In the wake of Cyclone Eloise things were tricky for a couple of days. A sodden landscape meant off-roading was limited, and with the long grass already being seen this summer it was tricky to spot any of the big cats.
Nevertheless, Londolozi still put on a show.
We spent time with elephants at a wallow, we show off an amazing sighting of three leopards in a tree from before when the cyclone struck, and another almost invisible leopard in a tree who made a kill in the downpour…
Enjoy this Week in Video…
Fantastic videos this week. Loved the elephants.
James, keep them coming🤗
Some great footage of rapturous Eles and beautiful light. How do Leopard fare in such enormous downpours (cyclones/rainy season) – do they generally spend more time aloft, (or in dens), coming down or out mostly in order to hunt? Do they hate the rain like domestic cats?
Hi Jennifer,
If they see something to hunt they’ll actually usually take advantage of the noise and confusion in order to hunt. It makes it much easier for them. If they see nothing and it’s absolutely bucketing, they’ll usually just hunker down…
Absolutely wonderful, James – and it looks like it’s HOT. I’m trying to imagine I’m there, but that’s difficult as right now it’s snowing here in southern England (near Salisbury). I’d swap places with you in a heartbeat!
It’s always so fascinating to me that despite being huge, clunky animals, elephants can stop, drop and roll on a dime.
Hi James. What a lovely Virtual Safari, if an extremely wet one! The ellies REALLY love the water, don’t they? Felt sorry for Junior Leopard but I am sure he and his Mom won’t starve. Eloise certainly has left its mark over a large chunk of S.A! Wendy M
Absolutely amazing videos of the elephants and the leopards. The elephants are just great, how they are enjoying themselves in all that water.
JOYFUL! I realize that the debate over whether animals experience emotion will continue forever, one cannot help but think that those elephants were having FUN!!! Oh well I’ll allow emotion over evidence and just enjoy watching them. Absolutely wonderful……. thanks so very much,
A nice virtual safari James. So many ellies and flat cats. Glad you got some rain, though I guess it was a bit overwhelming. Thanks for sharing with us. Be well and stay safe.
Stunning video — thanks for sharing.
This is definitely my favorite virtual safari to date highlighting two of my favorite animals-elephants 🐘 and leopards 🐆. While viewing the elephants splashing and playing in the water, I felt joy knowing they were so content in this waterhole. The leopard family is so unusual to see so that was a bonus. With the amount of rainfall you had, it seems to bode well for a lush summer and hopefully will leave a good base for fall/winter. Thanx so much for the final drone footage as it really shows the scope of the rainfall.
What a spectacular sighting of all those elephants having the time of their lives. They surely enjoyed that and it looked as if they could not get enough of it. Certainly the best video ever of the elephants playing in the water. Surprising to see mother, father and cub leopard all together in one tree. Also a wonderful sighting and a highlight for me. I can’t get enough of leopard sightings and love them all. That little cub is too beautiful for words. Thanks James excellent video. How on earth do you distinguish between the leopards, for there are so many of them, and you know them all by name. Who gets to name the leopards?
Gee talk about a mass meeting !!! Those Eli’s looked as if they might squash each other in their excitement! In fact there was a young one that I kept my eye on for awhile thinking it would surely be squashed 😂. ..and if that wasn’t enough not 1 but 3 leopards in a tree. Seems the rain has brought everyone out ..no stopping the action at Londolozi ! Such a great end too, to this week, with that drone view of the surrounding landscape and the sounds of all the birds. Magical XxxxX
Another wonderful week of video. The elephants were incredible, and it was fascinating to watch the leopards!
Those fantastic leopards of Londolozi! James, when we were there in early August 2019 with Byron, we saw a fabulous sighting of Nhulanguleni, and Finfoot and Nkuwa when they were still dependent subadults, on an nyala carcass in the river bed. One of the young females was eating while her mother and sister rested. Flat Rock strolled in to the sighting and gently, very NON aggressively, pulled the carcass away a bit from the female. No claws or teeth or snarls. She moved away to groom herself. Flat Rock ate awhile and then just before dusk he hoisted the carcass up into a tree, descended and strolled away. Nhulanguleni then went up to feed. Then 2 hyenas came into the area and both young females dashed up into the tree. One of them fed as her mother and sister draped themselves and slept as full dark came on. Flat Rock was just about 50 yards away. It was simply remarkable how relaxed everyone was, and how he had hoisted the carcass for the females before the hyenas arrived. Family dining at its finest! So the leopards don’t always read those (damn) books! They do what they are going to do….whether they are following the “rules” or not!