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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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West Street male, credits to Liam Burrough Wildlife.
Apparently, he's one of the bigger males of the Sabi Sands, in par maybe with Tingana and the Piva male.  *This image is copyright of its original author Kashane male, credits to Singita.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Someone likes to play with fire...
The Aistrip male is in the Anderson male territory, and it's a dangerous thing to do. It's the smallest of territorial males vs the biggest by a big margin and, considering Airstrip is not one known for backing off, this could spell disaster for him. In the mean time, like any self-respectful male leopard, he's making the Moyo female beg for his attentions. Video credits to Joe van Rensburg. Click on it to play. 
From Londolozi Game Reserve, The Week in Pictures #231, by Andrea Campbell:
"The Kunyuma male looks towards the vehicle from the boughs of a marula tree."  *This image is copyright of its original author "The Tamboti Young Female watches a herd of impala from the fork of a marula tree. Leopards use trees as comfortable resting spots, to stash their kills but also because they provide fantastic vantage points to scan for prey."  *This image is copyright of its original author "The Kunyuma male stares directly into the camera. It was a treat to see this particular male leopard as he is not one we see very often."  *This image is copyright of its original author From Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve: "Maxabeni scent marks his territory after a failed hunting attempt on kudu."  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author "Maxabeni was found this morning finishing off his baboon kill."  *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 From Cheetah Plains Private Game Reserve: "Dominant male leopard, Tingana, has been feeding on an impala that he managed to kill. There has been no sign of previous dominant male leopard, Mvula, for some time. We are hoping that he'll turn up soon!" Images by Andrew Khosa  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author From Inyati Game Lodge: "Dewane on the river in black and white."  *This image is copyright of its original author Photo and information credits: Morkel Erasmus Photography "Luminous Leopard" A portrait of the male leopard referred to as "Torchwood", photographed this past weekend while out on safari with my father at Leopard Hills Private Game Reserve.  *This image is copyright of its original author
The Airstrip male finishing his impala kill. He doesn't seem to be worrying much about Goliath...I mean, about Mr. Anderson.
Pic Credits to Neil Coetzer.  *This image is copyright of its original author
The warrior and the princess...
Airstrip male and Moya female. Pic by Mala Mala ranger Roan Ravenhill.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Beautiful photos of Airstrip male (and his love), thanks Majingilane. In these days this guy is working hard...
From E.p. Rangers, by Neil Coetzer:
"Moya, the female leopard"  *This image is copyright of its original author "Salayexe, the female leopard"  *This image is copyright of its original author "Tingana, the male leopard"  *This image is copyright of its original author From Leopard Hills Private Game Reserve: "Xikavi and her cub relaxing in the river bed after they lost the Impala she killed close to the Lodge."  *This image is copyright of its original author "Dayone settling down in the riverbed after his nightly patrol."  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve:
"We stumbled upon a very active Little Bush female yesterday afternoon as she ventured around Bush Lodge. She was making sure to leave her scent on almost every bush she could find…perhaps a message for the young Hlarulini female that she means to challenge her for the area?!"  *This image is copyright of its original author From Idube Game Reserve: Dewane  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Hlab'nkunzi's son  *This image is copyright of its original author Ravenscourt  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Dam 3  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Umkumbe Safari Lodge:
"NEW male leopard ! We'd like to formally introduce you to the Inyathini male. Mauritz Senekal took these remarkable images of this short-tailed newcomer to the Umkumbe traverse. We speculate he wandered over from the Kruger in early to mid 2014" "Newcomer Inyathini has certainly wowed us with his presence. He has a short tail and little is known about him. This was the day he stole a kill. Seems to have little to no fear when it comes to strutting his stuff on new ground."  *This image is copyright of its original author "Inyathini is a new male to our area. We believe he wandered over from the Kruger in early to mid 2014."  *This image is copyright of its original author "Inyathini male watches out over the landscape from the safety of a tree. We don't know much about this male, but we do know that he smacked a leopardess of the tree in order to steal her kill!"  *This image is copyright of its original author "An exceptional image of newcomer Inyathini male - the male with the short tail. Mauritz Senekal has outdone himself with this image!"  *This image is copyright of its original author "The Inyathini male makes sure thieving scavengers have no access to his stolen kill. The Inyathini male stole the kill from another newcomer, the Hlarulini female."  *This image is copyright of its original author "Inyathini, the new male on our turf, very cheekily stole an impala kill from the Hlarulini leopardess. This wasn't his own kill! Leopards are opportunistic hunters and will think nothing of taking a fresh kill."  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Londolozi Game Reserve, The Week in Pictures #232 by Sean Cresswell
"This mega male leopard even looks heavier and more sturdy than most. The Anderson male patrols the Manyalethi riverbanks on the trail of the Nanga female."  *This image is copyright of its original author "Perspective illustrating size; although beyond the Nanga female and slightly out of focus, the Anderson male’s exceptional size becomes evident. The two spent just the one day mating before he left the property and returned into the heart of his expanding territory."  *This image is copyright of its original author "A superb opportunity as the Nhlanguleni female rests and yawns on this fallen Marula trunk. The somewhat secretive female often disappears very quickly, as she did shortly after this moment."  *This image is copyright of its original author "The Nkoveni female atop a termite mound produced a beautifully clean and dark backdrop of night sky. Gently lighting her from the front illuminated her so well against the black of night."  *This image is copyright of its original author "Golden light warms this incredible scene as the Inyathini male and his notched ear steals a moment amongst radiant vegetation and a tunnel of glow."  *This image is copyright of its original author From Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve: "We got to see the rare sight of leopards mating last night while driving in the southern reaches of the reserve. The very large Mandleve male was mating with an unknown female, the same young female we have been seeing in that area over the last few weeks."  *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 Idube Game Reserve: Dewane  *This image is copyright of its original author Dam 3 sharing Dewane's kill  *This image is copyright of its original author From Leopard Hills Private Game Reserve: "Dayone watching over his Impala kill while Dam 3 watches from the shadows..."  *This image is copyright of its original author From Inyati Game Lodge: "One has to spend time with an animal to lure him out of the shadows, earn his trusts and he will allow you a glimpse into his world. Come share a glimpse into Dewanes' world at Inyati Game Lodge"  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Anderson male is crazy huge.
I don't care if that's a small female or not, he looks to be 3x's her size. (05-21-2016, 01:48 AM)Pckts Wrote: Anderson male is crazy huge. I completely agree. We are amazed by seeing his picture, but even the rangers themselves who see leopards all the time, and who have seen beasts such as the Camp Pan male(who was said to be in the top weight for a male leopard, think about 90 kg) are amazed by how freaking huge this boy is. Add that to his exotic eyes and he must be driving the girls crazy... (05-21-2016, 01:34 AM)Majingilane Wrote: I was just about to post the pics of Mr.Anderson. What a huge beast he is. Thanks for the other pics as well. Have a preference for a leopard in Sabi Sands it's hard, but if i have to say my favorite, the first is surely the Bicycle Crossing male. I think it's a magnificent leopard, has the traits of the face very particular. Followed by the great Mbavala, and the Airstrip male, a true warrior. Anderson is amazing. Comparing it to the female seems a cub.
From Londolozi:
A Plethora of Leopards: What Happens When Four Meet - By Amy Attenborough. Recently we were privy to a pretty remarkable few days of leopard viewing. This may seem like a redundant comment to make when Londolozi is renowned for its leopards but in my opinion, these sightings were particularly special. The Piva male had made an impala kill, the Inyatini male was on a territorial mission and two young female leopards were desperately seeking out mates. All fairly typical, yes, but it was when they all met that things got particularly interesting. The Piva male susses out his competition, highly displeased with the the arrival of the Inyatini male. Photograph by Kevin Power  *This image is copyright of its original author How we believe it began was with the Piva male making a kill and hoisting it in the Inyatini drainage line but when rangers found him, he was away from his kill and was in fact with the Nkoveni female, who at the time was high in a tree and the male was looking highly agitated. The reason for this was that in a drainage line adjacent to him, another leopard, the Inyatini male, was calling. This area is where the males’ territories meet and neither was happy about the presence of the other. Both males were salivating heavily, pacing up and down, calling repeatedly and continuously scratching their urine into the ground; apparently each trying to stake a claim to the area. Had the Inyatini male been out calling and Piva went to seek him out to settle a territorial dispute or had the Inyatini male smelt the kill and come in to see if he could scavenge a free meal? Of this we can’t be sure. The Nkoveni female was completely disinterested in this fight though and seemed hell-bent on mating; flinging herself wildly at the Piva male, desperately trying to entice him. He quite aggressively reprimanded her which sent her scuttling back to the safety of the tree and it was only when the Inyatini male had lost interest and moved off for good that the Piva male returned to the young female to mate. The Piva male feeds on his impala kill, hoisted high in a Tamboti tree. He was mistaken to believe that he could escape the females up here though and they continually harassed him until he conceded and joined them at its base. Photograph by Trevor McCall-Peat  *This image is copyright of its original author The Nkoveni female watches the goings on from afar. Aside from the one attempt at mating with the Piva male, the Nkoveni female kept away while the males settled the territorial dispute, only approaching Piva once the Inyatini male had moved off. Photograph by Trevor McCall-Peat  *This image is copyright of its original author The next morning, rangers rushed back to the spot but there were no leopards to be found. Tracking them down, they eventually relocated the impala kill and again, three leopards! Only this time it was a lot further down the drainage line and the leopards weren’t the same make up as the night before. This time there were two females instead of one. The Ndzanzeni female, who had been heard calling south of their position the previous evening had apparently heard the mating and come in to find the male. For the next two days it seemed Piva had the pick of two females and flitted continuously between both. The Piva male mates with the Nkoveni female as the Ndzanzeni female looks on. Photograph by Trevor McCall-Peat  *This image is copyright of its original author When I saw them on the evening of the 18th, I was completely blown away. Up in the tree was the Piva male and below him lay two leopardesses, shifting from periods of intense rest to snapping at flies and then to growling and snapping at each other. The real activity began when the Ndzanzeni female could no longer restrain herself and shot up the tree to try to entice the male down. She leapt from branch to branch, flinging herself at and under him only to receive snarls and snaps in return. This did not deter her in the slightest and she continued to rub herself against the bark of the tree, squeeze between Piva and his kill, scale down the tree, only to fly back up again just a few minutes later. Eventually this seemed to do the trick and he followed her down the tree. There at the base, just meters from the vehicle, the mating occurred and the alternating between females began. Literally as he would finish mating with one, the other would start to rub up against him and it seemed the more he snarled and tried to move away, the more the females sat on him, flung themselves at him and scratched their feet into the sand in front of his face, showering him in dust. In the space of half an hour, Piva must have mated at least ten times; quite a feat when you realise that would mean he mated every three minutes and had been doing so for two days. The females now swap roles with the Ndzanzeni female mating and the Nkoveni female looking on. Photograph by Kevin Power  *This image is copyright of its original author The females growled and snapped at each other but despite their obvious distaste for each other’s presence they avoided making actual contact. This may have to do with the young age of both of the females as well as the fact that these solitary cats attempt to avoid conflict as much as possible so that they do not end up with an injury that would jeopardize hunting and thus survival. That evening the females crossed east over our boundary and we are therefore unsure of how the saga ended. What we do know though is that the relationships between these creatures is complex to say the least. I find that we are constantly learning that to say these cats are strictly solitary is to over-simplify their interactions and we can be glad that we were around to witness this particular meeting. Video by Kevin Power. |
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