Author: LH Focus Online

With the rolling thunder building on the horizon there is excitement in the bush.

It is hot and humid during the day with dust covering nearly everything. But there is a certain restlessness brewing in the bush as the clouds start to build and you can hear the distant thunder rolling closer, suddenly a flash of lightning and then that distinct smell of freshness as the first drops start washing the dust away….

We had a good start to the rain season that got the bush to burst out of its seams with all the different shades of green. With the abundance of food it is also the time for all the baby’s to be born which in turn is also the time of easy food for all the predators, this is why in only a few days all the baby impala are born so that by pure numbers it will ensure that enough of the new generation will survive to take the place of the old and the weak.

With the Lions we had an interesting time over the last couple of months, the Majingelane males are for sure here to stay and started to assert their dominance over both the Othawa and Ximhungwe prides. We had some amazing sighting of the four brothers ranging from buffalo kills to mating and also the full burst of all four roaring at top volume.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the Ximhungwe pride this year we have had some highs and lows with one of the adult females being found dead. The remaining two adult females are still cautious of the Majingelane males trying to avoid them to ensure the survival of the four remaining cubs, but we have seen the adult females mating with the males, so let’s hope the new generation of Ximhungwe cubs will be born shortly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Othawa pride had real bad luck and out of the eight original cubs there is now only two left one sub adult male and one sub adult female. The three adult female spent a lot of time with the Majingelane male both mating and just relaxing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the Leopards all is going extremely well especially with Thlangisa’s two female cubs now almost eight months old and rapidly turning into beautiful little princesses of the spotted kingdom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dayone seems to be back in full strength, although he still has a bit of a limp but that does not seem to bother him at all as he has been hunting normally and also marking territory and being very vocal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did not see Kashane a lot this time but for a male in his prime he does not have a lot to worry about so when we see him, this proud cat always gives us a sighting to remember.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Nyeleti male was pushed back a bit to his old territory further to the East with Dayone being back in full force.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ravenscourt male was seen a lot in the south with the one sighting of him and the Torchwood male together. Let’s hope this beautiful young male can make a claim on the vacant area in the south so we can keep on seeing him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Boulders female seems to be a lot more relaxed lately and she gave us chance to get close to her and enjoy a good sighting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Xikavi was seen with three cubs once, but this elusive mom has not shown us them since but at least we can still see suckle marks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The elusive Tassleberry female, that we rarely see, gave us a pleasant surprise by showing us a very young but shy cub. We don’t see her a lot but let’s hope she can raise this one to adulthood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The young Torchwood male is doing well for himself by being nomadic at the moment he is staying alive till he is strong enough to make a claim on a territory so we can keep on seeing the beautiful male.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scotia seems to have claimed a bit of the central area for herself and she is doing well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hlaba Nkunzi is doing very well and is still visiting Leopard Hills on regular basis, and we can now say that it looks like she does have cubs again but as rumor has it they are in the East again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also had one sighting of the Hukumuri or Blue Eyed female in the North.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did not see the pack of Wild dogs that often but they are now sixteen in total and when we see them they always provide us with some really good sightings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There has also been a couple of Side Striped Jackals around, providing us with some special sightings of their puppies playing around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The biggest surprise for us was having the amount of Cheetah sightings that we had over the last few months almost becoming a weekly sighting at least.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are really blessed with the amount of Hyena sightings we are getting. Sitting at any Leopard kill you know there will be at least one Hyena in the area to keep them on their toes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The general game sightings have been phenomenal as usual with lots of baby’s around ranging from baby impala to baby Elephant and all in between.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Summer being in full swing most of the migratory birds are here, making for beautiful aerial displays and chirping in the mornings to wake you up.

This year has been one amazing year with lots of surprises and once in a lifetime sightings. We cannot wait to see what 2015 has in store for us. Lastly we from the Leopard Hills Family would like to wish you happy New Year.

Written and compiled by Johan de la Rey, Reece Verdoorn and Hugo Breed.

 

Another two months have flown by, and with it Winter has set in, as all the guests are utilising the fleece ponchos and warm water bottles to the fullest! One of the benefits of Winter is that the bush is very open and the skies are spectacular. Making it worth facing the cold mornings!

Dayone is surely recovering from whatever caused the injury to his left front leg. He is starting to do more of his usual patrols and seems to slowly be taking back parts of his old territory. Recovering from that injury and being able to keep his condition during that time just adds to his unbelievable character.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over these two months we haven’t seen much of Kashane.  When he was seen it wasn’t for more than a couple of hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Dayone reclaiming territory, Nyeleti did not always come as far West as he used to. It also seems that there is another male Leopard in the same territory as Nyeleti, with which he has been in a couple of fights with.  Nyeleti picked up a couple of injuries, but mostly superficial. Xikavi has also been following him around, enticing him to mate with her.

We have been seeing a lot more of the handsome Torchwood male. He still hasn’t completely established himself. Hopefully he will find some territory that he can occupy in the West. On a couple of occasions we followed him from termite mound to termite mound, looking for some unsuspecting Warthogs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ravenscourt male has turned into a beautiful boy, just like his mother. His territory is further to the East, but every now and again in wanders into the West.

Over the last two months we were all eagerly awaiting Hlaba Nkunzi’s reveal of her two cubs to the Western Sector. It wasn’t too long before she brought both of them to the Lodge, where she kept them close to Suite 1! This was all very exciting for us. Unfortunately she did not keep them there very long as she made a kill somewhere else, and took them for a good feed. Recently it seems that Hlaba Nkunzi was in a fight of some kind, as she is limping and has only been seen with one cub…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ever playful Thlangisa and her two equally playful cubs have been providing us with hours of entertainment. She only just started introducing them to meat, and has been either taking them to the kill site, or bringing the kill back to the den site. These cubs are estimated to be about 11 weeks old.

Xikavi was not seen very often as she spends most of her time in the thicker vegetation. She has been enticing Nyeleti to mate with her. Once again we are hoping that if she falls pregnant, that this time she will be able to raise the cubs successfully.

 

 

 

 

 

The Selati males seem to have been defeated by the Majingilane, as we have not seen them for a long time. We have had reports that two of them have been seen further North East of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Majingilane are still busy with their takeover of the Western Sector. With the big territory that they occupy now, we have not seen them too much, as they patrol their whole territory. For the prides this is a good thing, as it gives them time to raise their cubs. There have been reports that some of the cubs have already been killed by the Majingilane. Every time they do however come into the West, they seek out the one Othawa female, without cubs, to mate with her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Othawa pride seems to have suffered a couple of losses. Some of the cubs have been killed by Hyenas, and it seems some by the Majingilane. One of the male cubs somehow in all the confusion ended up with the Ximhungwe pride for a while. He has since separated from them. At the moment only two cubs are seen with the three females.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With all the chaos in the West with the Majingilane takeover, the Ximhungwe pride seems to be the ones that have been able to hide the best. Unfortunately one of the female cubs got separated and ended up with the Othawa pride. They did however not accept her, and she was beaten up quite badly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a couple of sightings of the Mangheni pride from the East. This is a spectacular pride with 14 individuals. They are one of the Majingilane prides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheetah sightings have been amazing over the last two months. We have been very lucky with, mostly the two sub adults. They have now split up and both are looking to establish territory on their own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Wild Dogs only came in a couple of times. They started to dig, giving us hope that they would once again den in the West. Unfortunately they moved on and found another den site. Hopefully it won’t be too long before they start moving with the new born puppies to come and introduce them to us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With a lot of kills happening, the Hyenas have also been having a good time. Every now and again they managed to chase a Lioness off a kill, but most of the time they had to wait it out to get there share. Wonderful thing about the bush, nothing goes to waste.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a little treat for our birders out there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although the blog focuses on the big cats we do not disregard all the other animals. Some of our most special sightings come from the general game. Sightings like a herd of Elephants all having a mud bath, some Dwarf Mongoose sunning themselves or even a Zebra rolling in the dust, are the things that make the whole safari experience special.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking back we can’t believe that half of the year has already passed. How does the all too familiar phrase go? “Time flies when you’re having fun”. And that is definitely the case out in the bush and at Leopard Hills!

[KGVID width=”320″ height=”240″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Compilation.flv[/KGVID]

Music from The Lion King – Circle of Life
Written and composed by Hugo Breed, Johan de la Rey and Reece Verdoorn.

As the Summer gives way to cold crispy mornings we are now heading into Winter mode, fleece ponchos and hot water bottles gives comfort to the brave ones.

Dayone still has the injury on his front left paw, which causes him to limp. This however has not kept him back from stalking and hunting on three legs. He is still not patrolling as much, but it seems to be getting better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kashane male was seen a few times doing his usual territorial walk and then disappearing again. He did venture quite a distance into Dayone’s territory, probably because he noticed no recent scent marking or vocalizing in that area.

The Nyeleti male is becoming bolder by the day as he is coming deeper into Dayone’s territory, even scent marking and calling to make his stand in the West. At the moment he is the male that we see most often, almost on a daily basis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Torchwood male was seen close to the lodge a few times but still being nomadic due to his age.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are still not seeing a lot of Hlaba Nkunzi, as she still has her cubs in the East, but she does come and show her face every now and then to let us know she is okay. From reports we know that she does have two cubs. On one afternoon she had a small altercation after she stumbled across a kill Nyeleti had made. He was not too pleased with her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scotia female also spent a bit of time in the East, but when we get to see her she does live up the legendary bloodline of Makwela.

 

 

 

 

 

Up to date there has been no reported sighting of Metsi. We are all hoping that she is fine and will soon make an appearance.

The Boulders female is still shy of the vehicles but every now and then she does allow one vehicle to get a sighting of her. We found her one morning were she had hoisted up an Impala kill she had made.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Xikavi is doing well and was seen mating a few times. She is also heavily pregnant, so maybe in the near future we will get to see her cubs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We mostly only found tracks for the Dam 3 female this month, with only a few sightings of her one of which where she mated with Nyeleti.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the river crossings being damaged we did not get North a lot, but we did get to see Thlangisa on the occasions that we were in the North. Good news is that when we saw her she had suckle marks and was lactating. Fingers crossed for some more new cubs in the West.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tasselberry female was seen with about a month old cub, but only once, as she is one of the less relaxed Leopards.[KGVID width=”320″ height=”240″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Leopardandcub.flv[/KGVID]

The Ximhungwe pride gave us a bit of a scare as we found where they had an altercation with the Othawa pride. For days after that only the three females and one cub were seen. Luckily they all met up again after a while and seem to be doing extremely well. This month they were found with kills quite often. On one occasion our guests even witnessed one of the kills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the altercation with the Ximhungwes, the Othawa pride still spent some time in the North with two of the Selati males. They eventually also moved back south of the river with all eight cubs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The one Selati male that had the fight with the Majingilane males also seems to be recovering. His two brothers spent most of their time with the Othawa pride with him eventually also catching up to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Majingilane males came back into the West on the last day of the month. They were actively scent marking and vocalising. It seems they are ready to take over the West from the Selati coalition. Interesting times lay ahead for the Lion dynamics in the Western Sector. Hopefully the prides can manage to keep the cubs safe, and that the Selati males can muster up the courage to take on these four Majingilane males.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the Southern Pride females was seen in the south on our boundary a few times.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a good run with Cheetah this month, with some drives producing four individuals. We had the brother and sister sub-adult pair for almost three weeks in the Western Sector and then the adult female coming in and out of our area and the cherry on top, the adult male also making an appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hyena population is on the up with regular sightings during drive. It seems that the age old battle between the Hyena’s and the big cats are back in full swing with sightings of Leopard and Lion kills being stolen by the Hyena’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This month we only had one Wild Dog sighting, as they spent most of their time further East. We are hoping to get lucky with the pack coming to den in the Western Sector this Winter.

The general game sightings have been great with big herds of Buffalo and Elephant being seen on numerous occasions. Large herds of Zebra and Wildebeest was seen in the South with the odd rare animal been spotted as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of the migratory birds have now left for our Winter, heading further North looking for some warmer climates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bush is clearing up, colours start to fade and animals are being seen everywhere. What lies in store for us this Winter we don’t know. But we are sure it is going to be a very interesting time ahead!

Written and compiled by Johan de la Rey and Hugo Breed