Leopard diaries

Leopard Diaries 15^th - 21^st February

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This week we have had some wonderful rainfall which has revived the bush after the hot temperatures which were experienced over the previous two weeks. The temperatures this week have also been far milder and had made game drives a lot more comfortable.

Game viewing has been good with a number of fantastic leopard sightings. Lion sightings however have been fewer as both the Tsalala and Styx prides moved off our traversing. Elephant Numbers have been good with a number of herds being seen, many of which are still feeding on the fruiting marula trees. The highlight of the week has been the increased number of rhino sightings with a crash of four animals being found daily moving around the property, utilising the mud wallows made available by the rainfall.

Leopard

Salayexe and her two cubs all still healthy and have provided some very memorable sightings to our guests. The two cubs were found early one morning and we watched as they moved around chasing not only each other but very nervous trees squirrels. The squirrels were chased up and down a Leadwood tree for twenty minutes with the young female cub trying everything in her power to catch one.

The old female Safari was found late one afternoon on a kudu kill. She had managed to bring down a young calf and was seen for the following three days as she fed on the carcass. Although now 17 years of age, she is still proving to be a very able hunter.

The young leopard female Mbilo, was seen around Big Dam trying to hunt a herd of impala. She was unsuccessful and moved on to a termite mound posing for some fantastic photographic opportunities.

Lion

The Styx pride was seen early one morning on a juvenile zebra kill which was already finished. The pride then moved to a nearby waterhole and spent the rest of the day relaxing in the shade of some trees close to the water.

The Sandy Patch female made a surprise appearance late on Sunday afternoon when she was seen drinking from the waterhole in front of the lodge just before the evening game drive. The lioness and her cub appear to be surviving on smaller kills and had not gained any condition since the last time we had seen them. They spent the evening resting close to the waterhole and we expect to be seeing more of them in the coming week.

Elephant

As previously mentioned, elephant sightings have been good this week. A large number of herds have been seen moving through the property feeding on the Marula fruit that is still abundant.

Buffalo and Rhinoceros

The resident Buffalo bulls have provided the majority of our Buffalo sightings this week. A large herd then moved through the eastern half of the traversing area but was then seen moving north into a neighbouring property during the latter half of the week.

Rhinoceros have been easier to find and we have had regular sightings of a crash consisting of four animals that have been utilising the area around Simbambili Dam. The Shorthorn rhino bull has also been seen making regular territorial patrols in the northern half of the traversing area. The Londolozi rhino bull was also seen marking his territoy in the company of three other rhinoceros during the week.

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Cheetah

Every sighting of cheetah is a special one here at Simbambili, and the sighting of a young ingle male cheetah on Saturday was no different. However after we had viewed him the young male moved north out of our property and was reported later to be stalking a herd of waterbuck in a neighbouring property.

Kind regards

The Simbambili Guiding Team

Leopard Diaries 8^th- 14^th February

Lion Game Reserve

The week has seen some fantastic wildlife viewing, with lion numbers being exceptionally high. We have had two prides on the property for the entire week. General game viewing has also been superb with large herds of giraffe and zebra being seen regularly.

The weather has been quite good with some extremely hot midday temperatures pushing the mercury well into the 40 degrees Celsius mark. With the promise of rain heavy in the air on Friday we were disappointed to only receive a brief thundershower which delivered 2mm of rain!

The high temperatures have started to turn the grass in certain areas and it looks as if we may have a much drier winter than last year.

Leopard

The young female leopard Mbilo has been seen almost daily in the vicinity of Big Dam, and we watched her late one afternoon as she attempted to catch a monitor lizard in the high branches of a Knobthorn tree. The lizard was not having anything to do with this and put up a brave and aggressive display and the inexperienced leopard backed away from the confrontation quite quickly.

It seemed to be the week for some interesting encounters with the leopards and the big lizards. Salayexe's male cub was found playing a game of "cat & lizard" with another small rock monitor. He would wait until the monitor had moved off and then go and retrieve and play with the reptile until it froze, the cub however did eventually kill the monitor and then left the kill to find his sister.

The male leopard, Mafufunyane was seen at the airstrip where he was marking and patrolling his territory. He chanced upon a sounder of warthogs and wasted no time in chasing down one of the year old pigs. He then spent the following three days finishing off the carcass which afforded us some excellent viewing.

Lion<
The lion viewing this week, as previously mentioned has been phenomenal. Both the Styx and Tsalala prides have been present in the area and have provided us with some fabulous viewing.

The Styx pride was found moving through the eastern half of our traversing area and spent the majority of their time resting around the airstrip. The short grass plains that surround the airstrip are a magnet to the many grazing species including wildebeest and zebra, which are a favored prey of the big cats. The pride was unsuccessful on the occasions that we watched them hunt and as a result they left the property early on Sunday morning.

The Tsalala pride, was more successful and the appeared to have fed on at least three kills during their stay. The eight cubs are all still healthy and we have positively indentified that they are made up of two male cubs and six female cubs, which means that the pride is going to grow and become nine strong which will make them a formidable hunting unit. The cubs however are still young and the only thing that they are hunting at the moment is each other or the end of their mothers tail!!

Elephant

Good elephant numbers have been seen this week, with the late fruiting marula's proving to be too much of a temptation for them. Herds have averaged between 10 and 20 animals and have been seen almost daily this week.

Buffalo & Rhinoceros

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It seems that we have a new territorial male rhino. After a number of weeks of almost no rhino sightings this week we have been finding the pachyderms on almost every game drive. 2 crashes of four rhino have been seen regularly with either the Londolozi bull in attendance or the new rhino bull. This bull does not seem too relaxed with the vehicles and is often seen huffing and puffing in the background as his herd feeds peacefully nearby.

Buffalo numbers are still good with no large herds moving through the area during the week but the resident bulls have been seen on a regular basis all utilizing the mud wallows scattered around the property.

Wild Dog

The pack of four wild dogs moved through the area for two days this week being seen on both morning drives on the days they were present. They managed to kill an impala in an open area after short chase and wasted no time in bolting the meat down. The four appear to range over the entire eastern half of the reserve and we are seeing them at least once a week.

Kind Regards
The Simbambili Guiding Team

Leopard Diaries 1^st - 7^th February

Game Reserve Leopard Sighting

Clear blue skies and warm sunny weather have made the days and evenings very pleasant here at Simbambili this week. The bush is as lush as I have seen it and the grass in certain areas is as tall as an elephants shoulder! This has made game viewing a little bit tricky but has not affected the number of fantastic sightings that we have enjoyed this week.

Leopards have been spotted on every game drive this week, but it has been the presence of the biggest cat, the lion, that has been the most pleasant surprise. Elephant numbers have been good as they move in to feed on the fruiting marulas. We have found it less easy to find rhinoceros and buffalo numbers have been relatively lower than normal this week.

Leopard

Salayexe, the female leopard, has been seen regularly again this week and it is becoming evident that she is starting to move through her territory on her own, often spending three or four days away from her cubs. The cubs have been seen resting on their own on three occasions this week, often chasing and stalking each other as they hone the skills necessary for their future hunting endeavours.

Mbilo also provided us with some fantastic viewing. This young leopardess was seen early one morning as she moved through the bush, looking for a meal. A rustle in the long grass and the strident alarm calls of the parents alerted her to the presence of a francolin nest. The leopard wasted no time in catching and eating all of the young chicks present in the nest. Later in the day we watched as she stalked a small herd of impala, although she was unsuccessful it is always exciting to watch in anticipation as a predator stalks its prey.

Leopard Game Reserve

Lion

The presence of the Tsalala Pride has been a welcome surprise after almost a month of not seeing the pride as they spent the majority of last month in a neighbouring property.

The three lionesses and their eight cubs have been seen on every drive since Friday evening. The highlight was a sighting of them chasing a small herd of buffalo on one morning drive. It is great to see that the cubs with their inquisitive natures starting to stalk and follow prey, it will not be long before the lionesses start to include them in the hunts. The pride managed to kill two wildebeest early one morning and had finished the carcasses by the time they were found resting with full bellies on one of the airstrips in our traversing area.

Game Lodge Drive Specials

Elephant

Elephant herds have been seen every day as they move through the area feeding on the marula fruits. The warm weather has also seen the herds moving to the waterholes to relieve themselves from the heat with a good mud bath and a long drink.

Buffalo & Rhinoceros

The resident buffalo bulls have been utilising the waterhole in front of the lodge on a daily basis. The bulls arrive just before sunrise and spend most of the day submerged in the cool water of the pan, moving out to feed as the sun sets. Other than these "daga boys" There has been only a large single herd of buffalo on the concession this week.

Rhinoceros have been difficult to find, they seem to be utilising the inaccessible river-lines, which provide not only cool shady cover but also readily available water and wallowing spots. We managed only one sighting this week which was of a small crash of four rhino as they grazed peacefully early one morning.

Wild Dog

We enjoyed a surprise sighting of the four male wild dogs this week. The dogs were spotted on the driveway as we left the lodge early one Game Lodge SA

morning. They proceeded to move straight through the lodge and finally chased and killed a young impala later in the morning. The four dogs appear to be utilising the area more frequently and we are hoping that a female will join them to start a new breeding pack this season.

Leopard Diaries 25^th January - 31^st January

The lowveld has experienced some very hot and humid days this week with a number of rain showers. February is one of the months when we receive a large portion of our rainfall and as we have already received just short of four hundred millimetres of rain thus far, it looks as if we are going to have a good rainfall year. The rainfall should carry us through a major portion of the dry season with all of the temporary pans and permanent waterholes holding good volumes of water. Game viewing has been good although the lush vegetation and tall grass has made finding game a little more difficult. We have started to have more regular sightings of the female leopard Nyeleti and her three cubs, Nyeleti is once again utilising a greater portion of her northern range.

Leopard

Salayexe and her cubs were seen on one rainy morning as they finished an impala carcass that had been killed the previous evening. The cubs are now approaching their first birthday and Salayexe is starting to leave them on their own for extended periods. She is also starting to show more signs of aggression to the cubs and we are certain that this is the start of the separation when the cubs will be left to their own independence by their mother. Nyeleti has three younger cubs that are still very reliant on their mother for all of their meals and the female leopard has been a more than capable provider. The three cubs, two of which are male and one a female are all healthy and appear to be flourishing. They were seen on three occasions this week one of which was definitely the highlight of the weeks sightings. Nyeleti had managed to kill a bushbuck and had brought the three cubs back to the kill to feed. The leopards were unfortunately not going to get a good meal as two spotted hyena arrived. They managed to steal the kill from the leopards, but not before a show of real aggression from the female leopard!

Lion

The Styx pride were spotted on two occasions this week, both sightings were of them resting full bellied and content on the airstrip of one of the camps in the eastern half of our traversing. The pride appears to be settling down and the sub adult lions seem to be taking a bigger part in the hunts which is contributing to a more successful pride.

Elephant

Elephant have been found on every drive this week, with large herds moving back into the area to take advantage of the bumper marula fruiting season. The herds have spent considerable time moving from fruiting tree to fruiting tree, feeding on the delicious seasonal bounty that these fruits provide. The largest of the herds seen this week numbered well over fifty animals and the numbers of small calves' present shows that elephant numbers within the Kruger Park system are still on the rise. There have been a number of large bulls seen either singly or in small groups following the breeding herds.

Buffalo & Rhinoceros

Buffalo have been very easy to locate this week with three herds being seen on the property as well as the resident bulls who are seen daily utilising the waterhole in front of the lodge as a relaxing mud wallow. Rhinoceros on the other hand have been rather difficult to locate and we have had only a single sighting of Shorthorn, the dominant male in the north-western area of our property. He was found on a cool morning enjoying a good wallow and scratching session at a waterhole.

Regards The Simbambili Guiding Team

Leopard Diaries 18th to 24th January 2010

The game viewing this week has been unbelievable! It is often thought that the green season is a time when game viewing becomes rather difficult as the bush is much more dense but this week has proven that this is untrue. The weather has been good with no rain and temperatures averaging 32 degrees Celsius during the day. There have been a few overcast days and as we neared the end of the week the humidity climbed promising some rain in the next few days. The predator viewing at Simbambili seems to be getting better and better, with all three of the large cats and wild dog spotted during the week. Large herds of buffalo have also been present on the property for the entire week.

Leopard

The high densities of the leopard population in the northern Sabi Sand Reserve is what makes this one of the best leopard viewing areas in the world. We were lucky enough to have seen twelve individual leopards over the course of the week. The presence of a mating pair of leopards caused a lot of excitement with Tyson, the dominant male in the western part of our traverse area being found with a previously unknown female leopard that is new to the area. The pair were still mating on Sunday and were seen twice during the week. Salayexe and her two cubs are providing the bulk of our leopard sightings. This female leopard is starting to spend longer periods away from her cubs, who are fast approaching their first birthdays and independence. The two cubs are still very reliant on their mother for their meals although they are proving to be good students and have been able to hunt smaller prey successfully, such as rodents and birds while Salayexe is away.

Salayexe is also starting to show less tolerance for the cubs, often growling and hissing as they approach her, this is normal behaviour and over the next six to twelve months the two cubs should be sent on their way as independent sub - adult leopards. This is a testing time for a young leopard and one we are looking forward to witnessing.

The leopard sighting of the week however belongs to Mbilo the young leopard female who has taken up residence in the Arathusa Big Dam area. Mbilo was found one afternoon watching as a large herd of buffalo made their way to the water to quench their thirst. The herd numbered in the region of a hundred animals with a number of small calves present.

The movement and noise that is always present with a herd of buffalo was too much for the young leopard to resist and she stalked closer. The leopard found herself almost in the middle of the herd and locked onto some of the smaller calves. Now you can imagine our surprise when she tried to stalk and catch one of these young buffalo calves! The wind however carried her scent to the buffalo who immediately went on the defensive gathering the small calves into the centre of the herd and forming a wall of horns and bodies to protect their offspring from the as yet unseen threat. The leopard showed some mettle by remaining still and utilising her camouflage to remain unseen by the buffalo, the herd then moved off and the leopard followed once again trying to ambush some of the small calves. This was not to be as the buffalo finally found the small cat and proceeded to chase her and she had to take refuge up a large marula tree.

Lion

The lion viewing this week has been good with the Styx and Windmill prides being seen. The Sandy Patch lioness and her cub have also been present on the property. The Styx pride managed to bring down two zebras late one evening and were found the following morning feeding on the remains. The pride then spent the following three days in the area with swollen bellies and droopy eyes as they digested their meals.

Elephant

Elephant numbers have been good and the presence of a large herd near the end of the week provided a number of good sightings with some young calves being present in the herd. The young calves, provide hours of amusement as they try to figure out how to best use their trunks, which appear to have a life of their own.

Buffalo and Rhinoceros

White rhinoceros have been conspicuous by their absence this week. We had only a handful of sightings of the two dominant bulls in our area, the Londolozi bull and the Shorthorn bull. These two bulls move in different areas of the property and were seen recently in a territorial stand-off on their common boundary. Buffalo numbers have been fantastic with three herds being seen, all utilising different areas throughout our traversing. The sight of a hundred buffalo as they rush to a waterhole to drink and wallow is one of the best sightings in the bush. The excitement of the animals is palpable and so is the sense of relief that seems to overcome them as they rush into the cool of the water.

Cheetah & Wild Dog

A sighting of the rarest of the predators, African wild dogs, was a great surprise this week. The dogs were seen on two consecutive days. The pack consisted of four adult males and the dogs were seen to chase and feed on two different impala kills. They were last seen as they streaked after another impala herd in a neighbouring property on our western boundary.

Late one afternoon we received a radio call that four male cheetah had been found in the eastern half of the reserve. We made our way over to the sighting and were rewarded with a sight of four adult male cheetah as they moved through the bush scent marking and resting in the shade of a large Leadwood tree. The sighting did not last long as the cheetah got active shortly after our arrival and moved east into the Kruger National Park. The sighting was fantastic and the flat tyre we managed to get on the way there was a small price to pay to witness these elegant cats in the wild.

Regards, The Simbambili Guiding Team

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