Autumn is now in full swing and with the bush losing most of its colour in the form of foliage and migratory birds it makes up for it with some magical sightings. Our guests have been treated to an abundance of wildlife and the rangers have been been just as excited, with regular sightings of wild dogs as well as the adorable cheetah cubs that have been on the reserve.

Lions are always on top of everybody’s list of animals to see in the bush and our guests got their fill as the three Sand River males, as well as the three Southern Pride females, were together and resided on the reserve for most of the week. They looked to be very hungry and covered vast distances in search of food, but to no avail.

It was very welcoming to see that a female cheetah and her cubs might establish themselves more permanently on our reserve as they were seen quite regularly this last week, much to the delight of everyone lucky enough to see them. They were feeding on an impala kill and the cubs were in a playful spirit most of the time. Unfortunately only four cubs were spotted after the first sighting that included five, which makes everyone wonder what happened to the other one and how many of these cuties will survive to adulthood. One of the reserve’s male cheetahs was also found days afterward and provided everyone with some amazing sightings yet again.

The Lower Sabie Pack of wild dogs roamed the property for a couple of days and as a result we had a couple of action packed sightings. They were followed until they made an impala kill and also lead us to the Lisbon female leopard that has just made a duiker kill. She just managed the hoist her kill up a tree in time, out of the grasp of the dogs. The following day it also looked like they bit of more than they could chew as they showed interest in some big male buffalos. The buffalo soon reminded the dogs about the size difference and after being chased around the wild dogs moved off.

Little Bush’s cub was found on her own a couple of times and showed off her beauty, giving us very good photographic opportunities. On one of these occasions two hyenas came along and she soon disappeared into the thickets. Only a few minutes later Maxabeni made an appearance and easily forced the hyenas away. That night and the next morning he was also following his old routine of marking his territory.

At the end of the week the three Southern Pride split females graced us with their presence and are looking very well fed and in good condition. This just makes one think how much more of a dominant force the Southern Pride would be if they could join up again at some stage.

After a couple of days of only seeing her cub we finally got to see Little bush and we arrived on the scene just as she was dragging the kudu calf she had just killed over the road. We got a glimpse of her temper again as she snarled at a hyena and luckily didn’t lose it to the scavenger.

Looking back at this week and reflecting on what we have seen makes me realise what an amazing week we had and just makes me more excited of what the upcoming one has to offer.