Category: Rangers Reports
First Quarter 2015 Ranger’s Report
The first quarter of 2015 has gone by in a flash and we can’t believe autumn is already looming around the corner. Leaves on trees have already begun to change to a beautiful orange, red and yellow colour. In the Western Sector we are waiting in anticipation to see if we will get some very much needed rains before winter takes over. Sightings of the first three months have truly been first-rate in all aspects.
Starting with the Lions, we have a look at the mighty Majingilane coalition. These four brothers have surely shown us they are a force to be reckoned with by occupying such a big territory in the Sabi Sands. Over the three months at least one or two of them spent most of their time in our Sector. They were seen mating with both the Othawa and Ximhungwe females, and also spending time with the Othawas on a couple of kills as well as over taking a kill from the Ximhungwes.
The Othawa pride has been moving quite a bit with them being split up from each other for a while. One of the females spent a lot of time mating with some of the Majingilane males while one of the other females disappeared to give birth to three beautiful cubs. She has since introduced the cubs to the rest of the pride, their fathers and to us. They have already provided us with some special times, and we look forward to seeing them grow into magnificent Lions. The two surviving sub-adults have been wandering around by themselves, with the female joining up with the rest of pride over the last couple of days. The future of the young male is still unknown.
The Ximhungwe pride has been their usual selves and has been traveling a lot, and even moving distances during the midday heat. The two females have been alternating between mating with the males. The youngsters have still not been seen together with the coalition.
We have also been lucky enough to spend some time with the Manghene pride, fourteen Lions in total, from the east. We had the privilege to watch them hunting and even being chased around by a big herd of Buffalo. They did manage to kill a Buffalo, which provided us with some more incredible viewing.
On the Leopard front Dayone has come back in full force, regaining all of his territory, and in the process pushing Nyeleti back East. He provided us with outstanding sightings of him stalking prey, patrolling his territory and mating with the Dam 3 female.
Kashane also came into the West a couple of times, but not staying for a long time before he returned to the majority of his territory in the East.
With Dayone pushing Nyeleti out of his territory, we have had very few sightings of him over this period.
Both Torchwood and Ravenscourt are still nomadic as they roam over parts of the Western Sector, trying to avoid the big boys. In a year or two they are going to become forces to be reckoned with.
We also had a visit from the old Camp Pan male from further East. It seems that he had been in a big fight and possibly been pushed out of his territory by another male.
Hlaba Nkunzi still spends most of her time in the East. We were however fortunate enough to see her newest cub a couple of times. We estimate it at about three to four months old. Hopefully she will spend some more time on our side.
Thlangisa up in the North have started to move a lot more with her two beautiful daughters, who are now almost a year old. She is still providing for them as any good mother should. It is coming close to the point where they will start to make their own kills and then start moving away from mom to establish their own kingdom.
Xikavi wasn’t seen a lot this time around, and when she was seen it was in very thick vegetation.
The very elusive Dam 3 female was found a couple of times mating with Dayone.
The young Scotia always provides us with impressive sightings, be it where she is up a tree or stalking some Buffalo, to hiding from Buffalo until they almost step on her, it is always a treat to spend time with her.
Tasselberry also has a cub which is now around five months old. They are also not seen very often.
Sightings of the elegant male Cheetah have been spectacular with some good interaction between him and some Hyena on occasion, and him always giving us a show by either going up a termite mound or a fallen over tree to pose for the guests.
The Wild Dogs have been very scarce in this first quarter. We hope to see more of them in the upcoming months.
Hyena sightings have really been first class. Over the last couple of months we discovered two den sites, with a couple of youngsters. At one of the dens we have seen two Hyena pups that cannot be older than two weeks as they are completely black.
The Elephants are always a winner when it comes to the guests, especially the little babies. The rest of the bush has also been alive with activity from all the species providing us with superior game viewing opportunities.
Birding in the Western Sector is a treat as they are always around and busy doing something. Even when we can’t see them, we can at least hear there beautiful calls.
Video compilation for the first quarter. [KGVID width=”320″ height=”240″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Firstquartercomp1.flv[/KGVID]
With this first quarter at an end we once again look forward to what the bush has to offer us and our very special guests. Written and compiled by Hugo Breed and Johan de la Rey
End of Year 2014 Ranger’s Report
With the rolling thunder building on the horizon there is excitement in the bush.
It is hot and humid during the day with dust covering nearly everything. But there is a certain restlessness brewing in the bush as the clouds start to build and you can hear the distant thunder rolling closer, suddenly a flash of lightning and then that distinct smell of freshness as the first drops start washing the dust away….
We had a good start to the rain season that got the bush to burst out of its seams with all the different shades of green. With the abundance of food it is also the time for all the baby’s to be born which in turn is also the time of easy food for all the predators, this is why in only a few days all the baby impala are born so that by pure numbers it will ensure that enough of the new generation will survive to take the place of the old and the weak.
With the Lions we had an interesting time over the last couple of months, the Majingelane males are for sure here to stay and started to assert their dominance over both the Othawa and Ximhungwe prides. We had some amazing sighting of the four brothers ranging from buffalo kills to mating and also the full burst of all four roaring at top volume.
With the Ximhungwe pride this year we have had some highs and lows with one of the adult females being found dead. The remaining two adult females are still cautious of the Majingelane males trying to avoid them to ensure the survival of the four remaining cubs, but we have seen the adult females mating with the males, so let’s hope the new generation of Ximhungwe cubs will be born shortly.
The Othawa pride had real bad luck and out of the eight original cubs there is now only two left one sub adult male and one sub adult female. The three adult female spent a lot of time with the Majingelane male both mating and just relaxing.
With the Leopards all is going extremely well especially with Thlangisa’s two female cubs now almost eight months old and rapidly turning into beautiful little princesses of the spotted kingdom.
Dayone seems to be back in full strength, although he still has a bit of a limp but that does not seem to bother him at all as he has been hunting normally and also marking territory and being very vocal.
We did not see Kashane a lot this time but for a male in his prime he does not have a lot to worry about so when we see him, this proud cat always gives us a sighting to remember.
The Nyeleti male was pushed back a bit to his old territory further to the East with Dayone being back in full force.
The Ravenscourt male was seen a lot in the south with the one sighting of him and the Torchwood male together. Let’s hope this beautiful young male can make a claim on the vacant area in the south so we can keep on seeing him.
The Boulders female seems to be a lot more relaxed lately and she gave us chance to get close to her and enjoy a good sighting.
Xikavi was seen with three cubs once, but this elusive mom has not shown us them since but at least we can still see suckle marks.
The elusive Tassleberry female, that we rarely see, gave us a pleasant surprise by showing us a very young but shy cub. We don’t see her a lot but let’s hope she can raise this one to adulthood.
The young Torchwood male is doing well for himself by being nomadic at the moment he is staying alive till he is strong enough to make a claim on a territory so we can keep on seeing the beautiful male.
Scotia seems to have claimed a bit of the central area for herself and she is doing well.
Hlaba Nkunzi is doing very well and is still visiting Leopard Hills on regular basis, and we can now say that it looks like she does have cubs again but as rumor has it they are in the East again.
We also had one sighting of the Hukumuri or Blue Eyed female in the North.
We did not see the pack of Wild dogs that often but they are now sixteen in total and when we see them they always provide us with some really good sightings.
There has also been a couple of Side Striped Jackals around, providing us with some special sightings of their puppies playing around.
The biggest surprise for us was having the amount of Cheetah sightings that we had over the last few months almost becoming a weekly sighting at least.
We are really blessed with the amount of Hyena sightings we are getting. Sitting at any Leopard kill you know there will be at least one Hyena in the area to keep them on their toes.
The general game sightings have been phenomenal as usual with lots of baby’s around ranging from baby impala to baby Elephant and all in between.
With Summer being in full swing most of the migratory birds are here, making for beautiful aerial displays and chirping in the mornings to wake you up.
This year has been one amazing year with lots of surprises and once in a lifetime sightings. We cannot wait to see what 2015 has in store for us. Lastly we from the Leopard Hills Family would like to wish you happy New Year.
Written and compiled by Johan de la Rey, Reece Verdoorn and Hugo Breed.
Combined Ranger’s Report August & September 2014
Yet another two months have passed in a flash, and what an amazing two months it has been. Filled with spectacular game viewing, astonishing animal behaviour and interaction. And that might just be one of the reasons why people return to the African bush…you never know what you might see next!
Dayone started to be his old self again by patrolling the whole extent of his territory. Unfortunately, late in September he was seen limping very badly again. Hopefully he can bounce back as he did before.
Kashane was again only seen a couple of times before he returned to the East.
Nyeleti have provided us with some great sightings. He seems to be taking more of his kills up a tree. He is once again in top shape and has recovered from all previous injuries. He was also mating with Hlaba Nkunzi for a couple of days.
Over these two months there have been very few sightings of Torchwood. He has been keeping a low profile and also possibly having a look at some other territories outside of the West.
Ravenscourt have been spending more time in the Western Sector. After his mother was killed he turned into a beautiful young male Leopard.
Hlaba Nkunzi have been moving around quite a lot and sightings have been scattered. She did however walk straight through the camp and reception on a couple of occasions, barely giving any notice to the guests standing in reception and watching in awe as such a beautiful animal saunters by.
Scotia started off in August by stealing a Waterbuck kill from a Cheetah. She had made her own Duiker kill close by and heard the Cheetah making its kill. Being the opportunistic animals that they are Scotia took a chance and managed to chase the Cheetah away. She seems to be doing extremely well.
Thlangisa and the two cubs are also in tip top shape. The two youngsters are growing day by day and becoming more and more playful. Thlangisa is still providing food on a regular basis, making sure the cubs stay safe and healthy.
Xikavi seems to be pregnant yet again. With the amount of times that she was mating with Nyeleti, we assume that he must be the father. Hopefully this time around her full motherly instincts will kick in and will she be able to raise the cubs to independence.
The Dam 3 female have been her elusive self, and only seen once or twice on rare occasion. She was found on an Impala kill and also once trying to get the affection of Dayone.
The Majingilane males have continued their hostile takeover of the West. Chasing down the females in both prides. They have continued their mating with the Othawa females, and also seem to have mated with one of the Ximhungwe females.
The Othawa pride has managed to keep the two remaining sub adults alive. There have also been reports of one of the sub adults being in the presence of one of the Majingilane males without any aggression. The two sub adults have managed to kill their own Warthog without any assistance from the adults.
The Ximhungwes have kept the Majingilane at bay once again. Two of the males managed to track them down, but the somehow escaped their onslaught and one of the females led them away and mated with the one male. There are still five sub adults alive and well.
Cheetah sightings are becoming a regular thing in the West. We have been lucky to see a couple of individuals over the last two months.
The Hyenas have been very active in the West. Most of the nights you can hear their distinct calls surrounding the camp.
The Wild Dogs decided to make their return to the West. They have brought their new litter of puppies for us to see. These painted wolves are always a special treat for rangers and guests alike.
Some of the migratory birds have already made their return back for Summer. The Wahlbergs Eagles are already in their nests from the previous years and we can hear the call of the Red Chested Cuckoos. We are still awaiting the beautiful call of the Woodland Kingfisher to wake us up in the mornings.
General game sightings never disappoint. With rare sightings of Civet and Serval mixed in with massive herds of Buffalo and Elephant moving through the area.
Summer at Leopard Hills is in full swing as we await the first of the rains to fill up the watering holes and turn the bush into a lush green once again.
Written and compiled by Hugo Breed and Johan de la Rey.
Ranger’s Report July 2014
It has been another action packed month out in the bush for all involved at Leopard Hills. Over this month some guests and rangers alike have experienced some pretty unique sightings, from a female Leopard giving it her all to protect her cubs from a Hyena, to a male Leopard killing an Impala and doing some impossible acrobatics to secure the kill in a tree.
Dayone is once again moving a lot, and covering big areas. His limp has improved and he is pretty much walking as if he doesn’t have any injuries any more.
Kashane has spent most of the month to the east with very few sightings of him in the West.
After the previous months Nyeleti seems to have been able to avoid further confrontation with the unidentified male, and recovered from the wounds. Nyeleti was the male Leopard that gave us a spectacular show as he killed an Impala behind the vehicle and then proceeded to take it up a tree, to avoid kleptoparasitism from a Hyena. For a while he couldn’t find a branch to safely secure the kill, and there were tense moments when everyone thought he was going to drop it into the Hyena’s mouth. He managed to jump at least two meters across to another branch with the Impala in his mouth.
Torchwood wasn’t seen very much this month, with him still being very nomadic and avoiding the dominant males.
Every now and again the Ravenscourt male will wander into the Western Sector, exploring a bit and then returning East.
It seems to now be confirmed that both of Hlaba Nkunzi’s cubs have been killed. We are not sure what happened, but we were all very sad with this news. It seems that she might be looking to reclaim her old stomping grounds in the Western Sector, as we have been seeing a lot more of her in this past month.
Thlangisa, the protector, is the female Leopard mentioned above, protecting her cubs. While we were enjoying a sighting with her and the two cubs, a Hyena appeared, investigating the area where Thlangisa had an Impala kill hoisted up a tree. When the Hyena came to close to one of the cubs and the cub not realising the Hyena was approaching, Thlangisa sprang into action, leaping out of the tree and attacking the Hyena with vigour. The Hyena did not know what hit it and made its way quickly out of the area. Both cubs are doing extremely well and their mom is taking care of them in the best way possible.
Xikavi was once again found mating a couple of times with Nyeleti. We are all hoping that she will have at least one successful litter.
The Scotia female seems to be spending a little bit more time in the Western Sector. On one occasion she stole a Waterbuck kill from a male Cheetah.
With the Majingilane coalition now having such a massive territory to control, we do not see a lot of them. This is a good thing for the two prides. These four males are definitely a force to be reckoned with as they all stand very tall and proud when they move through the West. When they were in the area they were mating with the one Othawa female again.
The Othawa pride has been moving a lot to avoid the Majingilane males. There are only two sub-adult cubs left in the pride, one male and one female. One of the cubs was separated for a couple of days, but luckily the Lionesses managed to find her again.
The Ximhungwe pride has also been moving from West to East to avoid the Majingilane. With a Lionesses leg being found on a bush walk, we have come to the conclusion that one of the Ximhungwe females has unfortunately been killed. We do not know if it were Hyenas or possibly a rogue male Lion, that was also seen in that area, that had killed her. The pride now consists of two adult females, one sub-adult male and four sub-adult females.
Cheetah sightings have once again been amazing, with us being able to see a different males and female moving through the area.
The Hyena population has sky rocketed in the West. Very few drives go by without seeing at least one individual. With their high presence, it has forced the Leopards to start thinking a lot more about hoisting their kills.
Some days go by where the bush will be quiet in terms of the mammals, but the birds are always there to entertain us.
General game sightings have also been spectacular, ranging from Side Striped Jackal to Reedbuck.
As we head into August we start to feel the change in seasons as the wind will start to pick up and with that the Spring will also start to come. For more daily updates follow and like us on www.facebook.com/LeopardHills.
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Video of Thlangisa protecting her cubs courtesy of Leopard Hills guest Phil Anastasio.
Written and compiled by Hugo Breed, Johan de la Rey and Reece Verdoorn.
Combined Ranger’s Report May & June 2014
Another two months have flown by, and with it Winter has set in, as all the guests are utilising the fleece ponchos and warm water bottles to the fullest! One of the benefits of Winter is that the bush is very open and the skies are spectacular. Making it worth facing the cold mornings!
Dayone is surely recovering from whatever caused the injury to his left front leg. He is starting to do more of his usual patrols and seems to slowly be taking back parts of his old territory. Recovering from that injury and being able to keep his condition during that time just adds to his unbelievable character.
Over these two months we haven’t seen much of Kashane. When he was seen it wasn’t for more than a couple of hours.
With Dayone reclaiming territory, Nyeleti did not always come as far West as he used to. It also seems that there is another male Leopard in the same territory as Nyeleti, with which he has been in a couple of fights with. Nyeleti picked up a couple of injuries, but mostly superficial. Xikavi has also been following him around, enticing him to mate with her.
We have been seeing a lot more of the handsome Torchwood male. He still hasn’t completely established himself. Hopefully he will find some territory that he can occupy in the West. On a couple of occasions we followed him from termite mound to termite mound, looking for some unsuspecting Warthogs.
The Ravenscourt male has turned into a beautiful boy, just like his mother. His territory is further to the East, but every now and again in wanders into the West.
Over the last two months we were all eagerly awaiting Hlaba Nkunzi’s reveal of her two cubs to the Western Sector. It wasn’t too long before she brought both of them to the Lodge, where she kept them close to Suite 1! This was all very exciting for us. Unfortunately she did not keep them there very long as she made a kill somewhere else, and took them for a good feed. Recently it seems that Hlaba Nkunzi was in a fight of some kind, as she is limping and has only been seen with one cub…
The ever playful Thlangisa and her two equally playful cubs have been providing us with hours of entertainment. She only just started introducing them to meat, and has been either taking them to the kill site, or bringing the kill back to the den site. These cubs are estimated to be about 11 weeks old.
Xikavi was not seen very often as she spends most of her time in the thicker vegetation. She has been enticing Nyeleti to mate with her. Once again we are hoping that if she falls pregnant, that this time she will be able to raise the cubs successfully.
The Selati males seem to have been defeated by the Majingilane, as we have not seen them for a long time. We have had reports that two of them have been seen further North East of us.
The Majingilane are still busy with their takeover of the Western Sector. With the big territory that they occupy now, we have not seen them too much, as they patrol their whole territory. For the prides this is a good thing, as it gives them time to raise their cubs. There have been reports that some of the cubs have already been killed by the Majingilane. Every time they do however come into the West, they seek out the one Othawa female, without cubs, to mate with her.
The Othawa pride seems to have suffered a couple of losses. Some of the cubs have been killed by Hyenas, and it seems some by the Majingilane. One of the male cubs somehow in all the confusion ended up with the Ximhungwe pride for a while. He has since separated from them. At the moment only two cubs are seen with the three females.
With all the chaos in the West with the Majingilane takeover, the Ximhungwe pride seems to be the ones that have been able to hide the best. Unfortunately one of the female cubs got separated and ended up with the Othawa pride. They did however not accept her, and she was beaten up quite badly.
We had a couple of sightings of the Mangheni pride from the East. This is a spectacular pride with 14 individuals. They are one of the Majingilane prides.
Cheetah sightings have been amazing over the last two months. We have been very lucky with, mostly the two sub adults. They have now split up and both are looking to establish territory on their own.
The Wild Dogs only came in a couple of times. They started to dig, giving us hope that they would once again den in the West. Unfortunately they moved on and found another den site. Hopefully it won’t be too long before they start moving with the new born puppies to come and introduce them to us.
With a lot of kills happening, the Hyenas have also been having a good time. Every now and again they managed to chase a Lioness off a kill, but most of the time they had to wait it out to get there share. Wonderful thing about the bush, nothing goes to waste.
And a little treat for our birders out there.
Although the blog focuses on the big cats we do not disregard all the other animals. Some of our most special sightings come from the general game. Sightings like a herd of Elephants all having a mud bath, some Dwarf Mongoose sunning themselves or even a Zebra rolling in the dust, are the things that make the whole safari experience special.
Looking back we can’t believe that half of the year has already passed. How does the all too familiar phrase go? “Time flies when you’re having fun”. And that is definitely the case out in the bush and at Leopard Hills!
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Music from The Lion King – Circle of Life
Written and composed by Hugo Breed, Johan de la Rey and Reece Verdoorn.
Ranger’s Report April 2014
As the Summer gives way to cold crispy mornings we are now heading into Winter mode, fleece ponchos and hot water bottles gives comfort to the brave ones.
Dayone still has the injury on his front left paw, which causes him to limp. This however has not kept him back from stalking and hunting on three legs. He is still not patrolling as much, but it seems to be getting better.
Kashane male was seen a few times doing his usual territorial walk and then disappearing again. He did venture quite a distance into Dayone’s territory, probably because he noticed no recent scent marking or vocalizing in that area.
The Nyeleti male is becoming bolder by the day as he is coming deeper into Dayone’s territory, even scent marking and calling to make his stand in the West. At the moment he is the male that we see most often, almost on a daily basis.
The Torchwood male was seen close to the lodge a few times but still being nomadic due to his age.
We are still not seeing a lot of Hlaba Nkunzi, as she still has her cubs in the East, but she does come and show her face every now and then to let us know she is okay. From reports we know that she does have two cubs. On one afternoon she had a small altercation after she stumbled across a kill Nyeleti had made. He was not too pleased with her.
Scotia female also spent a bit of time in the East, but when we get to see her she does live up the legendary bloodline of Makwela.
Up to date there has been no reported sighting of Metsi. We are all hoping that she is fine and will soon make an appearance.
The Boulders female is still shy of the vehicles but every now and then she does allow one vehicle to get a sighting of her. We found her one morning were she had hoisted up an Impala kill she had made.
Xikavi is doing well and was seen mating a few times. She is also heavily pregnant, so maybe in the near future we will get to see her cubs.
We mostly only found tracks for the Dam 3 female this month, with only a few sightings of her one of which where she mated with Nyeleti.
With the river crossings being damaged we did not get North a lot, but we did get to see Thlangisa on the occasions that we were in the North. Good news is that when we saw her she had suckle marks and was lactating. Fingers crossed for some more new cubs in the West.
The Tasselberry female was seen with about a month old cub, but only once, as she is one of the less relaxed Leopards.[KGVID width=”320″ height=”240″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Leopardandcub.flv[/KGVID]
The Ximhungwe pride gave us a bit of a scare as we found where they had an altercation with the Othawa pride. For days after that only the three females and one cub were seen. Luckily they all met up again after a while and seem to be doing extremely well. This month they were found with kills quite often. On one occasion our guests even witnessed one of the kills.
After the altercation with the Ximhungwes, the Othawa pride still spent some time in the North with two of the Selati males. They eventually also moved back south of the river with all eight cubs.
The one Selati male that had the fight with the Majingilane males also seems to be recovering. His two brothers spent most of their time with the Othawa pride with him eventually also catching up to them.
The Majingilane males came back into the West on the last day of the month. They were actively scent marking and vocalising. It seems they are ready to take over the West from the Selati coalition. Interesting times lay ahead for the Lion dynamics in the Western Sector. Hopefully the prides can manage to keep the cubs safe, and that the Selati males can muster up the courage to take on these four Majingilane males.
One of the Southern Pride females was seen in the south on our boundary a few times.
We had a good run with Cheetah this month, with some drives producing four individuals. We had the brother and sister sub-adult pair for almost three weeks in the Western Sector and then the adult female coming in and out of our area and the cherry on top, the adult male also making an appearance.
The Hyena population is on the up with regular sightings during drive. It seems that the age old battle between the Hyena’s and the big cats are back in full swing with sightings of Leopard and Lion kills being stolen by the Hyena’s.
This month we only had one Wild Dog sighting, as they spent most of their time further East. We are hoping to get lucky with the pack coming to den in the Western Sector this Winter.
The general game sightings have been great with big herds of Buffalo and Elephant being seen on numerous occasions. Large herds of Zebra and Wildebeest was seen in the South with the odd rare animal been spotted as well.
Most of the migratory birds have now left for our Winter, heading further North looking for some warmer climates.
The bush is clearing up, colours start to fade and animals are being seen everywhere. What lies in store for us this Winter we don’t know. But we are sure it is going to be a very interesting time ahead!
Written and compiled by Johan de la Rey and Hugo Breed
Ranger’s Report combined February & March 2014
February flew by in a flash, and before we knew it, it was already the end of March. These two months have been filled with adventure and excitement. This year the big rains came late, and we had half our annual rainfall, about 300mm, in a matter of four days during March. All this rain added to the rain we had during February kept us from heading north of the Sand River as the levels were too high to cross.
Over the last two months Dayone seems to have found a liking in the Lodge as he made 3 different kills in and around the camp. He was seen in an altercation with another unidentified younger male Leopard. When the Othawa pride and Selati males arrived on the scene due to all the noise, Dayone quickly made his way out of the area. It seems that he has a injury on his left front leg as it is swollen and he is limping a bit, but this is definitely not keeping him back. Dayone was also found mating with the Dam 3 female.
Once again Kashane has been very scarce, as he still spends most of his time further to the East.
Nyeleti is starting to become a force to be reckoned with as he continually extends his territory further to the West and even a little bit to the South, pushing into Dayone’s territory. We have been having very good sightings of this male over the last two months. He has also been mating with Xikavi as well as Hlaba Nkunzi.
The Torchwood male still seems to be living a nomadic lifestyle as he is seen in different areas of the reserve. Hopefully he will establish himself somewhere in the Western Sector, so that we can view him more often. On one morning we were very privileged to see him fishing for some Catfish. This was quite a sight to behold.
Sightings of Hlaba Nkunzi have been few and far between. The reports were that she has had cubs to the East of our traversing area, as she was lactating and kept on going back to the same area. No confirmed sightings of the cubs were reported. With her now being seen mating with Nyeleti, speculations have been coming through that she has lost the cubs. Hopefully this is not the case and that she is having a false oestrous just to keep Nyeleti happy and away from her cubs.
Her daughter, Scotia, also doesn’t really seem to have established a territory as of yet. She is definitely a very good hunter, as she is often found with a kill. It looks like she also loves being the centre of attention as she constantly poses for the guests, making sightings of her always entertaining.
Metsi and her daughter, Boulders, have not been seen for the last two months. We believe they have been spending time in an area which was mostly inaccessible to vehicles due to all the rainfall.
Xikavi was seen mating with Nyeleti and also walked in on Nyeleti and Hlaba Nkunzi, after which they treed her and both females went their separate ways. It probably wasn’t her best period of time as she was also found losing an Impala kill to a Hyena.
The Dam 3 female has been her elusive self, only been seen once in a while. She was found mating with Dayone.
Due to the river levels we were unable to get to the Northern section of the Reserve. This is where the Ximunghwe pride has been spending their time for the last two months. We look forward to the levels dropping and being able to give you an update on the pride.
The Othawa’s once again have been moving all over. Some days they were all together and other days some cubs were on their own away from the rest. A couple of times the Selati males did some babysitting. The last that we saw of them all 3 females and 8 cubs were in very good condition. They also however did cross the river to the North late in the month.
All 3 the Selati brothers have been patrolling their territory to the West and East. They spent a couple of days on a Buffalo cow and calf that they killed. This put them all back into good condition. They would split up to patrol and then join up for a day or two before splitting up again. They have been facing pressure from the East in the form of the Majingilane coalition.
These 4 Majingilane males have been coming into Selati male territory more often. Luckily they have not come across one of the prides to be able to kill the cubs. The Selati’s seem to be standing their ground. At the time of writing of this report the Majingilane have had an altercation with one of the Selati males. The extent of the injuries are unknown. Follow our Facebook page for up to date updates on the situation.
The Wild Dogs were only seen on a few occasions. Most of those were from the southern bank of the river watching as they run on the inaccessible northern bank.
The past couple of weeks have been amazing in terms of Cheetah sightings. We have had the adult male, the adult female as well as her two sub-adult cubs that have now separated from her and making kills on their own. Hopefully at least one of the two sub-adults will become a resident Cheetah in the Western Sector.
The name Hyena is always preceded by a bad reputation. These interesting animals play such an important role in the ecosystem by keeping the bush clean. The youngsters are also always entertaining to observe.
Although we focus on the predators in these reports, we do not forget the other animals that make this place what it is. Elephant sightings have been amazing as well as with some of the smaller game, reptiles and Birds.
As we enter into April and Autumn, we can see the bush changing again as well as the temperature starting to drop. We look forward to what is yet to come! Follow our Leopard Hills Facebook page for your daily updates!
Written and compiled by Hugo Breed and Johan de la Rey.
Ranger’s Report combined December 2013 & January 2014
As 2013 drew to an end we welcomed the New Year with a bang. We hope that everyone had a wonderful and blessed festive season and that 2014 will be your year.
Due to the busy festive season our December blog did not go out. This however gave us time to acquire some information on the territories our resident Leopards occupy. The blog will also be a combined December and January blog.
We had a very generous rain season so far with over 200 millimeters of rain for December and January alone, so needless to say that the bush is very green and the vegetation is lush. With the festive season behind us and all the babies growing strong, all is good in the bush.
We had good sightings of Dayone as usual; he is still covering a huge territory and covering big distances between sightings. We did see him mating with Xikavi and the Dam 3 female over the two months.
Kashane was seen only a few times and by looking at the maps we can see why. He occupies a huge 77.4 square kilometer territory. He always amazes the guests with his huge size and power and still being able to be agile in trees.
The Torch Wood male was seen on occasions down in the south. He had a bit of interaction with Dayone but nothing serious.
Hlaba Nkunzi is as usual a good sighting and it seems that she is starting to distance herself from her daughter. She is also moving quite a lot throughout her territory.
Metsi was seen a few times in the central western parts of the reserve and also seems to do the same as Hlaba Nkunzi by distancing herself from her daughter.
Thlangisa is becoming a regular sighting North of the river for us and it seems that we worked out her movement patterns now.
The Dam 3 female was seen mating with Dayone for two days. When on her own she likes to hide from our view, but it seems that Dayone’s presence relaxes her a bit.
Although Xikavi was seen mating with Dayone we still saw suckle marks on her which gives us a bit of hope that her cub is still alive, the last time we saw the cub she was taking it into the East.
We were also very fortunate to see the beautiful Tasselberry resting in a Jackalberry tree. She is usualy very elusive but on that particular morning she couldn’t care less and gave as a wonderful sighting.
Metsi’s cub, who we now have named the Boulders female, seems to have relaxed with the vehicles and is giving us good sightings and it looks like she is settling in on the far West of her mom’s territory.
Hlaba Nkunzi’s cub, who we named the Schotia female, is doing well on her own and is even killing adult Impala now. It looks like she has taken a bit of mom’s territory around the Eastern parts of the Western Sector.
The pack of Wild Dogs visited us a few times in the festive season and as always with their busy lifestyle giving us endless sightings of action packed hunting and chasing.
We had a visit from two different male Cheetahs over the last two months one adult male and one young male that has just been kicked out by its mother. We were also lucky to see the female Cheetah with her two cubs again.
The Hyena den is no longer active with permanent pups in the den, although we still get to see the clan there every now and then as they still use it as resting spot during the heat of the day.
The Selati males are still holding a strong presence over the whole Western sector. They had a bit of a run in with the Sparta and Tsalala males. It seems that the Selati males were able to push them out of their territory for now. The three male are in good condition and still making their own kills.
The Ximhungwe pride is still going strong with all six the cubs still in good nick. They spent a good bit of time North of the river, but lately they are back in the central part of the reserve.
The Othawa pride is also doing well with all eight cubs growing quickly to young lions. They did spend good part of the festive season in the East outside our traversing but they are back home now.
We had some interesting sightings of our summer birds and the beautiful colors they display.
With the general game we had very good sightings with big herds of both elephant and buffalo moving through the area. We had a fair amount of sightings of zebra and giraffe always giving amazing photos in the open grass areas.
The year has already started with spectacular game viewing and hopefully it is only a prelude to what is to come. 2014 is going to be yet another interesting year which we look forward to sharing with you!
Our new Leopard Hills Website has also been launched! Go and have a look at www.leopardhills.com.
Written and compiled by Johan de la Rey and Hugo Breed.
Ranger’s Report November 2013
Out in the Bush time can stand completely still for that moment as the Leopard or Lion is stalking its prey. And before you know it time has flown by and another month has come to an end. November was filled with exciting and amazing sightings as well as some beautiful thunder storms.
With the Othawa Pride covering most of the Western Sector this month we had the opportunity to see them moving quite a lot. They also killed a big Waterbuck Bull and spent a few days on the carcass. All 8 cubs are as playful as ever if not more, and supply us with endless entertainment as they tackle each other and flop over one another. The 3 Lionesses have been taking very good care of the cubs.
Fortunately for us the Ximhungwe Pride spent most of their time this month in the Western Sector. They were also found on a Zebra that they had killed. At the end of the month they followed the scent of a Rhino, which had died of natural causes, and the whole pride got to feed on it.
The Southern Pride, a pride that as a territory more to the South East of the Western Sector , is a pride which we do not see often. During this month a big Hippo Bull had a fight with a younger Hippo Bull and killed it. This carcass attracted a couple of Hyenas as well as 8 members of the Southern Pride which spent a couple of days feeding on the carcass in the mud.
The 3 Selati boys have been patrolling a lot and spending some time to the East. They also spent some time with the Othawa pride.
Hlaba Nkunzi has been leaving her cub on her own for longer periods now. With all the new Impala lambs around it has been easy for both Hlaba Nkunzi and her cub to make kills. We were lucky enough to see her cub take down an Impala lamb as if she has been doing it her whole life. Hlaba Nkunzi was also found mating with Nyeleti.
Metsi was found mating with Dayone for a couple of days, and it seems that she is also ready to separate from her cub. We were lucky enough to find her cub on her own and spend some time with her.
Xikavi has been providing us with some glimpses of her cub throughout the month. Unfortunately one of her cubs did not survive. There are speculations that it might have been killed by a snake. Xikavi was also found on the move and hunting quite a lot, to ensure that she has enough milk for her young one.
Thlangisa is still up in the North and moves all over. When she is found she gives us amazing sightings with her most of the time ending up in a tree.
Dayone has been very busy patrolling his area and also mating with Metsi. We found him up in a tree hiding away from the 3 Selati male Lions, which picked up on the scent of a kill that he had made in the area.
Unfortunately we don’t have many sightings of Kashane, as most of his territory is to the East. When he is found it is always a great sighting and amazing to see this big male move around.
With all of the rain we had, it seems that the Hyena den is not as active as usual, and as a result we have not been having as many sightings and especially no sightings of cubs. They however had a feast on the Hippo that died in the South.
After the Wild Dogs left their den site in the West we have not seen them a lot. Near the end of the month the pack with all 6 puppies did however come back West and spent a couple of days, giving us once again amazing sightings and opportunity to see them behave as only Wild Dogs can behave.
This month the Male Cheetah made an appearance, causing a lot of excitement. This time he appeared in the North and not the South as we are used to.
The General game viewing has also been astonishing with all the little ones around, ranging from baby Elephant, Impala lambs, Warthog piglets and even a couple of Side Striped Jackal Puppies.
Birding, as always this time of year, has been very good. With almost all the migrants back and some still returning we are seeing some beautiful birds.
The end of year draws near as we enter into December. With summer in full swing we anticipate some hot days followed by some powerful thunderstorms. On behalf of the Leopard Hills Team we would like to wish everyone a Happy Festive Season to be spent with family and friends.
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Written and Compiled by Hugo Breed and Johan de la Rey
Ranger’s Report October 2013
With lightning and the soft rolling thunder threatening on the horizon we awaited the first storm of the season to give us relieve from the dust and heat. The beautiful summer sunsets are back with the odd cloud in the sky enhancing the array of colours.
The Othawa pride is still going strong, with the three females and all eight cubs still going about normal life, including the one female without cubs that was seen mating with the Selati males. Hopefully in the next three months we might see a new litter of cubs. The pride was also found on a Buffalo kill this month which created some very full and uncomfortable bellies.
The Ximhungwe pride spent most of the time in the South and East only giving us glimpses for a couple of hours at a time. Lucky for us, at the end of the month, they did cross back and went all the way West and North, ensuring for some more frequent viewing. They are still all accounted for, the three females and all six cubs are looking good and strong.
The Selati males were still split up with the three still sticking together and the one ill one on his own, whom eventually succumbed to this lone lifestyle. There was a report from the East that he got caught up in a group of Buffalo and got killed. The three boys are still spending a lot of time with the Othawa pride.
Hlaba Nkunzi and her cub gave us a good chance to practice our tracking skills with the areas she chose to spend time in this month. Once they were found she provided us with awesome sightings. The cub was found alone on quite a few occasions exploring the area that mom left her in. With the cub at just over twelve months of age mom will start to leave her alone for longer and more often to get her use to the lone lifestyle, luckily for us the cub is just as relaxed as mom and we are still getting grate views of her. Round the end of the month Hlaba Nkunzi and Dayone was found mating close to the Lodge.
We only saw Metsi on one occasion this month, it was however a great sighting with her up a tree with an Impala kill and a Hyena on the ground waiting for scraps with Metsi’s cub also on the ground hiding from the Hyena. We did have more frequent sightings of her female cub who was amazingly relaxed with the vehicles around her. She was seen quite close to the lodge and then we got tracks the next day of mom and her leaving the area, we can only assume that Metsi came and fetched her to a kill as we did not manage to stay on the tracks…..
With Kashane’s territory being so huge we don’t see him a lot but when we see him, he usually gives us a good show and time for awesome photos……
Thlangisa is becoming more of a regular sighting North of the river for us, it seems that we managed to work out her behavior in the North, we did at some stage see suckle marks on her and excitement was high, but later in the month the suckle marks dried up and we suspect that she might have lost the litter.
The Torchwood male is also becoming a regular in the Western Sector with this young male even making kills with vehicles following him, so needless to say this is a welcomed addition to the Western Sector’s Leopards.
Xikavi broke the new cub drought with her addition of two new cubs to the West. She has shown them to us but at only a month old you can imagine that the view was limited. Let’s hope that in the future we will get many more great sightings of the two little ones!!!!
The shy Dam 3 female was seen a few times, she seems to be more relaxed at night time with us than what she is in day time. We are also proud to announce that there is reports that this shy lady has also shown us a glimpse of two tiny little cubs, crossing our fingers that we will get a view of the two soon.
Close to the end of the month we saw the Blue eyed female called Hukamuri up in the North.
The Dayone male is still doing his usual marathon walks covering huge distances in a day to patrol his massive territory; he is in good nick and still keeping the young males at bay. He was also found mating with Hlaba Nkunzi for a couple of days!
At the risk of running into Dayone or Kashane, the Nyeleti male is keeping a low profile but still giving us good sightings, at some stage been seen very close to Hlaba Nkunzi’s cub in the center of our area but luckily he did nothing to her and the peace was kept. At the end of the month he was found mating with Xikavi.
We had a brief visit from a full-grown male Cheetah down in the South for a couple of hours and then he silently sneaked back to the east. It is always a privilege to see these gracious animals as they in general avoid the areas with a high population of large predators like the Western sector.
With the Hyena population on the up we are definitely getting more sighting of them, apart from the Den site we also see their presence around kills more often. With the ongoing age old battle of eternal enemies we witnessed the demise of a young Hyena to the fangs of a Othawa female.
For the last couple of months the Wild Dogs were denning in the Western Sector. They started taking the youngsters on day trips further and further away from the safety of the Den. This gave us amazing viewing of the whole pack and also a sneak peek into the dynamics of everyday pack life. Unfortunately they have now moved more East, and we await their return. We also had a brief glimpse of a different pack from the North East.
The General game viewing was good as always with large herds of Buffalo coming into the area and with the heat all the Elephants in the river. The odd Wildebeest hanging around with the Impala and the flash of black and white stripes from the Zebras are still breaking up the clearings. We are anxiously awaiting all the new born Impalas!
With most of the migratory birds back in the area we still await the first Woodlands kingfisher to break the morning silence with its sharp distinct call. We had some amazing bird sightings this month with some of the old issues returning, like “Which big brown raptor is flying up there? Tawney,Wahlberg, Yellow billed Kite or Brown snake eagle?”
The Sand River has started to fill up, the bush is getting greener and thicker and the Dung Beetles are hard at work. We look forward to what November has in store for us at Leopard Hills and the Western Sector.
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Written and compiled by Hugo Breed and Johan de la Rey
Ranger’s Report August 2013
August has yet again been another astonishing month for sightings. It seems with the August winds comes an early Spring, as the heat is already upon us.
The Ximhungwe pride only spent about a week in the South. During that time they made two Zebra kills, one of which was close to the Hyena den site, and were soon chased off that kill by the clan. For the rest of the month they were seen high up in the north, hanging around in the riverbeds.
The Othawas, especially the cubs have been providing us with amazing sightings. All of them are doing extremely well. On one occasion a Selati Male even babysat the cubs while the Females went hunting. With the Females making quite a lot of kills, the cubs are getting some good experience with opening up of the carcasses. The cubs are getting bigger each day.
The four Selati brothers were seen all over the West this month. On one occasion they had killed a Buffalo close to the Sand River. They however did not spend too much time together. A couple of them were also seen mating with one of the Othawa Females.
The beautiful Dayone male, being dominant in the greater part of our traversing area, always gives us awesome sightings for the fact that he is almost always up and doing something. We had him hunting in front of the vehicle and also doing his normal territorial marking as he walks along the roads. He was also quite the ladies’ man over the last couple of weeks as we saw him mating first with Metsi then Hlaba Nkunzi and then the Dam3 Female.
Kashane spent most of his time in the East, and was only seen a couple of times in the West. He is bearing a scar on his face, which is probably from a fight with another Male Leopard.
The Tai Dam Male was seen a few times up North of the River. He is looking good and filling out nicely to become a big Male and definitely a huge force to be reckoned with for other Male Leopards in the North.
The Ravenscourt Youngster was seen a few times deep into the Western Sector. After losing his mother a few months ago he is coping on his own and in good condition. He had a bit of interaction with one of the Selati males, and was seen up in a tree one morning with the Selati Male still under the tree where he found refuge. In true fashion of his mother’s behaviour he is very relaxed, and let’s hope he finds a spot to establish a territory in our traversing area.
Nyeleti wasn’t seen spending too much time in the Western Sector this month.
The beautiful Thlangisa, one of Mambiri’s cubs, use to reside in the area around Camp, but after getting pressure from her sister Metsi and the Dam 3 Female, she pushed North of the River into an unclaimed area. This is unfortunately not the best area for us to always find her, but when we find this relaxed girl it is always a treat as she is living up to her name, that means “The Playful One”. She is also heavily pregnant at this stage, so in the near future we might see some small spotted creatures in the North.
The Dam 3 Female is one of our less relaxed Leopards in the area, but over the last couple of years she has relaxed enough so that we can get a decent glimpse of her, and this month we had a rare sight of her drinking water in a rock pool right next to the vehicle, giving us chance to even observe that she is lactating.
Metsi being her usual elusive self only showed herself to us a few times this month, one of the times being when she was mating with Dayone. We have had glimpses of her cub that is doing just fine, but sadly a bit shy due to the fact that she has not had too much exposure to our vehicles.
Hlaba Nkunzi gave us amazing viewing time of her and the cub as per usual, but she stunned us by leaving her Eleven month old cub alone for almost a week to mate with the Dayone. Fortunately she then returned to the cub that was patiently waiting on her mom’s return.
We are in the very fortunate position that for the last month, the Wild Dogs were almost seen on a daily basis due to the fact that this is the denning season for them, and they have chosen a safe den site in means of an old abandoned termite mound witch the Alpha Female chose and then excavated to be a fitting home for the puppies. We have up until now seen Seven pups out of the den. The Female can have between 1 and 15 pups in a litter.
We have had some amazing sightings of the Hyenas with great interaction between them, Lion and Leopard, showing us how good they are at manipulating a situation to benefit out of it by usually running away with a prized piece of meat. The den site is also still active and is giving us good viewing of the different aged cubs being bold enough to come and play right next to the vehicle.
The Young Male Cheetah came to visit for a day at the end of the month, and then headed back East.
As always the other animals have supplied us with as much entertainment as the rest.
Birding this month has also been good. We are looking forward to the return of all the migrant species.
And last but not least our video compilation for the month.
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With the trees starting to blossom and Spring rapidly approaching we look forward to new beginnings in the form of cubs, pups and even fawns.
Written and compiled by Johan de la Rey and Hugo Breed