Sightings from last night and this morning:

30 May PM
Kashane male leopard
Big buffalo herd
Impala
Hippo
Warthog
Waterbuck
Wildebeest

31 May AM
4 Selati male lions hunting buffalo
Big buffalo herd
Elephant bulls
Impala
Nyala
Kudu
Wildebeest
Waterbuck
Hippo
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Sightings from last night and this morning:

29 May PM
4 Selati male lions
Impala
Hippo
Nyala
Warthog

30 May AM
Kashane male leopard and Hlab'nkunzi female leopard interacting at an impala kill
Ximhungwe lions - 3 females and one female cub - the three male cubs are unaccounted for and there is a possibility that the pride had a run in with the Selati males overnight but nobody is sure
Big herd of elephants
Impala
Kudu
Waterbuck
Nyala
Warthog
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Update From The Rangers:

Another month has passed us by, and the winter chill is evident for the first hour or so of the morning drive. The cold does not affect the quality of sightings in any way  - here is a round up of what has been seen recently:

 

LIONS:

The Ximhungwe pride returned to our traversing area after an extended stay in the east. The pride is still doing a great job of avoiding the Selati male coalition and the four youngsters are doing well. The pride has been making regular small kills, such as impala, this is a good tactic to keep them on the move and under the radar of the new males.

Ximhungwe pride youngster (Photo: JF Poudron)

One female remained separated from the group and she was viewed with a small zebra kill, she was also being pursued by the Selati males for a couple of days but there was no sighting of her mating with them.

Lone Ximhungwe Lioness (Photo: Rob)

The Selati male coalition completed their takeover of the Othawa pride of lionesses quite early on in the month, it seems they ran into the pride soon after leaving the buffalo kill mentioned in the last rangers report. All three lionesses had evidently come into oestrus, confirming the loss of the cubs. One of the males found himself the centre of attention as two of the lionesses chose him to mate with!

Selati Male with two lovers (Photo: Rob)

There were obviously some disagreements between the males over the females and some new cuts and scratches were soon evident. After a few days the males left their newly acquired pride to pursue the calls of the lone Ximhungwe lioness, this proved a fruitless mission and they went off on their usual patrols across their new territory.

Selati Males bonding (Photo: Rob)

It was not long before they took down another huge buffalo bull, their third in 5 weeks, again along the banks of the Sand river.

Selati male on the buffalo kill (Photo: Rob)

After a couple of days the Othawa females joined their new pride males at the kill and soon there was a new round of mating.

Mating pair in the riverbed (Photo: Rob)

Again the males had some disagreements about the ladies and quite a few scratches and holes began to appear on their previously pretty faces.

New scars on the Selati males (Photos: Rob)

The mating again continued for a few days and we had a nice surprise as two of the mating pairs came through the lodge grounds one evening.

Battle scarred but still mating (Photo: Rob)

As long as the males seem satisfied with the Othawa pride, they may not pay too much attention to the Ximhungwe pride giving the youngsters there a chance to grow up.

LEOPARDS:

Maxabeni 3:3 young male (Photo: JF Poudron)

This month saw a new addition to the local leopard population in the form of the Maxabeni 3:3 young male leopard, who wandered into the southern portion of our traversing area. This male leopard is slightly younger than the Dewane male and is currently nomadic, searching for a territory to take over. With both the Kashane and Dewane males moving in the southern portion of our area it is unlikely that this new male will set up there, but the northern side of the river is a slightly different story, with a bit of luck he may end up in that area and set up a permanent base. Having grown up in the central Sabi sand he is a relaxed leopard and should provide us with great viewing if he does manage to find a territory here.

Kashane male (Photo: JF Poudron)

Kashane Male with impala kill (Photo: Rob)

The Kashane male has been viewed regularly, he has been eating well – at least four impala kills for the month. The most recent kill was close to the Idube bush camp. At one of his earlier kills, the Hlab’nkunzi female arrived in oestrus and his feeding was interrupted by the mating…

Kashane and Hlab’nkunzi (Photo: JF Poudron)

The Dewane male was also seen regularly, patrolling his territory and mating  - also with the Hlab’nkunzi female just a day before she joined Kashane. Dewane was also briefly seen in the company of the Metsi female but there was no mating, Metsi in fact is showing signs of being pregnant.

Dewane male marking territory (Photo: Rob)

Another mating pair of leopards was reported as being the Xindlevhana male and Xikavi female, I have recently been sceptical of reports of large shy males being Xindlevhana but a couple of days after that report of the mating pair it was possible to positively identify the big male leopard occupying the territory that used to belong to the Xinzele male. it was indeed Xindlevhana, looking extremely healthy and as huge as ever. Although he is shy in the daytime, he is usually relaxed at night and it is good to know that he is still around.

Xindlevhana male (Photo: Rob)

The Shangwa 3:3 young male leopard is now totally independent of his mother and has been seen often in the north. At two years old he is already a big leopard and he may have a lot of success up in the northern area of our traverse. His mother is not seen as regularly now and it seems she has moved back towards her core territory in Othawa.

The Hlab’nkunzi female, as already mentioned has been mating again, she has been spending time around the lodge as well, perhaps when she does conceive the area around idube will be where she chooses to den again.

Metsi does seem to be pregnant and she is spending more and more time in the area she started to raise her last litter, this means that the Tlangisa female is being pushed further north. In fact Tlangisa was recently seen on the northern boundary!

The Tassleberry female was seen frequently in the south, she and the Maxabeni young male did have a brief interaction too.

Tassleberry female (Photo: Rob)

The Xikavi female has moved back to her regular haunts along the banks of the Sand river, as usual she is most often seen in some thick bush, but as she was mating with Xindlevhana there were some good sightings of her.

OTHER PREDATORS:

The pack of African wild dogs/Painted hunting dogs has only been into the west briefly, but they still seem to be doing well, hopefully they will soon be heading to check out den sites here in the area.

Hyena are starting to become a more common sighting again, they were encountered often on the roads at night and also feeding on the remains of the buffalo kill in the river.

Genet, civet and a variety of mongoose species have been seen regularly but no sightings of serval or caracal.

LARGE HERBIVORES:

The big herd of buffalo has been in and out of the area, mostly towards the southern sections. There were reports of the two remaining Mapogo male lions following the herd in the east but they never made it this far west. Buffalo bulls are still a common sighting along the river, despite being a target for the Selati male lions. There are numerous lone bulls scattered across the reserve as well.

Elephant herds were frequently encountered, often close to the lodge. One of the smaller herds was seen moving past the lodge on the way to drink at Schotia dam, they proceeded to disturb the two pairs of mating lions that were resting there, scattering them in all different directions.

Giraffe and hippo were also seen regularly. One morning whilst tracking leopard we encountered two male hippo having a territorial fight along the banks of the river.

GENERAL GAME:

Many other species were seen on an almost daily basis – Kudu, nyala, bushbuck, duiker, steenbok, waterbuck, wildebeest, zebra, impala and even the occasional reedbuck.

Update from the lodge:

Lodge maintenance was brought to a standstill this afternoon as we ran into two of the Selati male lions and two Othawa lionesses close to where we were about to fix some wires. There was an aborted mating attempt by one pair that turned into a brawl between the two males. A herd of elephants came to join the fun and scattered the lions in the general direction of the staff rooms. For the last hour or so we have been watching the four big cats prowl around the buildings. One of the males was roaring too. They now seem to have moved off but the elephants are still trumpeting close by!
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Update from the lodge:

Lodge maintenance was brought to a standstill this afternoon as we ran into two of the Selati male lions and two Othawa lionesses close to where we were about to fix some wires. There was an aborted mating attempt by one pair that turned into a brawl between the two males. A herd of elephants came to join the fun and scattered the lions in the general direction of the staff rooms. For the last hour or so we have been watching the four big cats prowl around the buildings. One of the males was roaring too. They now seem to have moved off but the elephants are still trumpeting close by!
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Sightings from last night and this morning:

22 May PM
Mating pair of lions (Selati and Othawa)
Buffalo bulls
Elephant bull
Hippo
Impala
Wildebeest
Waterbuck
Giraffe
Kudu

23 May AM
3 Selati Male lions and 2 Othawa lionesses, mating
Elephant herd
Hyena on the old buffalo carcass
Buffalo bull
Impala
Waterbuck

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Sightings from last night and this morning:

21 May PM
Kashane male leopard with an impala kill
Elephant herd
Kudu
Nyala
Bushbuck
Duiker
Wildebeest
Hippo
Impala

22 May AM
2 separate mating pairs of lion (Selati males/Othawa females) - the two joined up as we were having drinks and we could hear that the males had a big fight. Rejoining the sighting a third male arrived and the two original males retired, scratched and bloody, to the females. It was then noticed that the males had swapped lionesses. The third male left the area roaring.
Impala
Bushbuck
Giraffe
Hippo fighting along the banks of the river
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Sightings from last night and this morning:

20 May PM
Kashane male leopard
Maxabeni 3:3 young male leopard
Selati male lions and Othawa lionesses at the buffalo kill (2 mating pairs - both the younger males)
Elephant bull
Buffalo bulls
Hippo
Impala
Wildebeest
Waterbuck
Duiker
White-tailed mongoose
Crocodile

21 May AM
Dewane male leopard
Kashane male leopard
Ximhungwe lioness with a baby zebra kill
Elephant bull
Buffalo bulls
Giraffe
Kudu
Impala
Wildebeest
Nyala
Waterbuck
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Sightings from last night and this morning:

19 May PM
Xikavi female leopard
Selati male lions at the buffalo kill
Hyena
Hippo
Buffalo bulls
Elephant herd
Impala
Waterbuck
Wildebeest
Nyala
Warthog

20 May AM
Selati male lions and 3 Othawa lionesses (1 mating pair) at the buffalo kill
Elephant herd
Elephant bulls
Bushbuck
Kudu
Hippo
Impala
Waterbuck
Zebra
Trumpeter hornbills
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Sightings from last night and this morning:

18 May PM
Kashane Male and Hlab'nkunzi female leopards, mating, impala kill still in the tree
Selati male lions on the buffalo kill
Buffalo
Hippo
Elephant
Impala
Waterbuck
Kudu
Scrub-hare

19 May AM
Elephants
Giraffe
Impala
Waterbuck
Zebra
Wildebeest
Hippo
Warthog
Nyala
Baboon
Secretary bird
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Sightings from last night and this morning:

17 May PM
Xindlevhana male leopard (first confirmed I'd for this male in months)
Ximhungwe pride of lions
Elephants
Buffalo bulls
Giraffe
Hippo in and out of water
Kudu
Nyala
Impala
Bushbuck
Wildebeest
Duiker

18 May AM
Kashane male leopard with an impala kill
Four Selati male lions with a buffalo kill
Giraffe
Impala
Waterbuck

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Sightings from last night and this morning:

16 May PM
4 Selati male lions
Buffalo
Zebra
Wildebeest
Impala
Bushbuck
Hippo
Scrub- hare

17 May AM
Tassleberry female leopard, roaring
Shangwa 3:3 young male leopard
Elephants
Impala
Waterbuck
Nyala
Baboons
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Sightings from last night and this morning:

15 May PM
4 Selati male lions
Zebra
Elephant
Kudu
Impala
Tassleberry female leopard roaring, seen from a distance from the lion sighting

16 May AM
Kashane male leopard close to the lodge
Xikavi female leopard
Impala chasing Kashane across the clearing
Warthogs fighting
Hippo
Elephant
Kudu
Nyala
Zebra
Waterbuck
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Sightings from last night and this morning:

14 May PM
Hlab'nkunzi female and Dewane male leopards, mating
Elephants
Giraffe
Hippo
Impala
Kudu
Nyala
Waterbuck
Baboon

15 May AM
Tassleberry female and Maxabeni 3:3 young male leopard together.
Elephants
Buffalo
Zebra
Impala
Baboon
Kudu
Warthog
Nyala
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Sightings from last night and this morning:

13 May PM
Dewane male leopard
Hlab'nkunzi female leopard
3 Othawa lionesses
Impala
Warthog
Nyala
Duiker
Scrub-hare

14 May AM
Maxabeni 3:3 young male leopard (son of Maxabeni 2:2 female from Londolozi area)
3 Othawa lionesses walking in front of the lodge
Hippo
Kudu
Impala
Baboon
Warthog
Nyala
Vervet monkey
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Sightings from last night and this morning:

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12 May PM
Dewane male leopard
Tlangisa female leopard
Buffalo bulls
Hippo out of the water
Nyala
Kudu
Wildebeest
Waterbuck
Impala

13 May AM
Dewane male leopard, sleeping
Four Selati male lions following the lone Ximhungwe lioness
3 Othawa lionesses
Hippo
Crocodile
Giraffe
Kudu
Impala
Zebra


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Sightings from last night and this morning:

11 May PM
Kashane male leopard with the last scraps of his impala kill
Big herd of buffalo
Elephant herd
Impala
Duiker
Side-striped jackal
Scrub-hare
Chameleon

12 May AM
Ximhungwe pride of lions (3 females + 4 cubs) (Fourth female is still alone)
Elephant bull
Elephant herd
Buffalo bull
Big buffalo herd walking in the distance during coffee break
Wildebeest
Zebra
Giraffe
Impala
Waterbuck
Warthog
Nyala
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Sightings from last night and this morning:

10 May PM
Tassleberry female leopard with a full stomach
Kashane male leopard, still with his impala kill
Hyena hanging around Kashane's kill
Big buffalo herd
Impala
Waterbuck
Hippo out of the water feeding
Zebra
Slender mongoose
Steenbok
Dwarf mongoose
Genet
Scrub hare

11 May AM
2 Selati male lions and one Othawa lioness, long distance view across the river, another pair were in the bush mating out of sight. There was a sighting of another mating pair too.
Buffalo bulls
Giraffe
Impala
Waterbuck
Nyala
Duiker
Dwarf mongoose

Sightings from this morning (no PM drive yesterday)

Kashane male leopard sleeping on the ground with an impala kill in a nearby tree.
Dewane male leopard scent marking.
Three Selati male lions and three Othawa lionesses- one male mating with two of the lionesses, one lioness lying 50m away and two males lying a further 200m away. The fourth male could be heard roaring a couple of km further west.
Elephant bulls
Hippo
Waterbuck
Duiker
Impala
Crocodile

Sightings From Last night and This Morning:

8th May PM

Buffalo

Kudu

Waterbuck

Nyala

Warthog

Impala

Vervet Monkey

 

9th May AM

Dewane male leopard

Hlab’nkunzi female leopard walking through the lodge

Buffalo Bulls

Large Elephant herd

Kudu

Waterbuck

Impala

Nyala

Rangers Update

Apologies for the lack of sightings reports over the last few days, to make up for it here is a full update from the rangers:

 

LIONS:

The lion population is still settling down after the takeover of the Mapogo territory by the four young Selati male lions.

Selati Male (Photo: Promise)

The four new males seem settled and are regularly seen patrolling their new territory. Their pride takeovers seem to be progressing rather slowly although they have been mating with one of the Othawa pride lionesses as well as the Ximhungwe lioness without cubs. They have been eating well and most recently were feeding on a huge buffalo bull in the Sand river.

Picking up the scent of an Othawa lioness (Photo:Promise)

Stretching the jaw muscles (Photo: Promise)

Finishing the buffalo kill (Photo: Promise)

Close up (Photo: Promise)

The other three Ximhungwe lionesses and the youngsters have been successfully avoiding the new coalition but this has meant that our sightings of the pride have been few. From what we have heard from our neighbours, they are all doing well. The fact that the Selati males have been quiet whilst on their buffalo kill may mean that the pride will return west in the next couple of days.

The Othawa pride has been seen, all three females are still doing well, but the cubs have not been spotted recently. If the cubs are no longer with us then the pride will soon be completely taken over by the Selati males which may mean they will spend more time in our sector and hopefully produce new cubs in the coming months.

There has been very little news on the remaining members of the ousted Mapogo male lions but the latest reports suggest they may be in the far southern sector of the Sabi Sand Reserve.

LEOPARDS:

The leopard population has been very busy providing regular sightings of most of the relaxed individuals and a few of some of the less well known leopards have been spotted a few times too.

The young son of the Shangwa female seems to finally be independent, but not before being seen on a kill with his mother and his older sister the blue eyed female. All three leopards were seen around an impala kill for a couple of days, the blue eyed female was fairly relaxed seeing as she is seldom seen these days. It was after that that Shangwa went far west and made another Impala kill. She fetched the young male and apparently left him alone in the area, far from his usual haunts. Since then the two have not been seen together. At 2 years old the youngster is perfectly capable of looking after himself and as he is big for his age he should do well.

Shangwa 3:3 Young Male (Photo: Rob)

The Tlangisa female, as always, was seen regularly in the western parts of the reserve, at 3 years old she should be fairly settled now and will soon be looking to mate with one of the dominant males – both of whom have been mating again this month!

Dewane Male (Photo: Promise)

The Hlab’nkunzi female is  finally having some success with the males and has now mated with both the Dewane male and the Kashane male. In fact it seems that she now has the two fighting over her! Nobody saw a fight but she was mating with Kashane one evening close to the lodge. The next morning tracks for the Dewane male were heading into the same area and Kashane was found limping quite heavily later that drive. We are guessing that Dewane heard the mating pair and headed into the area and some skirmish ensued. Kashane should recover fully.

Dewane Male (Photo: Rob)

Dewane was also seen with the Dam 3 female again, we really only see her well when she is with a male, the rest of the time she is very shy.

The Metsi female has been seen quite regularly, having mated with Dewane previously she is now looking like she may be pregnant. Both Metsi and Dewane were seen together with a kill at one point.

Sightings Highlights (from Rob)

Also seen sharing a kill were Kashane and the Xikavi female, who were taking turns to feed and to mate!

Kashane Male (Photo: Rob)

The Tassleberry female was seen frequently in the south eastern parts of our traversing area and is becoming more relaxed each time we see her.

Above and Below:  Tassleberry Female (Photos: Rudi)

More Sightings Highlights (from Rob)

OTHER PREDATORS:

The African Wild Dog Pack Has also been in and out of our area, and have been taking full advantage of the impala breeding season to take down a number of distracted male impala. They have also been seen mating and we are hoping that they will head to last years den site when the time is right. With the upheaval in the lion population the pack should be even more successful raising pups this time.

As the grass starts to die back we have been seeing more of the smaller predators – Serval are sometimes spotted towards the end of the afternoon drives as well as white-tailed mongoose, civet and side-striped jackal. One evening there was a fascinating sighting of a young jackal catching flying termites as they emerged from the mound whilst bats and nightjars circled overhead catching those termites that managed to take off before the jackal managed to get to them.

Other species of mongoose especially Banded and dwarf were seen regularly too, as well as some sightings of genet at night.

HERBIVORES:

Lonnet and Elephant (Photo: promise)

Elephants have been seen in large numbers, herds and bulls. There are still many herds with tiny calves wobbling around. One of the larger herds is the herd that has one big female who likes to chase cars, when she starts the whole herd follows. This does make the drive more exciting and serves as a good example that all of our animals are wild and need to be treated with respect.

Little One (Photo: Promise)

The buffalo herd has been in and out of the traversing area, hopefully some of the older bulls will break off from the big herd to replace the ones in the bachelor herds that have been targeted by the Selati male lions! As the small groups are being split up by the hunting efforts of the male lions we often run into lone bulls in all areas of the reserve now.

The zebra population seems to still be stable and sightings are not hard to come by, as winter gets into full swing the cut clearings should be a popular place for them.

Giraffe are all over the reserve and we often have sightings of nice herds moving through the area. Many of the females seem to have been in oestrus and have had a large following of male suitors surrounding them. The giraffe do not have a set breeding season so the males are trying to make the most of opportunities presented to them. They will fight between one another for the right to mate, using their head and neck as a weapon.

As the water levels in the smaller dams is starting to drop, the hippos are starting to congregate in the larger dams and river pools again, this provides a perfect backdrop for our mid-drive drinks breaks.

The impala breeding season is at its peak now and during the recent “Super moon” the vocalisations of the territorial males were heard throughout the night. There is so much competition between the males that some males may only hold a territory for a few hours!

Big male warthog in the lodge (Photo: Promise)

It is also breeding season for the warthogs an their whole ritual is a daily occurrence on the lodge lawns. There are some huge males around the family groups and fighting between them is common. One of the larger males broke half a tusk whilst fighting over one of the females in front of the reception building!

Warthog on the lawn (Photo: Rudi)

Other regularly seen herbivores include: Waterbuck, kudu, nyala, bushbuck, reedbuck, duiker, steenbok and the scrub-hare.

REPTILES:

Water/Nile Monitor (Photo: Promise)

Regular sightings of crocodile and water monitors have been accompanied by some snake sightings: Black mamba, puff-adder, boomslang, red-lipped herald, brown house snake and a yellow bellied sand snake. There have also been plenty of sightings of flap-necked chameleon as well as the plated rock lizards and skinks resident in the lodge.

BIRDS:

There area always many bird species seen each drive but notable sightings have included: A dark chanting goshawk eating a snake, secretary bird, ground hornbills, gymnogene (African harrier hawk) hunting in a dead tree, martial eagle and regular sightings of saddle-billed storks.