MANAGEMENT & WILDLIFE REPORT
February 2009
MARCH MANAGERS REPORT 2009
Another month has passed us by and I think we can almost say with confidence that the rains are coming to an end, although as I write this, there is a rather large Cyclone hammering the
The evenings are beginning to take on a slight freshness and the bite has gone from the hot midday temperatures, all in all a nice time of the year as we enter autumn. The transition will take place quickly now and very soon we will be seeing the changing of the colours out in the bush, as green gives way to brown.
At the moment with all the lush foliage it is difficult to even see the Lodge when you look back from the water hole.
Staff
It is with mixed feelings we say goodbye to June the Tracker this month, but very happy for him in his promotion, we are all extremely proud of what he has achieved over the 11 years he has been at Leopard Hills.
June was a part of the original building Team that built this magnificent Lodge, and as soon as we opened our doors, he joined our Gardening Team. June made it quite clear right from the beginning that he was not destined to be a gardener for long, and his heart was out there in the bush. On his own time and effort, June attended Tracking courses and eventually when a vacancy appeared, June grasped it with both hands and found himself as part of the Safari Department.
Soon it was clear that even this was no going to be enough for him, and he took every opportunity to learn as much as he could in view of one day becoming a Ranger. At the beginning of this year June completed his Ranger assessments and passed with flying colours, thereby achieving his goal of becoming a Ranger. During the course of March, a vacancy for a Ranger came up at the Ululapa self catering Camp, which is under the same ownership as Leopard Hills, June made a successful bid for the position and now finds himself out in the bush behind the wheel of the vehicle, a place he was always destined to be.
We wish you all the best in your new position and look forward to spending many hours in the future, walking the bush together in pursuit of the next great sighting.
Familiar Faces
Once again we have had the privilege of welcoming so many good friends back to Leopard Hills.
Tom and Enid Taylor joined us at the beginning of the month and despite some pretty hectic weather conditions pertaining to the rain. In fact we had such a terrific storm the night before they departed, all the rivers came up in flood and they were unable to drive out of the Reserve, we had to put them on a flight to
We also welcomed back Ralf, Perdita and Chris on another Safari, again some very memorable sightings, as you will read in Marius’s Report.
In addition we also welcomed back Tom and Bente and Ian and Nicola, good to have you all back with us in the bush at Leopard Hills.
Rangers Report
This months Rangers Report has been compiled by Marius and the Team, another wonderful month of sightings.
Duncan and Louise Rodgers
Operations Director and General Manager
duncan@leopardhills.com louise@leopardhills.com
RANGERS REPORT MARCH 2009
With less rain than the previous 2 months and day time temperatures cooling down the month of March was another amazing month for safari at Leopard Hills. The strangest sighting was that we saw Makwela female leopard mating again and we are not sure if she has lost her cubs or if she is getting up to her previous actions again. And with the return of the pack of wild dogs and the Othawa Pride of lions in the end of the month the sightings were yet again unforgettable.
Leopard
The jewel in the crown of all the leopards that we have the privilege to view, Makwela, was seen mating for almost 5 days with the Tekwaan male leopard. A couple of weeks ago we were fairly sure that she had cubs again but seeing her mating has now raised many questions for the guides. With her previous litters she also mated with a male and sometimes two individual male leopards to ensure the safety of her cubs. We will keep everyone posted on our “blog” if we find out more in the next couple of weeks. Once again we viewed no less than 12 individual leopards in the last month. Good news is that a new male that has been seen frequently in the South of our traversing area is slowly starting to get used to our presence and we are all hoping for more sightings of the new comer.
Late one evening my guests and I were on or way back to camp when by chance we came across Makwela female leopard walking down the road. Not 5 minutes later she spotted a small herd of impala and started to stalk. We patiently waited and as she crawled closer, inch by inch, when suddenly she leaped forward and caught an adult female impala meters away from us. Definitely one of the most amazing sightings of my life.
Wild Dog
The pack of wild dogs has now been reduced to 3 animals due to attacks by lions. But that hasn’t damper their hunting ability at all. The pack was seen on most days in the last week of the month and 4 times seen feeding off a kill, three times on impala and once on a bushbuck lamb.
The greatest sighing of all was seeing the pack on an afternoon safari heading down to a dam close to the camp. When the dogs arrived at the water they were greeted by a very unfriendly rhino bull that made it his personal mission to chase the dogs away.
Those lucky enough to have stayed behind on a morning safari spotted the dogs from the main viewing deck. This was a definite treat for all as it’s the first time that has happened since the lodge has opened.
Lions
Great news regarding our lion sightings is that the Ximungwe pride spent most of the month in our traversing area. One of the females has given birth but we are unsure on the number of cubs that she had.
The Othawa Pride were also seen frequently in our area and even moved to the central part on several occasions. The Pride consisting of 2 adult females and 6 youngsters are in great condition and we surely hope that they will take over the Western Sabi Sand’s now that the
Gary and his guests saw the Pride and amazingly the remaining young male lion from the Sand River Pride feeding together on a wildebeest kill. We are all really hoping that the pride will accept him and with that the hopes of the majestic Sand River Pride bloodline continue.
Cheetah
Another month of solid cheetah viewing at Leopard Hills, on an afternoon safari Raymond and his guests found an impala that was killed by a cheetah a mere 800 meters from camp. Unfortunately by the time Raymond arrived the vultures have already chased the cheetah away and he was unable to get a sighting of the elusive feline.
Rhino
Our rhino sightings continue to be as great as always. We saw rhinos almost daily especially in the South of our traversing area.
On numerous occasions we saw a ‘crash’ of no less than 7 rhino’s.
The continued presence of a herd numbering of more than 50 buffalo’s in the South has been fantastic for our buffalo viewing. The big herd of numbering more than 400 individuals also moved into our traversing area in the end of the month. We also saw numerous ‘dagga boys’ all along the
Elephant
If elephants have ever been on your list of must seen animals on safari, Leopard Hills was definitely the place to be in the month of March. We were privilege enough to witness hundreds of elephant, in herds numbering more than 80 individuals all over the reserve. One particular morning we struggled to respond to a wild dog sighting as the road was blocked by a huge herd and a massive bull in musth. After trying to wait the situation out for a while we had no other option than to turn around.
Specials
The phenomenal birding action is still continuing and with sightings like Lesser Moorhen, African Crake and even the extremely elusive Striped Crake (that I never managed to see) the reserve was an absolute birders paradise.
I also saw a Serval cat in broad daylight one morning.
Bush Regards
Marius Coetzee and the Leopard Hills Guides
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