Welcome to this week’s edition of “A Week in the bush...” This week saw the return of some characters not seen in some time and others that have been absent for only a brief moment. Nevertheless it has been an exciting week for all of us here at Sabi Sabi and I can’t wait to share it with all of you at home.

The beautiful young female known to us as the Kelenge female made an overdue return to the southern section of the reserve this week. She has been absent for a while now since the Lisbon female has started to show a renewed interest in that part of the reserve. Some of our guests were treated to an incredible sighting of this young leopard as she successfully and somewhat playfully, captured a small tortoise to feed on and then only an hour later captured a monitor lizard. She definitely seems to have it in for the reptiles this week and I’m sure they can’t be too tender either. Once again this just showcases the leopard’s opportunistic qualities and why they are the most successful cats the world over, making use of 92 different prey species in our region.

The Sand River males were also found in the southern reaches this last week and were possibly investigating as to whether there was any sign of the Southern Pride split around down there. We caught up with the males in the late afternoon waiting for them to get active after dark. They soon moved back east, possibly to check on the females and their cubs.

One of the reserve’s male cheetahs made an appearance this week and was found lazing about in the late afternoon as the sun was setting. This made for an absolutely spectacular sighting that we could enjoy whole-heartedly with our guests. The male was looking rather slender though and in need of a meal. It is safe to bet that he had most likely attempted to make a kill shortly before he was found and was probably catching his breath again before moving on to busier pastures.

A female cheetah was also seen repeatedly this last week and she was giving us the most incredible sightings imaginable. She is always very active and we are often able to see her on the hunt and over the last while, have seen her make kill after kill after kill. Many of these events being seen in their entirety by our guests. This week she was again seen hunting impala and was unsuccessful at first, but luck would be on her side. On this occasion a herd of impala unknowingly ran toward the female and she capitalized immediately by taking down one of the youngsters. They had no clue what was going on until it was too late.

The Lisbon female was seen again in the southern section this week absent any males, whether they be known or not. She seemed quite contented as she lay comfortably on one of her territory’s termite mounds without a care in the world it seems. One can only wonder what is going through her mind at the moment and whether or not she has been successful in her mating efforts with the two males down there. I guess we will have to just wait for a definitive answer on that point.

The Toulon pack of wild dogs also returned to the reserve this week and were found in the eastern part of the reserve finishing off an impala kill and chasing around some hyenas. This was most entertaining for the guests I’m sure. As far as the numbers of the pack goes, it seems that for the time being they are stable at 5 adults and 5 youngsters. I strongly hope that they don’t lose any more pups this season, but with the predator densities so high here it is going to be tough going for some time to come.

The powerhouse of the north, Maxabeni, was found casually walking through the reserve while patrolling and marking his territory. He looks great at the moment and seems very settled. We saw him a few times this week at various points within his range and on one memorable occasion, he was found with a full belly on top of a granitic outcrop in the west of the reserve.

We’ve had some great general game sightings lately and in particular, zebra and wildebeest. There have been some large herds of zebra seen in the open plains areas enjoying the sweet grasses that the summer rains produce. We have also seen a fair amount of ‘fighting’, where young males have been attempting to steal females from the more seasoned individuals and often coming out of it second-best.

There are a host of different reptile species being spotted all over the reserve and lodge grounds from snakes to lizards, tortoises and chameleons. These animals are often missed in the drier months of the year due to the colder conditions, but the weather is certainly favorable at the moment for them. This flap-necked chameleon was spotted by one of our trackers on a night drive.

We’ve seen large numbers of elephants coming north from the Kruger National Park this summer, which is a little unusual for this particular time of the year and one can only ponder as to why there has been this sudden movement into the reserve.

Nottins was tracked down one afternoon and discovered to be on the move with her cub. The female usually leaves the cub at a den site while she goes out on hunting missions, as he is still too young to join, so we were pretty certain that she was going to lead us to a kill. Our thoughts were quite correct. The female and cub led us to a Marula tree where she had stashed a kill.

The Styx Pride have been coming in and out of the reserve with more frequency this week and were seen several times despite the rainy weather. Despite their current situation up in the north, they seem to be in good condition and it is clear that they are still feeding regularly having found them with full bellies on more than one occasion. It is also clearly visible that they all share a very strong bond with even the sub-males being quite close to the cubs. This will most certainly sway heavily in the cubs’ favor in terms of protection.

Once again it’s been a fantastic week of game viewing, with certain animal specie dynamics providing us with a lot to talk about. One of the most amazing things about being in a reserve such as this is that there is freedom of movement and therefore always the possibility of seeing an animals or group of animals that you have never seen before and I think that is pretty exciting. We never know what a new day will bring. That’s all the news I have for you this week and before we sign off, from all of us here at Sabi Sabi, we hope you all had a blessed Christmas. Until next time...