Leopard

May was definitely a very spotty month. We saw ten different individuals on a regular basis. We almost did not have one day without more than one leopard sighting.  

Tiyani, the female, finally mated for the first time with Hukumuri. A young female will usually mate with a male for a number of times over a few month, before she conceives. Tiyani is now three years old, meaning that she is now sexually matured and will hopefully have her own cubs within the next six months to a year. We are hoping that she will be more successful in raising cubs than her late mother, Salayexe.

I am proud to announce that we have a pregnant female amongst us. Xidulu is showing definite signs of pregnancy, with her growing belly and swollen milk glands. She also mated with Hukumuri, who will be a first-time father. Xidulu is now almost four years old and having her first cubs. If she carries her mother’s instincts, she will definitely raise plenty of cubs during the next few years to come. Due to the pregnancy, Xidulu is scent marking all over her territory. Once the cubs are here, she will not have as much time to get around, while caring for them.

We saw Moya, the female, only a few times this month. We usually see her quite often, while patrolling her northern boundaries. This month, she was a bit shy and we only saw her about two or three times while scent marking. She is now expanding her territory more to the north and east. After she mated with Anderson a month ago we can not confirm if she did conceive, as it would still be early days. Hopefully the next couple of weeks will bring good news.

After months of debating, Moya’s daughter has been named. This young female spends most of her time outside of our traversing area to the south. It was the privilege of the guides in the south to decide on a name. We found it easy to adopt to their decision to name her Makhomsava, meaning “mother earth”. She was seen scent marking around an area within her mother’s territory. I hope this does not lead to more bad vibes amongst them, while they decide who will stay and who will go. Moya’s current territory is just not big enough for both of them.

Tiyani’s older sister, Nsele, was also seen once or twice this month. She is still expanding her territory more to the east and north. The older she gets, the more she gets challenged by her younger sister. It will not be long before Tiyani starts to take over parts of her territory. Nsele is in very good condition for a nine-year-old and definitely has a lot of fight left in her.

Ingrid’s Dam female was also seen a fair bit this month. She and her cub are in really good condition and very healthy. She was also seen mating with an unknown male close to our lodge the one day. While she was mating with the good looking unknown male, she crossed over Nsele’s territory into Tiyani’s territory. This is a sign that it is almost time for the young daughter to move on. We also noticed that mum is a lot more annoyed with her daughter lately.

Sibuye, the female was also seen a few times this month. She is such an awesome mother and her two little cubs are growing up very fast. They are so relaxed with the vehicles around them. It is such a bonus if mum is relaxed with vehicles. One will find that the mother leopard plays a very important roll in the habituation of cubs. The cubs will always look at mother’s behaviour and then do the same.

Hosana, the young male is all over the show. We saw him the one afternoon on our southern boundary. The area where he was in was very far to the south/west from his normal area. We eventually left him as he crossed south over our boundary. It was not long before we saw him again close too Elephant Plains’ western boundary. This is good that he moves around and explores a little bit.

Hukumuri, the new dominant male leopard was seen a lot this month. Hukumuri is still expanding his territory more south into Anderson’s territory. He got one huge shock the one day while going south, scent marking in Anderson’s area. While Hukumuri was moving south, Anderson was moving north on the same road. The minute Hukumuri saw Anderson coming towards him, he turned around in his tracks and went back north. This showed me that he is still not confident enough to take on Anderson.

Anderson, the male, was also seen a few times this month. At the age of almost ten years, he is still looking good. One thing we noticed is that he’s age is starting to show. If he is lucky, he will be able to hold on to his territory for another 2 years maximum.

Lion

The lion dynamics are slowly but surely changing again. Change is not always a bad thing, but not while there are small cubs around…

The Nkuhuma pride was seen on a regular basis this month. They spent almost 90% of their time around our lodge and Elephant Plains property. We are so exited with the pregnant female who gave birth this month. It is unclear how many cubs she has, as she chose a very dense area for a den site.

We did not see the Styx pride a lot this month. They spent a lot of their time in the southern part of their territory. The youngsters are getting bigger and growing up fast. This pride had a lot of ups and downs in the last few years. I must say that it is really looking good for the Styx pride at the moment. All the members are looking very healthy.

The young Mhangeni sub-adults also made an appearance this month. They had a massive standoff with the Nkuhuma pride the one evening. The Nkuhuma pride killed an impala male and all the noise attracted the young Mhangeni sub-adult lions, who were not very far from the area. The very hungry Mhangeni’s came charging in and did not hesitate for one second. There was not a lot of food left for the nine hungry lions. They did not stay in our area for very long as they returned to the southwestern part of the reserve the following day.

We were very surprised to see the three young Tsalala males again this month. Like I mentioned earlier, the lion dynamics are changing. The Birmingham males are currently establishing a new territory down in the southern part of the reserve. This is forcing the other males of that area in different directions. The three Tsalala males were scent marking and calling the one evening, with no response from the Birmingham males. It really looks like these three boys are testing the waters. At this stage, only time will tell if they have what it takes to take over this area.

Buffalo

There were no big breeding herds this month, which is a bit strange, as we normally have big herds moving around this time of the year. These bulk grazers need a lot of food, as there are a lot of mouths to feed. Fortunately, we had a lot of late rains during May. This rain gave the grass much needed help to take us through the winter. We still had some wonderful sightings of the old dagga boys and the dominant males that recently left the herds.

Elephant

The elephant sightings were really spectacular. We saw at least two different herds per drive. There were also a few smaller herds in the area, of about ten to twenty animals. Overall, we were very fortunate with the big herds of about forty to sixty animals and sometimes even more. We were also joined by herds coming to drink water on our open area in front of the lodge almost every morning during breakfast, or in the afternoon during lunch. After they quenched their thirst they, moved down towards the dry riverbed to feed on the wild date palms. We also saw a few herds with tiny little babies of only a few weeks to a few months old. This is a very good sign, as it shows that the elephant herds are very healthy and that conditions are in their favor. These little babies made it so memorable for us as they were trying to be so big and fearless like mom or dad. We did not see a lot of really big bull elephants this month. One bull in particular followed a herd around the one afternoon. With his approach into the herd, the females were really stressed out and very vocal. When a big male gets the scent of a female in estrus, he will pursue the female to mate with her and that makes the rest of the females and the babies very unhappy.

Special sighting

Our resident pangolin, Benji, surprised us with his presence again this month. These illusive mammals have such secretive lives and when you see them out foraging, you realize how special and unique they are.

Did you know?

The scales of a pangolin are modified hair, which is keratin.

See you out on the game drive soon.
Morné Fouché

This month was very exciting, with incredible game viewing opportunities. The average maximum temperature for the month was 32°C, with a wonderful 86mm of rain. We had several wild dog sightings again this month. With our resident hyena clan, we are always guaranteed that there will be a standoff between the hyenas and wild dogs. Our resident hyenas also doing very well and they are still very strong. The den is always very active and we saw another heavily pregnant female hanging around the den. Hopefully with my next newsletter, we might have a new hyena baby or two.

Leopard

The leopard sightings this month were just unbelievable and we could not ask for more. There are big changes happening at the moment and some of these changes affect several leopard individuals.

There is a young female named Sibuye, who stole the lime light this month. She is moving more and more north from our southern boundary. This young female has two very small cubs and decided to make their den in our traversing area. She is a wonderful little cat and very relaxed with the vehicles. At this stage we only allow one vehicle at a time, when mum is at the den. If mum is not there the den is closed. The little cubs are still very weary of the vehicles, but that is understandable, because it is the first time they see vehicles. If all goes well they will be totally comfortable with the vehicles in a few months. All the more reason why we follow such strict habituation protocols!

Thandi was also in our area this month. She finally brought the little one into our area and we saw her cub for the first time. Thandi is moving the little one all over the area now, which is good for us. The core of Thandi’s territory is to the north and out of our traversing, so sometimes it happens that we do not see them for a few days.

Tiyani, the young female, was all over the show, as always. Tiyani is growing in confidence every day and her territorial calls are getting louder. She is scent marking all over the central and western parts of her late mother’s territory. Tiyani must be careful to not get too confident. She had two big stand offs with Xidulu and her big sister, Nsele. It will be interesting to see what the future will hold for this young, adventurous cat.

Xidulu was also seen a few times this month. This young female is a beautiful cat and very healthy. She has turned into a fascinating female, confidently expanding her territory. She is still going further east and also more north, deeper into Shadow’s territory. If she continues to expand more east, she will move into Thandi’s territory. Both Thandi and Shadow will have a hard time getting this young, determent female out of their territories.

The Ingrid’s Dam female was also seen this month. It is good to see that she is still doing her rounds in the area. The core of her territory is in the western part of the reserve. It is possible that she is expanding more northeast, due to her fast-growing daughter. Whatever the reason might be, it is still great to have another female in the area.

Nsele was also seen a lot this month while moving around and scent marking her territory. Nsele had a big standoff with her sister, Tiyani, on the eastern boundary of her territory. At this stage Nsele is not ready to give up any of her territory to her sister. Nsele went easy on Tiyani, maybe because Nsele has new cubs and cannot risk any injuries.

Thamba was seen a few times this month. He is still doing really well and has become an awesome hunter. The only problem for him now is that he still moves around in the very strong Hukumuri’s territory. He had a very close encounter with Hukumuri the one evening. I will not be surprised if he moves more north, out of the Sabi Sand Wildtuin.

Hosana was also seen a few times this month. This little guy is doing really well for himself and he looks really good. He might have to leave sooner than he thinks, as the Hukumuri male is expanding more east. Time will tell when this beautiful male would have to move on.

Tingana was also seen a few times this month. He was not looking so great and his age is starting to show. I must say that things are not looking good for him, as Hukumuri has already started to scent mark over his scent. At this stage it is not just Tingana’s future hanging in the balance, but also both Thandi, Shadow and their cubs. There are definitely some interesting times waiting for us in the next few months.

Hukumuri was also seen a few times this month, but nothing like previous months. As mentioned before, he is spending a lot of his time looking for Tingana, Thandi and her cub, or Shadow and her cub. It looks like he realized that Anderson in the south is too strong for him and he moved more east.

Anderson was seen a few times and he is expanding more north. This puts pressure on Hukumuri and the only way to go is east. Anderson is still looking great and he is still a force to be reckoned with. This is good, as the majority of his ladies have new cubs who needs protection.

Lion

We had some awesome lion sightings this month. I would go as far as to say we were spoiled by the lions.

We were very fortunate to see three members of the Tsalala pride. The 16-year-old tailless female is looking great and she is still very healthy. Her son is also in very good condition and growing up very fast. The other young female is also in tip top shape. I am very happy to see that they are all looking good. The only thing they need now is a male in the pride that can protect them, but that option does not look too good at this stage…

The Nkuhuma pride is looking great and it looks like they are expanding, or maybe just exploring, more into the western part of the reserve. It is not that unusual for a pride to move over their boundary, if they realize that there are no other prides close to them. It is really good to see that the pride moves around a lot, looking for food and soon they will see that there is a lot of old buffalo bulls in the area. Overall things are really looking good for this pride and if all goes well, there will be a few more females in the pride as the sub adults are getting bigger. Luckily for us, they still have another few years before they will come into estrus and by then, there might be new males in the area for them to mate with.

The Styx pride was also out and about this month. With all the misfortune this pride had to endure the last few years, it finally looks like there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel. The cubs are looking very healthy and are always well fed. The three ladies are also looking awesome and in good condition. The Styx pride is also moving more and more west, but this might be due to the males with them. The Birmingham males are moving more west and southwest and the Styx pride is just following. This forced them to go more into the Tsalala prides territory. At this stage the Tsalala pride is no match for the younger and stronger Styx pride. More interesting times are awaiting us in the next few months…

Buffalo

The buffalo sightings were really good this month. We were spoiled rotten when two big herds and a very small herd moved into our area. The smaller herd of the two big herds stayed in our area for a few days feeding away on the lush green grass in the area. This herd, with about 300 individuals, did not move very far in a day, as there was enough food and water in the area. The big breeding herd with about 700 individuals did not stay very long before moving on again. It was an awesome experience to see this big breeding herd moving along a small open area towards the water. To see a group like this is such a treat, as we do not often see a breeding herd this big. One noticeable thing was that both the big breeding herds had several newborn babies with the herd. This is very positive as the previous drought affected them very badly. There was also a wonderful bachelor group of males that moved into the area. These bachelors were staying around some of the bigger waterholes, as there was enough food around the waterholes for them.

Elephant

Marula season is now in full swing and the elephants are making the most of this opportunity. We were so lucky with all the elephants moving through the area. It is awesome to see the herd move from marula tree to marula tree, in search of these wonderful fruit. Competition can get real between these heavyweights and at times the younger elephants will run ahead to get to the next tree before the adults. Once the adults get to the marula tree and there is no fruit left, they will shake the tree and more of the fruit will fall down. With their trunks, they will then sniff the fruits out in the tall grass. They will also use the trunk to pick these tiny fruits up from the ground and put it into their mouths. This tiny marula fruit is very high in vitamin C. It is really funny to see how the baby elephants are trying to use their trunks to get the fruits. This month was also like a baby boom, as we had several newborn babies in the herds. It is such a treat to see all the babies and how protective their older siblings are over them. These little ones will not go for 10 minutes, without one of the herd members touching them. The little babies need this insurance- that everything is all right. We also had a few big males in the area, following the scent of the female units.

Special sighting

It was such a treat to see the tiny cubs of Sibuye, the female leopard. It is always very special to see new cubs and it is a big bonus if they are already relatively relaxed with us around them.

Did you know?

A mother leopard may move her cubs to a new den as often as every two days, to avoid detection by other predators.

See you out on the game drive soon.
Morné Fouché

Leopard

This month was excellent for leopard viewing. The number and quality of sightings that we had, was just crazy. This area is renowned for its leopard sightings and this month we were not disappointed. Tiyani, the young female was seen almost every day of the month. She is looking great and growing a lot in confidence. I watched her stalking a hyena one day. She almost pounced on the hyena! The poor hyena got such a fright when Tiyani came flying through the air. Xidulu, the young female, was seen a few times this month, moving all over her new territory. At this point it looks like she wants to expand more east. She pushed Shadow more east and took over the western part of Shadows territory. She was also seen mating with the Hukumuri male again. Hopefully the mating was successful and she conceived this time round. Moya, was also seen a few times this month.

Good news is that my feeling was correct in December. Moya has suckle marks, which is a definite sign off small cubs! This beautiful female is still in good shape and excellent condition. I can’t wait to see the new cubs as soon as she starts moving them. Thandi was also seen once or twice this month. Still no sign of her cub, but we have faith that she will move her sooner or later. Thandi is still looking great, but unfortunately, she is getting older. She is almost 11 years old and at this age she might start to lose some of her territory to younger females like her daughter, Kuchava. Shadow was also seen a few times this month, moving all over the show. Shadow lost a small section of her territory on the western border to the younger and bigger Xidulu female. Shadow’s daughter is looking great and spending a lot of her time alone. The future of this little cub is looking great and she is almost independent. Nsele was also seen a few times this month. Excellent news for us is that she had suckle marks when she was last seen. We know the den is just out of our traversing area, as we have followed her tracks crossing the boundary. Luckily, we know it will not be too long before she brings the babies over to our side.

Nsele’s daughter from her previous litter is also moving around our lodge. She and Tiyani already ran into each other twice this month. The Ingrid Dam female was also seen this month. She is still scent marking in the area, but Tiyani is like a nasty thorn in her flesh, as she is scent marking over her scent the whole time. So far, she is not really worried at all, as she does not go and look for Tiyani. It will be a matter of time before their paths will cross, though. Thamba, the young male, is moving all over his father’s territory. This young male is moving around a lot more than the other young males normally do. He is an excellent hunter and he eats well. This youngster is looking really healthy. Unfortunately for us, he will have to leave his birth place at some time in search of his own territory. Hosana is still moving around in his father’s territory and has no intension of leaving. This young male is growing up really fast and he is looking very healthy. Hosana is a really beautiful male and it will be sad to see him leave. Mvula was also seen a few times this month. At this stage, his age is really counting against him. This once very impressive territorial male, is now totally nomadic. It is sad to see yet another legend fading away, but I guess that is the way of life.

Tingana was also seen a few times, but not as much as we are used to. He is looking good, but his age is also taking a number on him. So far it looks like he still has some fight left in him to defend his territory against rival males. Anderson was also seen a lot this month. I think he finally realized that Hukumuri is moving into his territory. It is great to see him patrolling and doing his deep territorial call again. Anderson is almost 10 years old, which means that he will now also start losing some of his territory. One thing that counts in his favour is his size. It is crucial for him to hold on to his territory for another two years at least, as two of his ladies has new babies at the moment. Hukumuri was just all over the show. He has grown a lot in confidence while scent marking and doing his territorial call. One thing he is still afraid off is Anderson, and for good reason. He was pushed more north east by the old brut, Anderson. The positive aspect of this move, though, is that he appears to like this area and he is going to make it his new home.

Lion

The lion sightings were just awesome and we had such great sightings again this month. The Styx pride was seen a lot this month and they had full bellies almost every time we saw them. The three big females are doing a really good job with the youngsters. One thing we noticed is that when they go hunting, they will leave the four small cubs behind and take the six older cubs along on the journey. The six older cubs are not ready to help with the hunts, but at least they are starting to learn. I can not wait for the day that the young females will join the hunts in order to feed their own cubs. If all goes well, the Styx pride will be one formidable force to take on.

The Nkuhuma pride was also moving through our area the last month. Things are looking better and they are also eating very well. Like the Styx pride, all the members are fit and healthy. The sub adults in the pride are now undergoing hunting lessons. Hunting is an art, a skill passed on from generation to generation. Every lion pride in Africa is specializing in a certain animal when it comes to hunting. For the Nkuhuma pride, buffalo is their preferred meal. The two Ximungwe females came in for a quick visit this month. These two young females are really looking good and I do hope that we can see more of them in the near future. With the future of the Tsalala pride looking very shaky, it might open a door of opportunity for the two Ximungwe females. As we know all too well, nature works in mysterious ways. The Birmingham males spent a lot of their time out of our traversing with the Kambula females. Overall, the Birmingham males are looking great and very healthy. Still the one concerning factor is that they tend to split up for days at a time before they reunite. Maybe they feel confident enough and know that there are no other males in the area to challenge them.

Buffalo

There is still no sign of the big breeding herds in the area. There was a small splinter group, who moved around in our area. This group consisted of several females accompanied by a few dominant males. This group was only about fourteen individuals with no babies. They unfortunately did not hang around for very long before moving off again. The bachelor groups are still moving all over the area and they were spending a lot of their time close to the water. These males have bulked up a lot comparing to the bulls in the small breeding herd. These bachelors will soon leave the safety of the brotherhood and return to the herds to fight for the females again. We have not seen a lot of the old dagga boys this month, but their tracks still indicate that they are in the area. There is an abundance of new mud wallows after the amount of rain that we had. This can also be why we do not see them very often.

Elephant

It was a real treat to see all the different breeding herds of elephants in the area. There was really no shortage of elephants, as we saw five to six different herds on a drive. We saw several new baby elephants who were born during the month. It was a spectacular sight to see, as the herd comes moving through, with the babies safely tucked away in the middle of the herd. These herds do not move very far in a day and they rest quite a lot, because of the new-born babies who need to take more regular breaks. There were a few of the herds who moved around in the area, who had up to fifty members. This was definitely an elephant month!

Special sighting

We saw several baby elephants this month, but it was very special to see one specific baby, trying to take his first little baby steps. This baby was only about a day or two old at most. It was so difficult for this little youngster to stand up and the uneven roads made walking somewhat of a challenge. He tried with all his might, but gravity was just too great. He came down face first a few times, but that did not stop him from trying even harder. With each attempt his little legs became stronger, until he finally got the hang of it and followed mum into the bush. This was an awesome sighting and I am glad we were part of this.

Did you know?

An elephant herd is considered one of the most closely-knit societies of any animal. Then only time a female will leave a herd, is when she dies.

See you out on the game drive soon.

Morné Fouché