A new male leopard moves into Makwelas territory………
For the last 3 1/2 months we have been following Makwela and her 3 new cubs. We have had some phenomenal sightings an many frustrating hours tracking them.
About a week ago after being to the sighting in the morning and seenig them on a bushbuck kill i took my stayover guests and my new guests back to the same sighting.
When we got to the sighting and found a male leopard in the same tree where one of the cubs was in the morning. On closer inspection we saw him sitting with his paw over one of the cubs and it was DEAD.
This was a very sad time for us that has been following them.
From Michelle in Dubai
This is a very sad moment I feel as we all love Makwela and automatically her new adorable cubs. Nature is so brutal at times. I pray her remaining two cubs will survive.
Michelle says it best. At least we have these wonderful photos.
Wow, you see this on wildlife documentaries quite often and it’s easy to watch it as the laws of nature unfold. In all honesty, I’m quite emotional right now and this is purely due to the power of the Leopard Hills blog and how all of you at the lodge have allowed us to share in the day to day happenings of this incredible place. To Duncan, Hannes and Gary, although it is indeed a very sad time, a big thank you for canvassing this short, yet very special life of an incredible animal for us.
It took me a day to get up the courage to view this…hopefully her remaining 2 cubs will survive. Ditto as to what Andrew C wrote. However, thanks for sharing these special photos, Gary. Repelile from Joy in Camarillo CA.