SIGHTING OF THE WEEK

Wild Dog

The pack returned at the beginning of the week and spent a lot of time on Savanna property. This enabled us to view them extensively over the last week and we were fortunate enough to witness a few kills as well. As with the rest of the predators, their main target seemed to be the impala herds as the youngsters in the herds provide easier prey at this time of the year, but basically anything that moved in front of them was chased! They managed to catch at least two young impalas, one adult female impala and one young bushbuck over two days. In this time we also witnessed some interesting interaction between the pack and other animals, the first of which was the Dewane Male leopard. The pack came across him with a fresh kudu kill and wasted no time in chasing him up a tree and stealing most of the carcass for themselves. The next day they came across a mother and calf rhino and spent about 20 minutes ‘playing’ with them. The dogs would rush at the calf which startled the youngster at first but the young rhino eventually gained in confidence after a few interventions by its mother, and actually started chasing the dogs itself! Not long after meeting the rhino’s the pack came across the large herd of buffalo and startled the herd which stampeded away. The herd however soon realised that it was not lions but only wild dogs that were chasing them and they turned on the pack which made a quick retreat.

OTHER SIGHTINGS

Mapogo Male Lions

The brothers returned after a long absence from the western sector and immediately picked up the scent for the fourth lioness in the Ximungwe pride that recently lost her cubs. Sataan once again abducted her and left his two brothers to defend the territory, but then rejoined them again as they all met up with the whole Ximungwe pride north of the Sand river. The following morning we were very surprised to find Makhulu and Sataan having traversed way down south and with a young buffalo kill. It just so happened that the four Southern Pride Males were also in this area with a buffalo kill from the day before suggesting that the two Mapogo brothers may have got wind of them and come to investigate. The two coalitions never met though as the younger males retreated after the Mapogo brothers announced their arrival that evening.

Ximungwe Lion Pride

The Ximungwe pride is looking a lot more stable and the three mothers have been constantly together with their various cubs. The fourth lioness also joined the pride after courting with Sataan and the pride seemed content to laze around in the very north-west corner of the concession. Recent prolific rainfall has seen the Sand river rising however which means the pride will be confined to the northern parts of the concession until the water level drops again, but hopefully we will still be able to cross the river ourselves to continue viewing them. Sad news is that the two older cubs did not reunite with the pride which has resulted in one of the cubs passing away. The remaining cub is still seen occasionally and seems to be living on mainly tortoises which have emerged after to the rain. Unfortunately it seems that as the cubs were kept apart from the pride for most of their life the surviving cub will probably not be accepted back into the pride, and being only 13 months old he does not have the skills yet to hunt substantial prey on his own. His chances of survival are therefore unfortunately very slim.

Southern Pride Male Lions

As we left the lodge one morning drive we were surprised to see a young male lion perched on top of a termite mound just outside the lodge. We were not immediately sure of who he was but as we approached we discovered there were in fact a further three male lions behind the mound! It became evident then that it was the four young males from the Southern pride who, after last being seen here six months ago, have grown up a lot and are looking like real contenders for a territory. They still seemed wary of being in Mapogo territory but that did not stop them taking down an adult buffalo on our eastern border. They fed leisurely until the next day when distant roaring announced the imminent arrival of two of the Mapogo brothers. It is not certain how the Mapogo detected the presence of the younger males from up near the river but the young coalition was not going to stick around to find out. They abandoned the carcass and put a good few kilometres between themselves and the older males as quickly as possible. So while it was exciting to see the young coalition looking to investigate the west, it is evident that they are not confident enough yet to take on even just two of the Mapogo, never mind all three!

Kashane Male Leopard

Kashane was in an out of his western territory a few times again, but this time he did catch an impala near Marula Dam which provided us with a more stable sighting of him. This did not last long though as the kill was fairly small and he was on his way again, travelling steadily to cover his massive territory.

Shinzele Male Leopard

Shinzele was very elusive this last week and was only seen twice. On the one occasion we followed him as he seemed to be on the scent of something but he just could not find it as the rain had dampened the scent. Another vehicle stumbled across Tlangisa with an impala kill nearby and it seems that this is what Shinzele was after. Lucky for the female leopard though he was unable to find her and he eventually gave up and continued his patrols.

Dewane Male Leopard

Dewane was very active and seen with a number of kills – including a young elephant and a young hippo!! It is not clear if he actually killed these two animals but it was impressive non-the-less to see him dragging the carcasses around. After gorging himself we found him lazing at a waterhole in the afternoon heat. Unknown to him there was an impala ram coming down to drink and only at the last second did he notice it. He made an attempt to stalk the antelope but the wind eventually gave his position away and the impala sounded the alarm which prompted the leopard into roaring his frustration. Not long after this failed hunting attempt he tried to relax again on a termite mound but this time it was a group of rhino’s that interrupted his rest. He kept his head down though to avoid detection and the beasts passed not even two meters from him. Towards the end of the week he did manage to catch a young kudu, but before he could drag it up a tree he was interrupted by the wild dog pack that chased him up a tree and stole most of his kill. He looked on until the pack left and then returned to the kill to salvage what he could. He immediately decided to tree the kill this time and we had good viewing of him as he finished off the scant remains.

Tlangisa Female Leopard

Tlangisa was again providing some good viewing of her in trees and as with a number of the other leopards she was also seen with a kill, this time an adult female impala. After narrowly escaping detection by Shinzele she did lose the kill during the night to what was probably a hyena.

Hlabankunzi Female Leopard

The big news is that Hlabankunzi has probably given birth to her cubs! She was seen looking notably thinner and returning repeatedly to a rocky outcrop in the central parts of the concession. This is very exciting and we are all waiting with bated breath to catch a glimpse of the cubs. This may only be in a few weeks however as the cubs must literally be a few days old. Prior to the big event she was also seen a few times, one of which she had just killed a young warthog. We followed her as she went in search of a drink and sat just meters away as she drank thirstily from a small pool of water before returning to her meal.

Metsi Female Leopard

Metsi was typically elusive and if it wasn’t for the eagle eye of one of the trackers we would not have seen her at all this last week. She was spotted late in the afternoon as she surveyed her surroundings from the top of a termite mound which provided some good opportunities to get some black & white and silhouette photos before she decided to get moving and disappeared into a drainage line.

Tasselberry Female Leopard

After not being seen for a while it was a treat to find this young female near the camp one morning. She allowed us to follow her as long as only one vehicle was present but she is becoming a lot more relaxed and it should not be long before she is tolerant of more than one vehicle at a time. As a sign of her growing confidence she even climbed a tree ala Tlangisa style and posed for a few wonderful photographs before descending and continuing on her way.

SIGHTING OF THE WEEK

Mapogo and Ximungwe Pride

The Mapogo brothers have been continuing their preference for buffalo this last week and managed to kill two at the same time! The three brothers were accompanied by the lioness from the Ximungwe pride that lost her small cubs a few weeks ago and Sataan was showing a lot of interest in her, suggesting that she was coming back into season. The female did not take too kindly to his advances and on one occasion lunged at him aggressively. There was also a fair amount of aggression between the brothers towards the end of the carcass. After 4 days of gorging on the two carcasses the brothers moved steadily all the way to their eastern territory to make sure that no intruders had taken advantage of their absence during the feed. Stability in the Ximungwe pride seems to have settled and the three mothers have been together the whole of the last week with their respective cubs. They always looked full suggesting that the hunting is going very well now that the three mothers are able to hunt together again. The fourth lioness joined the pride for a short while but was then whisked away by Sataan as she is no doubt coming back into season. The four cubs with the pride are all looking well but there has still been no sign of the two older cubs after the tragic passing of their mother.



OTHER SIGHTINGS

Kashane Male Leopard

Kashane made a few appearances and was obviously very aware of the potential easy meals on offer in the form of new born impala lambs as he stealthily moved through his territory, nose often to the ground. He did spot a herd of impala’s with numerous lamb’s on one occasion but the ever vigilant mothers detected his scent and fled with their youngsters bounding away as fast as their growing legs could carry them.

Shinzele Male Leopard and Tlangisa Female Leopard

Tlangisa was back in Shinzele’s area again and looking to gain his attention as she has attempted a few times already. Shinzele was having none of it again and aggressively repelled her every time she approached closer than a few feet. It was fantastic however to see this intricate interaction between two adult leopards and we eventually left the two still involved in their games.

Tlangisa Female Leopard

Tlangisa was seen on her own a number of times as well and was as far north as the Sand River near Kerri Crossing on one occasion which is the furthest north we have ever seen her. This suggests that she is still exploring for a possible territory although it does seem that she is getting more comfortable around the central and western parts of the concession. As per usual she gave us ample photographic opportunities as she posed in trees and lazily regarded the vehicles with uninterested stares.

Dewane Male Leopard

Dewane male was seen a few times but the most interesting sighting was of him feeding on a tiny elephant calf. We are not sure what happened to the calf but it seems that it may have been still-born and that Dewane was attracted to it by the smell once it started decaying. He remained in the area for two days and seemed unfazed by the stench and rancid meat. The flies did irritate him though and he would move away occasionally to sit in the long grass and seek some reprieve.

Hlabankunzi Female Leopard

Hlabankunzi was seen often this week and is looking more and more pregnant! Only time will tell though as most of the leopards are looking a little fatter than usual with all the easy meals available in the form of new born impalas. We were with her one morning and actually witnessed this phenomenon as she spotted an impala ewe from her perch in a tree. It became apparent that the female impala was in fact giving birth and Hlabankunzi wasted no time in descending the tree and stalking the unfortunate antelope. All waited with bated breath as we anticipated the emotional events that were about to unfold. Hlabankunzi got to within a few meters from the mother impala before pouncing and bringing her down right beside the vehicle. This was not the end however as the newborn calf was now gaining its feet and the movement caught Hlabankunzi’s eye. Quite remarkably the leopard did not kill the calf and instead lay down next to the struggling youngster. The calf’s first sight in its life was therefore Hlabankunzi and it wobbled towards her and seemed to regard the leopard as its mother even though its real mother lay dead just one meter away. Hlabankunzi did not know what to do at first and regarded the calf with amusement but then instinct kicked in and she began pawing at it. The leopards claws must have alarmed the calf as it started trying to get away but this just triggered Hlabankunzi to pursue it and a game of cat and mouse developed with Hlabankunzi refusing to put the calf out of its misery. After two hours the calf was eventually killed and Hlabankunzi settled down to her feast.

Wild Dog

Two male wild dogs unexpectedly appeared at Mackenzie windmill one morning and we were treated to some exciting viewing as the two dogs moved rapidly westwards and chased some impala which managed to evade these clinical hunters. The morning heat eventually forced the dogs to take cover in the Day One river and we did not see them again until the next day when, while watching a rhino mother and young calf, a herd of impala exploded into view and stormed past followed by the two dogs. Again they were unsuccessful and were followed until they entered some very thick bush where not even the landrovers could follow.