around the camp! Loved It!!!

Great thread

We always look for signs and noises of the bush. Last September we saw loads of vultures in the trees and we heard bones cracking. We obviously waited. Other cars just drove past once we told them what was going on, there reply was… so you are looking at vultures . After a while 2 hyenas came running over a hill. We followed them towards there den. All the other cars mist that because we were only looking at vultures.
Saing this, we have had it as well that we first spotted the predator before we saw or heard the signs

Vultures in dead trees are usually roosting.
Vultures among greenery are usually waiting at a kill site.

As SG has stated, we have seen the HB, jackal and PCG, but 2, not all 3 at the same time.

Once, on the Timbavati river road, we came across the freshly dead carcass of an impala, with a juvenile bateleur pecking at it. We stayed for a few minutes waiting for the 'owner' to claim it, but nothing came by. We assumed it was roadkill. Any theories?

My tale starts with a rock lion!!!

I was with my SO and my brother, on a dirt road near Letaba, and bro suddenly shouted "Lion"
We stopped and peered into the bush, only to find that the lion was a rock............we've all been there I'm sure!!
However, on the opposite side of the road there were some Impala, and as we ovserved them, we could see that they were very nervous and twitchy. I said "Maybe there is a predator nearby" so we turned off the engine and just sat. After a while SO happened to look in his mirror, and there standing in the middle of the road, behind our car was a magnificent leopard. We stayed with him (with no other cars) for ages, but had we not known a little bit about animal behaviour, we would not have seen him!!

Perhaps the easiest one to hear is a Baboon alarm call. There's no sound on earth like it
They see in color like us, so their ability to see predators early is very good.

Had a baboon in the nissan Patrol in biyamiti. We were loading the car. He was sitting in the back area.
He barked when we came around the corner. Got the scare of a lifetime . (Window in front was open , he went out that way). It could kill or seriously hurt you if it was trapped

In 2011 along the Letaba river I witnessed a waterbuck barking and staring into the thick bush on the riverbank. After searching for the predator I finally saw the lioness walking in the road in front of me.... Reading to much signs almost cost me a lion sighting....