Ximungwe lioness and cubs
After having enjoyed the entire kudu carcass to themselves, the lioness moved her cubs to some nearby rocks and slept off the remains of the meal in relative peace. The cubs were however quite restless and provided some fantastic viewing as they clambered around the rocks and whined for the attention of their mother. On occassion the lioness would roll over and allow the cubs to suckle briefly, but the heat was clearly a discomfort and she would growl softly to convince to cubs to go and rather explore the surrounding rocks. This morning her tracks suggested that she has moved the cubs west towards McKenzie Camp and has no doubt stashed them somewhere safe before she heads out on another hunting foray.




Mapogo male lion coalition
After all the anticipation of the three brothers raiding the kudu kill made by the Ximungwe lioness, they didn't even manage to find it. They did however continue to follow the large herd of buffalo and three nights ago they were seen making an attempt right outside the lodge. Makhulu bravely charged the herd and grabbed a calf, but before he could suffocate it a large bull buffalo came to the rescue and actually tossed Makhulu up in the air. Fortunately the dominant old male was not injured, but the same cannot be said for Sataan who has a large gash under his front left leg, no doubt the result of a previous failed attempt on the herd. The next day Makhulu was found with two Ximungwe lionesses, having lost interest in food and rather choosing to concentrate on potential mating. The other two brothers could be heard roaring to the east, still following the herd no doubt. All three brothers were then found together this morning along with a lioness who Makhulu is courting. Sataan and Skoro appear to have had success as their full stomachs bulged but Makhulu did not seem bothered as he clearly valued the oppurtunitiy to mate rather than eat!

Hlangisa female leopard

We went a few days without seeing Hlangisa which is uncommon. She then made an appearance this morning as she continued to explore further opportunities to expand her territory. As we followed her scent marking along the road she suddenly saw a flock of guinea fowl with small chicks and immediately began stalking them. We lost sight of her for a while but knew she must be close to the birds, then all of a sudden all hell broke loose as guinea fowls came rocketing out of the long grass, screeching blue murder. When we managed to find Hlangisa again she had one of the unfortunate chicks in her mouth. Hardly being a meal she devoured the morsel in no time and moved to a marula tree which she climbed to make the most of a slight breeze on what was becoming a rather hot morning.

Metsi female leopard and cubs

Metsi and her two cubs made a brief appearance last night but as is often the case they disappeared into inaccessible bush, but at least it is a relief to know that both the cubs are still doing well.

Kashane male leopard

Kashane has been rather obliging in the last week and was seen regularly patrolling his territory, and on one occasion with a young male impala kill.

Hlabankunzi female leopard

Hlabankunzi seems to have recovered from the loss of her one cub and was seen back up in the northern part of her territory where the incident took place. We followed her as she patrolled the roads and even as she approached one of the camps along the river. She actually entered the camp and walked straight through it without any concern!

Mambiri female leopard

There is unfortunately no further news on Mambiri. She has not been seen in the last week although it is suspected that she has moved southwards towards the area of McKenzie camp. There has been a lot of hyena activity on the property recently which does not bode well for her, as well as the Ximungwe lioness with cubs having moved into the same area. We are still holding thumbs though.... 

Mapogo male lion coalition
Makhulu and Sataan have been mating with a Ximungwe lioness and an Ottawa lioness respectively during the last week. They have however now met up with the third brother and were seen last night taking a bit of heat from a herd of elephant which chased them around for about half an hour. Once the elephants moved off the brothers made their way south and east where they were reported to be tailing the large herd of buffalo just east of our border this morning. They are however now much closer to the area where a Ximungwe lioness has a kudu kill and her cubs. Once the vultures get airborne during the day it is almost certain that the brothers must see them and now know that there is a potentially easy meal nearby. It will be interesting to see what has happened overnight once the big cats have gotten active.

Ximungwe lioness and cubs
One of the major sightings of the week has been this single lioness with her cubs. She managed to kill an adult male kudu all on her own near Nkombe Dam and then brought the cubs to the kill. They have been on the kill for the last three days now and the vultures have arrived in their hundreds. For this reason the mother has tried to bury the entrails and move the carcass under thicker bush but the presence of the vultures and the ever increasing stench is just delaying the inevitable arrival of the Mapogo who were seen coming south towards the area last night. The cubs are looking well though and steal a bit of milk every now and then when mom is resting even though they are feeding mostly on meat now. Lets just hope that Makhulu Mapogo can protect the cubs from Sataan should the coalition arrive at the kill tonight.

 
 

Hlangisa female leopard
The other major sighting this week has been Hlangisa who managed to kill a young waterbuck a couple of days ago. She fed off the carcass for a day on the ground but then was forced up a tree by a hyena. This worked in our favour as it improved the view dramatically and allowed for some great photography. She has since finished the carcass and was seen this morning moving through her newly acquired territory, scent marking and looking quite at home.
 

Mambiri female leopard
This is Hlangisa's mother. Unfortunately there is some bad news regarding this leopard as she was found a couple of days ago near one of the lodges with a very bad injury to her front paw. It appears she tried to attack a warthog but came off second best. She has been seen twice since and can only walk on three legs. This is almost certainly a death sentence as she will be unable to hunt or climb trees to get to safety should lions find her. We are all expecting the worst but you can never count these animals out as they are incredibly resilient. We are holding thumbs for her as she is certainly one of the favourites amongst the guides and guests who have had the pleasure of spending time with her.

Hlabankunzi female leopard and cubs
There is more bad news unfortunately. Hlabankunzi had two cubs but three days ago one of them was killed by a new young male leopard moving into the area called Shinzele. The father of these cubs is Tegwaan but it seems he is trapped north of the flooding river and so has been unable to patrol his territory south of the river which has enabled Shinzele to move through it freely. He came across the mother and her cubs at night and caught and killed the one. Hlabankunzi managed to get the remaining one to safety and they were seen the next day moving way down south to get as far away from Shinzele as possible.

Kashane male leopard
This monster of a leopard was seen two days ago trying to sleep off the last of a big meal. He had climbed a tree to try make the best of the light breeze during the midday heat but he was clearly still uncomfortable as he restlessly changed position and panted heavily. His tracks were seen this morning in the southern extremity of his territory but who knows where he has gotten to as he certainly lives up to his name 'Kashane' which means 'the one who walks far'.  

It has rained a lot here over the last couple of weeks but we have still managed to get out on drive and the viewing has still been very good. The combination of hot temperatures and rain has worked to our advantage to a certain extent as the leopards are preferring to get out of the wet vegetation and up into the trees to get the breeze. This has made for some spectacular photography...