September and October don’t often have a lot of status attached to them in the South African Lowveld. Winter is June/July August (cold and dry), and Summer is December/January/February, defined by soaring temperatures and spectacular thunderstorms.
But September and October occupy a bit of a funny position in that there is nothing that truly defines them. Yes the temperatures are rising, but nothing properly dramatic tends to happen until at least November. Or so conventional wisdom would have you believe.
In fact, these first two months of spring offer some of the best game viewing of the year, with the driest time in the bush forcing everything towards what little water remains, resulting in fantastic concentrations of predators in particular.
Take a look below at what happened in October of 2014…
The Sparta Pride in full cry. We had seen this sick old buffalo cow about 20 minutes before we tracked down the lions. She was tailing onto a big bachelor herd of about 15 bulls. The buffalo unwittingly walked right in to where the lions were sleeping, and the pride immediately singled out the emaciated cow as their target. They took her down six times in total, with the bulls driving them off repeatedly, before she eventually succumbed.
I can’t even remember which leopard this was of sadly, but I suspect it was the Piva male. Either way, it’s not often you get close enough to one of these beautiful cats for such a close-up look at their rosettes.
Directly descended from the original mother leopard and therefore part of the royal lineage of Londolozi.
Hyenas will move dens when there is a significant parasite build-up, and we just happened to be lucky enough to bump into this female ferrying one of her cubs to the new site. At first we thought she was killing something, as whatever she had in her mouth was squealing and kicking up a heck of a fuss. It was only when we got closer that we saw it was a cub, clearly uncomfortable in the way it was carried, and not meek and limp like a lion or leopard cub would be in this situation.
October is a time of dust, although 2014 featured a lot more water in the Sand River. This year, with much drier conditions, there is scant relief from the dust that is pervading life across the reserve.
A pied kingfisher tries for one last meal before darkness.
The end of the dry season is a difficult time for the grazers, with the buffalo in particular losing condition. This old bull just didn’t have the strength to defend himself against the Tsalala pride, a fact which I doubt these white-backed and hooded vultures were bemoaning.
The Tsalala pride – when they were still a thing – frequented the Sand River, exactly as the lone Tsalala lioness is doing now. Again, the significant visible difference between now and 5 years ago is how much water was in the river.
The pride was raising cubs at the time – one of which is the current Tsalala female – and were all splashing around in the shallows, getting wet. Unfortunately most of their play was behind a reedbed which made photography tricky, but here is one of the lionesses shaking herself dry.
And of course, the cubs are always the ones with the high energy!
The Tamboti female had left her normal territory to venture all the way north to just downstream of the Londolozi camps; a good 4 kilometres beyond the usual edge of her territory. She had done this in order to mate with the Marthly male, who can just be seen disappearing over the rock to the left. Female leopards will attempt to mate with all the neighbouring males in the area, to get them all invested in the paternity of the cubs, should the female fall pregnant.
The Tamboti female inhabited the south-eastern sections of Londolozi, having a large part of her territory along the Maxabene Riverbed.
The Majingilane were very much in their prime back in 2014. In this sighting I think the Tsalala pride had killed a buffalo, but were robbed by the Mhangeni pride. The Majingilane calmed everything down as the prides went their separate ways, and we had some spectacular views of the big males up on the rocks along the edge of the Sand River. Ranger Lucien Beaumont and his guests watch from the background.
The greenery in the background of this picture caught my eye from the October archives. Generally the bush is much browner than this, but quite possibly a bit of rain had fallen, and some of the Knobthorn trees were already starting to leaf.
This was the 6th and final time that the Sparta pride took down the buffalo cow from the opening picture. I still find it quite difficult to look at this photo, from the very evident terror in the poor buffalo’s eye. Her fate was sealed.
James some amazing shots. “Dinner is Served”
Wonderful memories. I have read that the Sparta pride is still around in the reserve although much smaller now.
Hi Marinda,
Yes they are still around (two lionesses) and seen regularly in southern Mala Mala and on Kirkman’s. I believe one of the lionesses is currently raising cubs that were conceived through the Avoca males…
If I remember correctly this was the year when the lack of rain and lack of rain caused the buffalo herds to be decimated be the lions as they were struggling to find enough to eat. We were thrilled to see that the herds were thriving this past January. Hope that continues ! Victoria
Hi Victoria,
It was actually the following two years in which the rains failed; the height of the drought occurred towards the end of 2016. The cow in this instance just happened to be sick and in poor condition as a result.
Yes, it’s so great to see how the herds have recovered to some extent!
At that time neither the word “Trump”, nor the word “Ramaphosa” were words associated with the word “President”. It would have been interesting if someone had kept simple meteorological information such as rainfall and daily maximum and minimum temperatures which would help explain the flowing river and the greenery. Maybe such records would be available at Skukuza airport?
Hi Darryl,
There certainly are records available. The greenery is affected by local rains, but the flow of the Sand River is dictated far more by rainfall up in the catchment to the west of us, and subsequently influenced by usage downstream, both by dams and extraction for farming. The impact of the latter two are hard to measure…
James, what beautiful memories🤗
Interesting scrapbook of photos from 2014. You have to admire the tenacity of the Sparta Pride to bring down that old cow, considering the bulls were around to harass them!
Hi James. I know that a lot of people quote about kills being a natural cycle of nature. I understand this. But quite honestly the very last thing I ever want to see is something like this. It is all very well for me to tell myself not to be so stupid, but if I was with a Landrover of people who wanted to sit and watch this, I would shut my eyes and simply not look.at all and try to blot out the noise as well. I am happy to watch predators eat but I hate the way they have to prepare their meals! Wendy M
Hi Wendy,
It can be a difficult ting to watch, especially when it comes to Lions and buffalo, in which the whole thing can take a long time and the animal is clearly in distress.
Sometimes as you say, the best thing is just to close your eyes and block your ears until it’s over…
It’s the sounds as much as the sights…
They seem to get edited out where TV is concerned.
October 2014 I was there on drive with you when you took the zebra photo. That was the same day we spent time with nkoveni in the tree. I wasn’t there when the buffalo walked into the lions but I recall hearing about it on radio. Funny we were just talking about how October is my favorite time to visit Londolozi.
So great to see you today!!! Safe travels back to your wonderful world of nature…..keep tracking
Yip, Zebra photo was the day with the wild dogs, unless I’m much mistaken…? 🙂
You are correct. How did you remember that??? I went back to my photos and there they were in the same batch…wild dogs. we also saw elephants fighting and tsalala pride with tailess.
Great photos I like the lion crossing the river and the lioness shaking herself dry
Great blog and nice to see the leopard bio’s back in the blog. We remember the sightings but their bio’s are not always included. Also, how about sharing your photographic talents at shooting birds in flight?
Good afternoon James!
In reading the short stories describing each picture you took, I can understand your feelings about seeing the final moments of the buffalo’s life amidst the lions “quest for survival” – to achieve a meal to eat.” It truly speaks the depth of your heart and your compassion for the wild life.
All the more, within the content of the photos, I found the looks on the lions faces to be so “human like,” .. that you can’t help but see them as being filled with their own character and personalities, that just brings a smile to the day.
I especially love the picture of the Tsalala Lioness shaking herself off after being in the water. The up-close detail captured, .. from her facial feature with her left eye being shut while shaking off, to the splashes of flying water droplets is just fabulous! You can actually sense the lioness’s feeling. The full detail within that picture is just exceptional!
I found the expression of “friendship and camaraderie” shared between the lions to be so sweet. It makes me wonder if lions can actually share their “thoughts” through communicating their own “energy” with the other lion(s) they are next to, or are playing with?
The vividness of all that you capture creates the possibility to connect from afar, the splendor of South Africa and the wild life.
Another added note in thought,.. (I hope you’ll forgive me for this James,..)
When you’ve been a cat owner for almost two decades, you can’t help but see the lionesses as nothing more than over grown cats! The personalities on the lionesses faces doesn’t depict a predator!
Please don’t take this as “Insensitive” as I know you mentioned James, that it’s still difficult for you to see that picture of the lionesses taking down the Buffalo. For me, Seeing the grouping of the lionesses, especially the one on the left with it’s paw up, reminds me so much, of my three cats when they’d be given fresh chicken for a snack. Their personalities were IDENTICAL to the lionesses! They too would growl to protect their portion from being taken by one of their buddies. – This said, the photo of the take-down is so vivid that you can literally here the sounds of the lionesses probably snarling and growling whilst their hunger, as they took the buffalo down. I guess it is fair to say that animals have their own “narrative.”
Photo of the leopard rosettes even better the second time around!
Great selection of photos James! The hyena one is one of my favorites! Amazing how much has changed just in regards to the individual animals and the environment of Londolozi.
Do you know who sired the last two Sparta females? Btw this was a fantastic and emotional stroll down memory lane.
James, fantastic memories of five years ago. My wife, Kate and I were with you on the day the pride took down the buffalo. It truly was an unforgettable experience as the lions battled with the buffalo herd over the poor female. Nothing you see on television can prepare you for the ferocity (and brutality) on display – from all the animals involved, on both sides. It was hard to watch but ultimately, it is animals striving to survive in the wild, as they have to do every day.
We had a fantastic few days in Londolozi back in 2014 and really must try and return some day to enjoy the experience all over again!
James, your eye and ear provide moments of intrigue. Regarding the aged buffalo cow, I can relate. Our end may, or may not, be peaceable. About female leopards mating with all males, in her vicinity, or not: after having been a viewer of South African live streams since 2006, I still do not understand how each one of the males knows if he has mated with any one female. To my way on thinking, memory is imputed. Really?