2021 was a year of unprecedented change. The global Coronavirus pandemic kept us on our toes and taught us to take things one step at a time. As much as the virus affected people all over the world, the animals went about their business as usual, as Dave Varty said in his 2021 yearly round-up,

“at least leopards don’t get Covid!”

We were lucky enough to have a pack of wild dogs denning on Londolozi which provided amazing viewing, new leopard and even cheetah cubs, and let us not forget the arrival of new male lions, the N’watsichaka (Ndzenga) males. Just to name a few of the highlights…

We felt incredibly privileged to be able to watch these wild dog pups grow from blind, helpless balls of fur into adolescent wild dogs running with the rest of the pack.

So what does 2022 hold? Let’s break it down…

Leopards:

The Nkoveni Female still has her two female cubs who are 11 months old, meaning during the course of this year we could have two more resident female leopards on the property. I say this because if she does successfully raise them to independence, she will likely cede a portion of her territory to them. There is vacant space to the South of her territory as the Mashaba Female seems to have shifted her territory further afield to the south.

It has been interesting to observe how the behavioural traits of both of the Nkoveni female’s cubs has differed whilst growing up. The one, slightly larger cub often wanders off and seems not to mind being apart from her mom for long periods of time, whilst her sibling is seen with her mother a lot more often.

The Ximungwe Female’s Male Cub is growing in strength and stature and is only slightly older than the Nkoveni Female’s Cubs, just under 11 months old. It will be an amazing feat if the Ximungwe Female can raise her second cub to independence in less than four years. During 2022 might be too soon, but hopefully, within the next 11-13 months he may become a roaming, nomadic male on Londolozi and her surroundings.

The Ximungwe Female’s Young Male Cub is starting to exude confidence. This photograph was taken a while ago, but in the same sighting he chased and nearly caught a spotted genet right at the top of a Jackalberry tree

The Piccadilly Young Female is almost completely independent and we should start seeing her establishing a territory of her own in the first half of the year, most likely north of the Sand River.

Now only slightly smaller than her mother, the Piccadilly Young Female is starting to be seen on her own a lot more often, indicating that at some point in the near future she will be fully independent.

The youngest cub on the property at this stage is the Three Rivers Female’s Young Male Cub, only four and a half months of age (in January ’22), she will still need to provide for him for the remainder of the year.

The Three Rivers Female was forced into early independence, at around one year old when her mother died. Male cubs (such as hers) are usually dependent on their mothers for the first two years of their lives

Lions:

The Mhangeni Pride needs a dominant coalition to sire their cubs and subsequently protect them. They have remained fairly under the radar so to speak, most likely because they still have one cub that is around eight months old. The most likely contenders seem to be the Plain’s Camp Males who have made a name for themselves on the western parts of Londolozi. If the pride accepts them, the fate of this cub is unfortunately not looking good… It does mean however that two young, big males will be able to sire new litters of cubs and look after the pride.

The youngest member of the Mhangeni Pride looks slightly bewildered after being separated from the rest of her pride temporarily.

The Ntsevu Lionesses still have cubs that belong to the Birmingham Males. With only one Birmingham Male having been seen over the last four months (the whereabouts of his coalition partner is unknown and questions of whether he is still alive being asked), these cubs are vulnerable to the new males on the block, the four Ndzhenga Males. These males have moved in and laid claim to what was once was the Birmingham Male’s territory and it will be interesting to see how the coming months unfold.

Two of the Ndzhenga Males greet each other by brushing their heads. One of the Ntsevu Lionesses has already been seen mating with one of these brothers

The movements of both the Ntsevu and Nkuhuma Sub-adult Lions has been fairly erratic. The make-up of both groups contains both males and females (Ntsevu: 6 males and 5 females; Nkuhuma: 5 males and 2 females), and what will most likely happen is the males from each group will form nomadic coalitions respectively and the females will form new prides. This inference is based on the history of prides in the area and may not play out as described, but if it does, it will most likely be this coming year. With this being said, the Plains Camp Males have already been seen associating themselves with the Nkuhuma Sub-adult Females in recent months, so the split might be coming sooner than originally anticipated.

One of the 5 Sub-adult Males from the Nkuhuma Pride gazes in our direction in the early hours of the morning

Lastly, the fate of the Tsalala Pride rests upon one lioness, the last standing Tsalala Female. The ongoing saga of this famous pride continues and only time will tell if she will be able to survive long enough to have cubs of her own, given the ever-changing lion dynamics around her, this will not be easy.

2022 is a new year, and with it change will most certainly come. In what exact form this change will come is uncertain, we will have to let mother nature herself unravel the mysteries that lie ahead

One thing is for sure, interesting times lay ahead. I can’t wait to see how all of these dynamics play out in the coming months and we will be sure to keep the extended Londolozi family updated if and when things do change. Happy 2022!