While You Were Sleeping
February 2026
While most of us sleep, Okonjima comes alive. Darkness brings out the secret lives of its nocturnal residents, from elusive leopards and secretive pangolins to clever brown hyenas and rare visitors like servals. These creatures navigate a landscape shaped by competition, opportunity, and survival, often beyond the gaze of even the most dedicated researchers.
Thanks to AfriCat’s extensive camera trap network, we can peer into this hidden world without disturbing it. Motion-activated cameras quietly record every movement, from tree climbs and burrow investigations to rare encounters between species. With almost 200 cameras across the reserve generating tens of thousands of images each month, this system provides an unparalleled view of nocturnal activity and behaviour.
While You Were Sleeping brings you a curated glimpse of these moments: animals showing ingenuity, resilience, and personality under the cover of night. Each image tells a story, revealing interactions, individual quirks, and behaviours that help AfriCat understand how wildlife survives and thrives in a complex ecosystem.
So settle in and take a look at what the night has revealed, because while you were sleeping, the wildlife of Okonjima was wide awake.
Zeus stepping out of his burrow
Pangolin Poised for Dinner
Zeus, a pangolin monitored by AfriCat since 2023, emerges from his burrow in a pose reminiscent of a dignified gentleman, with his foreclaws folded neatly in front. Pangolins rely heavily on their acute sense of smell to locate termite and ant nests, and Zeus appears to be assessing the surroundings before foraging. Such imagery highlights pangolins’ cautious, deliberate behaviour, reflecting their evolutionary adaptations for nocturnal foraging and predator avoidance. Documenting individual pangolins allows researchers to monitor activity, burrow fidelity, and health over time.
A serval on an evening stroll
Elusive Night Hunter
A serval steps into the frame, its eyes reflecting the camera flash. Servals are rarely recorded at Okonjima, making each sighting valuable. This medium-sized cat specialises in hunting small mammals and birds in dense grasslands, using keen hearing and silent stalking. Nocturnal movements are difficult to observe directly, so camera traps provide crucial data on presence, activity patterns, and habitat use. Each record helps refine understanding of serval ecology and their role as mesopredators in the reserve.
A leopard and her cub peering into a burrow
Family Lessons
Maji, a resident leopard, and her cub, Mbishi, are captured examining a burrow together. This behaviour illustrates the cub’s learning process, where young leopards acquire hunting and investigative skills by observing and mimicking their mother. Leopards are solitary hunters, but maternal care is critical during the first year of life. Such camera-trap evidence reveals how juveniles explore potential prey refuges and develop problem-solving abilities essential for survival in complex predator landscapes.
Brown Hyena vs Spotted Hyena
A Rare Rival Appears
A brown hyena bares its teeth at a spotted hyena. This is a remarkable capture at Okonjima, where spotted hyenas are rarely recorded! This interaction is significant both behaviourally and ecologically. Brown hyenas are typically subordinate to spotted hyenas, and such confrontations may involve territorial defence, competition over resources, or mutual assessment without escalation. The rarity of spotted hyena detections suggests the individual is transient rather than part of a resident clan. Camera-trap evidence like this expands knowledge of interspecific interactions at the edges of species’ ranges.
A brown hyena climbing a tree
An Unexpected Climber
The climb itself is the story! A brown hyena climbs high into a tree to reach bait; a behaviour rarely recorded for this species. Brown hyenas are typically ground-dwelling scavengers, adapted for long-distance travel rather than vertical movement. This image challenges conventional assumptions and highlights behavioural flexibility in response to novel foraging opportunities. The effort required is notable, as the tree itself is difficult even for researchers to access. Such problem-solving behaviour suggests that brown hyenas can exploit resources in unexpected ways when competition or opportunity demands it.
An aardwolf with no tail
Ghost with No Tail
An aardwolf, rarely seen even by researchers, is captured moving through the night without a tail. Aardwolves are specialised termite feeders and are typically elusive and solitary. Tail loss may result from predation attempts, intra-specific aggression, or accidents. Despite this injury, the individual appears active, suggesting resilience. Such images help confirm the presence, health status, and movement of species that are otherwise under-recorded.
Cheetah Catwalk
Passing Through
A cheetah, once more common at Okonjima during the early years of the AfriCat Foundation’s rescue and release programme, is captured traversing the reserve. Cheetahs require expansive, open landscapes for hunting and are highly susceptible to predation by apex predators like leopards. Sightings such as this indicate that Okonjima still functions as a safe corridor within a broader landscape, allowing cheetahs to move between more suitable habitats while avoiding high-risk areas. Camera traps document these rare movements, contributing to regional conservation planning.
Every image captured by AfriCat’s camera traps is part of a much larger effort to understand and protect wildlife at Okonjima. Together, these quiet observers reveal the hidden rhythms of the Reserve, night after night.
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Check back next month for more remarkable moments captured – “While You Were Sleeping”.
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