There is usually a strong theme to the wildlife on the reserve each week.
Last week’s was leopard, with about 10 individuals putting in an appearance, and this one is most certainly lions, with the Ntsevu pride hunting successfully and the Styx pride moving straight past camp.
The dark nights of a moon on the wane are perfect for Africa’s apex predator.
One of the Ntsevu lionesses appears to be lactating, although it seems as though she is yet to give birth. We are on the edge of our seats for this one…
Enjoy this Week in Pictures…
The 3:3 son of the Emsagweni female is a bit of a mouthful to say, but he is still young and not yet territorial, so we shall know him as that for now. This young leopard has been seen on a couple of occasions in north Londolozi, robbing the Makomsava female in one sighting and popping up in the same area again on another. It is unlikely that he will stick around, given that the area is already occupied by adult males, but it is nice to see a new face in the leopard population from time to time…
A Birmingham male looks up from drinking. This coalition is down to two members from an original five, and discussions are already taking place amongst the rangers how long they still have in them before they are pushed out by a stronger coalition. We suspect that by the end of 2021 they will have been ousted, but we’ve been wrong before…
Two crocodiles lie half submerged in a rapidly drying Sand River. As water resources dwindle towards the end of the dry season, aquatic species get forced into more and more confined spaces. Some crocodiles endure dry periods by simply burying themselves in mud…
A unique photograph for Londolozi, and probably an unusual one anywhere; a side-striped jackal and a Black backed jackal in the same frame. The black backed variety used to be common here twenty years ago and then they all but disappeared. Side-striped jackals took over and were the most common at the start of the last decade. Then the drought of 2016 eliminated most of the side-stripes as well and Londolozi has seen a dearth of the family over the last few years. Thankfully they are both making a comeback, but this sighting of the two right next to each other (they were skulking around a kill made by the Ntsvu pride) was very unusual.
The tiny cub of the Mashaba female peers out from its den. The mother has since moved the cub to a less exposed and slightly safer den site, also along the banks of the Maxabene riverbed.
One of the males from the Styx pride decides which Londolozi Camp to visit…
This photo was taken about five minutes after the one above. Adobe Lightroom comes with a number of built-in presets that you can apply to images, and although I almost never use them, I felt this particular one gave a nice moody feel to the picture of the male walking through shadow, with just a small band of sun hitting him through the Tamboti trees.
The Ntsevu pride had just killed a small warthog, but the commotion had attracted a herd of elephants, who chased the lions off. Some of them eventually settled on this small termite mound, allowing for a beautiful golden backdrop in the afternoon sun.
The pride got moving about 20 minutes after the above photo was taken, and about an hour later they managed to kill a young wildebeest. The absence of a moon on this night significantly aided their hunting, and also allowed for a long exposure to capture the stars.
The dark side of lions; an Ntsevu sub-adult covered in blood after feeding on a wildebeest kill.
The sun begins to break the cold of the night over the Sand River. The water had a low-lying layer of mist floating above it, highlighted by the early-morning rays.
A herd of elephants was emerging from the dry Maxabene riverbed. As this youngster noticed us, she flared her ears out and raised her head slightly. She was trying to decipher whether we should be of any concern to her or not. Confident that we were of no worry to her, she soon walked along her original path, just past our vehicle.
Although by far the less common of the two oxpecker species in this area, the yellow-billed variety seems to be on the rise, and the large herds of buffalo currently feature far more of them than they did in years past.
The two cheetah cubs continue to flourish in the south-west grasslands. Although female cheetahs are far more nomadic than males, sometimes wandering off enitrely, we hope this one will remain in the area until her cubs are independent.
![Hamerkop Diving For Plattana [rcb] (26)](https://media.londolozi.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/10105855/Hamerkop-Diving-for-Plattana-RCB-26-280x178.jpg)
Hello, very interesting pictures of the two jackal species… always something pretty unusual to see. It makes wonder the way nature works and seals creatures fate. Beautiful pictures of the lion dynasties and intriguing dynamic between prides. At Londolozi there’s lot od drama but they live their life fully, opposite to lion farms in other parts of the country. Last but not least the lovely Mashaba leopard cub and cheetah babies! Thank you.
What an amazing week! Those are all stunning, the Lion shots are my favourites, and the crocodile drone shot is very cool too !
Stunning pics this week. Love all the lions and the monochrome elephant.
Hi James,
Always jealous of your work
I ma a lover of wildlife and cannot help but wish i were you…
Another great TWIP. Thanks.
Hope to get intermittent up dates on the Mashaba cub.
Good job with the Lightroom preset. Some are fun.
Glorious! These posts are a wonderful respite from the shelter in place we are all experiencing here in California. Hopefully in the not too distant future I will be able to experience Londolozi in person. I feel through these posts that we have all become friends and I thank and appreciate you. Best! Linda
You’ve some stunning photographs this week, truly lion focused. I especially like the young Styx male in shadows and would be appreciative if you shared what preset you used. I use Lightroom but haven’t used any of the presets- I like this effect.
James, I loved all the photos, especially the cheetahs🤗
Tremendous gallery this week! Most poignant for me is the aerial view of the crocodiles, as I just read the passage in Boyd’s first book where he dangled his legs over the Sand River and gets chomped by a croc!!! Luckily he got out of that one, albeit with a serious bite!!
Wonderful photos. Thank you for the journey.
Brilliant photos James, when I was last in the Lowveld, black backed jackal were quite common, I had no idea how their numbers had dropped and were struggling to make a comeback….but nice to know it is! The cheetah…no words..just magical. Thank you🙏🏻💕
Beautiful photos! Do you know if the Black Backed & Side-striped Jackals ever breed with one another?
Great week! Loved the photo of the Ntsevu pride members on the termite mound with that beautiful golden bokeh behind them.
Another week of excellent images. The one of the two alligators half submerged in a dwindling stream was unique. So proud of Mashaba producing another cub. Wishing the little one the best of luck!
Hi James! One of the young males with the Styx Pride (the second young male photo in this week’s blog entry) is actually the young male from the Nkuhuma Male, who joined up with his half-brother or cousin (both of them were fathered by a Birmingham Male back in 2016; the Nkuhuma Male was born in late May-early June 2016, the young Styx Male born in September-October 2016).
Also will be interesting to see how the Ntsevu situation plays out. With so many sub-adults, including several young females, I’m thinking there has to be something that gives, don’t you think?
Hi Michael,
Ah, thanks for that info, that’s fascinating. We’ve seen a young male around the reserve by himself a couple of times over the last month or two; we’ll reference the pics and compare (although the solo male seemed a bit fuller-maned).
Agreed on the Ntsevu pride. I think they’ll have to splinter at some point, but not sure how they’ll do it. We think they’re expecting cubs, which may accelerate things.
Great shot of the lions and stars Pete.
Thank you James for sharing each week…cannot wait for our trip.
The lions feeding under the Stars was my favorite this week. Great photo
Great photos as ever, James!
Do you have any idea why the black-backed jackals disappeared? I have noticed a shocking change. We spent two weeks in the Kruger 2 years ago and didn’t see a single one; on a trip over Christmas, we may have seen a jackal once. In the 1980s, I remember seeing them every day.
And the side-striped used to be extremely rare, strange their numbers should improve in whatever conditions reduced the black-backed numbers.
Some beautiful pics here James. Thanks for sharing with us. Hope you all stay well and safe.
Great collection of photos – absolutely love the male lion” visiting” Londolozi!
Someone said Styx Pride male and Nkuhuma male are sired by the Birmnigham Boys, is that correct ?