Greg Coates Photography

Caracal

The highlight of the week for me was definitely a young male caracal, the first caracal I have ever seen in the Sabi Sands in four years!! Vehicles departing from Exeter River Lodge came across him simply sitting next to the road outside the camp, completely unfazed by the vehicles. This is a long way from Savanna but we made the journey at haste to catch a glimpse of what is a very difficult cat to spot in this area. The light was fading and our first glimpse was of a ghostly figure moving through the grass, but we still managed to get some great photographs of him when he sat and groomed himself. He then moved down the road in front of us and spotted some spurfowls on the road ahead and made an attempt to stalk them but gave up after a few minutes. After about 20 minutes of following him he did eventually move off the road and into long grass where we could not follow, but it was a sighting to remember for a very long time.

Mapogo Male Lion Coalition

The brothers continued their patrols for most of the week, but were not as united as last week. Makhulu spent the first couple of days on his own down in the south where he followed the large herd of buffalo for a while. His black eye is not looking as swollen anymore and he gave some good roaring displays. In the mean time the other two brothers were with three Ximungwe lionesses up north where they treed Shinzele and the Dam Three Female one morning. They were very well fed and did not move at all even after the leopards had come down the trees and moved off. Later in the week Makhulu did reunite with his brothers but the coalition soon broke up again as Skoro started courting one of the lionesses. Makhulu and Sataan stayed with the other two lionesses that moved south and our last sighting found them very well fed again, suggesting the females are providing well for them.

Ximungwe pride

The pride is still fragmented but again all the members were seen at one stage or another. All are in good condition and the cubs are growing quickly. The older lioness with the 8 month old cubs is back down south and while on the move one afternoon they came across a colony of dwarf mongoose that scampered down the road straight towards the lioness without seeing her. The lioness lay flat and watched them come closer only to have the cubs come along and chase the small critters into the grass. The mother is looking a bit hungery and the cubs are becoming more and more insistent for milk, even though they should be weaned off by now. Their teeth are getting bigger and razor sharp which is an obvious discomfort for her as she growls and rolls over to deter the cubs from suckling. The mother with the two younger cubs is still up north and all three are doing well.

Ottawa Pride

The Ottawa pride made a very brief appearance one evening around portion 5 up in the north. The oldest female was missing but they seemed to have detected the Mapogo and two Ximungwe lionesses close by. The seven youngsters approached from the east, brazenly vocalising, but still somewhat cautious as without the adult female they are not quite confident enough to tangle with their fathers just yet. The Ximungwe lionesses could be heard replying in the distance and that seemed to be enough to send the Ottawa pride back east again.

Shinzele Male Leopard and Dam Three Female Leopard

Shinzele had a bad start to his week by being treed by the Mapogo and Ximungwe lionesses. He must have had a kill in the area as he looked well fed and again he had a female with him, this time the Dam Three Female. When the lions eventually lost interest the Dam Three Female wasted no time in coming down and scampering away, not to be seen again in the week. Shinzele however took his time and sauntered off as only a male leopard can do! He dragged his full belly eastwards where he disturbed a lone impala ram which realised the leopard was not hunting and so stood its ground and snorted his disapproval. Shinzele decided to avoid the impala and entered a drainage line where we lost him. He did pop up again later in the week where he was found near Ulusaba old airstrip, intently watching some waterbuck. The antelopes sensed his presence though and moved off after which he decided to patrol some territory instead. He must have picked up the scent of the Bushlodge Male having moved through that area the week before as he thoroughly marked and roared his way north up the western boundary. He also looks as though he has had a couple of run ins with competitors recently as his face bares the scars of some recent fighting.

Kashane Male Leopard

Kashane made one appearance down in the south of his territory. He somehow sensed prey in the area while we followed him and crept up against the side of the vehicle for concealment which was quite a thrill! It became a little too close for comfort though and as we backed away a male reedbuck exploded from the long grass not even 10 meters from our vehicle. Kashane did not even bother to chase it though and moved further south where he found a perfect tree which he climbed, giving us some great photo opportunities. He then noticed something in the distance which he watched intently for a while before descending the tree and going to investigate. It turned out to be a big male warthog which he crept up on to within 10 meters again, however the pig noticed him just in time and high tailed it out of there in a flurry of grunts and squeals.

Hlabankunzi Female Leopard

Hlabankunzi has been a bit more elusive now that her cubs are gone. The only times we saw her this week was when she had kills, of which there were two. The first was right at Dulini camp but she had it in thick bush and the visual was difficult. The second was again in thick bush and visual of her was limited. We hope to see a bit more of her this next week.

Metsi Female Leopard and Cubs

While viewing a sleepy cheetah (Makamisa) movement in the distance alerted us to the presence of Metsi who was making her way towards McKenzie Airstrip. Neither animals spotted each other so there was no interaction and we left the cheetah to follow Metsi. She became interested in something in the long thatching grass and all of a sudden leapt into it. All hell broke loose as warthog piglets came scurrying out but the high pitched squealing indicated that Metsi had caught one. Then an unbelievable scene followed as the mother warthog charged Metsi and forced her up a tree which meant Metsi had to let go of the piglet which was luckily unharmed. Metsi remained in the tree until the warthog family moved off before coming down and choosing to hunt less dangerous prey like impalas and duikers. She made a few attempts but was not seen to be successful, although the next day she was found leading the cubs to a kill. It was a young impala which the cubs fed on intermittently. They did not have it for long though before a male leopard came in and stole the prize for himself. It was a nervous male so an ID was not possible but it may have been the shy male from Alicecot. As it turns out though Metsi had made two kills during the night as she lead the cubs further east and to another young impala carcass. This time they had the carcass to themselves and finished it in one morning. Later in the day some interaction was seen between Metsi and Hlangisa as Metsi did not take kindly to her younger sisters return. Metsi roared and salivated her disapproval and Hlangisa was forced to move north again.

Hlangisa Female Leopard

Hlangisa was still up north in the beginning of the week and provided some good viewing as she lounged in trees and caught flies in the late morning heat. She did have some interaction with Xikavi up north who appeared to have stolen the remains of a kill from Hlangisa, but no interaction was actually witnessed. This seemed to convince Hlangisa that it was better to head south again towards here familiar area of McKenzie Windmill/Airstrip. She did not get a warm welcome though as she bumped into the wild dogs and then got chased by Metsi who seems to have claimed her mother’s territory (Mambiri) from under her sisters nose (Hlangisa).

Xikavi Female Leopard

Xikavi was again seen twice in the space of a week which is good news. She seems to be actively traversing the area around Inyathi and Exeter camps so hopefully this will become part of her core territory and we will continue to see her often. She was seen coming from an area where Hlangisa had a kill the night before and when we followed up on Hlangisa we found her up a tree and with no kill suggesting that Xikavi must have got the upper hand and stolen the kill from the younger trespassing leopard.

Cheetah

Makamisa returned as aniticipated at the beginning of the week and managed to catch an impala at McKenzie Windmill. The catch was however made between drives so nobody witnessed it but when we found him in the afternoon he was very full and soaking up the afternoon sunshine. He moved further south after the wild dogs appeared in the area of the carcass, but they did not see him as he had moved a fair distance away from it and so got away without being harassed. Tracks in the morning however suggested that lions had come across him during the evening and undoubtedly chased him as he was nowhere to be found for the rest of the week.

Wild Dog

The pack has been spending a lot of time at the den during game drive times so we have had relatively few sightings of them. When we have seen them though they have been actively hunting with only five individuals which suggests the second pregnant female has now also given birth. A kill was witnessed on one occasion with the dogs taking down an adult male impala which was quickly devoured, after which the pack returned to the den to probably regurgitate meat for the two mothers tending the pups. We are not sure yet whether both mothers are using the same den or if the second litter had been born at a separate den close by, but hopefully we should get to see some pups soon.