Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of “A Week in the Bush...” Before we continue with the recap, this week we have said goodbye to someone that has been a big part of the Sabi Sabi family and Social Media team. From all of us here, I would just like to say to Richard de Gouveia, “Thank you and good luck to you in your future endeavors. You will be missed.”

This week has seen a lot of predator activity on the reserve and this is what we will be focusing on in this week’s round up. To start things off, Warthog Wallow and her son, the Tortillis male, were found quite far north of their usual stomping grounds and very close to Selati Camp on an impala kill. We haven’t been seeing too much of either of these cats lately and this can be attributed mainly to the fact that the Tortillis male is not the offspring of our resident male, Maxabeni. If there is contact between the two, Maxabeni will surely kill the young male. Tortillis is semi-independent at this stage and surely can’t remain with his mother for too much longer with him now being around the 20-month mark in terms of his age.

Another development and a rather sad one at that is that we suspect there has been contact between Mandleve and Sandriver in the south of the reserve. We have been waiting for this moment for some time and it was inevitable as the activity from both parties has been intense. There is also the added factor involving females, namely Lisbon. It is evident by the photograph below that Sandriver has come out of the encounter much worse than when he went in and I do not have high hopes for his survival in the near future. He was a brute of a leopard in his prime and maintained his position for the longest time, but he is now too old contest this anymore. I fear he will not make it through next winter, if even to that point.

Keeping in line with this story and most likely the fuel that has ignited this fire, Lisbon and Mandleve have been seen mating recently on several occasions this last week. I suspected this day was coming soon, but I didn’t realize how soon. This will be very good for the gene pool and for the area as a whole as this will bring in new blood and stability to the area in the south. There may even be an increase in activity, and perhaps as Mandleve builds in confidence and stature, even more females will be drawn into his territory. There are very exciting times ahead and it will be incredible to watch the developments as they unfold.

We had the Charlestons on the reserve this week as well with only the female and one of the brothers. The male seen with her has been missing for quite some time and all feared the worst, but we are happy to announce that all seems well, although it must be said that he was sporting some nasty wounds on his flank and rear. He should recover swiftly.

One of the reserve’s female cheetahs was also seen on several occasions this last week making further dents into the baby impala populations. It is sad to see so many youngsters being ‘taken out’, but it is the circle of life and very necessary for others to thrive. We’ve discussed before that the cheetah specie in general is on the decline and highly endangered, so they need all the help they can get. I must say though, that this year the amount of cheetah activity on the reserve far exceeds that of the previous year and I’m hoping that this can be attributed to an increase in the specie numbers. Regardless, its great to have such diversity at one’s disposal and it is such a privilege to spend time with an animal like this.

Little Bush and her cub were found this week feeding on an impala that the feisty female had killed for them. The cub has grown so much over the last few months, in size and confidence. Little Bush has always been known to be rather skittish and we feared that the cub would inherit the same characteristics, but with time, patience and perseverance, even she has become a lot more relaxed with our presence. This is great news for our guests and us, because she really is a beautiful cat to view. I hope she continues to do well in terms of providing for the cub and making sure he is protected from the potential danger lurking around every corner.

The Sand River males made their way through the reserve this week while out on patrol and were found the other night in full voice, advertising their dominance in the area. They have been trailing the Southern Pride split again, with the split being quite active in their old home ground lately, and I think it is only a matter of time before these boys catch up with them. I do hope though, that they are able to avoid these guys a while longer and still stick around in the area. The fact that the old pride is no longer and that the new pride, with the three males and three females is a lot smaller, the actively defended territorial boundary may be smaller than it was previously. They have been staying further south than they used to, but this could be attributed to the fact that there are cubs to tend to.

The stars of the ‘show’ however, have to be Nottins and her young cub, who have been seen repeatedly this last week appearing to be enjoying the mass amounts of impala lambs up for grabs, literally. Our guests have been treated to some extraordinary sightings of these leopards that can only be experienced in a private reserve such as this one. It is hard to get over the proximity in which you can view an animal like this that ordinarily wouldn’t allow you even 10 seconds of viewing time. Nottins has been providing very well for the youngster and he too is growing stronger and more confident by the day. I think this is definitely going to be a leopard to keep an eye on in the future. For now though, it is just great to watch as this young animal explores his boundaries and overcomes the limitations of youth and size. I just hope he is smart to enough to stay out of harm’s way until he no longer needs to be concerned with such things.

And so we say farewell to another spectacular week in the South African bushveld in the hope that there will be more amazing encounters to follow and bring to your homes in the week to come. Have a great week everyone. Until next time...