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Leopard
Leopards of Sabi Sands
Leopards of Sabi Sands
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Leopards of Sabi Sands
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Kashane male.
From Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve: "An old male leopard tried his luck to scavenge food from the two Matimba male lions but was unsuccessful."  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Londolozi Game Reserve, The Week in Pictures #308 by Pete Thorpe:
"The Flat Rock male feeds of a carcass that he stole from the Nhlanguleni female. She remained in the area and was able to feed again once he had his fill."  *This image is copyright of its original author "The Flat Rock male is seen mating with the Mashaba female. Although we are uncertain as to the cause of the death of her three cubs, lions are the suspected culprits. Image by Sean Zeederberg."  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Londolozi Game Reserve, The Week in Pictures #308 by Pete Thorpe:
"The Anderson male gazes up into a tree to investigate a sound heard above. His striking eyes and massive size make him unmistakable."  *This image is copyright of its original author
 ''Male leopard, Tingana had a fresh impala kill hoisted up a tree. The Styx pride located the kill & one lioness climbed the tree, and stole the kill from him. He had nowhere to go, and had to get out by going right past the lioness! ''Video by Andrew Khosa 
WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA SABI SAND, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of October, 2017
Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 18˚C (64˚F) For the month: 22.4 mm Sunrise: 05:40 Average maximum : 31˚C (88˚F) From Aug 2017 to date: 48.4 mm Sunset: 17:55 Minimum recorded: 12˚C (54˚F) Maximum recorded: 41˚C (106˚F) The October month welcomes the green, the grass, the leaves and flowers as they all start to bud after the first rain received. The smell in the air is incredible - the fresh clean, invigorating freshness of pure wilderness! The early mornings are starting earlier, with the greatest benefit of watching the sun rising on the horizon. It has to be one the best ways to start your day. Leopards: It was harrowing to watch the Schotia female leopard constantly calling out for her cub. At the end of last month the young female cub was killed by the Mhangene pride. Without any indication of finding the remains, the mother returned to the area where the last scent of her offspring was the strongest. A week after the incident, we watched her hoist an impala carcass and return back to the site, still uncertain of the cub’s whereabouts. Within a few days of that sighting, the female was mating with the Nyelethi male for several days. We are hoping that in the next three months we can report some good news. A few new leopards have made an appearance this month in our sightings. The Khokovela female was also viewed mating with the Nyelethi male within a very short time of him finishing his session with the Schotia female. This presents a clear indication that the young female leopard is looking to establish herself within an already leopard-rich area, as we have viewed her on a few occasions this month, even as she scouted around the lodges one afternoon.  *This image is copyright of its original author The Schotia female leopard has been extremely active. With the recent loss of her female cub, the female leopard has mourned for several weeks. The good news is that recently she has been viewed mating on several occasions with the Nyelethi male leopard. Leopard conflict Article by Renain Venter On a recent afternoon game drive we suddenly stumbled upon a male leopard with a seductive female that seemed keen on mating with him. Trying everything she could to entice him to mate, it almost seemed as if there was something in the air drawing this male’s attention so far away that the female almost seemed non-existent to him. With the most “in your face” advertisement it seemed as if he was not at all interested in her, but instead the lingering scent… While following the curious scent, female in tow, we remembered that another female leopard (Hlabankunzi female) and her cub had made a bushbuck kill about half a mile away. It must be this scent that he was interested in (the food, not the female). Anticipating this, we decided to go ahead of the pair towards the two leopards feeding on the carcass. We noticed the courting female was marking her territory with some spray urination and some ground scraping; it almost seemed like a direct challenge towards the Hlabankunzi female.  *This image is copyright of its original author Amid all the confusion and sudden interactions, the male leopard stole the kill for himself from the Hlabankunzi female and her cub (which is his offspring). The female that decided to mark her territory very close to the Hlabankunzi female had moved off and was lying in the grass watching the commotion. Out of a little shrub popped the head of the Hlabankunzi female who had just had her kill stolen by the male. She walked over to where the other female had marked her territory and marked directly over it. Now it seemed as if things were getting serious. Never having seen this sort of conflict I didn’t understand how this would turn out. Drooling, both females started scraping the ground and hissing at one another.  *This image is copyright of its original author Squaring off, they tensely both started walking parallel to each other in a direction away from the male and the kill. The gap between them was getting smaller and smaller, almost as if they were trying to size each other up from a sideways perspective. Closing in, suddenly the slow walk turns into a jog and in split seconds both female leopards are in the air, claws latched onto one another and making the most horrific noises you could imagine! I never thought that these animals could punish each other like that!  *This image is copyright of its original author It was merely seconds and both were back on their feet and it seemed as if the hierarchy had been established very quickly. One leopard sitting and one standing, this must be the outcome. When an animal is submissive they will lower themselves from their opponent and this seemed to diffuse the situation. Both females walked off in opposite directions. There was still a dust lingering in the air and it seemed as if everything was back to normal. It was scary to think such conflict is sorted out in seconds and everyone continues their lives with their new scars and memories.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author This sort of conflict doesn’t occur often at all. Both animals are still alive and doing well, the territory sizes and boundaries have just been adjusted. Photographs on location by Ross Couper and Renain Venter Singita Ebony and Boulders Lodge Sabi Sand South Africa October 2017 
Credits to Johan de la Rey - Leopard Hills.
The Dayone male and Kokovela are busy mating at the moment providing us with some good sightings.  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Nkorho Bush Lodge, credits to Nkorho Rangers:
Sightings Update: 12 November 2017 Afternoon Drive: -Also saw Tingana Male Leopard having a drink of water after we finished our sun downers.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Photo and information credits: Photowildsa
"The West street male Leopard patrolling his territory after some much needed rain!"  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Savanna
Written on 22 November 2017. Other than following the scent of the predators, hyena often locate kills by the alarm calls or distress calls made by the prey when a kill has taken place. It is therefore imperative that the kill is made as quickly and as quietly as possible. This was not the case when we actually located Ravenscourt in the act of killing a large warthog boar. Due to the size of the warthog, he could not risk asphyxiating the warthog (cutting off the air supply) because of the large tusks, but instead had to go for the chest cavity. Fortunately for Ravenscourt, there was obviously no hyena in hearing distance, as the distress calls from the warthog were loud and continued for some time. Although this is a vey distressing kill to witness, one needs to remember that it is literally a fight for survival and Ravenscourt himself could easily have been killed by the powerful warthog if he made a mistake. In the end, he succeeded and had a supply of meat for the next two days, so the reward was clearly worth the risk.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author But as always with Ravenscourt, it is not always about food! For a few days early in October, he was seen together with Xikavi, who is back in the mating game! With Mondzo now properly independent, she is mating again, and will hopefully succeed again, having successfully raised her first cub.  *This image is copyright of its original author Having lost her cub last month, Scotia is on her own again, and moving about a bit more. We have seen her with numerous kills, and she is often seen hoisting them into trees to avoid other predators.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Tlangisa’s two young daughters are really settling well into their respective territories. Basile seems to be developing or settling a little quicker than Khokovela and, having lost one litter already, was seen mating with Dewane again this month. She is maturing quickly and has also relaxed completely around the vehicles. When they were young, Basile was much more nervous than Khokovela, so her change suggests that she is much more confident in herself now.  *This image is copyright of its original author Khokovela, although seeming to develop more slowly than Basile, has been doing very well. Part of her slower development might be the result of older, more dominant females such as Xikavi being in close proximity to her. Basile seems to have taken over from the Dam 3 female, who disappeared some time ago, indicating she had no competition. It has been different for Khokovela, but she now too seems to be gaining in confidence.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Dewane is seen regularly on his territorial marches and is still in fantastic condition! Understandably, he is concentrating his movements around the river where habitat and food availability are much better at this time of the year.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author The youngsters have also been making their presence known this month. Mondzo is still sticking around in the area where he grew up, but is not seen together with his mother Xikavi much at all. He is now two and a half years old and moving around quite a bit, but interestingly has an unusually comfortable relationship with his father, Dewane. There seems to be very little aggression from Dewane’s side, and he is putting no obvious pressure on Mondzo to move yet. We shall see how long this lasts!  *This image is copyright of its original author Nweti (which means ‘Moon’) is Hlabankunzi’s young male, who has also been independent for some time now. He is slightly older than Mondzo, and at just under three, is also moving about more. He has ventured a little further from where he grew up, and has been seen in the west a couple of times. We had a great sighting of him when he had caught and killed a sub-adult impala ram. As young leopards often do, he ‘played’ with it for a while, practising how to drag it up into a tree, and then dropping it! This he repeated a couple of times, until a hyena arrived and he had to take things a little more seriously!  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author We also had a brief visit from Hukumuri’s young male, who has just turned two. He too had a kill hoisted in a marula tree, giving us great views of this young leopard we see so rarely.  *This image is copyright of its original author The Ntoma female, who is the independent daughter of Mobeni, seems to have taken over the territory in the southern parts of the western sector. She is now just under four years old (born in January 2014), but like her mother is very shy and we do not often see her. Hopefully, in time, she will learn to relax around vehicles as her confidence in her new territory develops.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Londolozi Game Reserve, The Week in Pictures #311 by Nick Kleer:
"The Nkoveni female leopard presents herself to the Flat Rock male while the Mashaba young female watches on in the background. It was remarkable to see three adult leopards together in one sighting. Keep an eye on the blog for a video of this amazing sighting coming out in the next few days."  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits toWILDLIFE REPORT
SINGITA SABI SAND, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of November, 2017 Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 18˚C (64˚F) For the month: 65 mm Sunrise: 04:59 Average maximum : 31˚C (88˚F) August 2017 to date: 113.4 mm Sunset: 18:17 Minimum recorded: 13˚C (55˚F) Maximum recorded: 38˚C (100˚F Leopards: The leopards have been moving around significantly. As the lions have been scarce, the leopards have been out to play! The Hlab’nkunzi female leopard continues to move in close quarters to Singita Ebony and Singita Boulders lodge, often leaving her young cub within the surrounding areas as she moves out to hunt. This month the young cub has reached his first year in the wild. The Schotia female leopard has been viewed along the river just west of the lodges which is an indicating factor that her territory has shifted since the loss of her female cub. This week there was a sighting of the Hukumuri female leopard that has shown signs of possibly having cubs, due to the very prominent suckle marks, which means exciting times ahead as the females continue to dominate the sightings in the area The most elusive of cats Article by Iska Meyer-Wendecker  *This image is copyright of its original author For the past 20 years Singita has been working with the Panthera Organisation, an institute that researches wild cat species all across the globe. Due to our high density of leopards and lions in the Sabi Sand we have been able to send Panthera a vast amount of data about our larger cat species (leopard, cheetah, and lions) over the years and we therefore proudly contribute towards a deeper awareness of the behaviour and survival needs of these animals. During our winter months this year Panthera joined us at Singita in the Sabi Sand to conduct a more detailed research project, where over 40 motion-sensored cameras we installed across our property, with one of the aims to gain a better understanding of territorial boundaries of our leopards.  *This image is copyright of its original author Over a timeframe of just over a month nearly 30 000 photos were taken of a vast number of different animal species, including a few that some of us guides had never seen with our own eyes (aardvark, pangolin, Meller’s mongoose, melanistic white-tailed mongoose to name a few). But the most significant surprise of all was a handful of pictures taken in the north western part of our traversing area: a large mature male leopard was captured on camera on numerous occasions, without any of us having ever seen him. The consistency of pictures of him in the area means he clearly occupies a large territory here. He has undoubtedly figured out how to hide from our safari vehicles and despite his hefty size is a rather shy individual. Having worked in the Sabi Sand we sometimes forget how elusive these species can be: most of our individuals here are extraordinarily confident and relaxed and we can enjoy prolonged and frequent sightings of them. But for the most part of the world where leopards exist the animals are well known for their secretive behaviour and talent to hide. The results of these photos has brought back a kind of magic towards these animals and a deep desire to perhaps one day get a glimpse of this mysterious male leopard with my own eyes…  *This image is copyright of its original author Photographs on location by Ross Couper and Joffers McColrmick Singita Ebony and Boulders Lodge Sabi Sand South Africa Thirtieth of November 2017
The big Mbavala / Vin diesel male, has died.
The reports say that it's from old age, as his teeth were worn out, he was starting to classify people as meals, and also seemed to have wounds and maybe even TB. A well lived life, as it's meant to be.  (12-07-2017, 06:17 AM)Tshokwane Wrote: The big Mbavala / Vin diesel male, has died.How do they know he was starting to classify people as meals ? |
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