The lodge has been so busy over the last few months that I literally have not had a chance to blog! The sightings have however remained amazing as always and here is a brief summary of the predator viewing since Feb. 

Probably the headline news is the four young Southern Pride males (now known as the Selati Males) taking over from the three old Mapogo’s. The Selati brothers had been exploring Mapogo territory for a few months but had always retreated at the sign of a confrontation. One night in March however the Selati Males came across the Mapogo’s on a buffalo kill in front of the lodge and split the older males up. Sataan was separated and the Selati males chased him for many kilometres before catching him and viciously attacking him (video). Sataan eventually died of his wounds and the two remaining Mapogo’s, Makhulu and Skoro, have been roaming nomadically to our east ever since.

 

The Selati Males moved on to claim the territory and seek out the Ximungwe and Ottawa prides, roaring their presence (video) and killing buffalo along the way. They came close to catching the Ximungwe pride – but the lionesses fought back (video) and have since been hiding their cubs on the extremities of the concession. The Ottawa pride was not so lucky though as the males successfully seeked them out and killed their four young cubs. With the cubs gone the females are back in season and all three females have spent the last week courting with the new males.

Leopard viewing has been as interesting with a shift in the territorial males occurring. Both Shinzele and Mashiyambanje have definitely disappeared leaving Kashane and Dewane as the two most dominant males. Ndlevane has resurfaced and taken over much of Shinzele’s territory in the north but he remains difficult to view. There are also reports that a new big male has moved in north of the river but he is skittish and seldom seen. A new young male has also arrived recently in the south. He has been identified as the son of the Maxobene female from Londolozi and is very relaxed which is fantastic for viewing. The south is however Kashane’s territory so it remains to be seen if he will stick around.

With Shinzele gone, Kashane is expanding westwards and Dewane eastwards and north. It is just a matter of time before the two overlap and have a confrontation. Kashane has had some altercation on his eastern boundary and looked a bit beaten one morning, but then again we don’t know what the other leopard looked like!

Kashane has also been in demand by the females and has been courting with Hlabankunzi, Tasselberry and Xikavi. One morning Hlabankunzi disturbed him on a kill and he viciously attacked her even though she just wanted to court (video). Dewane has also been in demand and has been courting with Metsi, Dam Three, Tlangisa and Hlabankunzi. He seems to have little pressure though and remains unscarred and therefore a wonderful subject to photograph. One morning he provided one of the sightings of the year when he patiently waited outside a warthog burrow and was rewarded when one of the piglets emerged and ran straight into him. The mother warthog promptly came to the piglets rescue, almost gouging the leopard in spectacular fashion (video), but it was too late and Dewane had pork chops for lunch!

The female leopard population has remained stable. The only female that has erratic movements is Tlangisa as she still has not settled in a particular territory. She has recently been way up in the NW corner which means we have not been seeing her as often which is a big blow. We hope she will decide to return back south so we can continue to have those amazing opportunities to photograph her as she relaxes up in the trees. Before she ventured up north she did provide us probably with one of the sightings of the year when she came across a pangolin and proceeded to play with it! (video)

Metsi was looking pregnant a few weeks ago and is now hanging around Bruce’s Koppie which is where she has kept her previous litters so hopefully there are some cubs on the way! The Ravenscourt female and Mobene female also have cubs at the moment but both are keeping their litters to the east so we have not been able to view them yet. Hopefully when the cubs are older we will get to see them as the mothers bring them to kills. Hlabankunzi, Tasselberry, Xikavi and the Dam Three female have all been mating but none of them seem to be pregnant yet. Shangwa and her son have been seen frequently north of the river and the young male now looks ready to go off o his own. He is a fine looking leopard and one morning we caught him crossing the river. 

The wild dogs have been scarce. We have only seen them a handful of times in the past 3 months. The good news is that both females in the pack look pregnant again and should be ready to den soon. Unfortunately there have still been no cheetah sightings since April 2011 when the wild dogs last denned in the western sector and discouraged them from using the area.

For those of you who have not heard, a cyclone struck the area on the 18^th of January which resulted in 380mm of rain falling in just 2 days. The Sand River flooded extensively and reached its highest level since 2000, which was when the last major flood occurred. The river has changed spectacularly with trees having been uprooted and swept away and huge amounts of sand having been shifted and diverting the main river course in some areas. Fortunately all at Savanna remained dry and safe, and no major loss of wildlife was recorded. As the rains ceased the game viewing quickly returned to its usual high standards but it did however make game drives a bit challenging as everything was saturated and even the roads were difficult to navigate, never mind off-road!

The Mapogo and Ximungwe Pride

The Mapogo brothers were the first lions to emerge after the rains and they had killed a young giraffe. One of the Ximungwe females was also present but the males did not let her get close to the kill. The rest of the Ximungwe pride was then found further south and after viewing them for a few days they managed to kill a full grown waterbuck at Mackenzie windmill. The kill fed the pride for two days after which they lazed around and eventually made their way back north. The next morning the pride was near the Sand river again and there was evidence that they had killed an impala during the night. Two hyena’s caught wind of the remains and approached the area cautiously while the pride watched intently. The lions were too full and lazy to chase the hyena’s though and they quickly grabbed the bones and made off into the bush.

Dewane male leopard and Tlangisa female leopard

Soon after the rains Tlangisa was found following the scent of another leopard. She was calling and soon she found the Dewane male, but he was not interested in her and eventually had enough of her advances and attacked her with vicious bites to her hind quarters. Fortunately the wounds were surface wounds and Tlangisa was not injured too badly.

Ravenscourt female leopard

We were then treated to a rare sighting of the Ravenscourt female and she was looking rather round suggesting she may be pregnant. She lazed and rolled around in the road before moving towards a drainage line where she had hidden the remains of a nyala kill.

Metsi female leopard

Metsi was seen a few times throughout her territory. On two occasions she was in close proximity to her competitors namely the Tasselberry female in the south, and Tlangisa in the north. She was intent on marking her territory and climbed trees regularly in an effort to ‘spot’ her foes. No confrontation was witnessed on either occasion though.

Kashane male leopard and Tasselberry female leopard

Kashane was seen regularly and even made an appearance right up at the river near Ottawa causeway. When he made his way south again we were treated to a full morning of following him on his territorial patrol. In the afternoon he picked up the scent of the Tasselberry female that had been in area the night before and sniffed her out. She had an impala kill near Savanna camp which Kashane promptly claimed and fed off the whole of the next day.

SIGHTING OF THE WEEK

Ximungwe Pride and Mapogo

The Sand River has remained at a high level but fortunately the Ximungwe pride and Mapogo brothers had crossed southwards before it flooded. Makhulu and Sataan got wind of the buffalo in the south and when leaving on drive one morning we found them with a young buffalo kill right outside the entrance to the lodge. Unbeknown to us at the time the two young Ottawa male lions (the Mapogo’s sons) were also in the area and by the looks of it the two younger males had been responsible for the kill as they were covered in mud, but then lost the kill to their fathers.

The next morning we found the Ximungwe pride in the south as well and they made an attempt at hunting the herd of buffalo but without success. They eventually met up with the Mapogo brothers and remained in the south for the better part of a week, perhaps attracted by not only the buffalo but also the zebra and wildebeest.

The pride was not seen to make any substantial kills though and this may have convinced them to head back north as the next day they were 7km away and back near the river again. We were watching them lazing about one morning when suddenly one of the lionesses noticed something and began to stalk. All of a sudden there was commotion as all the lioness jumped up and ran to where their sister had disappeared. When we followed we found that the 13 month old cub who has been wondering around on his own for the last month had finally found the pride. However it was not the happy family reunion that we had hoped for as the lioness started attacking the youngster. What happened next though was very surprising as Sataan came in and fought off the lionesses. He then stood over the youngster and continued to protect it against the hostile females (Bernie and Ali Han were guests of mine at the time and managed to get this amazing video – watch here!). We know that this Mapogo is not the father of the cub so it was interesting to see this behaviour. It did however suggest that the future for this cub is very uncertain now as the lionesses do not appear to want to accept the youngster back into the pride.

OTHER SIGHTINGS

Dewane Male Leopard

The Dewane Male continues to make his presence felt and looks to be expanding his territory eastwards. As with a few months ago he managed to kill an adult female kudu, no easy accomplishment even for a male leopard. On closer inspection we also found a dead kudu calf which suggests he must have killed the mother and then the calf when it came back to find its mother.

Hlabankunzi Female Leopard

Hlabankunzi was seen regularly although most sightings of her only lasted a short while as she disappeared back towards her den where her cubs are hopefully doing well. There was a heartstopping moment when we found her and Dewane Male in the same area near to where we think her den is. We did not see her courting with this male so he is unlikely to be the father of her current cubs which means he would kill them if he found them in order to bring her back into season so he could father her cubs. Both leopards eventually moved in opposite directions and with no drama.

Tlangisa Female Leopard

We watched Tlangisa one evening as she stalked some impala from a termite mound. As she fixed her gaze on the antelopes the rain started coming down and she abandoned the hunt to seek refuge under a bush. The next morning she was found with a young impala kill so she did have success after the rain had abated.

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.