Last week’s blog brought with it the news that a leopard had been killed by the young Mhangeni males and there was a lot of uncertainty as to who the leopard was. Early on, our rangers confirmed that the carcass was that of a female leopard – this was based purely on the size of the skull. As the days passed and the regulars were seen on safari, we could slowly but surely work through a process of elimination to determine who the leopard was. Sadly, Little Bush female has not been seen and we believe we can safely say it was her who the lions killed. She was seen in the area the day before. She had also been mating with Maxabeni in the days leading up to her death, so to not see her around or not see any tracks of her whatsoever, brings us to this conclusion. Born early in 2005, we enjoyed many special sightings of this leopard and watched her successfully bring up cubs into independence, and females we get to see regularly – Kigelia and Ntsumi.

The White Dam male and Kigelia female came across one another close to Little Bush Camp. The young male sent the young female up a tree as she protected herself from him. After realizing that she wasn’t coming down, he decided to advance up the same tree, however in a quick flash the female lashed out and sent him straight back down.

Sightings of Ntsumi have been plentiful this week! We spent quite some time following her as she made her way through the bush in search of a meal – stalking scrub hares, rodents, guinea fowl, Francolins and Common Duiker as she moved. The following day she was successful in securing a small meal – a scrub hare – which she hoisted into a tree to enjoy in peace, with some hyenas lurking below.

Always a welcome sighting – the Kashane male with his beautiful blue eyes make him unique in the area. We were privileged to follow him around as he too walked around in the long grass in search of a meal.

Maxabeni has been seen hanging around the Bush Lodge area this week, marking territory. Moments after leaving Bush Lodge we were greeted by him has he darted out from the thicket and across the road directly behind us. We also noticed another leopard still lurking in the thicket, accompanied by two hyenas. We hurried over just in time to witness Maxabeni climb up a tree and start feeding on the leftovers of a duiker kill which was more than likely made by the first fleeting feline.

A young male we seem to be seeing more of, N’weti, was found feeding on a Grey Duiker kill while keeping an eye on the hyenas that lay below.

We were absolutely thrilled to discover quite a few cheetahs on our reserve this week!!

A grouping of three Southern Pride lions were trailing a large herd of Cape Buffalo near a waterhole on Saturday evening, however it seems they were unsuccessful as we found them sunning themselves the next morning with nothing to show for their long night of hunting. This did not dampen their spirits as they were seen rubbing heads – a true illustration of a strong bond. They decided to settle down, lying close to one another as they took shelter from the cold wind.

Being home to over 350 species of birds, Sabi Sabi is a birdwatcher’s paradise!

From the small and beautiful, to the big and unique... and everyone has their favourite, for whatever reason/s...

Until next time...