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Leopards of Sabi Sands
Leopards of Sabi Sands
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Leopards of Sabi Sands
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 Old man Mvula (presumed dead) He was filmed on SL Jan 8th 2018, and five days later he was seen in horrible condition and thought to be the last photos of him. RIP “ghost”. PC Jens Dannhauser
The Cat Report: 07 – 13 April
The leopard drama of the northern Sabi Sand continued this week with some interesting behaviour on both the male and female fronts. Xidulu has been trying to mate with Hukumuri in the west. Thandi is still sporting an open wound but roamed freely across Djuma – moving back into the north western areas for the first time since her fight with Xidulu. Also there has been much sign of little Tlalamba with lots of tracks being seen as well as a brief view on the dam cam. Tingana continues his curious relationship with his son Hosana with the two of them being seen interacting on a few occasions. Hosana has been his normal entertaining self spending much time in Chitwa Chitwa lodge, however he has also been exploring further to the north than he has for some time. Tingana’s reduced range is apparent with his spending 90% of his time around Chitwa Dam. With Hukumuri being kept entertained by Xidulu, the old male he did manage one long foray deep into Djuma. Tingana’s future is also now being threatened by Quarantine (now five) who has made some moves into the eastern part of Chitwa Chitwa. Also on Chitwa, Tristan was able to bring us some exquisite first views of Kuchava’s cub in the eastern parts. There has unfortunately been no sign of Thamba since the 4th of April so he seems to be dispersing further afield. There have also been sporadic reports of Gijima and the unnamed female with two cubs to the north of Djuma. I look forward to seeing what next week brings! Written by: Brent Leo Smith  (04-12-2018, 01:28 AM)ShakaMapogo Wrote: Credits to PJD Photography.I think Hosana looks a lot like Xivambalana, it's always fun to imagine what male leopards will look like when they reach adulthood since they suffer so many physical changes compared to other cats. The two leopards I think he will look like when he fully matures is Xivambalana and Mbavala the later more than the former not claiming he will reach the same size, but considering he is going to have a big dewlap his snout is quite short and he as always been a very stocky leopard I think he will look a lot like Mbavala, I don't think he resembles Tingana he has karula's "face". Would be interesting if someone else had any opinion on this matter 
Credits to Sabi Sabi.
As the sun began to set, a large male leopard set about his task of starting to scent mark his large territory.  *This image is copyright of its original author
(04-14-2018, 11:27 PM)Michael Wrote:A lot of Karula’s sons took on her look rather than the father, oddly enough. With Hosana it’s very evident. I hope he does become a beast like Xivambalana (in looks) and stops being the house kitty with the curious behavior that had him chased by Hukumuri. He has been seen scent marking over Tinganas marks and Tingana does nothing about it.(04-12-2018, 01:28 AM)ShakaMapogo Wrote: Credits to PJD Photography.I think Hosana looks a lot like Xivambalana, it's always fun to imagine what male leopards will look like when they reach adulthood since they suffer so many physical changes compared to other cats.
Credits to MalaMala.
The Inyathini male came within a hair’s breadth of meeting a similar demise to that of the late Treehouse male and Kikilezi female! We were following him as he walked north along the eastern bank of the Sand River near Maxim’s Lookout when a troop of baboons spotted him. Leopards are secretive by nature and prefer to move undetected - this doesn’t bode well when raucous and irate primates are revealing your position to the world. He immediately ducked behind a shrub to get out of eye-shot. The Inyathini male then utilized our Land Rovers for cover as he slunk across open the riverbed and into the reeds. Mission accomplished. Or so he thought... He’d done well to lose the baboons but the point where he’d chosen to ascend the opposite bank was exactly where a lioness from the Kambula pride is denning, and she was waiting for him. The lioness erupted out of a bush as she leapt towards the leopard and came within a whisker of her target. Luckily for the Inyathini male his sharp reflexes got him out of harms way.  *This image is copyright of its original author
(04-17-2018, 06:47 PM)ShakaMapogo Wrote:I mean he is still young, he has plenty of time to grow and mature I wish he would become a big leopard but doesn't seem like he is going to be that big, hopefully I'm wrong neverthless I hope he manages to stay around.(04-14-2018, 11:27 PM)Michael Wrote:A lot of Karula’s sons took on her look rather than the father, oddly enough. With Hosana it’s very evident. I hope he does become a beast like Xivambalana (in looks) and stops being the house kitty with the curious behavior that had him chased by Hukumuri. He has been seen scent marking over Tinganas marks and Tingana does nothing about it.(04-12-2018, 01:28 AM)ShakaMapogo Wrote: Credits to PJD Photography.I think Hosana looks a lot like Xivambalana, it's always fun to imagine what male leopards will look like when they reach adulthood since they suffer so many physical changes compared to other cats. I don't think Hukumuri will stay around for a long time, he is a small leopard and only managed to push Tingana away due to the age gap between the two, the presenters obviously have to make people like the animals and the introduction of new genes onto the gene pool is always a positive but I really wish a bigger leopard would be dominant on and around Djuma. All the bigger male leopards outside Quarantine and Gijima are now old it's going to be interesting to see from the young guns who is going to become dominant and where.
Credits to Terry Ennever (Selati Camp Manager) - Sabi Sabi.
NEVER SAY NEVER…: “Never say Never”- a saying I learnt early on in my career as a Field Guide to never say. It doesn’t matter what the text books says, the exception is always the norm, and that is what is so addictive about doing a safari, even as a Guide there are sometimes sightings that blow your mind and this was one of them… One of our Selati Camp Rangers, Keegan Russell, headed out on a bush walk after the morning safari with his guests and soon after driving out of the lodge, heard a distinctive sound – the commotion of leopards mating! After briefly listening, the noise continued and he found the pair mating on the banks of the Msuthlu River. Keegan – keen to share this amazing sighting, radioed me to let me know what he had found. I certainly did not hesitate, rushing to my guests on the deck to offer them the chance to go and see this spectacle as a midday safari. It was pretty obvious what their answer would be. We left the lodge and Keegan guided us into the location of the sighting. There they were – the young Msuthlu female and the Maxabeni male, the dominant male of the area. It was very clear that this was quite early in their mating marathon due to the frequency of their copulating.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author It was incredible – to anyone who has ever witnessed big cats mating, it’s the noise which is incredible, the snarling and the hissing is something that is quite simply captivating. One of my guests even gasped for air as their heart skipped a beat at the intense noise. The day was getting hotter and they started to make their way down to the riverbed of the same name as the female. We had to take an alternative route to access the riverbed to relocate on the honeymoon couple, when we bumped into another leopard – the young male known to us as the White Dam male and the offspring of the Maxabeni male. It’s always surprised me that the dominant male had never chased his son off of his territory and seemingly tolerating him staying there, despite the young male scent marking and vocalising within his father’s territory. This was now a little too intrusive as males would chase away other males and competitors. We then made our way to the riverbed and watched Maxabeni and the Msuthlu female mate at regular intervals. It’s tough to see a leopard in most reserves but due to the high density of leopards within the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, makes it one of the best reserves to view these elusive cats. It is never a guarantee but you do have a much better chance to see them, but to see mating leopards, something limited to the privileged few, gave our guests a great opportunity to capture such intimate photographs.  *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 With the day getting hotter as it went on, we decided to head back to the lodge for some lunch with everybody in complete euphoria. As we left the sighting, we noticed the young White Dam male watching from the river bank above, less than 20 meters away, who was hiding in the thick long grass. We had vowed to return later for afternoon safari with our new guests arriving and to share the sighting with the rest of the Safari team. We could however have never scripted how that would play out… After finishing off some high tea and taking the opportunities to meet our new guests, Keegan and I left the lodge to try and find the pair as we knew the vicinity where they would be. Mating leopards don’t usually move great distances in an attempt to conserve energy as they could stay together, copulating for up to 4 consecutive days. With this being said they had moved slightly and did not take us too long to relocate. When we found them, they were out in the open, but when I say they, I mean all three leopards clearly visible to each other! We watched as the female mated with Maxabeni under the watchful eye of the jealous son. It was at that point where everything changed.  *This image is copyright of its original author The Msuthlu female walked away from Maxabeni to the young leopard and presented herself to him by flicking her tail in his face, wafting her scent and showing her readiness to mate. Despite the dominant male leopard watching on, the young male’s desire to mate was overpowering as the pair copulated. This did not just happen once, but on several occasions in, quick succession. This was incredible – never had I seen this before. I’ve witnessed it taking place between two females and a male, but never with a submissive male in the company of the dominant – we were certainly witnessing something extremely special. As can be seen in the video clip below, kindly shared with us by two of our guests in the sighting, you can start to see the young male contending the female’s advances and having a little spat. It was at that point, the female made her way back towards Maxabeni and then mating with him once more. The most poignant part of this whole clip is at the end when Maxabeni gazes at his son after copulating – it seems like a look of forewarning but certainly a warning that was never followed through even after we left the sighting. It was at that time we left, in total amazement and relative silence as we tried to work out what we had just seen. A glimpse of something so special made our sundowners unforgettable as we appreciated a moment in the lives of these cats and the motto of “Never say Never” in the forefront of our minds, accompanied by the rasping calls of mating leopards ringing in our ears.
Credits to Lucien Beaumont.
Anderson male, one of the largest and most intense leopards I have had the honor of photographing.  *This image is copyright of its original author It is always a privilege to see leopards mating in the wild. The legendary Anderson male and Nanga creating the next generation of leopards of Londolozi. Click on it to play.
Credits to Sid Toama.
The elusive Anderson Male  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Sabi Sabi.
We watched late yesterday afternoon as Maxabeni fed on an impala kill, with a female leopard high up in the tree.
Credits to Kylie Jones - Londolozi.
The Ximungwe female presents herself to the Inyathini male as a prelude to copulation. This female is only three years old and it is unclear whether or not she will be able to fall pregnant yet. She has mated with the Inyathini and the Flat Rock Males but there is still no signs of pregnancy.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Tayla McCurdy.
Tingana male, in the process of hunting Nyala.  *This image is copyright of its original author
(04-30-2018, 03:22 AM)Tshokwane Wrote: Credits to Lucien Beaumont.Hopefully this big guy gets to produce some male offspring it would be a shame if he didn't as far as I know he has no live male offspring |
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