LH Focus Online, Author at Leopard Hills

New cats on the block

Posted on 30 May 2018 by LH Focus Online

It has been a while since we have had a little shake up. With the current resident lions shifting territories, new cats are moving into the area.

We had received exciting news that a female cheetah with two cubs was moving steadily west. How long it would take for them to reach us only time would tell. This week we were all surprised to find them on our traverse.

Apparently these wild felines made their way down from the Thornybush area and settled here in Sabi Sands.

The cubs are around 9 to 10 months old. They have lost 2 of their siblings due to attacks from lions and 1 from a snake bite. With less pressure from lions, there’s a good chance that these young cubs might survive the next few crucial months.

Written by: Cal Butler

The Playful Ones

Posted on 26 May 2018 by LH Focus Online

Winter is quickly approaching and the bush is swiftly showing signs of the changing season. Yet there is still a hive of activity on the reserve.

Thlangisa, a wonderfully relaxed female leopard, has provided us with a gift of cubs yet again.

The mother has found a secure den site and she has finally revealed these bundles of joy to us. She has 2 tiny cubs and they take after their mother. Thlangisa, “The Playful One”, has passed her nature onto her cubs as these two little fur-balls constantly chase each other around or hop all over mom when she is around.

This is not her first litter and most of her cubs have survived to adulthood. We look forward to see these cubs grow up into strong, independent leopards in years to come.

Written by: Cal Butler

Kelly Dam and her kill

Posted on 19 May 2018 by LH Focus Online

Night time in the bush can be a daunting thing for some, but sometimes it yields wonderful surprises.

One of our rangers, Cal, headed down to the reserve’s airstrip to fetch some guests. As he passed through a wooded area something caught his eye. It was an impala in a tree, but no leopard in sight.

That evening after sunset, our game drive vehicles headed back to the area and guests were treated to a wonderful sighting as the leopard had returned to finish her kill.

As we arrived at the scene a female leopard called Kelly Dam sat casually in a tree feeding on her kill.

Sitting in silence and surrounded by darkness we all just marveled at the sights and sounds of the feline tucking into her meal.

There was some interesting interaction as 2 hyena came to visit hoping that Kelly Dam will drop her meal or at least parts thereof. She was not phased with their presence and just stared them down.

After she had her fill she moved over to another branch and took a nap for the evening.

Written by: Cal Butler

Mhangene’s saving grace

Posted on 9 May 2018 by LH Focus Online

Life can be tough in the bush, even at the best of times. For the subadult lions of the Mhangene pride life seems to be hanging by a thread.

The Mhangene pride was once a highly successful pride and their numbers stood strong at sixteen. The pride consisted of 4 adult females, 3 female cubs and 9 male cubs. The adult females were ferocious hunters and were highly skilled at taking down buffalo.

With a weekly supply of fresh buffalo, the young cubs always had round bellies and have since grown into sub-adult lions.

There was word of some large male lions making their way towards the western sector of the Sabi Sands. Soon afterwards the adult females made their way towards those males to mate with them and they simply haven’t returned since.

The sub-adults were left to fend for themselves for the last 2 months. They were all inexperienced and had not been taught how to hunt correctly. This lead to their detriment. Two sub-adult females have since perished and the young males find themselves in a very vulnerable position. They had become extremely skinny and their lives are hanging on by a thread.

Last week something miraculous happened. The young males managed to find some energy and somehow killed a buffalo on their own. This event was with out a doubt their saving grace and has provided them with enough food to last a little longer.

Written by: Cal Butler

Othawa’s kill a kudu

Posted on 22 April 2018 by LH Focus Online

It is not over until it is over. This could not be more true as we recently had a great surprise while we were finishing an evening game drive.

There was a comotion close to the lodge when another ranger called us into a sighting. It is not easy to catch the action as it happens. This time around we just missed the action by a few minutes. The evenings are getting cool now and as we manouvered the land rovers through the bush we could see steam rising out from a lifeless carcass.

In the grass lay two adult female lions from the Othawa pride. They managed to catch and kill a kudu a few hundred meters away from the lodge. They wasted no time tucking into the fresh meat. We could hear the contact calls of the two subadult lions who had trailed behind. The two adults did not heed their call. They continued to feast selfishly as if it was their last meal.

Together with our guests, the rangers sat in silence just observing and taking in the sounds around them. What seemed to fascinate our guests the most was the sound of crunching bones a few meters from them.

Written by: Cal Butler

Mondzo’s Season

Posted on 14 April 2018 by LH Focus Online

Mondzo Male Leopard has been away from his mother Xikavi for some time now and has been looking after himself extemely well. He is often found in the presence of either Khokovela or Basile female Leopards and at times even shares a meal with Dayone.

He was seen not too far from a kill that was hoisted into a tree with a hyena lurking nearby. Basile also joined him in the area – so he is still very comfortable in the area his mother raised him.

Approaching 3years now, it will be interesting to see where he moves to as the pressure is being increased by Ravenscourt, who is now venturing further into Dayone’s territory – which up until now has been the home of the young Mondzo male.

The season has started changing, with the bush still lush green after the rains, there is a wonderful chill in the air and the return of golden winter light. So to it will be an interesting season for Mondzo as he starts gaining more experience as an adult leopard.

Best Wishes for 2018

Posted on 1 January 2018 by LH Focus Online

Spending time with a travelling herd of Elephant to start the new year of 2018.

Best wishes to everyone for 2018 from the Leopard Hills Family

Summer Colours

Posted on 20 December 2017 by LH Focus Online

The summer rains have started arriving and the bush has turned into a beautiful bright green as everything has freshened up.

Playful Leopard

Posted on 25 November 2017 by LH Focus Online

The summer rains have arrived and the Leopard are enjoying the cooler conditions.

Thlangisa and her cub were seen in a riverbed being very playful after a early morning thunderstorm.

Dayone Male Leopard resting on the top of a termite mound after some refreshing rain.

Ravenscourt Male Leopard on a territorial patrol on the edge of Dayone’s territory after a heavy thundershower.

Stalking Leopard Cub

Posted on 20 August 2017 by LH Focus Online

Thlangisa & her cub found the perfect spot in a dry riverbed to spend the afternoon as they took a break from feeding on their hoisted kill. The sun had already set and soon the two leopard would be hidden by the dark night.

She noticed a duiker moving towards them in the riverbed and starting paying close attention to its movements, as it had not seen the two leopard in the sand. Her cub on the other hand, had different ideas. She noticed the duiker and started walking in its direction, however not in the normal stalking posture, but tail raised high up in the air.

Thlangisa kept an eye on her cub as she moved towards the duiker, as she got closer she started stalking and used her camouflage to hide her whereabouts. The antelope wisely kept moving away from the riverbed and out of the leopards’ sight.

With time and practice the cub will learn the skills to become a successful hunter.

Wild Dogs take back their kill

Posted on 19 May 2017 by LH Focus Online

One morning after tracking down and following the Mhangene pride for most of the morning, we heard that the pack of Wild Dogs had been found. We decided to head on over to the area where the dogs had started to settle down. Being late in the morning and already fairly hot we expected the pack to just be lazing around and mostly sleeping.

As we entered the sighting, the first thing we saw was a Hyena carrying an Impala carcass in its mouth with three of the Wild dogs following close by. There was however no sign of the rest of the pack. We followed them to a shady area where the Hyena decided to feast on his stolen spoils. Meanwhile the three dogs stayed close by just watching and hoping to get some back.

We could hear the rest of the pack calling in the distance, and with that one of the three dogs started running straight back to the rest of the pack while the other two remained. It wasn’t too long before we could see the pack return. With the pack in full force the Hyena realized that it was outnumbered and made a hasty retreat, leaving the Wild dogs to feed on their well earned meal.

Please enjoy the video below and remember to turn up your volume to hear the excitement of the pack.

Written by Hugo Breed

Mhangene pride feeding on a Giraffe

Posted on 7 May 2017 by LH Focus Online

Over the last few weeks we have been fortunate to view the Mhangene pride in the Western Sector. It is amazing to watch this pride move as they consist of sixteen lions in total. Four females and twelve youngsters, of which nine are males. If they all break away together we could possibly see another strong coalition to rival the likes of the Mapogo.

During one of our sightings we watched as they competed against each other to get their helping of a juvenile Giraffe that they killed.

It is incredible to watch how these youngsters already have that competitive and survival spirit.

Enjoy the video below.