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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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From Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve:
"Maxabeni was seen sleeping off what appears to be a large meal."  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Idube Game Reserve:
Dewane male  *This image is copyright of its original author Nyeleti male  *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 image is copyright of its original author Hukumuri  *This image is copyright of its original author Xikavi's son  *This image is copyright of its original author Ravenscourt male and Tassleberry female  *This image is copyright of its original author Xikavi and her son have a nyala kill  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Inyati Game Lodge:
"Dewane pre-sneeze"  *This image is copyright of its original author
Long live the king! Long live THE BIKE!
From Kirkman's Kamp, credits to Gareth Poole Photography: "The Bicycle Crossing Male giving our guests the glare as we viewed him trying to figure out how to scavenge off a hippo carcass trapped in a deep pool of water in the Sand River!"  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Tintswalo Safari Lodge:
26 Sept. '16 "Yesterday morning, the Ntsuntsu male Leopard was found on Khoka Moya cutline. He tried to hunt Vulture chicks out of the nest, but was unsuccessful this time. The rest of the morning was great for general game."  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author 01 Oct. '16 "On the afternoon of the 29th, the Ntsuntsu male leopard was found with an Impala kill at Old Pump."  *This image is copyright of its original author 03 Oct. '16: "On the afternoon of the 1st, The Beacon male Leopard was also found at Ingwe manzi."  *This image is copyright of its original author "Yesterday morning, The Makhambo male Leopard was found with an impala kill in the south, close to Sarabanga reservoir."  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author "The rhulani male leopard was also found at Malcolm's bridge."  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Tingana male, credits to Tusk Photo.
 *This image is copyright of its original author
Dayone male mating with Basile. Credits to Hugo Breed - Leopard Hills.
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Londolozi Game Reserve, Leopards Fight Over River Territory by James Tyrrell:
"The recent news on the leopard front has been the incursion of the Xidulu female back onto Londolozi soil. With the area still in the grip of drought, many animals – predators included – have been focusing their movements in and around the Sand River, and this has placed a lot of pressure on one small corner of the reserve in particular, near Londolozi’s eastern boundary, where the Xidulu female and the much younger Nkoveni female have clashed numerous times over the last couple of months." The red area indicates where multiple interactions between the Xidulu and Nkoveni females have been witnessed. The thick blue line is the Sand River.  *This image is copyright of its original author "The Xidulu female was born in 2001 and the Nkoveni female in 2012, and the 11 year age gap has certainly seemed to tell in favour of the older leopard. Although entering her twilight years, the Xidulu female looks to have had the upper hand in most encounters. Although the Nkoveni female has reacted aggressively on a number of occasions, her older (and significantly bigger) rival has not been too fazed." Long trails of saliva dangle from the mouth of the Nkoveni female. Heavy salivating like this is a sign of aggression in leopards, and if you find an individual displaying in this way, it is a sure sign another leopard is nearby.  *This image is copyright of its original author "The Xidulu female also has more reason to be aggressive; she is raising two cubs of about six months old, so is by default going to be highly defensive of the area in which she is hunting and stashing her youngsters. The Nkoveni female by contrast has been mating pretty consistently with the Piva male, so it is hoped she might birth a litter within the next couple of months, having lost her first litter earlier this year." The Xidulu female growls up into the boughs of a Jackalberry tree in which the Nkoveni female was taking refuge. The Nkoveni female wandered just a little too close to the Xidulu female and her two cubs (one of whom can be seen feeding here on an impala kill), and decided the safest place to get out of reach of the defensive mother was high in the branches of the tree. The advancing age of the Xidulu female is apparent here as one can see how worn down her canines are.  *This image is copyright of its original author "Leopards are conflict-averse animals, preferring to disdain a physical encounter rather than risk injury or even death, so most interactions between the two female has involved growling but little else. What has been interesting to see is the generally relaxed nature of the Xidulu female’s cubs when the Nkoveni female is nearby Once the drought breaks, the grass returns, and prey species once more spread out into the areas surrounding the Sand River, it is likely that the two leopards will disperse as well, and be able to focus their hunting efforts elsewhere. Although pressure will be somewhat alleviated on the two, we may well see further clashes occurring in the area, particularly if the Nkoveni female births a litter in the next two months." The Nkoveni female – Nkoveni meaning ‘in the river’ – walks away from an encounter with the Xidulu female.  *This image is copyright of its original author "The river and everything it is currently offering in these hard times – water (although not very much), shade, and food, has become an even more hotly contested area than normal, and it is certainly not only leopards that are frequenting its channels and reedbeds. The Sparta pride are hunting buffalo with alarming frequency in the river to the east, and the Tsalala Pride has pretty much taken up permanent residence in front of the Londolozi Camps, taking down nyalas, waterbuck and old buffalo bulls. We rushed out with a vehicle and cameras two days ago at around 11am to respond to the calls of a buffalo in distress, knowing the two lionesses had been seen in front of Granite Camp in the morning, but the old bull they had been attempting to pull down managed to make good his escape, and all the pride got was an Nyala lamb they stumbled upon in the shade a matumi tree. Whatever the combination of factors, it has never been my experience at Londolozi to witness two female leopards seen so frequently, so near to each other and in such a small stretch of river frontage as the Xidulu and Nkoveni females are being viewed right now. The last encounter we saw between them saw the Nkoveni female walking away with a couple of lacerations on her right flank, and although the actual fight was not witnessed, only the aftermath, we can presume this wasn’t the first – and almost certainly not the last – time these two leopards will clash over some of the best leopard habitat in the world."
From Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve:
"The Kashane male was resting this morning after feeding on a buffalo carcass. He is also sporting some fresh cuts on his chest, possibly from an altercation with another male leopard."  *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 image is copyright of its original author
Torchwood male, credits to Idube Game Reserve.
 *This image is copyright of its original author
From Leopard Hills Private Game Reserve, credits to Hugo Breed Wildtography:
"Torchwood taking a breather after feeding on the Warthog he killed."  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author "Torchwood relaxing on a termite mound as the sun starts to set."  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Cheetah Plains Private Game Reserve:
"Male Leopard, Mvula was located up in the North West corner of our traverse recently. He was marking as he moved along, and took some time to rest on a termite mound. He is really looking in great shape at the moment. Image by Andrew Khosa"  *This image is copyright of its original author
From E.p. Rangers:
"Tingana, the male leopard - Neil Coetzer"  *This image is copyright of its original author "Anderson, the male leopard with a duiker kill - Neil Coetzer"  *This image is copyright of its original author Anderson male, credits to Tusk Photo.  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Umkumbe Safari Lodge: A Big Hello to Mambiri the Male Leopard at Umkumbe
Two unidentified leopards traversed their way onto Umkumbe territory, giving no indication of where they were headed. Like ghosts in the night and passing ships, the elusive disappeared without a trace. Both leopards were seen on different occasions and sightings were sporadic. There are often random sightings of new leopards and ones that don’t hang around long enough to I.D. It’s what makes the Sabi Sand an interesting destination for leopard activity. While these were once off sightings, there has recently been another sighting of a new leopard – one that has been identified and apparently quite at ease on its new turf. Here’s a big hello to the Mambiri male. This male was aggressively patrolling and scent marking areas and wasn’t in any hurry to flee the vicinity. We’d like to establish the history of this leopard and we’re obviously hoping to see what happens. Mxabene, Tatowa, Kigelia, White Dam, White Dam’s male cub and Little Bush’s female cub have also been spotted this week, which has added even more of a varied collection of leopards to Umkumbe’s sightings.  *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 image is copyright of its original author Why are there unknown leopards and new leopards congregating on land dominated by other leopards? Although leopards are territorial, males cover a wider area than females and thus their territory can overlap with a number of females. When females raise their cubs they let the cubs begin their solitary lifestyle at around 12 – 18 months. These youngsters will often hang around on the periphery of their mother’s territory. When a range does overlap, this may be between related females – it’s all about keeping it in the family! A leopardess is particularly patient and tolerant to other newly independent youngsters crossing over into her area in a bid to establish their own homeground. Often, leopards will explore and then move-off. They’re not known for enjoying confrontation and will sneak off silently instead of engaging in a showdown. Both males and females actually defend same-sex territories, but are very much averse to fighting and would far rather ensure their energy is spent clawing trees, marking bushes and patrolling their range. Mambiri seems to be settling in and even conducted a kill! He was seen with the kill on the ground and it was relatively hidden in the dense shrubbery. Let’s hope he takes his fresh meal up into the fork of a tree for safekeeping. The Sabi Sand is rife with hyena activity and one can never be to sure if notorious Toothfairy will approach the area to do what she does best, bare her toothy grin and steal a leopard’s newly acquired meal. With so many leopards in the area, food comes easy to hyenas – a simple smash and grab normally does the trick. The one to watch at the moment? Mambiri of course!  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
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