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long live the king

on Jul 29, 2014

Sandriver male leopard is facing a similar fate as his father once did (Thumbela male). He has had to become a rather nomadic male after being forced out of the northern sector of Sabi Sabi by his new nemesis, Maxabeni. Sandriver spends most of his days in the Southern sector close to Earth Lodge but has even ventured into the far Western sector of the Sabi Sands many kilometers away. It seems that with his age, born in 2000, he does not have as much fight left in him as he used to, or so we thought.

Since his arrival, Maxabeni has been rather successful in securing the northern half of Sabi Sabi by driving out all other male competition. Like most young males approaching their prime, Maxabeni is pushing out his territory as large as he possibly can but in a few years will most probably consolidate it down to something a bit more manageable. With no one to challenge his reign he has managed to father three cubs with two different females, 1 with Nottins female (±3 months) and 2 with Little Bush female (±5 months).

It seemed as though his path has been set for total dominance. But in a massive act of defiance a few days ago, Sandriver left the security of the Southern sector and pushed deep into the North, we have not seen him in these parts since about February 2014. Maxabeni was nowhere to be seen as he was out marking the border of his vast expanse of territory leaving his cubs totally open and exposed. Sandriver had immediately picked up on the scent of the Little Bush female and following her trail it was obvious that he realized she was not alone but was being accompanied by her two young cubs. Little Bush in the meantime was quick to stash her cubs away in the riverbed of the Msuthlu River and set off to try and stop this intruder by herself.

Sand River Steve

It is not uncommon in the life of the leopard that when a male comes across cubs that don't belong to him he will commit infanticide and kill them, hoping to destroy any future competition without his genetics and possibly mate with the female who is now made available. Little Bush female however was not going to let this happen without a fight.

Any ranger or tracker at Sabi Sabi will tell you that the Little Bush female is by far the most tenacious female leopard on this property. As Sandriver got ever closer to the riverbed Little Bush launched her attack in full force with both claws and fangs bared. Sandriver was quick to put her in her place, but nevertheless again and again she launched her attack taking on this large male intruder. The sound audible from the onslaught was deafening. Sandriver was up and down every tree along the river’s edge closely examining and sniffing every single branch in search of the cubs and every time his paws hit the earth again Little Bush launched yet another relentless attack. For the entire day and night Little Bush stood up to Sandriver.

After the dust had settled and we got out on the drive the next morning we returned to the area to try and follow up on what had taken place the night before. It was now up to our trackers to read the story left in the sand and fill us in what had happened in our absence. By the tracks, it seems Little Bush female manage to move one cub a far distance and stash the youngster away in a thick drainage line but the tracks then return to the scene of the crime where Little Bush was seen patrolling up and down calling for the second cub. Sandriver had appeared to leave the area in the night with no trace of him to be seen. So without a visual conformation it seems that one cub has survived the wrath of Sandriver where the fate of the second cub is unknown, only time will tell.

  • BY: CRAIG REICHE (SELATI CAMP RANGER)
  • IMAGES BY: STEVE VOLKWYN AND CRAIG REICHE
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