Leopards of Sabi Sands

[Ngala]

From Umkumbe Safari Lodge, 10 May 2016:
"Time for a leopard update! Guess who we've just seen? White Dam and her cub - together. This is the first time we've seen them together in quite a while. They were quietly strolling through our traverse and eventually wandered off into a drainage line! What a rare sighting. We can report that both mother and cub are doing well."

"White Dam's cub was seen together with its mother. The cub is roughly a year old and has been spotted without its mother. The sighting of this cub with its mother was unusual, because its old enough to begin fending for itself.
Leopards are solitary animals but a cub's mother will keep its offspring at her side until a year old. Until about 18 months the mother accommodates her sub-adult cubs within her own territories."

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"White Dam's cub was seen with its mother on our traverse. Both leopards were patrolling White Dam's turf and eventually wandered off into the drainage line. 
Leopards can't fend for themselves until they're 12 - 18 months old. The cub is at the right age to venture off into the unknown! 
When a cub is younger, their mother will let them accompany her on assisted hunts. This is where cubs will learn the necessary skills to survive in the wild. "

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"It's nice to see White Dam's cub reaching maturity. Leopards have a high mortality rate in the wild, despite being well-hidden in drainage lines and thickets. 
Carnivores will often seek out the cubs while the mother goes off to hunt."

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"White Dam and her cub were seen together. Both cats were out in the open, which Mauritz to take exceptional photos. 
White Dam is a notoriously shy leopard, so this was definitely a rare sighting!"

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"White Dam and her cub disappeared into a heavily covered drainage line, but not after strolling out in the open for our guests to see!"

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"White Dam certainly isn't camera shy anymore!"

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11 May 2016:
"Curious leopardess Tatowa decided that a scrub hare would make an excellent play toy and potential snack. Leopards are opportunistic hunters - an easy meal is better than expending unnecessary energy during a hunt. A great series of photographs from ranger Mauritz Senekal!"

"Tatowa is a slender and beautiful leopardess who crossed over from the northern boundary onto the Umkumbe traverse. She’s built a name for herself as quite a tough cat and is the only surviving leopard from a litter of 4. 
Look how still she sits while observing this unsuspecting scrub hare. Leopards have an incredibly diverse diet and will pounce on anything if the opportunity presents itself."

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"Tatowa plays and paws this frightened scrub hare. This is the wild, where the cats are top of the food chain. 
A leopard may sway its tail from side to side and paw at things to show its displeasure. 
One swipe of the paw to the throat if its target will often kill small prey instantly."

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"Tatowa's latest catch of the day ! A rather small and unsuspecting scrub hare met its fate at the hands of this elusive leopardess."

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"One swipe to the neck of this scrub hare is enough to kill. Tatowa the leopardess opted for an easy target with this scrub hare.
Being opportunistic hunters, leopards have been known to eat reptiles, fish and even birds! Here is a rare moment caught on camera . We normally observe leopards with small antelope - not hares!"

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12 May 2016:
"The two new leopards are the Hlarulini female and the Ndzanzeni female. Hlarulini comes from the south and Ndzanzeni from the north (born in 2012).
This photo is of leopardess Hlarulini."

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"This is the Ndzanzeni female. She was found on a kill of her own but she made the fatal mistake of not hoisting the kill up into a tree. 
Leopards stash their kill in the safety of a tree to avoid the thieving scavengers. Guess what happened? Toothfairy, the rather notorious hyena, stole her kill!"

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"The new leopards are the Hlarulini female and the Ndzanzeni female. Hlarulini comes from the south and Ndzanzeni from the north (born in 2012). 
This is the Ndzanzeni female."

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"Marius says, "Female leopards are often on the move in search of new den sites."
This could explain why we've just seen two new female leopards on our turf. This is a photo of Ndzanzeni."

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"Newcomer Hlarulini came across the fresh kill from White Dam, so she hoisted it into a tree. Later that morning the Inyathini male boldly made his way up the tree and took the kill for himself. 
He actually smacked Hlarulini out of the tree – she fell 4 metres to the ground! Quite a brazen and brave leopard this Inyathini."

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"White Dam and her cub just patrolling their turf. 
"White Dam and her cub were seen on an impala kill. They abandoned the kill while it was still fresh and barely eaten. We have no idea why they did this! 
The next morning newcomer Hlarulini came across the fresh kill, which she hoisted into a tree. Later that morning the Inyathini male boldly made his way up the tree and took the kill for himself. 
He actually smacked Hlarulini out of the tree – she fell 4 metres to the ground! Quite a brazen and brave leopard this Inyathini." - Marius Zeilinga"

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