After an exciting week that presented a number of different lions, scattered all across the reserve, the Birmingham Males are found with the Ntsevu sub-adults, in the far southwestern parts of the reserve. Having a suspicion that their days are numbered, as it is unknown when the aging males will succumb to younger, fitter rivals, we have a look for ourselves as to what condition they are in.
Often a difficult leopard to spend time with before he scours away to hide behind a bush, the Mawelawela Male provides us with an amazing sighting as he patrols the open grasslands on a, particularly hot afternoon. And lastly, some good quality time with the wild dog pups has been had by all the rangers.
The pups now more confident and adventurous are spending a lot more time out of the den. With the vast majority of their diet consisting of meat and them venturing further from the den, the sanitary conditions within the den will decline and a move to a new fresh den is inevitable in the near future.
Enjoy this Week in Video…
![Kigelia Female Leopard Cubs In Jackalberry (5)[rcb]](https://media.londolozi.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/12140124/Kigelia-female-Leopard-cubs-in-Jackalberry-5RCB-280x178.jpg)
For some reason I can’t get the film to roll. It starts and then turns off! I suspect that I am doing something wrong. Has anyone got any ideas to help?!?! Victoria
Hi Victoria. What device are you trying to watch the video on? I can try help you troubleshoot.
Great Birmingham male! Fingers crossed for him.drinking lions was a great view. I love the Mawelawela male and all the video is great from the beginning to the end
Thank you so much Francesca. The Mawelawela Male an amazing leopard to see if one can manage to find him.
It is wonderful watching the pups growing up. Thanks!
LOVE the weekly virtual safaris and have been enjoying the daily blogs for years since before I visited Londolozi in person. I’m hearing-impaired and had been enjoying the closed captions on the videos but have noticed that ever since James Tyrell left, the videos haven’t been captioned so I have no idea what’s being said! Any way you can remedy this? Thanks so much!
Hi Robyn, we will try to get in a bit more captions when we can. Thanks for your feedback.
Hello,
I have been trying to find out if anyone has seen the tsalala lionesses? The last time looks like more than a month ago. Please answer.
Hi Theresa, the Tsalala Lioness and her daughter have moved further west and as far as I am aware have been seen on Dulini and Singita. She has not been seen here for quite some time.
Fantastic Virtual Safari, many thanks Sean. Has anyone seen Ndzanzeni recently? I’d love an update on the current territories of the male and female leopards, haven’t seen one for quite a while.
Hi Suzanne, She has been seen a couple of times in the deep southeastern regions of Londolozi. We will try to get down and find her in the next little while to put a story out on her and her two cubs.
Great video! Always great to see The Birminghams, Tinyo is looking a bit worse for wear but I think they will bounce back. These guys were born around 2010/2011 which makes them 10/11. I just hope they can stay around for a bit longer, it has been a pleasure following these males. Thank you for sharing
Thank you MJ.
Hi Sean can you please tell me when this video was shot? I seen a video this morning and it seems the blondie avoca is limping worse then Tinyo.
Hi Heather. The Birmingham Male video was a week ago.
Sean great video thanks. Birmingham male lions are still beautiful. Wonderful shot of the lions drinking water, really stunning foto. That Mawelawela leopard is a huge male and absolutely magnificen cat. He moves with such ease and he surely catches everyone’s attention. The puppies are so inquisitive and getting bigger by the day.
Hi Valmai, thank you so much. THe Mawelawela Male is a large male and was amazing to spend some good time with him without him disappearing behind a bush.
Sean and team, What a great video! Of course we love seeing the wild dog pups but the leopard encounter was really special, and catching the lions at the water hole at night was really cool. Wondering if they ever have to deal with crocodiles in those ponds? They seemed pretty confident when they approached and drank!
Thank you Michael and Terri, it was an amazing sight with them all drinking. Lions are slightly more confident when approaching waterholes, but from what I have seen, when they approach these smaller waterholes that are very unlikely to have a crocodile in, they are more confident. However, when approaching larger waterholes they are a lot more cautious.
Great videos of the lions, the leopard and the dog cubs.
Thank you Christa.
“Aging meals” is a pretty horrific typo in your text about the aging males Ultimately accurate, I suppose, though I doubt the Birmingham males will see it quite that way. Enjoyed the video and hope to see both the lions and young wild dogs when we visit in November. Hang in there, guys.
Hi Tom, thank you for pointing that out. It changes the whole narrative there, doesn’t it? I doubt that the ‘males’ will see it that way or at least prefer to not see it that way for now. Let’s hope that they are both around by the time you visit in November.
That Birmingham did not look good. Time will tell how this will all play out. A leopard sighting is always a pleasure with me. I think it’s because they are so elusive and that when you see one for a good length of time, it was their choice to invite us along. The puppies are at that cute awkward stage. So many mouths to feed and adorable. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Linda. The one Birmingham Male was certainly walking gingerly but his condition was not poor. A good few meals will keep him going for a while.
A really nice video Sean, I enjoyed the entire thing. Sad to see the Birmingham males looking so tough. However, I guess for their age they have done well and, as they say, all good things must come to an end. Those pups are so cute and I hope they all make it to adulthood. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Leonie, for their age and what they have been through the Birmingham Males have done incredibly well. They are not down and out yet.
Great safari footage this week, especially seeing the Birmingham males with the sub adults, and then, lions drinking all in a row! The Mawelawela leopard seems to be quite large, the better to hunt I suppose. And then the pups, cuter by the week. Thanks Sean.
Hi Denise, Thank you so much . Yes it was amazing to see all the lions drinking in a row. It is a pity I was so busy filming that I couldn’t take any pictures. The pups growing so rapidly and becoming adventurous little souls.
Wow, that Mawelawela male is awesome! He is quite big, right? He looks very powerful.
Hi Irene. He is a fairly large leopard, not the biggest I have seen but he is awesome.
I may have missed it but what happened to the beta females pups?
Audrey we are not sure just yet. Hopefully it becomes clear to us soon.
Great Video by the way – several money shots!
Thank you so much Audrey.
Another fab week Sean! ❤️So good to see Those Birmingham males are hanging in there, albeit a little stiff in the leg. The Mawelawela leopard is absolutely stunning, what a treat that he spent sometime out in the open with you. As for those checky little pups..just fab watching their antics. I always have this awful feeling though when they start venturing off..it reminds me of the 3 eared pair who had to leave their pups to find food.Sean, do they not leave a baby sitter with them when off hunting as they are a sizable pack?
Thank you so much Cally, the Birmingham Males definitely were walking a little gingerly. But at least they were in decent condition. I agree the Mawelawela Male is a good-looking leopard. The pups are gaining so much confidence and personality. Most of the time there will be a babysitter at the den, to keep a lookout when the pack is off hunting. I have been to the den where the babysitter is a little distance from the den, probably to get some rest.
😂😂, I’m sure ..must be quite a handful babysitting that noisy bunch
Hi Sean,
Great video, as usual 🙂
Can you please post it on YouTube too, as we got used to it with other Londolozi TV editions?
Thank you
Hi Laszlo, yes, we will post it to Youtube too.
Thank you.
Hi Sean. I also have had a problem viewing video on Vimeo on an IPad that uses safari 😀.I looked into it and it a known problem on iPhones and IPads. It start to load.. then drops. Again and again. Sometimes you are half way through and it kicks you back to the beginning. So, I gave up. I read that Vimeo may give you better video quality? From what I was able to view the virtual safari #70 seemed interesting.
I am so sorry that it was not playing for you, here is a YouTube link to the TWIV #70. I am unaware of anyone else having issues but will try to look into it further for you to see if there is anything else that we can do on this side.
https://youtu.be/9kPgOx5GE3U