As the winter firms up its icy grip on the African bushveld, grasses start to dry out, waterholes dry up due to the lack of the life giving rain, however, mother nature is all about contradictions. With the lack of rain, the herbivores are attracted to good grazing which invariably is close to a water source. This enables predators to concentrate their hunting efforts in these productive areas. The area that provides life, also is the area that takes life but also allows life to flourish.

We start this week with the new found independence of the cub of the Lisbon female. This young male has been seen regularly away from his mother. It’s hard to say whether he has been chased off by his mother or is just becoming an adventurous, curious cat. Either way, it is exciting times for this young leopard.

A younger female leopard, Little Bush’s cub, is also doing very well due to her mother’s constant commitment to hunting. This leopard is often moving throughout her territory and no matter what time of day or night, Little Bush is ever the opportunist, epitomising her species.

Little Bush cub’s father, Maxabeni, has been seen throughout his territory constantly on the move scent marking and reinforcing his territorial boundaries. This action ensures the safety of the young female cub with her father’s scent keeping out invading males looking for a new territory or to enlarge an existing one.

The elephants who traverse huge areas have been making their way around the reserve, revisiting the waterholes the matriarch of the herd has remembered for decades. These huge creatures are just as much of a drawcard to Africa as the predators - one of Africa’s icons.

The younger members of the herd generally put a huge smile on the face of our guests. Their lust for life and excitement is infectious.

Now to the Southern Pride, we have some exciting news! Although we have not seen them yet, we believe that the female known as Floppy Ear has given birth. She has been seen returning to a known den site, popular with the Southern Pride females. We will keep you posted on developments.

The Charleston males have been seen separately throughout the reserve giving us a good idea that they are comfortable in their new territory. A confidence which will hopefully ensure their dominance for some time.

The Southern Pride showed off their hunting ability this week by bringing down two female buffalos and clearly by the look of these photos, the cubs had some full bellies.

These cubs are growing so much and their playful nature is always great viewing and it will be very interesting to see how they react to Floppy Ears’ cubs when they eventually connect with the rest of the pride.

After a great week in the bush, it has been great to see how the predators are flourishing given the harsh winter conditions, but one animal’s struggle results in another one’s success. See you next week...