This week’s theme has definitely been along the lines of warm golden light, on the dry hues of brown and beige at the back end of our dry season. Although spring has sprung we have not yet seen the transformation that is guaranteed to happen this year after some early rains, we have seen the temperatures soar, and animals flock to the water holes, with a number of animals also found along the river, featuring a lot of water in the shots for the week.
The Northern Avoca Male sits in the most iconic and regal way atop a large boulder, most rangers dream to see this. Leopards feature through the Ximungwe Female, the Nkoveni Female’s cub, the Senegal Bush Male, and the seldom-seen White Dam Male from the deep southwestern reaches.
The Nkuhuma Pride were found feeding on a large buffalo, which kept them well-fed for a while. And lastly, towards the end of last week, a large male giraffe was found dead near the Manyelethi River, with a clan of nearly thirty hyenas feeding on or fighting over it, vultures of course then swarmed in to help with the cleanup and cash in on a free meal.
Enjoy this Week in Pictures…
Such an iconic shot of a male lion resting on top of a large boulder in the middle of the Sand River. The Avoca Male spent a while perched upon this large boulder as though he was keeping a watchful eye over his territory.
Often not appreciated enough for its beauty, as it is silhouetted against the bright sky during hours of flight. Only really once the Bateleur lands does it truly present its magnificence.
With a sense of despair after the pack of wild dogs that were denning left Londolozi, we were ecstatic when this pack of twelve wild dogs moved through the reserve recently, stopping at a small waterhole for a drink. The reflection of these three was spectacular.
A young elephant makes a tasty feast of some of the green reeds along the Sand River, with such a stunning view of a large rocky outcrop behind.
A Ntsevu Lioness with a stare, seeming somewhat unrelated with the vehicle moving around this lioness certainly had an intense stare.
The simple act of bending down to drink is fairly strenuous for the tallest animal in the world. The long muscles running along the front of this giraffe’s neck work hard against the elasticated nuchal ligament running down the rear of the neck. This ligament is designed to keep the head and neck held out in front of the body with very little energy required. As the giraffe finishes its drink it relaxes these muscles and the nuchal ligament constricts, causing the head to flick backward rapidly. Thus creates an amazing ‘S’ shaped spray of water. In this situation, an oxpecker on the giraffes head also got a fright and took flight.
This morning a beautiful White-fronted Bee-eater, lands on a dead tree branch, eagerly scanning the surroundings for any potential prey.
Such a jovial and excitable team, Andrea and Sersant are all grins while sitting in a sighting with the Senegal Bush Male.
Initially seen as a young male in 2016, this leopard only properly established territory on Londolozi in mid-2019
If only the Senegal Bush Male was as cheerful as the team before him.
After a decent feed, a Ntsevu lioness heads off for a drink in the golden light of the setting sun.
One of the Nkoveni Female’s cubs rests in a flowering Weeping Wattle (Peltophorum africanum). At first glance, it is easy to miss this cub, the perfect camouflage keeping this cub concealed while it rests.
A gorgeous female who is found to the east of camp. Easily recognised by her 2:2 spot pattern she is often to be found in Marula trees.
A large elephant bull pauses to feed on the thin branches of a marula tree during an afternoon amble across a stunning open crest, bathed in the beautiful afternoon light.
A less frequently seen leopard on Londolozi, the White Dame Male is dominant over the deep south-western regions. Being found late one afternoon near to a waterhole it was magical to watch him hunch down and drink.
Large handsome male found in the deep southwestern parts of the reserve.
A Sub-adult Male from the Nkuhuma Pride, rests in the shade, somewhat fixated on the vehicle.
An image that definitely causes one to question the fact that hyenas are closer related to cats than they are to dogs.
After hearing some distant impala alarm calls the Ximungwe Female lifts her head and shortly moved off in that direction.
Having been viewed by vehicles from an early age, this leopard is supremely relaxed around Land Rovers.
Feasting on a large male giraffe carcass can be a messy affair as is shown in this hyenas dirty coat. The next three images are from the end of last week but felt that they tell such a story that we included them.
After having most likely died in a battle of dominance through necking this large male giraffe was found dead with a number of hyenas and vultures around. The cleanup crew is fast-acting, making short work of a carcass weighing in at probably close to 3000lbs.
An unconventional place to take a nap.
Wow Sean, What a fantastic set of images! We’re not sure which one we like best! It was great to see wild dogs again – is there a way to know if they are part of the pack that had the cubs at Londolozi? Nice to see the White Dam Male – not sure if that is his first intro on the blog – haven’t heard about him that we can remember. The close up of the Giraffe is very cool and it was great to see the smiling faces of Andrea and Sersant!
Thanks, Michael and Terri. I think this is a different pack to the ones that were denning on Londolozi. This was a pack of twelve, the ones we had denning were only six adults.
I think the White Dam Male has featured before but a while ago. He is a fairly seldom seen leopard that we are seeing down in the southwestern grasslands. We will try do a formal introduction on him soon.
It is hard to find a photo where Andrea and Sersant are not smiling.
Thanks Sean!!! Please say hi to Andrea – Terri and I have always had a great connection with him over the years!
I will definitely pass on your regards to Andrea.
TWIP is simply spectacular this week. The pictures are stunning, especially liked the Avoca male on top of the boulders. The last three pictures of the hyenas and birds feeding on the giraffe give reality to life at Londolozi . Thanks to all who shared their pictures!
Thank you, William. The Avoca Male on the boulders was a spectacular sighting.
Water magic, this may be a leading theme… of iconic animals. Do you know why the giraffe died? I’ve always thought of hyena as quite unique. It seems that lions shared their territory with terrible animals such as smilodontes.. and hyena are their ancient rivals. Both lions and hyena managed to survive. Lions and other cats suffocate their prey quickly in order not to attract other predators, this happened in prehistoric times with much larger and terrifying predators already. A winning technique it seems… love all the pictures
Yes for sure ‘water magic’ definitely is fitting for this week. Thank you for your comment.
All your (the Londolozi’s team’s) pictures are always fantastic! The same is true about this week’s photos.
I love especially the one of the giraffe drinking. And the resting hyena looks even quite cute though in general they are certainly not beauty queens of the bush.
I wonder what is going on in the Senegal Male’s mind while looking at Andrea and Sersant?
A great week in pictures.
Thank you, Christa, we love sharing all the images and allowing everyone a view into our world every week. I agree hyenas can look cute at times.
I love that each of these images so clearly portrays the personalities of the subjects (or at least they appear to from my perspective). Wonderful selection!
I agree, the images do seem to portray a personality for each individual. I guess it would be hard to quantify that or prove it to be true but we can believe it for now anyway.
Great selection of photos Londolozi team!
Have you all seen the Mashaba Female at all recently? I know she has become more difficult to locate as she’s gotten older, but am curious if you’ve seen any sign of her?
How many sub-adults were with the Nkuhuma Pride in that particular sighting and how many young lionesses (of the sub-adults) were present?
Thanks again for another great week of photos!
Hi Michael, thank you. Yes, the Mashaba Female has been seen a few times over the last few weeks. We think she may be denning some cubs but have not been able to find the den. This
probably explains her scarcity, along with where she is currently territorial, there are numerous thick blocks and drainage lines making it difficult to track her.
In that particular sighting, Robbie said that there were only two sub-adult males and one sub-adult female.
Very nice bee-eater photo!
Thank you, Paul.
Greetings Sean,
Some really beautiful images this week from the Lion reflected in the water while drinking to the somewhat “stone-face” look given by the Senegal Bush male! What an expression. The sun-adult portrait of the Nkuhuma lion is amazing and simply put, nothing quite like capturing the end of the giraffe’s drink with that “S” swirl of water.
Looking forward to Sunday for my arm-chair game drive.
Hi Denise, thank you so much. I am glad you enjoyed them this week. We look forward to sharing the Week in Video with you tomorrow.
Quiet a different aray of animals this week. Wonderful to see the White Dame Male leopard, I don’t think I have seen him before. Senegal bush male looks grumpy on the foto. Loved the foto of the Nkoveni female cub resting in the tree. Lions and elephants also stunning fotos.
It is a nice diverse week in this TWIP. Senegal bush Male looks pretty grumpy most of the time.
Another week of great pics. That white dame male photo is really beautiful!
Thank you, Marcia.
Fabulous photos ! Think the giraffe wins for me this week..just super and fascinating to learn a bit more about these extraordinary creatures. The mass meeting of vultures and hyena must have been a chaotic scene to witness 😌 thanks to all🙏❤️
Thanks, Cally. it is such a great image.
Kunyuma (Senegal Bush Male) has such personality and character……Mr. Snarly Face! He just doesn’t like us people at ALL!
Amazing series of photos!!
I like the photo of the bee eater. But my favourite one is of the hyena sleeping pointing toward your camera.