Wild Dogs

The pack spent most of the last week on our concession and provided some amazing viewing. Two of the females are definitely pregnant and they spent a lot of time in the south exploring some of the large termite mounds, some of which have been used previously by hyenas as den sites. This is a sure sign that they are now looking to den! We are all hoping that they will decide to den on our concession as the last time they also showed a lot of interest in denning here but then moved off at the last minute. During their explorations they did also tree leopards on two occasions. The first was Ndlevane, an aggressive old male we do not see often. He had an impala kill but had not hoisted it so after being treed the dogs chewed on the carcass a little before eventually losing interest and moving off. The second incident involved Metsi and her two cubs who had also made a kill, this time a duiker. All three leopards hastily made for the trees and it was an amazing spectacle to see seven wild dogs and three leopards in the same sighting! On one afternoon the dogs also managed to make a kill of their own, a young Kudu, which was devoured within minutes.

 

 

 

Mapogo Male Lions and Ximungwe Pride

After having being somewhat disjointed the week before the brothers spent quite a lot of time together this week. Skoro did leave the coalition for a couple of days to court one of the Ximungwe females but otherwise it has been intensive patrolling of the territory including some impressive roaring displays. This may be due to the brief visit of the Southern Pride from the east who have some up and coming young males who might pose a threat to the Mapogo in the near future. On more than one occasion the coalition was seen in close proximity to the large herd of buffalo and then quite well fed the next day. With the abundance of young calves in the herds the brothers are making the most of what are comparatively easy pickings. All three brothers have now also been seen with the 7 month and 3 month old cubs so it seems that Sataan has accepted them (or will not attempt to kill them while Makhulu is still around!). Some sad news though is that the youngest cubs have not been seen since the end of Feb but the mother has been seen and she seems not to be lactating anymore which suggests that the four cubs did not make it. The female that Skoro was courting was also the same mother which further supports the notion that the cubs are dead. Could Sataan be responsible for their dissapearance?

 

 

Southern Pride

Our first hint of the Southern Prides presence was a multitude of lion tracks along our eastern boundary that appeared to be following the herd of buffalo. This is the first sign of them coming this far west for many months and although we did not find the pride on this occassion there was one female that had been separated from them and she was wondering around near the lodge trying to locate them. A couple of days later some more tracks were seen in the same area, also following the buffalo, and this time we did get a brief sighting of three young males and three females. They were on the move along our eastern boundary and headed east off the concession shortly after being located. This is exciting news though as the three young males that were viewed are looking big already and might become contenders for the western sector along with two young Ottawa males when they come of age.

 

 

Kashane Male Leopard

Kashane only made one appearance in the last week, although tracks suggested he had been in the area a few more times than that. He was spotted while vehicles were viewing a herd of buffalo and a herd of elephants drinking at a dam. He casually wondered past, although he did take care to stay fairly concealed as both elephants and buffaloes do not take kindly to large male leopards getting too close. He was followed for a while and then left to routinely mark his boundaries.

Shinzele Male Leopard

It is safe to say that Shinzele has officially taken over Tegwaans territory south of the Sand River. He has now been seen courting three different females and was seen this week to be chasing two other males out the area, one of which was Ndlevane who is quite a large old male. His confidence has doubled in just a few short months and he has also become completely relaxed around vehicles which is fantastic for us. He also treated us to a great sighting of him in a tree with a kill. He wasted no time in finishing the carcass before heading off to further assert his dominance in his new found territory.

Ndlevane Male Leopard

After not seeing this elusive and somewhat aggressive male for months he popped up three times in the last week. The first sighting was of him with a kill which he defended under no uncertain terms. His annoyance with the vehicles was all too apparent as he charged one of the landrovers, stopping two meters short of the bulbar before returning to his kill while grumbling under his breath. Needless to say the landrovers extricated themselves hastily and he was left to finish his meal in peace. The next two sightings were of him being chased around, firstly by Shinzele, and then by the wild dogs. Shinzele took obvious objection to this older male traversing his newly acclaimed territory and escorted him rather briskly from the area. Ndlevane made his way south where the next day the dogs rudely interrupted yet another one of his meals as he fed on a fresh impala carcass in a drainage system. He scrambled up a tree and watched from his rather uncomfortable perch as the dogs chewed on his prize. He eventually did get it back though as the dogs lost interest and moved off which allowed him the come down the tree and retrieve his meal.

Hlabankunzi Female Leopard and Cub

Hlabankunzi seemed quite busy this week as every time we saw her she was quite active, whether just traversing her territory or seeking a potential meal. She was seen in just about every extent of her territory, perhaps in response to the pressure coming from Hlangisa in the south. Her cub was seen once, although not with her, and was quite nervous so the vehicles did not push her. She was left no doubt waiting for the return of her mother, hopeful in the prospects of a meal.

Metsi Female Leopard and Cubs

There was exceptional viewing of these leopards this past week, which is a relief as it means she has stopped going outside the fence. Perhaps the most excitement was their encounter with the wild dogs. Unbeknown to us Metsi had made a kill near McKenzie Camp and while we were following the wild dogs one morning they bumped into Metsi with the cubs at the kill and sent them scrambling up trees. It was early morning and the dogs had just got active so they were full of energy and spent a good 30 minutes harassing the leopards. It was incredibly surreal to have three leopards above you and seven wild dogs around you at the same time! Eventually the dogs decided they had better move on to more important things and the leopards came down to reunite near the remains of the kill. There was still some skin of the carcass in a tree and the one cub proceeded to tug and play with it, seemingly oblivious to the close encounter they had just experienced. Metsi joined the cub and provided some amazing photo opportunities with the sun just rising and throwing a golden light on the scene. They were eventually lost as they entered a drainage line where they no doubt took refuge in the coolness as the day became hotter.

 

 

Hlangisa Female Leopard

Hlangisa made her usual frequent appearances and seemed to be rather predictably traversing a set route to the north of McKenzie Cutline, perhaps trying to establish it as an addition to her core territory on Alicecot. She also had some interaction with the wild dogs but managed to avoid being chased by them. On the contrary she seemed to be following them and even chased after some impala that the dogs had tried to catch. Perhaps it is her inexperience with dogs and youthful instincts to explore the unknown!  There is never a dull moment with her.

Xikavi Female Leopard

Xikavi made a surprisingly high number of appearances this week, twice with kills and another twice just moving through the area. Both kills were impalas but she was not taking any chances and took both kills in to thick bush so the viewing was limited. Her frequenting the property is encouraging though as it is hoped that she will relax down quicker through more exposure to vehicles.

Cheetahs

The good cheetah viewing continued this week with both the young male and Makamisa (the older male with the drooping bottom lip) made appearances. It was however the younger males turn to show off his hunting prowess as he killed a female impala and fed on most of it before being driven off by a horde of vultures. Makamisa was however already well fed when he arrived and just lazed about near his favourite seclude, Jackal Alley. He did get up every now and then to shift his bulging belly and to drink some water, but otherwise he was content to sleep off his meal in the long grass.  

 

 

 

 

Mapogo Male Lions

The brothers have been somewhat disjointed this past week with Makhulu leaving Skoro with the Ximungwe pride after the buffalo kill was finished. Makhulu made his way north and to everybody’s surprise joined up with Sataan who returned from the north after a two week absence. The two spent the day sleeping and then awoke to give an impressive display of roaring around sunset. Makhulu then left his brother and was found the next morning having stolen an impala kill from Hlabankunzi and her cub. Makhulu remained with the kill for the rest of the day while Sataan once again disappeared. On the same day Skoro was still with the Ximungwe pride and lazily observed from the shady comfort of a bushwillow tree as the lionesses chased an old buffalo bull. The next morning we found Sataan in the area where the Ximungwe pride had been, very well fed and calling for the pride. The pride had however avoided him by heading north, perhaps to protect the cubs, and he had to spend the day on his lonesome. Skoro chose to keep following the pride and ended up way in the north while both his brothers met up again in the south. Sataan was still looking very well fed and so did Makhulu who seems to have stolen another kill during the night, this time from the cheetah with the drooping bottom lip (Makamisa).

Ximungwe Pride

The three females and two older cubs were not seen for a couple of days as they no doubt slept off the remains of the buffalo they killed the week before. They then surfaced in the familiar area of Cheetah Flats where the mother has been keeping the cubs for the last few months. The pride lazed about for the morning with the cubs continuing there playful ways, but were rudely interrupted by the large herd of buffalo who came to drink at the dam. The pride showed some interest but then decided to rather keep a low profile, perhaps because of the presence of the cubs. The buffalo eventually moved off and the pride settled down for what was going to be a hot day. They were found in the same place in the afternoon, but things quickly started happening as an old buffalo bull lagging behind the herd happened to walk straight towards them. The lionesses flanked and eventually gave chase but it was a rather half hearted effort. Perhaps it was yet again another ploy to rather chase the buffalo off to protect the cubs rather than actually hunting it.

There was also a sighting of the lioness with the end of her tail missing (Stompie) and her two cubs. The cubs appear to be very relaxed given the limited exposure they have had to vehicles which is great news. She kept them in the thick bushes though and chose to move them during the day so they were not found again thereafter.

Ottawa Pride

The Ottawa pride has spent most of the last week on our concession which has been great as we don’t see nearly as much of this pride as we would like. Most sightings however were of them just lazing about as they preferred to get active later in the evening once all the game drive vehicles had returned to camp.

Kashane Male Leopard

Kashane made us work for the privilege of spending time with him this week. His tracks were found in the southern part of his territory but as he covers such vast distances they had to be followed a long way before we got close.  He had headed into a block of thick bush but fortunately it seemed as though he was following the scent of where Hlangisa had walked a few days before. This gave us an idea of where to look for him in the block and he was eventually found. We followed him as he continued along the trail of the young female, but he eventually gave up and moved more north where he was left after dark. 

Shinzele Male Leopard

Shinzele was seen twice in the last week. The first sighting we had him very sleepy as he rested the whole morning in the shade of some bushwillows. He lifted his head every now and then but his eyes would soon close and he would fall flat and do what these big cats do best during the day – sleep! The second sighting was far more entertaining as he took vehicles on a 4 x 4 expedition along the banks of the Sand River. The vehicles did well to keep up with him and as just reward he climbed a large Jackalberry tree and posed for some great photos. He was left fast asleep in the tree where he no doubt enjoyed a catnap in relative peace.

 
 

Mashiyambanje Male Leopard and Unidentified Female

The tracks of a male and female leopard lead us to Mashiyambanje and a female leopard we have not seen before. The female was an older looking leopard and a little skittish, but she was actively courting the young male. He was somewhat reluctant though and reacted quite viciously to her advances. Due to the females shy nature they were not seen to actually mate, but audio from the thick bushes suggested that the female did get her way a few times. Mashiyambanje was seen again the next day in a similar area but the female was gone suggesting she had returned to her own territory beyond our concession after getting what she wanted.

  

Hlabankunzi Female Leopard and Cub

Hlabankunzi was found drinking from a pan one morning and when followed, she lead us back to an adult male impala kill she had made during the night. Her cub was also in the area and both seemed to have had a good feed already. The carcass was however still too heavy for her to lift into a tree which proved to be costly as Makhulu Mapogo stole it during the night. The following morning the two leopards were still in the area but observed the male lion from the safety of the branches of a nearby marula tree. The male lion however left very few scraps and the leopards had to move on without gaining substantially from the kill.

 
 

Hlangisa Female Leopard

Hlangisa was uncharacteristically found quite far north, right in the heart of Hlabankunzi’s territory. This is proof that she is gaining in confidence and looking to explore and hopefully expand on her core territory in the south. A vehicle returning from drive the next day was alerted by the distress calls of an antelope in the area where Hlangisa was headed the day before. Upon following up, they found her holding a young duiker which she proceeded to ‘play’ with for over an hour. She would let the young antelope go and then chase it down again and again, and even climbed a tree with it still alive. Eventually she disappeared into thick bush with it and all noises seemed to stop suggested she did finally kill it. The continued calling of the duiker must almost certainly have attracted the attention of other predators in the area and when Hlangisa was seen the next day she seemed not have been well fed, suggesting she probably lost the kill. She moved into the area where Makhulu Mapogo was sleeping off his recently acquired impala kill from Hlabankunzi but luckily managed to avoid him, even after he seemed to catch her scent and followed for some distance. 

Xikavi Female Leopard

The sounds of an alarm calling kudu lead us to the location of Xikavi one morning. When we arrived in the area it was a bit strange as the kudu did not flea as is normally the case upon detecting a predator. Instead this kudu intently stared at the leopard and kept barking. Only then did we see that Xikavi had in fact caught the female kudu’s calf! The distraught mother was desperately trying to intimidate the leopard into releasing the calf but Xikavi took no notice and killed the calf in minutes. She then dragged the carcass towards a drainage line where she hid it from vultures and other opportunistic predators. Unfortunately the terrain was inaccessible so we were not able to view her on the kill but the events we had just witnessed were enough to have us completely thrilled. As it turned out she did lose the kill to a male leopard that was seen in the area the next day.

Cheetah

The last week has provided very good cheetah viewing with two separate male cheetahs being viewed. The first was a younger male who made an attempt on some impala on the McKenzie airstrip but unfortunately failed. He moved east and just as it was getting dark he managed to catch a steenbok. He was left feeding after dark (as we cannot shine a spotlight on diurnal hunters) but was not relocated the next day. This suggests he moved further east and off our concession.

A couple of days later the familiar form of the male with the drooping bottom lip (Makamisa) was silhouetted against the dawn sky. He was found lying on top of a termite mound in one of his favourite hunting grounds, the aptly named Cheetah Flats. He spotted a herd of impala in the clearing and seemed interested but decided against making an attempt. Instead he moved back south and bumped into the Ximungwe pride and Skoro. The startled cheetah took off at pace and headed away from the lions where he no doubt concealed himself as he was not relocated for two drives thereafter. He did eventually show himself again in the afternoon, this time in the clearings to the west and moved north to avoid another encounter with the lions. He again spotted a herd of impala and this time he did give chase. He was lost as he entered the thick bush but some persistent following up by guides at the sighting revealed that he had been successful in catching an adult female impala. He rested a while before feeding and was left as dusk fell.

Wild Dog

We were lucky enough to have the pack on the property for most of the last week. We saw them on four consecutive drives which was fantastic as they usually don’t stick around very long. They were initially found north of the river where they had just finished off an impala and were looking to rest. In the afternoon they did try to catch more impala but failed. This took them down to the Sand River where we had an amazing sighting of them on a sandbank with the river as the backdrop. The water was still quite high but they were looking to cross nonetheless. Very warily the pack searched up and down the banks to take the shortest and shallowest route across. Unfortunately we lost visual of them in the reeds before they crossed but vehicles following up in the afternoon found them well south of the river, somewhere they have not been for months. It was not long before another impala fell victim to these voracious predators, but unfortunately it was also the end of the sighting as they moved east and off our concession soon afterwards.

 

 

 

Mapogo and Ximungwe Pride
It has been an eventful last week for these lions. It started off with Makhulu joining up with three of the lionesses and the older cubs just on the outskirts of where the large herd of buffalo were lying up. They lazed about in the open where the cubs continued their playfull ways, waiting for the cover of darkness to make their move. They only decided to get active very late so we did not see them make an attempt on the herd but upon following up the next morning we found them with a subadult male buffalo kill. The 6 month old cubs were there too and provided some good viewing as they scrambled all over the carcass. They also very bravely approached Makhulu and tried to get some reaction from him but he was so full from feeding all night that he did not even bat an eyelid! Skoro was not present for the kill but was found some kilometers away the same morning, sniffing the air and looking for the others. He did eventually find them that night and appears to have got his fill as well. The other big news is that reports from the north and west of our concession have Sataan alive and well. He was seen with a young giraffe kill and appears to have left the coalition to try and establish his own territory. He has done this before when he left with another coalition member (Kinky tail) in 2008 and almost paid with his life as the four young males from the east caught and killed his brother last year. If the young males find him again they will almost certainly kill him as well.








Ottawa Pride
The Ottawa pride made a welcome appearance north of the river after a long absence. All members were present and the vehicles that made the long journey north were rewarded with an amazing hunting display. The pride were found in the morning and seemed done for the day as they rested in the shade, but then suddenly they spotted a herd of impala wondering a little too close. As opportunistic hunters they could not resist and the pride got moving, fanning out to cut off any escape routes. With an explosive burst they ran in and one of the young males as well as one of the young females caught an impala each. One of the cubs amazingly got hold of an impala but was unable to secure it and the fortunate antelope got away. During all the commotion a young warthog was also flushed and unfortunately crossed the path of the adult lioness who, although she was not expecting to catch a warthopg, dispatched the pig in a raucus of squealing. With such a successful catch the pride settled down to feed on the bounty and were left finishing the scraps late in the morning. By the evening they had already moved south of the river and were left moving further south, perhaps looking for the large herd of buffalo as a couple of impala and a small warthog would not keep them satisfied for long.

Shinzele Male Leopard and Dam Three Female Leopard
Another highlight of the week was an amazing and privileged display of leopard courting behaviour. Shinzele and the usually skittish Dam Three Female were found in a river bed as Shinzele tried to get some rest in the cool shade, but the female was very intent on seducing him and provided a great display of courting. With only one thing on her mind the female ignored the vehicles she normally avoided and continually approached the male, rubbing herself against him and flicking her tail in his face. Shinzele was notably irritated and growled and hissed but eventually gave in and mated so he could no doubt go back to sleep. The female had other ideas though and within five minutes she was flirting again! Even when he tried to move off she followed him and continued her efforts. They were eventually left moving along the river for what was certainly going to be a long night for Shinzele!




Metsi Female Leopard and cubs
The tracks of Metsi and her cubs were found suggesting she was possibly leading them to a kill somewhere. By the time rangers caught up with her she was close to the western fenceline and astonished rangers looked on as she tried to dig under the fence and lead her cubs through. This is the second time we have seen her do this and it is a concern that maybe she is taking to livestock rather than wild game.  With a bit of persuation she left the fenceline and stashed the cubs in the long grass nearby. The following couple of days found the cubs still in the hiding place near the fence but no sign of the mother. Hopefully she was hunting within the reserve and had not gone on a raiding foray beyond the borders again. After the recent events with Mambiri we are hoping that the new fence currently being put up will keep her and the cubs safely within the reserve.

Hlabankunzi Female Leopard
Hlabankunzi was seen in the heart of her territory as she lazed in a marula tree towards dusk. Unbeknown to her the Mapogo were also close by and must have got her scent as they headed straight for her area. Fortunately she was in the tree when they arrived and moved on shortly afterwards as they reaslised there was no way of getting to her. After they moved off Hlabankunzi came down the tree and hastily moved off in the opposite direction. She still has not been seen with her remaining cub but hopefully she is just avoiding a repeat of what happened with Shinzele killing the other cub.

Tegwaan Male Leopard??
Tegwaan has not been seen for close on two months now, but a flash sighting of a male leopard fitting his discription late one night has everyone hoping that he is in fact still alive and just keeping a low profile to avoid all the other younger males competing for his territory. It seems Shinzele has probably taken over now and maybe tegwaan is nomadic which will explain the lack of sightings.

Wild Dog

There was a strange sighting of a single wild dog yesterday morning. The dog was on its own and seemed lost as it ran around in no particular direction. On closer inpection it was noticed that the dog actually had a snare around its neck! This was an obvious concern and the park warden was notified, but the dogs hap hazard movements made it difficult to locate again. It seems not to be a member of the resident Sabi Sands Pack as all seven of them were seen in the north beyond our concession on the same day, but it is thought that the dog had been seperated from its own pack somewhere in the Kruger when it got caught in the snare. The rest of the pack must have moved on and by the time it managed to free itself it had lost them. Its hap hazard movements must have been in an effort to pick up the scent and relocate the pack, but we have not seen another pack in this area so this dog may be well and truely lost which does not bode well for it.