In a cold environment, the animals of Sabi Sabi have kept the temperatures soaring with their interactions, not only between each species but each other as well. One of the most interesting has been that of the lions of the Southern Pride. Chaos does not even begin to tell the story: The Kruger male driven away from his pride; three of the four sub adult males left to find a territory of their own; and most important however has been a well-defined split between the females - 3, including Floppy Ear siding with the Sand River males while Smudge (female who tends to lead the breakaway pride), 3 other females and 1 sub adult male keep their distance. On more than one occasion this cycle, these former allies paths crossed but it was clear that there was no love lost.

Due to the high densities of large buffalo herds this winter, the Sand River males and the 3 females have been killing these large beasts at will. There was an occasion when these six came across the rest of the pride hunting buffalo in front of Earth Lodge, causing the breakaway pride to scatter across the Southern section.

With this tension set to continue, the breakaway pride are in need of a new coalition of males to come into the picture, this will result in the expulsion of the sub adult male but the formation of a new pride and males who will keep the Sand River males at bay.

I will remember this cycle very fondly, as we have had the pleasure of meeting many new leopards. I have been very thankful to photograph these new additions this cycle and am very interested in the parts they will play in the upcoming months.

Originally thought to be the Outcrop cub, this elusive female remains unknown to us. We first found her at the base of a Marula tree with a Common Duiker kill in the upper branches. She is very skittish during the day, slinking into the dense foliage, but like most leopards, very comfortable at night as long as you keep your distance. What struck me first about this leopardess were her eyes - a hard, piercing look and if she can take out a large male Duiker, she will certainly be pushing the boundaries of other leopardess`s territories in the near future.

One of two of the Little Bush female’s cubs: This one is a little more confident than the other cub and definitely very bold. A great example of this was when this little cub came out of the undergrowth trying to steal a baby bushbuck kill from its mum, despite getting lots of growls and a couple paw slaps. This confidence could be an asset or a liability, as at the moment we have only seen one cub since the altercation between Little Bush and the Sandriver male. This doesn’t mean that one has certainly been killed, but I’m sure we will get answers in the next coming weeks.

Nottins and her young cub: This female never ceases to amaze me with her skill, patience and ingenuity in her environment. A very successful mother and looks like she is doing it again with this little ball of spotty fluff. Constantly moving den sites has allowed us to see a lot of this cub and hopefully we will be just as lucky next cycle.

This female is known as the Outcrop Cub and this young cub and her mum, the Outcrop female have been spending a lot of time close to Earth Lodge. The first time I saw this youngster, I fell in love with her spirit. As she lay under a Jackalberry tree, a Tree Squirrel was doing its absolute best to give her presence away by continually alarm calling from that tree. After about 20 minutes of this, the young leopard gave the squirrel a cursing look and leapt into the Jackalberry tree after the snitch and proceeded up to the flimsiest branches. Sadly she didn’t win but the squirrel kept very quiet after its scare!

It hasn’t all been about cubs, we have also had a few new males in the Southern section. The first one, is known as Mandleve. This young powerful male is quite secretive but we are starting to see more of him as he firmly pushes into Sandriver’s territory. The second leopard is the male known as Inkwazi, the biggest leopard I have ever seen. A huge dewlap and dark rings around the eyes and the sheer size of this Tom, make him very recognisable and a treat for any guest who sees him. He tends to spend a lot of his time in the Kruger National Park but is starting to venture across the Sabie River and spending time in the Southern section of the reserve.

Even though this has been a cycle that I will remember by the amount of new leopards pouring into Sabi Sabi, you can`t help but think about the Southern Pride and the developments with regards to the breakaway pride. One thing for certain is that nothing is certain, and nobody knows what drama or new animal will make an appearance come tomorrow’s sunrise.