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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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Photo and information credits: Liam Burrough Wildlife
"The canopy of a tremendous sausage tree conceals a mysterious form. An old male leopard painted in beams of warm morning light." Xovonikela male.  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Londolozi Game Reserve, The Week in Pictures #236 by Don Heyneke
"The Mashaba female glances up a tree to where her impala kill once lay as the last light of the day fades."  *This image is copyright of its original author "Silhouettes are the perfect way in which to use darkness to create shapes. In this case I used the Makotini male stretching along the brach of a Marula tree."  *This image is copyright of its original author From Idube Private Game Reserve: Ravenscourt male  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Dewane male  *This image is copyright of its original author
 Elephant Plains Safari: Salayexe Intimidates Hyenas …
Niel Cillie Reports: This morning we went out to find Salayexe and Tiyane, her newly named cub. We heard last night that they had a duiker kill and all hopes were that they would still be with the remains. We found Salayexe exactly where we expected her to be, with the kill stashed in a smallish tree – probably because of the hyenas that were present when she made the kill, and she must have quickly hoisted it to the first convenient spot. Salayexe was relaxing on the ground next to the tree, which was great for us because if she had climbed into the thick, shrubby tree she would have been impossible to photograph. We spent about an hour an a half with her, photographing her from different angles, and as she moved around. Then some Spotted Hyenas arrived, and they prowled around, trying again and again to approach. She growled menacingly at them, which kept them at bay – for a while – until they decided to approach from yet another angle. The snarling was really impressive – not only to intimidate the hyenas, but it also reinforced how dangerous wild animals can be … Having spent most of the morning with Salayexe we took a slow, entertaining ride back to the Lodge. This afternoon we headed to the east to the Styx Lionesses that reportedly had all eight cubs out in the open. We stopped along the way at Treehouse Pan to photograph a huge herd of elephants that arrived at the water. They were drinking, splashing, playing, and scratching themselves on the trees around the pan. There were also two old ‘dagga boys’ (buffalo) at the dam. Unfortunately when we reached the area we could see them playing boisterously at the bottom of a deep inaccessible gulley. So we put our cameras down and enjoyed the cavorting cubs through our binoculars, and simply enjoyed the sighting. We were extremely lucky to spot and photograph a Bronze-winged Courser, a rare nocturnal bird, on the way back to the Lodge, and back at the Lodge everyone is out photographing the African Barred Owlet that seems quite content with our presence and cameras. Tomorrow we may start again with a visit to Salayexe …  *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  *This image is copyright of its original author 
Forgot about this video on my phone! Not the best quality but this was Xivambalana pulling his Impala out of the tree outside the lodge and dragging it to a new area. We really don't realise sometimes just how much strength and power these amazing cats have! Credits to Chene Wales-Baillie AdventureWild.
It's a video, click on it to play.
From Londolozi Game Reserve, A Ball of Fury: The Piva and Inyatini Males Collide, by Amy Attenborough
"One cold morning a little while ago, I commented to James Tyrrell that I would love to see something completely crazy to write about for my next blog. A sighting that stood out so much, I didn’t even have to blink before knowing what the topic would be. I suppose this was a bit of a cheek seeing as how every day is fairly remarkable out here, but I was about to realise that there was no harm in asking because apparently sometimes what you want is exactly what you receive. The sighting I speak of was a titanic meeting between two of Londolozi’s dominant male leopards, the Inyathini and Piva males. We have seen these two males together on quite a few occasions recently but it has never been more than calling and exaggerated scent marking with a lot of agitation and salivation. Basically, it’s been a case of all show and no action. This often happens with these cats as they are very injury averse. Any injury lessens their ability to hunt or protect themselves, which could be fatal for a solitary predator. On this fateful day though, James and I had a visitor called Sam with us and having never actually seen a leopard before this morning, he seemed to bring with him a heap of beginner’s luck." The Piva and Inyatini male leopards walk abreast, sizing each other up. Neither is prepared to initiate the fight yet but they are still trying to avoid being caught unawares.  *This image is copyright of its original author "When we got to the sighting, both males were settled down, lying just ten or so meters apart. The Piva male was flat on his side, back turned to his opponent but still growling. He seemed so laid back that we joked that the growls could even have been confused with loud snores. The Inyathini male was sitting with his head up, but it seemed both were taking an agreed upon moment of rest." The Inyatini male rests with his head up, making sure he keeps an eye on his opponent’s movements.  *This image is copyright of its original author "Just when we began to think that maybe the heat was getting to them and that they were going to settle down permanently, they got up and started moving together, parallel to one another. Soon they were jogging and before we knew it, they had launched themselves at each other and met in mid-air as a ball of fury, rolling through the air and hitting the ground in this same tucked position, kicking up the wintery dust in a plume around them." "I had seen video clips of this behaviour before but this was the first time both James and I had witnessed leopards actually physically mauling one another. They attempt to tear into each other by gripping their opponent with their front legs and ripping with their back legs. Claws and teeth become exposed and there is a barrage of sounds that go with it too. Although the attack only lasted a few seconds, it looked to me as though it was happening in slow motion as they spiralled through the air. The angle that we saw it from meant the leopards were backlit and although this may sound completely incongruous, there was something about the moment that was strangely beautiful; a sort of ferocious dance. Below is another video clip captured at Londolozi of two female leopards fighting, a few years ago. Here they hang onto each other for longer and you get a clearer understanding of how they try to use their back legs to shred their opponent, whilst holding on with the fore legs." The injuries on the Inyathini male, although appearing serious to us, were superficial enough and have not hampered his hunting or territorial movements subsequently. I am sure that this is one of many fights to come as these two leopards attempt to push the limits of their boundaries and establish themselves as the most dominant males of the south. Being such equally-matched opponents, rangers and trackers continue to surmise who the likely winner will be and it appears that once more, we will just have to wait and see what the next instalment of the saga brings." Photographs by Londolozi Guest, Lory Wallach Video by Londolozi Guests, Clark and Jessica Wilkes
From Lion Sands Game Reserve:
"The Teardrop female leopard rests and takes in the panorama of the Sand River from the “Island on Toulon”. Image by Field Guide Dumay de Boulle"  *This image is copyright of its original author From Idube Game Reserve: Ravenscourt male  *This image is copyright of its original author Torchwood male  *This image is copyright of its original author "Xikavi's son, Dewane, and Xikavi are at an impala kill"  *This image is copyright of its original author From E.p. Rangers by Neil Coetzer: Salayexe, the female leopard  *This image is copyright of its original author Tiyani, the female leopard  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve:
"Lisbon’s son seems to be in good condition, and often seen on his own now."  *This image is copyright of its original author From Cheetah Plains Private Game Reserve: "After some good tracking this morning, our field guides managed to locate Quarantine male leopard just south of Three in a Row pan on Cheetah Plains. Images by Andrew Khosa"  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author From Inyati Game Lodge: "Tlangisa looking at impala, hoping for a kill. We are not certain what happened to the one cub, but signs aren't positive for now."  *This image is copyright of its original author Photo and information credits: Christof Schoeman Wildlife Photography "Rhulani male becoming bold as the darkness sets in... He owns the night!"  *This image is copyright of its original author Photo and information credits: Nkorho Rangers "Mvula this morning on drive acting very lazy up in a tree with a full belly."  *This image is copyright of its original author
Rhulani male, credits to Darren Donovan from Tintswalo Safari Lodge.
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Umkumbe Safari Lodge, Umkumbe Leopards: Toms Dominate Recent Sightings:
"The past couple of weeks on the Umkumbe traverse we’ve certainly not had any reason to shout “girl power”. We normally enjoy a varied mix of both female and male leopard sightings, but recently the toms have dominated the leopard sightings. Males tend to cover a wide range and spend much of their time defending territories and seeking out female companionship. Females tend to cover a smaller range and are drawn to an area because of the potential den sites and density of prey. Both leopards defend territories that are same-sex exclusive, but at the moment the spotlight is on the toms of the Sabi Sand. Mxabene and Bicycle Crossing have been spotted out on patrol. The toms are aggressively scent marking territories and seeking out females. Ranger Marius and the eagle-eyed tracking team from Umkumbe spotted Mxabene sniffing and scent marking the low-lying scrub. He seemed to be on the move. Luckily the sighting happened in the first light of the morning, making photography somewhat more successful than in the black of night when leopards are the most active."  *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 "There were female leopard tracks in the area Max was patrolling, which means he probably picked up the scent and decided to seek out one of our graceful leopardesses. Females leave behind a complex chemical clue in their urine when marking and males will pick up in this and follow the trail. Bicycle Crossing provided an exquisite, yet somewhat inactive sighting. He seemed to merely pass by and settled into a pattern of sleeping. When he tired of his position he got up and disappeared into the dead of night. Marius lost visual as Bicycle swaggered his way into the vegetation. Let’s hope we see a bit of female Sabi Sand leopard activity this week – just to keep our leopard sightings in balance!"  *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, The Week in Pictures #237 by Callum Gowar:
"The Mashaba young female is becoming more and more confident as she slowly reaches independence. Here, a bit of play and social bonding turned slightly aggressive."  *This image is copyright of its original author "Seldom viewed on Londolozi, the beautiful Maliliwane young female stares into the camera after finishing off the remains of a duiker kill."  *This image is copyright of its original author "The Mashaba young female scans the horizon from her vantage point in a marula tree."  *This image is copyright of its original author "The ever-growing Mashaba young female plays with her mother. She is growing so rapidly that sometimes it is difficult to tell them apart by size."  *This image is copyright of its original author
What a bad news. I'm very sad. One of my favourite leopards. A true warrior, without any fear. He has always fought in defiance of all for his territory, even if the risk, as like Anderson male lately, the eternal battle against the Piva male, the left eye lost in the fight with the Marthly male. Warrior in life, as in death. There will not be another Airstrip male.
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