LH Focus Online, Author at Leopard Hills

Ranger’s Report July 2014

Posted on 19 August 2014 by LH Focus Online

It has been another action packed month out in the bush for all involved at Leopard Hills. Over this month some guests and rangers alike have experienced some pretty unique sightings, from a female Leopard giving it her all to protect her cubs from a Hyena, to a male Leopard killing an Impala and doing some impossible acrobatics to secure the kill in a tree.

Dayone is once again moving a lot, and covering big areas. His limp has improved and he is pretty much walking as if he doesn’t have any injuries any more.

Kashane has spent most of the month to the east with very few sightings of him in the West.

After the previous months Nyeleti seems to have been able to avoid further confrontation with the unidentified male, and recovered from the wounds. Nyeleti was the male Leopard that gave us a spectacular show as he killed an Impala behind the vehicle and then proceeded to take it up a tree, to avoid kleptoparasitism from a Hyena. For a while he couldn’t find a branch to safely secure the kill, and there were tense moments when everyone thought he was going to drop it into the Hyena’s mouth. He managed to jump at least two meters across to another branch with the Impala in his mouth.

Torchwood wasn’t seen very much this month, with him still being very nomadic and avoiding the dominant males.

Every now and again the Ravenscourt male will wander into the Western Sector, exploring a bit and then returning East.

It seems to now be confirmed that both of Hlaba Nkunzi’s cubs have been killed. We are not sure what happened, but we were all very sad with this news. It seems that she might be looking to reclaim her old stomping grounds in the Western Sector, as we have been seeing a lot more of her in this past month.

Thlangisa, the protector, is the female Leopard mentioned above, protecting her cubs. While we were enjoying a sighting with her and the two cubs, a Hyena appeared, investigating the area where Thlangisa had an Impala kill hoisted up a tree. When the Hyena came to close to one of the cubs and the cub not realising the Hyena was approaching, Thlangisa sprang into action, leaping out of the tree and attacking the Hyena with vigour. The Hyena did not know what hit it and made its way quickly out of the area. Both cubs are doing extremely well and their mom is taking care of them in the best way possible.

Xikavi was once again found mating a couple of times with Nyeleti. We are all hoping that she will have at least one successful litter.

The Scotia female seems to be spending a little bit more time in the Western Sector. On one occasion she stole a Waterbuck kill from a male Cheetah.

With the Majingilane coalition now having such a massive territory to control, we do not see a lot of them. This is a good thing for the two prides. These four males are definitely a force to be reckoned with as they all stand very tall and proud when they move through the West. When they were in the area they were mating with the one Othawa female again.

The Othawa pride has been moving a lot to avoid the Majingilane males. There are only two sub-adult cubs left in the pride, one male and one female. One of the cubs was separated for a couple of days, but luckily the Lionesses managed to find her again.

The Ximhungwe pride has also been moving from West to East to avoid the Majingilane. With a Lionesses leg being found on a bush walk, we have come to the conclusion that one of the Ximhungwe females has unfortunately been killed. We do not know if it were Hyenas or possibly a rogue male Lion, that was also seen in that area, that had killed her. The pride now consists of two adult females, one sub-adult male and four sub-adult females.

Cheetah sightings have once again been amazing, with us being able to see a different males and female moving through the area.

The Hyena population has sky rocketed in the West. Very few drives go by without seeing at least one individual. With their high presence, it has forced the Leopards to start thinking a lot more about hoisting their kills.

Some days go by where the bush will be quiet in terms of the mammals, but the birds are always there to entertain us.

General game sightings have also been spectacular, ranging from Side Striped Jackal to Reedbuck.

As we head into August we start to feel the change in seasons as the wind will start to pick up and with that the Spring will also start to come. For more daily updates follow and like us on www.facebook.com/LeopardHills.

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Video of Thlangisa protecting her cubs courtesy of Leopard Hills guest Phil Anastasio.

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

Dayone Male Leopard and Suite 5

Posted on 17 August 2014 by LH Focus Online

As Game Drives left the Lodge yesterday afternoon, it wasn’t long until we received a Call from Sandra, our Head of Housekeeping that there was a leopard in the Lodge.

At first it was very difficult to see the Leopard, he was lying down as flat as he could possibly get right next to Suite 5’s door and pathway. The Nyala stood feeding about 5 meters from him for quite a while until he looked up and froze, obviously having the same difficulty as we did to identify what was on the browned winter grass, incredible how they blend into the environment. This Male Nyala then realised it was a Leopard and he frantically started alarming, which sent Dayone on his way.

As he was moving away from the very loud Nyala, not knowing which other predators have been attracted by the calls, it gave just enough time for the game drive vehicles to make their way back and see him walking away from suite 5.

Combined Ranger’s Report May & June 2014

Posted on 8 July 2014 by LH Focus Online

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!

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

Hlaba Nkunzi bringing her Cubs Home

Posted on 14 June 2014 by LH Focus Online

It wasn’t too long after the game drives left the lodge yesterday afternoon, that a radio call came, saying there is a female leopard and her two cubs on their way to the lodge.

The immediate thought was, Hlaba Nkunzi! She has been spending the majority of her time away from the lodge, out of our traversing area – so it is wonderful news that she has brought them back to Leopard Hills – for how long that could be, we’re unsure of.

After moving the cubs from the Mabrak riverbed, in the front of the lodge, she very comfortably moved towards the lodge and they spent quite a bit of time on the deck of Suite 4. The cubs were playing around in the outdoor shower next to the pool, enjoying their new surroundings.

During the night they were all lying down next to the pathway between Suite 1 and the Gym, could see it was definitely not Hlaba Nkunzi’s first time in Leopard Hills – knowing exactly where to go.

We look forward to seeing more of Hlaba Nkunzi and her two cubs, hopefully they stay around the lodge and our traversing area for a little longer. It was a very warm Welcome, to see Hlaba Nkunzi and her cubs back at Leopard Hills.

Below Images are of the Leopards on the deck of Suite 4.

Images by Johan de la Rey and Hugo Breed.

Thlangisa introducing us to her two Cubs

Posted on 8 June 2014 by LH Focus Online

It’s been a very special couple of weeks in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, as Thlangisa has given birth to two Cubs and she has brought them out to share this special time with everyone.

Unfortunately the details surrounding the Cubs, as to which Male Leopard could be the Father and when exactly they were born, are not know – but it is believed they are around 8weeks old.

This is Thlangisa’s first litter, as far as we’re aware, which is wonderful considering she’s the daughter of the Mambirri Female who’s territory was in the Southern part of out traversing. We look forward to spending time with these cubs and sharing the special moments between them and their mother.

Photos by Johan de la Rey, Hugo Breed and Reece Verdoorn

Ranger’s Report April 2014

Posted on 12 May 2014 by LH Focus Online

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

Ranger’s Report combined February & March 2014

Posted on 31 March 2014 by LH Focus Online

February flew by in a flash, and before we knew it, it was already the end of March. These two months have been filled with adventure and excitement. This year the big rains came late, and we had half our annual rainfall, about 300mm, in a matter of four days during March. All this rain added to the rain we had during February kept us from heading north of the Sand River as the levels were too high to cross.

Over the last two months Dayone seems to have found a liking in the Lodge as he made 3 different kills in and around the camp. He was seen in an altercation with another unidentified younger male Leopard. When the Othawa pride and Selati males arrived on the scene due to all the noise, Dayone quickly made his way out of the area. It seems that he has a injury on his left front leg as it is swollen and he is limping a bit, but this is definitely not keeping him back. Dayone was also found mating with the Dam 3 female.

Once again Kashane has been very scarce, as he still spends most of his time further to the East.

Nyeleti is starting to become a force to be reckoned with as he continually extends his territory further to the West and even a little bit to the South, pushing into Dayone’s territory. We have been having very good sightings of this male over the last two months. He has also been mating with Xikavi as well as Hlaba Nkunzi.

The Torchwood male still seems to be living a nomadic lifestyle as he is seen in different areas of the reserve. Hopefully he will establish himself somewhere in the Western Sector, so that we can view him more often. On one morning we were very privileged to see him fishing for some Catfish. This was quite a sight to behold.

Sightings of Hlaba Nkunzi have been few and far between. The reports were that she has had cubs to the East of our traversing area, as she was lactating and kept on going back to the same area. No confirmed sightings of the cubs were reported. With her now being seen mating with Nyeleti, speculations have been coming through that she has lost the cubs. Hopefully this is not the case and that she is having a false oestrous just to keep Nyeleti happy and away from her cubs.

Her daughter, Scotia, also doesn’t really seem to have established a territory as of yet. She is definitely a very good hunter, as she is often found with a kill. It looks like she also loves being the centre of attention as she constantly poses for the guests, making sightings of her always entertaining.

Metsi and her daughter, Boulders, have not been seen for the last two months. We believe they have been spending time in an area which was mostly inaccessible to vehicles due to all the rainfall.

Xikavi was seen mating with Nyeleti and also walked in on Nyeleti and Hlaba Nkunzi, after which they treed her and both females went their separate ways. It probably wasn’t her best period of time as she was also found losing an Impala kill to a Hyena.

The Dam 3 female has been her elusive self, only been seen once in a while. She was found mating with Dayone.

Due to the river levels we were unable to get to the Northern section of the Reserve. This is where the Ximunghwe pride has been spending their time for the last two months. We look forward to the levels dropping and being able to give you an update on the pride.

The Othawa’s once again have been moving all over. Some days they were all together and other days some cubs were on their own away from the rest. A couple of times the Selati males did some babysitting. The last that we saw of them all 3 females and 8 cubs were in very good condition. They also however did cross the river to the North late in the month.

All 3 the Selati brothers have been patrolling their territory to the West and East. They spent a couple of days on a Buffalo cow and calf that they killed. This put them all back into good condition. They would split up to patrol and then join up for a day or two before splitting up again. They have been facing pressure from the East in the form of the Majingilane coalition.

These 4 Majingilane males have been coming into Selati male territory more often. Luckily they have not come across one of the prides to be able to kill the cubs. The Selati’s seem to be standing their ground. At the time of writing of this report the Majingilane have had an altercation with one of the Selati males. The extent of the injuries are unknown. Follow our Facebook page for up to date updates on the situation.

The Wild Dogs were only seen on a few occasions. Most of those were from the southern bank of the river watching as they run on the inaccessible northern bank.

The past couple of weeks have been amazing in terms of Cheetah sightings. We have had the adult male, the adult female as well as her two sub-adult cubs that have now separated from her and making kills on their own. Hopefully at least one of the two sub-adults will become a resident Cheetah in the Western Sector.

The name Hyena is always preceded by a bad reputation. These interesting animals play such an important role in the ecosystem by keeping the bush clean. The youngsters are also always entertaining to observe.

Although we focus on the predators in these reports, we do not forget the other animals that make this place what it is. Elephant sightings have been amazing as well as with some of the smaller game, reptiles and Birds.

DHB_0478 — Juvenile Marshall Eagle in flight

DHB_0654 — Southern Yellow Billed Hornbill

As we enter into April and Autumn, we can see the bush changing again as well as the temperature starting to drop. We look forward to what is yet to come! Follow our Leopard Hills Facebook page for your daily updates!

Written and compiled by Hugo Breed and Johan de la Rey.

Leopard in camp for Sunday lunch

Posted on 17 February 2014 by LH Focus Online

It is Sunday afternoon roughly one o’clock, silence in the camp with a mellow relaxed mood all around. Then excitement starts building as we get the radio call from Jehanne that Dayone our dominant male leopard is on his way to the camp. We tried to get a glimpse of him to no avail. Then Richmond called on the radio to report that there was a leopard walking past the laundry coming to the reception area, this time we had a look and saw him by the camp entrance from where he kept on walking East towards the Boma. We followed him on foot trailing at a safe distance to see where he was going hoping he would just stay on the fire break and walk around the camp as a leopard in camp is great but not safe for unsuspecting guests walking on the pathway. Well as anyone that’s been on safari knows animals do not always do what you want them to do. And that is just what this male leopard did he stopped to listen then turned towards the camp and entered between Rooms six and seven. still keeping an eye on him and asking reception to let all the guests know to stay in the rooms. We realized that he was stalking a family of warthogs next to the main path going down to all the rooms. After waiting for about five minutes for his prey to move towards him he jumped into action and in the blink of an eye he had caught one of the year old piglets without an effort. He then immediately started dragging his “Sunday lunch” past room three out of the camp down towards the riverbed where we lost sight of him.

Ranger’s Report combined December 2013 & January 2014

Posted on 31 January 2014 by LH Focus Online

As 2013 drew to an end we welcomed the New Year with a bang. We hope that everyone had a wonderful and blessed festive season and that 2014 will be your year.

Due to the busy festive season our December blog did not go out. This however gave us time to acquire some information on the territories our resident Leopards occupy. The blog will also be a combined December and January blog.

We had a very generous rain season so far with over 200 millimeters of rain for December and January alone, so needless to say that the bush is very green and the vegetation is lush. With the festive season behind us and all the babies growing strong, all is good in the bush.

We had good sightings of Dayone as usual; he is still covering a huge territory and covering big distances between sightings. We did see him mating with Xikavi and the Dam 3 female over the two months.

Kashane was seen only a few times and by looking at the maps we can see why. He occupies a huge 77.4 square kilometer territory. He always amazes the guests with his huge size and power and still being able to be agile in trees.

The Torch Wood male was seen on occasions down in the south. He had a bit of interaction with Dayone but nothing serious.

Hlaba Nkunzi is as usual a good sighting and it seems that she is starting to distance herself from her daughter. She is also moving quite a lot throughout her territory.

Metsi was seen a few times in the central western parts of the reserve and also seems to do the same as Hlaba Nkunzi by distancing herself from her daughter.

Thlangisa is becoming a regular sighting North of the river for us and it seems that we worked out her movement patterns now.

The Dam 3 female was seen mating with Dayone for two days. When on her own she likes to hide from our view, but it seems that Dayone’s presence relaxes her a bit.

Although Xikavi was seen mating with Dayone we still saw suckle marks on her which gives us a bit of hope that her cub is still alive, the last time we saw the cub she was taking it into the East.

We were also very fortunate to see the beautiful Tasselberry resting in a Jackalberry tree. She is usualy very elusive but on that particular morning she couldn’t care less and gave as a wonderful sighting.

Metsi’s cub, who we now have named the Boulders female, seems to have relaxed with the vehicles and is giving us good sightings and it looks like she is settling in on the far West of her mom’s territory.

Hlaba Nkunzi’s cub, who we named the Schotia female, is doing well on her own and is even killing adult Impala now. It looks like she has taken a bit of mom’s territory around the Eastern parts of the Western Sector.

The pack of Wild Dogs visited us a few times in the festive season and as always with their busy lifestyle giving us endless sightings of action packed hunting and chasing.

We had a visit from two different male Cheetahs over the last two months one adult male and one young male that has just been kicked out by its mother. We were also lucky to see the female Cheetah with her two cubs again.

The Hyena den is no longer active with permanent pups in the den, although we still get to see the clan there every now and then as they still use it as resting spot during the heat of the day.

The Selati males are still holding a strong presence over the whole Western sector. They had a bit of a run in with the Sparta and Tsalala males. It seems that the Selati males were able to push them out of their territory for now. The three male are in good condition and still making their own kills.

The Ximhungwe pride is still going strong with all six the cubs still in good nick. They spent a good bit of time North of the river, but lately they are back in the central part of the reserve.

The Othawa pride is also doing well with all eight cubs growing quickly to young lions. They did spend good part of the festive season in the East outside our traversing but they are back home now.

We had some interesting sightings of our summer birds and the beautiful colors they display.

With the general game we had very good sightings with big herds of both elephant and buffalo moving through the area. We had a fair amount of sightings of zebra and giraffe always giving amazing photos in the open grass areas.

The year has already started with spectacular game viewing and hopefully it is only a prelude to what is to come. 2014 is going to be yet another interesting year which we look forward to sharing with you!

Our new Leopard Hills Website has also been launched! Go and have a look at www.leopardhills.com.

Written and compiled by Johan de la Rey and Hugo Breed.

Ranger’s Report November 2013

Posted on 5 December 2013 by LH Focus Online

Out in the Bush time can stand completely still for that moment as the Leopard or Lion is stalking its prey. And before you know it time has flown by and another month has come to an end. November was filled with exciting and amazing sightings as well as some beautiful thunder storms.

With the Othawa Pride covering most of the Western Sector this month we had the opportunity to see them moving quite a lot. They also killed a big Waterbuck Bull and spent a few days on the carcass. All 8 cubs are as playful as ever if not more, and supply us with endless entertainment as they tackle each other and flop over one another. The 3 Lionesses have been taking very good care of the cubs.

Fortunately for us the Ximhungwe Pride spent most of their time this month in the Western Sector. They were also found on a Zebra that they had killed. At the end of the month they followed the scent of a Rhino, which had died of natural causes, and the whole pride got to feed on it.

The Southern Pride, a pride that as a territory more to the South East of the Western Sector , is a pride which we do not see often. During this month a big Hippo Bull had a fight with a younger Hippo Bull and killed it. This carcass attracted a couple of Hyenas as well as 8 members of the Southern Pride which spent a couple of days feeding on the carcass in the mud.

The 3 Selati boys have been patrolling a lot and spending some time to the East. They also spent some time with the Othawa pride.

Hlaba Nkunzi has been leaving her cub on her own for longer periods now. With all the new Impala lambs around it has been easy for both Hlaba Nkunzi and her cub to make kills. We were lucky enough to see her cub take down an Impala lamb as if she has been doing it her whole life. Hlaba Nkunzi was also found mating with Nyeleti.

Metsi was found mating with Dayone for a couple of days, and it seems that she is also ready to separate from her cub. We were lucky enough to find her cub on her own and spend some time with her.

Xikavi has been providing us with some glimpses of her cub throughout the month. Unfortunately one of her cubs did not survive. There are speculations that it might have been killed by a snake. Xikavi was also found on the move and hunting quite a lot, to ensure that she has enough milk for her young one.

Thlangisa is still up in the North and moves all over. When she is found she gives us amazing sightings with her most of the time ending up in a tree.

Dayone has been very busy patrolling his area and also mating with Metsi. We found him up in a tree hiding away from the 3 Selati male Lions, which picked up on the scent of a kill that he had made in the area.

Unfortunately we don’t have many sightings of Kashane, as most of his territory is to the East. When he is found it is always a great sighting and amazing to see this big male move around.

With all of the rain we had, it seems that the Hyena den is not as active as usual, and as a result we have not been having as many sightings and especially no sightings of cubs. They however had a feast on the Hippo that died in the South.

After the Wild Dogs left their den site in the West we have not seen them a lot. Near the end of the month the pack with all 6 puppies did however come back West and spent a couple of days, giving us once again amazing sightings and opportunity to see them behave as only Wild Dogs can behave.

This month the Male Cheetah made an appearance, causing a lot of excitement. This time he appeared in the North and not the South as we are used to.

The General game viewing has also been astonishing with all the little ones around, ranging from baby Elephant, Impala lambs, Warthog piglets and even a couple of Side Striped Jackal Puppies.

Birding, as always this time of year, has been very good. With almost all the migrants back and some still returning we are seeing some beautiful birds.

IMG_0145 (504x800) — Black Bellied Bustard

IMG_0111 (533x800) — Dark Chanting Goshawk

IMG_0058 (800x533) — Yellow Billed Stork

IMG_0038 (498x800) — Southern White Faced Scops Owl

IMG_0005 (800x568) — Lilac Breasted Roller

The end of year draws near as we enter into December. With summer in full swing we anticipate some hot days followed by some powerful thunderstorms. On behalf of the Leopard Hills Team we would like to wish everyone a Happy Festive Season to be spent with family and friends.

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Written and Compiled by Hugo Breed and Johan de la Rey

The Loss of a Legend

Posted on 13 November 2013 by LH Focus Online

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing away of Ranger Raymond Mahatlani, Ray passed away yesterday morning following a short illness.

I don’t really know where to begin when faced with the daunting challenge of trying to sum up Ray’s amazing life into words…………he was quite simply A “Legend”.

I first met Ray when we were busy building Leopard Hills sixteen years ago, and was immediately drawn to his infectious smile and sense of humour, and there was no hesitation from our side in getting Raymond into the Team as a Tracker, after all, he had been born on the Reserve and nobody knew it better than he did.

You cannot work alongside someone day in and day out for 16 years, and not develop and bond and respect that goes beyond just being a simple colleague. I had been working in the Bush for 11 years when I first met Raymond Mahatlani, and had the privilege of working with some very talented Trackers, but it soon became evident that Ray had something even more special than simple talent for the art of Tracking. Ray had a gift, a raw intuition, which took him above and beyond anyone I had worked with before. After 11 years I thought I knew something about the Bush, Ray showed me I knew very little, but with his patients and tutoring, he opened a whole new world for me, something for which I will be eternally grateful.

I remember once, on a hot summer afternoon, we set off on the afternoon drive, and not far from the Lodge Ray held up his hand for me to stop the vehicle. Sitting up front on the Trackers seat he turned to me a told me there was very fresh tracks of a female leopard crossing the road. I got out of the vehicle and walked to the front, there, clearly in the sand, were the footprints, leading across the road and heading towards the thick bush to the west. Having explained to our Guests that Ray and I would be off the vehicle for a while following the tracks, I proceeded to walk into the bush looking for further signs of which way the animal had moved. After about twenty paces, I soon realised that Raymond was not following me on this venture, and turning around, discovered he was still sitting on the Trackers seat staring at me. Returning to the vehicle, Ray jumped down onto the road, and being the very gentleman he was, he said;

“I think you and I should have a meeting”!!!

So as not to embarrass me in front of our Guests, we walked down the road out of “earshot” and he proceeded to ask me what I was doing? A little taken aback, I informed him I was following Leopard tracks. I will never forget the look on Raymond’s face as he shook his head as though I had disappointed him.

“Your problem is, you don’t think like an animal” he informed me.

He told me to get back to the vehicle and drive to the nearest waterhole. I proceeded to explain to Ray that the tracks were heading west, and the waterhole was in the east. Again a little shake of the head, followed by an explanation.

“Think like the animal. It has been a hot day; the Leopard crossed the road earlier into the thick bush, looking for shade to rest up. It is cooling down now, she will want to drink, stop wasting time and drive to the waterhole”.

Feeling a bit like a child who had just been admonished by a parent, I returned to the vehicle, and we proceeded to the waterhole, and there she was, crouched, drinking at the water’s edge. A lesson was learnt, and it will never be forgotten.

When Raymond was on the Tracks of a particular animal, he was like a bloodhound; he would not give up until he had found what he was looking for. The numerous Guests, who had the privilege of spending time with Ray in the Bush, will attest to this raw ability, and the affinity he had to his surroundings.

The uncountable hours Ray and I spent together in the Bush were a blessing, and it was a joy in 2007 when Raymond completed his final exams and left the Trackers seat forever, and became a Ranger. It was a proud moment indeed, and it was the next step in Ray’s career, which like everything else he undertook, was taken on with passion and enthusiasm.

In the 16 years that Raymond worked with us at Leopard Hills, he was a part of every Ranger and Trackers lives, and he added to and contributed to their success in one way or another. Raymond was a constant, he was always there to offer guidance and support, and made many a good Ranger and exceptional one.

Oom Louis and Raymond — Raymond with Leopard Hills Owner Mr Louis Kruger Snr at the 10 year Service Awards. Louis looked at Raymond as a son.

There are just too many memories and stories of Ray to put down here, but suffice it to say, Ray’s family have lost a Husband and Father, we have lost a Brother, and the Bush has lost a “Legend”. The Bush is a lonelier place without you in it, but it is a better place for what you gave it.

I lay awake in the early hours of this morning, memories of Ray running through my mind, and as if on cue, the Roar of Lions in the distance, bidding a final goodbye to a man who lived among them for so many years.

God speed my brother, and until we meet again in the Bush beyond, leave a clear trail that we may follow your tracks, over the horizon and beyond.

Your friend and Brother

Duncan Rodgers

Ranger’s Report October 2013

Posted on 2 November 2013 by LH Focus Online

With lightning and the soft rolling thunder threatening on the horizon we awaited the first storm of the season to give us relieve from the dust and heat. The beautiful summer sunsets are back with the odd cloud in the sky enhancing the array of colours.

The Othawa pride is still going strong, with the three females and all eight cubs still going about normal life, including the one female without cubs that was seen mating with the Selati males. Hopefully in the next three months we might see a new litter of cubs. The pride was also found on a Buffalo kill this month which created some very full and uncomfortable bellies.

The Ximhungwe pride spent most of the time in the South and East only giving us glimpses for a couple of hours at a time. Lucky for us, at the end of the month, they did cross back and went all the way West and North, ensuring for some more frequent viewing. They are still all accounted for, the three females and all six cubs are looking good and strong.

The Selati males were still split up with the three still sticking together and the one ill one on his own, whom eventually succumbed to this lone lifestyle. There was a report from the East that he got caught up in a group of Buffalo and got killed. The three boys are still spending a lot of time with the Othawa pride.

Hlaba Nkunzi and her cub gave us a good chance to practice our tracking skills with the areas she chose to spend time in this month. Once they were found she provided us with awesome sightings. The cub was found alone on quite a few occasions exploring the area that mom left her in. With the cub at just over twelve months of age mom will start to leave her alone for longer and more often to get her use to the lone lifestyle, luckily for us the cub is just as relaxed as mom and we are still getting grate views of her. Round the end of the month Hlaba Nkunzi and Dayone was found mating close to the Lodge.

We only saw Metsi on one occasion this month, it was however a great sighting with her up a tree with an Impala kill and a Hyena on the ground waiting for scraps with Metsi’s cub also on the ground hiding from the Hyena. We did have more frequent sightings of her female cub who was amazingly relaxed with the vehicles around her. She was seen quite close to the lodge and then we got tracks the next day of mom and her leaving the area, we can only assume that Metsi came and fetched her to a kill as we did not manage to stay on the tracks…..

With Kashane’s territory being so huge we don’t see him a lot but when we see him, he usually gives us a good show and time for awesome photos……

Thlangisa is becoming more of a regular sighting North of the river for us, it seems that we managed to work out her behavior in the North, we did at some stage see suckle marks on her and excitement was high, but later in the month the suckle marks dried up and we suspect that she might have lost the litter.

The Torchwood male is also becoming a regular in the Western Sector with this young male even making kills with vehicles following him, so needless to say this is a welcomed addition to the Western Sector’s Leopards.

Xikavi broke the new cub drought with her addition of two new cubs to the West. She has shown them to us but at only a month old you can imagine that the view was limited. Let’s hope that in the future we will get many more great sightings of the two little ones!!!!

The shy Dam 3 female was seen a few times, she seems to be more relaxed at night time with us than what she is in day time. We are also proud to announce that there is reports that this shy lady has also shown us a glimpse of two tiny little cubs, crossing our fingers that we will get a view of the two soon.

Close to the end of the month we saw the Blue eyed female called Hukamuri up in the North.

The Dayone male is still doing his usual marathon walks covering huge distances in a day to patrol his massive territory; he is in good nick and still keeping the young males at bay. He was also found mating with Hlaba Nkunzi for a couple of days!

At the risk of running into Dayone or Kashane, the Nyeleti male is keeping a low profile but still giving us good sightings, at some stage been seen very close to Hlaba Nkunzi’s cub in the center of our area but luckily he did nothing to her and the peace was kept. At the end of the month he was found mating with Xikavi.

We had a brief visit from a full-grown male Cheetah down in the South for a couple of hours and then he silently sneaked back to the east. It is always a privilege to see these gracious animals as they in general avoid the areas with a high population of large predators like the Western sector.

With the Hyena population on the up we are definitely getting more sighting of them, apart from the Den site we also see their presence around kills more often. With the ongoing age old battle of eternal enemies we witnessed the demise of a young Hyena to the fangs of a Othawa female.

For the last couple of months the Wild Dogs were denning in the Western Sector. They started taking the youngsters on day trips further and further away from the safety of the Den. This gave us amazing viewing of the whole pack and also a sneak peek into the dynamics of everyday pack life. Unfortunately they have now moved more East, and we await their return. We also had a brief glimpse of a different pack from the North East.

The General game viewing was good as always with large herds of Buffalo coming into the area and with the heat all the Elephants in the river. The odd Wildebeest hanging around with the Impala and the flash of black and white stripes from the Zebras are still breaking up the clearings. We are anxiously awaiting all the new born Impalas!

With most of the migratory birds back in the area we still await the first Woodlands kingfisher to break the morning silence with its sharp distinct call. We had some amazing bird sightings this month with some of the old issues returning, like “Which big brown raptor is flying up there? Tawney,Wahlberg, Yellow billed Kite or Brown snake eagle?”

IMG_0016 (533x800) — Collared Sunbird Chicks

IMG_0133 (800x695) — Southern White Faced Owl

IMG_0143 (480x800) — Dark Chanting Goshawk

DHB_5063 — Red Billed and Yellow Billed Oxpecker

The Sand River has started to fill up, the bush is getting greener and thicker and the Dung Beetles are hard at work. We look forward to what November has in store for us at Leopard Hills and the Western Sector.

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Written and compiled by Hugo Breed and Johan de la Rey