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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:
"The Little Bush female was moving hastily with her sub adult cub. She later led us to a fresh impala kill but was soon joined by Maxabeni, who proceeded to chase off the two, however, later allowing the cub to feed."  *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  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve:
"Maxabeni, along with Little Bush and her cub were still feasting on an impala ram that she has brought down."  *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
From Londolozi Game Reserve, The Week in Pictures #283 by James Tyrrell:
"The Inyathini male looks on, whilst perfectly poised for one of my favourite images of him. He is currently covering huge distances in the southern parts of the reserve and is seemingly expanding his territory each day."  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Eagle Eye Safaris:
"Just have a look at this massive Male Leopard called Tingana. We saw this stunning leopard one night drinking water from a puddle in the road. Photo taken in Sabi Sands on 25 April 2017."  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve:
"White Dam’s cub tried to hunt a Scrub Hare but missed and went lying down in the open grooming himself."  *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 #284 by James Tyrrell:
"The Flat Rock male drops low into a crouch as a pair of wildebeest approach from out of the woodland. Although capable of killing far bigger animals than themselves, leopards often restrict themselves to what they are able to hoist up a tree, and avoiding the sharp horns of something like a wildebeest would also generally be the preferred option. Photograph by James Tyrrell."  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Rob Crankshaw and Amanda Ritchie - Londolozi.
The Anderson Male, arguably the largest leopard seen on the reserve. We have waited 2 and a half years to see this incredible leopard, and were delighted to have watched him mate with the Nhlanguleni female.  *This image is copyright of its original author The Anderson male leopard is somewhat known for his interesting eyes and intense stare. Following several successful acts of mating, he gave us one last stare before he moved off.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Anthony Goldman.
The Piva male in the lush green grass at Londolozi.  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Londolozi Game Reserve, My African Home by Mary-Beth Wheeler:
"The impressive Torchwood Male ambled confidently onto Londolozi property, going from one termite mound to another, searching the area for both competition and food. First, he went unsuccessfully after a porcupine and then we saw him leap into the air like a serval and catch a small button quail, which he proceeded to munch down in the tail grass next to us."  *This image is copyright of its original author "Torchwood is such a handsome and impressive male, I had to include another image of him, this time looking up into the sky at a vulture."  *This image is copyright of its original author "What a sight – the Inyathini male mating with the Mashaba female! We were transfixed, never having seen two leopards mating. The act is loud and violent and repeated as often as every 10 minutes! The female is always the temptress – and the Mashaba female has been busy, having mated with the Piva, Flat Rock male and Inyathini males recently."  *This image is copyright of its original author "The Flat Rock male looking very intimidating as he walked toward us – just before he almost stumbled upon the Tsalala pride. He quickly changed direction and headed into the bush!"  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Londolozi Game Reserve, The Week in Pictures #285 by Callum Gowar:
"The Piva male continues to expand his ever-growing territory, constantly interacting with the Inyathini male and Flat Rock male."  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Londolozi Game Reserve, The Dream Shot by Alistair Smith:
When I first started guiding at Londolozi, I had noticed a brilliant photograph hanging up in the Londolozi Creative Hub captured by fellow ranger James Tyrrell. It was a photograph of the Inyathini male as he jumped from one rock to another, over a pool of water at a place appropriately named ‘Water on the Rocks’. Not only was this something incredible to witness, but James had captured the moment excellently. The leopard was bathed in golden morning light, and his reflection in the still water in the foreground added a mesmerising element to the photograph. Ever since then, I had envisioned capturing a similar image (of any leopard) at the same spot. James Tyrrell’s photograph of the Inyathini male leopard leaping over the gaps at Water on the Rocks.  *This image is copyright of its original author In the last year or so of guiding here, due to the fact that it is an area of overlapping territory for a few leopards, I have viewed numerous individual leopards at this very spot either just passing by, resting in the shade, feeding on hoisted impala kills nearby and even drinking water, but on none of these occasions had I witnessed any of these leopards walk over, or jumping across the rocks in the middle of the pool of water. I had eventually accepted that what James had witnessed was incredibly rare, and I had started to give up on the idea of capturing a similar moment. That was until one week ago when the unthinkable happened! We were in the area that morning, following up on the barking alarm calls of some nyala. After a while of driving around through the relatively thick vegetation associated with the area, tracker Euce Madonsela spotted the young male cub of the Ndzanzeni female. After a little while observing the young male’s somewhat skittish behaviour, we came to the conclusion that the Ndzanzeni female had left her cub behind while she went off on an early morning hunt. In an attempt to limit the nervousness of the young male, we left the area, moving further away hoping to try find any sign of his mother. Euce and I agreed that checking the area around Water on the Rocks would be a good area to begin the search for the female. On the way there, I had began the conversation with my guests about the sheer beauty of the area we were about to explore, and I even went as far as to explain the dream photograph that I had in mind, all the while hoping that we would find the Ndzanzeni female nearby. We arrived at Water on the Rocks and there was no sign of any leopard. I used the opportunity to demonstrate to my guests the type of photograph I had envisioned if a leopard was to walk across the rocks. We decided to move on and broaden our search. Around the next corner, staring directly into the rising morning sun, Euce pulled off an incredible spot of a leopard about 150 yards away. We drove a little closer to see which leopard it was, and to our surprise, it was the Inyathini male and he was walking directly towards us. After watching him pass the vehicle, we turned around and began to follow him as he made his way back towards where we had just come from… Water on the Rocks! For a moment I thought to myself, “Could this be the day?” Without wanting to get too excited and to avoid any disappointment I tried to remove the thought from my mind. We continued to follow. The leopard made his way down towards the water’s edge and crouched down to drink. He had a full stomach, indicating that he had finished off a kill recently and we watched and photographed as he drank, his reflection in the still water adding to the beauty of the scene. He stood up after drinking, let out a few rasping territorial calls, and made his way toward the rocks in the centre of the water source. I scrambled to position the vehicle in the event of him crossing, and we waited with bated breath as he stood on top of the rocks and began to cross… this was it, the day had come! My guests and I scrambled for our cameras, and in the process I urgently spoke out “IT’S HAPPENING, GET READY!!!” and no sooner had the words left my mouth than the leopard crossed the rocks right before our eyes and we captured the moment exactly as I had imagined it. He walked off into the shadows, still calling, the noise reverberating throughout the drainage line and we all sat in silence, still unable to register what we had just witnessed. We had captured my dream photograph! The full-bellied Inyathini male approached the water hole for a drink, his reflection providing us a unique opportunity to capture special photographs  *This image is copyright of its original author In between drinking, the Inyathini male began to give off a territorial rasp which reverberated throughout the drainage line.  *This image is copyright of its original author The first indication that he might decide to approach the rocks. He stood up, and glanced towards them as if he was planning where he would cross.  *This image is copyright of its original author And so it began… He walked up on top of the rocks and began to cross from one side to the other.  *This image is copyright of its original author He seemed to pause, just for a moment, almost ensuring that we captured him crossing, before continuing on.  *This image is copyright of its original author After he had crossed, he made his way into the dark shadows further upstream in the drainage line, calling continuously as he disappeared out of sight.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Photo and information credits: Nombekana Safaris and Wildlife Photography
Mr Anderson . I have heard of heard of the ghost before . He is arguably the biggest leopard currently in the Sabie Sands and although i have always wanted to see him i never really thought it would happen. On my recent safari to the Sabie sands not only did we find Mr Anderson but my guide Arie found him twice in two different days. The first day he was in thick bush and that is also why he is referred as the ghost. Second day we got lucky . We had him on the river bed and i couldn't believe how big he is. Mr Anderson is definitely the biggest leopard i have ever seen in my entire life. He was relaxed and we fired with our cameras and it was like a war zone and when he looked straight into my lens i nearly did not take the shot as he was very intimidating . What a rush, What a cat . I get goosebumps just thinking about him . A privilege to finally meet you Mr Anderson .  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Londolozi.
The Inyathini male leopard crosses a dry riverbed on an early morning territorial patrol. This leopard continues to push his territory further and further north, putting pressure on the Piva male. Photograph by Amy Attenborough.  *This image is copyright of its original author The Flat Rock male leopard jumps up to rub against a Guarrie bush. This happened during an interaction with the Piva male leopard. The two males were having a territorial dispute, continuously growling and marking their territory by scent marking. In this picture, the Flat Rock male is seen jumping as high as possible, rubbing his face into the leaves, attempting to leave his scent high in the bush. This would theoretically make him seem bigger and would also make it difficult for other leopards to cover the scent with their own. Photograph by Pete Thorpe.  *This image is copyright of its original author The Inyathini male leopard gazes towards where hyenas move around below. This leopard was forced to pull his kill into a tree to avoid it being stolen by hyenas that had smelt the carcass. Photograph by Pete Thorpe.  *This image is copyright of its original author
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