Author: LH Focus Online

A chill in the air and clear sunny days herald a welcome change in season after a very wet summer! There is a stillness in the misty mornings and evenings as the woodland kingfishers have taken their booming calls far to the north!

Leopards

Stability seems to be reigning supreme here in the west with both the male and female leopard dynamics fairly stable…for now.

Hlaba Nkunzi

Her playful female cub is growing bigger by the day and is still being led all around her mother’s vast territory to her various kill sites. See image below and amusing video of her cub manoeuvring around a small marula tree with a male common duiker kill.

Hlaba Nkunzi is also seen a lot on her own and seems to be constantly on the move, getting around and marking her vast territory. There is a lot of marking activity and vocalising on her boundary with Metsi, lots of competition for space now that they both have growing female cubs! See video of her vocalising.

Metsi

So glad to report that Metsi and her female cub were found more often this month, we had one really memorable sighting of them for a few days on an impala kill. The cub is relaxing more and more with the presence of game drive vehicles and is becoming a joy to watch. The female bloodline in the west looks very safe with both Metsi and Hlaba Nkunzi having female cubs.

Xikavi

She was found frequently this month, on one particular occasion we arrived just as she was dragging her impala kill up a tree. See images below and some video footage.

It looks like she has lactation stains and most likely has little cubs hidden somewhere…watch this space.

Thlangisa

Still residing up in the north, she surfaces very rarely in the dense environment up there but when she is found she is as playful as always!

Dayone & Kashane

Dayone is covering huge distances as always patrolling his rather large territory, he is always a pleasure to watch. He is pushing a little further east and he is often seen walking and marking the same areas that Kashane has been frequenting! There could still be more trouble brewing between these two.

Kashane contemplating his next move from high up a Jackalberry

Nyeleti

He is still hanging around gaining strength and doesn’t seem too fazed about the presence bigger older territorial males around! He is nearly 4 years old and may become a real threat very soon!

Leopards Video

Thanks to our guest Todd Fearon for being so quick on the draw and capturing Hlaba Nkunzi vocalising
[FMP width=”640″ height=”360″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Leopards-mar13.flv[/FMP]

Lions

Selati Coalition

All 4 gaining strength and feeding on their wildebeest kill

They faced their moment of reckoning during the latter part of the month, an almighty confrontation between 3 of the huge Majingilane males! In the aftermath one had an injured lip and another one an injured eye but they look stronger and more assured than ever! See images and video below. The way they handled the wily older Majingilane boys was commendable and the future of the Ximhungwe cubs looks very bright indeed!

One of the more dominant males just after putting his body on the line and sporting an injured lip.

A few days later and almost fully healed!

All 4 looking for buffalo a few days after the battle.

Ximhungwe pride

With the cubs still being so young the lionesses are not covering much ground at the moment and we are able to find them almost daily. Early mornings and late evenings are always a good bet to see the little ones active and playing around. Enjoy video footage below!

Kung Fu cub

Othawa Pride

The poor Othawa lionesses have been caught right in the middle of the titanic battle of the coalitions, they probably instigated all the furore by being so attractive in their oestrus condition…Tracks of one of the lionesses have been seen far west, going back and forth to the same river bed, maybe some little Othawa cubs are on the way! Watch this space…

Lions video
[FMP width=”640″ height=”360″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/lions-mar13.flv[/FMP]

Pack of Painted Dogs

The pack of 8 has been here a few times this month! The good news is that the one yearling from last year that was separated from the pack somehow found the rest and has rejoined them after over a week on his own.

Interesting sightings in March

A rarely spotted dwarf bittern hopped up from a roadside pan and paused briefly in this tree. Very good sighting for the birders.

A handsome young male cheetah arrived in the west and delighted us for a few days.

This young hyena was found killing a fully grown zebra! The zebra must have been sick or injured, reminding us that there is no place for the weak in Africa!

As the heat of the African days give way to the cooler evenings and mornings, it is a wonderful time to be in the bush.
Between Game Drives, the ideal time to spend lounging around the private plunge pool of your Suite, soaking in the atmosphere and the surrounding views out over the bush.
We look forward to welcoming you to our home.

This is the time of year when the bush is most alive, the insect life is audibly abuzz amidst a cacophony of bird and frog calls. Wild flowers bloom everywhere as young lambs and calves have all found their legs and gallop about in the long grass. Read on to see how the young predators are also finding their feet…

Typical February scene…the calm savanna before the storm!

Leopards

Hlaba Nkunzi

Her playful female cub is now 6 months old and is being led all around her mother’s vast territory to her various kill sites. She confident and a real poser just like her mother. See below.

The cub faced a bit of a scare recently as the young Nyeleti male sniffed out Hlaba Nkunzi’s recent impala kill and surprised them there at the kill site. The cub managed to scurry off to a hiding place while mom growled and distracted the young male who would kill the young cub, given the chance!

Hlaba Nkunzi needs to be more careful around her kills as the scent has the potential to attract many unwelcome visitors…and we must remember this is how she has lost some of her previous cubs! Luckily for the cub, the Dayone male sniffed out Nyeleti the following day and chased him north again!

Here is the ever watchful mother on the lookout for any threat to her precious cub!

See video for some quality mother and cub grooming time!

Metsi

Metsi and her cub have been very scarce but seem to be faring well on the few occasions that they have been found, seems like the cub is also a female which bodes well for the leopards in the area.

Xikavi

She was found a few more times this month, on one particular occasion she was not too happy when Dayone found her impala kill and proceeded to chase her off and take the spoils for himself. See image below and some video footage.

Thlangisa

Still residing up in the north, she surfaces very rarely in the dense environment up there but when she is found she is as playful as always!

Dayone

His confident eyes, powerful frame and ever increasing dewlap suggest he is older than his youthful 5yrs & 4mths! He is entering his prime and his fighting character bodes well for the magnificent females in his territory…that is unless there is food involved! I’m sure Xikavi will willingly give up a meal for the security he provides for a new litter.

Kashane

Not seen too often in the west this month, possibly due to Dayone being very active patrolling his eastern boundary since their heated meeting a month ago.

Leopards February video

[FMP width=”640″ height=”360″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Leopards-feb13.flv[/FMP]

Lions

Selati Coalition

Even the above male with the smallest mane is darkening noticeably as they enter their prime! This male is the biggest of the 4 and seems to be the most dominant for much of the time!

They have been vocalising a lot this month and all 4 have been together, rather than off on their own. See video of one of the boys letting a rhino and calf know who is in charge, there are no better protectors for our Rhino’s than the Selati boys.

Ximhungwe pride

With the cubs being so young the lionesses are not covering much ground at the moment and we are able to find them almost daily. Early mornings and late evenings are always a good bet to see the little ones active and playing around. There are now 7 confirmed cubs between 6 and 14 weeks old! Enjoy the video footage.

Mom taking a quiet stroll presents a perfect target to stalk and attack.

Soggy riverbeds are a perfect playground!

Othawa Pride

The Othawa lionesses have again been with the Selati boys north of the river recently and seem to be trying to entice them to mate again.

Lions February video

[FMP width=”640″ height=”360″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Lions-feb13.flv[/FMP]

Pack of Painted Dogs

The pack of 8 was seen for a few days of the usual wild dog frenzy during the month! One of the yearlings from last year was separated from the pack somehow and stayed on here for a week by himself looking for his family who had run far east. He has since disappeared so let’s hope he has found them again, a young dog on his own faces many threats out there alone!

Elephants

Relishing the extra thick green grasses this year, the parades are spread out all over the place, crazy how the largest land mammal can disappear into the undergrowth and be so difficult to find at times.

Buffalo

The large obstinancy of +- 500 has made the lush green grazing down on the gabbro plains their own, there are lots of young calves around as usual in February.

Interesting sightings in February

The lush green landscape in front of the lodge has been reminiscent of the Serengeti plains at times, here are 3 different species relishing the good grazing together.

Here is a prime waterbuck bull, the biggest any of us have seen, showing off his spread and courting one of his harem of females.

It always pays off to spend time with a parade of elephants and to look closely! Here is a brave mantis, probably saying his prayers, while hitching a ride on a giant pachyderm’s hairy forehead!

A rare spot for the birders is a european nightjar, especially during the daytime. This is the only nightjar species that roosts lengthways on a branch during the day, other species roost on the ground or on rocks!

The heavy rains arrived again in force this January, dropping a drenching 170mm in 1 day! A muddy swampland developed for a week or so but thankfully welcome sun dried it out quickly and the landscape is looking breathtaking.

See below image of a handsome giraffe bull in his lush green paradise at sunrise!

Leopards

Hlaba Nkunzi

Her playful female cub is now 5 months old and is becoming bolder and bolder. We have been treated to many special sightings involving the ever patient mother and energetic young cub. This young pretender to the throne has a tough act to follow being the next in the Makwela/Hlaba Nkunzi bloodline and she keeps mom very busy, especially as she has no siblings to practice her hunting skills with.

A patient Hlaba Nkunzi, playing and practising hunting skills with the energetic young female.

Just a friendly pat on the head, “wake up mom”

“The protector” holding close with her caring paw the next generation of the fabled Makwela/Hlaba Nkunzi bloodline.

She has chosen to move more east of Leopard Hills, possibly a choice to take the cub to the protection offered by the experienced Kashane male or that Metsi has pushed her east as they are both providing for young cubs and a prime territory becomes ever more valuable.

Video of Hlaba Nkunzi and cub
[FMP width=”640″ height=”360″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Leoaprds-jan13-2.flv[/FMP]

Metsi

She has been a bit of a ghost recently, mostly just her tracks have been seen! She did pop up at Leopard Hills access road once and showed her disgust to some impala that were alarm calling at her, see image below.

Her cub was seen briefly at month end which is fantastic news and a tribute to the incredible recovery of the Dayone male.

Thlangisa

Still residing up in the north, she surfaces very rarely in the dense environment up there but when she is found she is as playful as always!

Xikavi

As usual in summer and especially this January with the Sand river raging, she is found very rarely.

Kashane

After the interaction with Dayone in the previous blog at the beginning of the month he has been seen briefly once or twice. The 2 big dominant males are respecting each others boundaries at present.

Dayone

Back from his injury with a vengeance this month like nothing even happened! He has reminded us all just how tough these cats are! See blog from earlier in Jan for some video of his successful warthog hunt!

Here he is patrolling during the month, with his back leg left leg well and truly healed…

Hard to believe it looked like this in November…

Lions

Selati Coalition

The rulers of the west have had a rather lazy month, spent mostly feeding on their buffalo kills, they have also been introduced to their first progeny by the Ximhungwe lionesses. They faced a brief but unknown threat when the 2 nomadic Sparta/Tsalala males snuck onto their territory way down in the south, killed a buffalo and disappeared as silently as they arrived.

See image below of the healthy young Sparta male, these 2 males are big and strong but up against the 4 mighty Selati’s they dont stand a chance.

Ximhungwe pride

There are 4 confirmed cubs belonging to 2 of the lionesses and a 3rd has visible suckle marks so we will hopefully see even more additions to the Ximhungwe/Selati bloodline soon. The short tail lioness did have 3 but sadly one seems to have disappeared.

Here is short tail with her 2 cubs(they are at least 12 weeks old)…one brave cub demanding extra attention!

Video of Ximhungwe cubs suckling
[FMP width=”640″ height=”360″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/lions-jan-13-2.flv[/FMP]

Othawa Pride

The Othawa lionesses have been with the Selati’s frequently and seem to be enticing them to mate again, seems like their cubs haven’t made it for whatever reason. They are young inexperienced lionesses so this is not too much of a surprise given the stress that the Selati Coalition takeover must have caused.

Spotted Hyena Den

The growing 6 month old cubs have returned to the den after the flooding sent them looking for a new home for a week or 2.

Pack of Painted Dogs

See blog from the beginning of the month.

Elephants

All over our traversing area at present.

A rather amusing event unfolded at Christmas with our regular guests, the Nelson’s, when a big musth bull interrupted our drink stop. See lonely hot box with some worried guests hoping he doesn’t smell their bush mix! Luckily he lost interest when a herd of females arrived. Thanks Ankia for the great image below!

Buffalo

The large obstinancy of +- 500 has made a few welcome appearances in the south as the lush green grazing down on the gabbro plains is just too enticing to them!

Interesting sightings in Jan

The sour plums are in full bloom, here is a CMR (Blister) beetle enjoying the juices!

Always watch your back while enjoying a meal in the bush, here a cape glossy starling almost lost his hard fought centipede meal to a sneaky dwarf mongoose.

Breeding is in full swing, we managed to find a woodland kingfisher nest and here is the female about to take off after feeding a chick, proudly watched by the male.

For the birders it is always worth waiting for sundown at a drink stop when these crepuscular and nocturnal feeders come out. Here is a pair of black crowned night herons that joined us for our gin and tonic.

Always interesting to see how animals adapt and survive with deformities, this steenbok male we discovered has a permanent headache but still holds a territory.

Unusually for this time of year we came across this dead impala that had been impaled in the abdomen by another ram! It was late morning so we waited and within 10 minutes the first vultures descended until it was a feeding frenzy of about 30 scavengers!

Hi All, hope you are enjoying the new blog layout.
Check out the below update on an action packed, festive few weeks of big cat interaction, a more comprehensive Ranger’s Report to follow at month end. Remember to click on the images for a larger version.

Hlaba Nkunzi and cub

Unndoubtedly the star of the show, the ever graceful and elegant mother is providing so well for her 4 month old cub. See video for some highlights.

On the contrary, Metsi and her cub have been very scarce and in deep hiding for the last month, their tracks have been seen but no luck in finding the elusive and secretive Metsi!

No time for the hard working mom (Hlaba Nkunzi)to rest.

Negotiating a puddle with ease!

Logging some of the many hours she will spend up a Marula tree!

Video
[FMP width=”640″ height=”360″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Leopard-Dec12-hlaba.flv[/FMP]

Dayone

He is well and truly back to FULL strength. We were lucky enough to see him and Kashane interact and show each other mutual respect while growling and scent marking along the imaginary line that separates their territories. If he was anything but at full power Kashane would undoubtedly have taken him out!

See video below for this interaction.
[FMP width=”640″ height=”360″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Leopard-Dec12-stand-off.flv[/FMP]

Here he is scent marking below while exuding confidence again.

Video of Dayone successfully hunting a warthog piglet.
[FMP width=”640″ height=”360″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Leopard-Dec12-dayon-hunt.flv[/FMP]

He also seems to have chased off the intruding young Nyeleti male in the last few weeks.
Here is Nyeleti in stalk mode below, this youngster did provide us with some memorable sightings…perhaps he will be back??

Lions

The Selati’s have been very vocal this month, entrenching their dominance over the area, see video of all 4 of them them roaring on the airstrip (turn up the volume). They have also managed to kill a few more buffalo recently to fill their bellies.

1 of the coalition staring into the darkness, alert to any sound that may pinpoint the location of a buffalo.

2 of the Ximhungwe females have revealed their combined litters of 2 + 3 (5 in total) cubs of similar age in the last week ( +- 6 weeks old). See video.

Here is a little one crying out for mom not to leave them as she heads off on a hunt.

Bravely striding forth with mom at the fore.

Quenching an insatiable summer thirst.

The Othawa lionesses have been with the Selati’s frequently and seem to be enticing them to mate again, seems like their cubs haven’t made it for whatever reason. They are young inexperienced lionesses so this is not too much of a surprise given the stress that the Selati Coalition takeover must have caused.

Here is one of the females performing a golden “flehmen” grimace or should I say smile.

Lions video
[FMP width=”640″ height=”360″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/lions-dec12.flv[/FMP]

[FMP width=”640″ height=”480″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/dogs-jan-13.flv[/FMP]

Ask any guide and they will tell you that sightings involving interaction between different species are right up there with their top moments in the bush as well as on their wishlist of things to hopefully observe.

The behaviour is always fascinating and never ceases to amaze as the inhabitants of the bushveld try and understand each other.

What a treat to find the painted pack hunting impala and then stumble across a breeding herd with a very protective and intimidating matriarch! Watch the video and see how the parade all huddle together and show their solidarity as a unit.

If only the 2 species could speak to each other, they would realize that they are much the same, arguably the 2 that use “teamwork” the best and are the most family orientated.The curious painted pack sub adults could never catch your calf, Mrs Matriarch! Thanks anyway for the show and allowing us to observe it.

The harsh realities of life and death in the African Bush.

Leopard Hills Ranger Raymond Mahatlani managed to capture this amazing footage out on drive with his Guests. Continue reading “Death in the Long Grass”

Our two favourite leopard ladies have enticed their latest additions to come out and play in the cooler weather over the past week!
Continue reading “Cubs come out to play!”