After a heat wave of temperatures reaching the high thirties, it has been a chilly last few days with strong winds and far cooler temperatures. This made game viewing difficult as fresh tracks were blown over by the dust and many animals retreated to the thickets to lie low. Despite it being windy and cool conditions, it meant the ranging and tracking team needed to work that much harder to find what we were looking for. Highlights this last week were that of the Ntsevu pride feeding on a giraffe calf, multiple leopards on hoisted kills and a few good cheetah sightings, which is always very special as these elusive cats are few and far between. Enjoy the following images showcasing this last week.
Enjoy the week in pictures…
The Mashaba female is currently Londolozi’s best-known leopard. Her relaxed nature means she is comfortable around the vehicles.
The Hosana Male arrived in mid-2018 and is now dominant over Othawa, rarely seen on Londolozi's western boundary.
This female is a success story all in herself, being born as a single cub to the Riverbank 3:3 female in early 2012.
Stunning pics this week. Love the leopards and the rhino.
Alex wonderful pictures this week. The Zebra pics were excellent. Looking forward to seeing the Hyena cubs grow
Hyena cubs are the cutest! And glad to hear Hosana is thriving and you all at Londolozi are enjoying having him!
Lovely photos, especially the cub looking directly into the lens.
Alex, were those the 2 cheetahs we saw when we last there in 2018, I think their mother passed?
We speculate so, yet can’t confirm 100%
All suberb images this week, Alex. Seeing the beginnings of manes on certain male cubs shows how quickly they mature. Even a stronger force to be reckoned with in the near future. I don’t understand why the Mashaba is roaming further and further into new territories with a cub that is far from mature! How can that little one fend for itself? Puzzling and disappointing since Londolozi needs all cubs to survive to adulthood.
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Completely right about the strengthening pride Joanne. As it stands Mashaba doesn’t have any young offspring. It is possibly her last mature cub born 2015 (Ximungwe) that you might be thinking of? Ximungwe currently has one cub that is doing well.
Alex, there was speculation that Mashaba was pregnant when we were there in August. Update?
Thank you Alex for wonderful images this week, especially the leopards and zebras. So look forward to this blog every Friday!
Great TWIP Alex. Any news on Ndzanzeni’s cub, also Mashaba’s litter?
I speak under correction but it seems as though both Ndzanzeni and Mashaba have lost their most recent litters. Both have been quite secretive of late so time will tell.
What a great week in pictures. You all have no idea how your blogs cheer us up as the country is in chaos. It is just what we need to get thru another day! Victoria
Thought you all might be interested to know that Moya/Nanga is currently in the northern Sabi Sands (around Elephant Plains) mating with Hukumuri. Not sure how often you see her these days.
Thank you Michael. We are aware of the mating pair. It seems as though Nanga/Moya has shifted her territory further north of our northern boundary, yet she still ventures onto Londolozi now and again. This in turn allows more territory for her last successful offspring, the Makomsava female.
Alex, any idea as to the exact sex ratio of the Ntsevu cubs?
Amazing photos this week! The curiosity and bravery of an elephant calf sounds like a wondrous sight to witness.
It’s incredible how much distance those two cheetah have covered. I wonder if they will eventually split up or surprise everyone and stay together.. because not everything in nature happens the way textbooks say they should! ….And Hosana… Looks like he has been rubbing his face in dung again… such a silly, yet entertaining leopard. I’m very happy to know that he is thriving. It will be interesting to know where (and when) he finally decides to settle, and set up shop.
It’s amazing how different the Ntsevu Lion cubs look, in contrast to the Tsalala cubs. – At least, to me, the picture of the growing Ntsevu cub,.. he looks “fiercer” than the Tsalala cubs do.
Grant you, Life in the Bush, isn’t easy for any lion, especially for the cubs as they grow up. Yet this week’s picture of the adolescent cub is striking in way that you can see his “male lion features” coming into place, which I’ve never seen in past pictures. The cub looks like he will be quite a force within his coalition when he becomes a fully grown adult!
We haven’t had wi-fi for around 5 / 6 weeks. Telkom doesn’t repair / replace stolen cables anymore. So no phones, emails, NOTHING and, of course, no TWIPs which was so sad! However, we now have FIBRE (uncapped) and it is MUCH more reasonable and covers both phones and computer! Having to catch up now on all the Londolozi news and pics. Loved the Grey Heron in flight and have taken it as a Screensaver! Missed our “bush fix” every day. Wendy M
Incredible photo of the white-backed vulture, making it look somewhat majestic,
These images are amazing!!! Nice work on capturing that vulture!
Your image of the Hosana male stole the show for me this week, though those two cheetah were a close second. Thank you for the update – I enjoy your images immensely.