Having found a large elephant as he was finishing having a drink, he then began to spray himself with mud in order to coat his skin in an attempt to prevent flies from biting him as well as to cool himself down on a hot summer’s afternoon. He then ambles over to have a long feed on some of the lush long grass on the edge of a termite mound.
Being down in the open grasslands, there was a chance of finding the Ostrich Family too but we didn’t realise that it would be so soon after leaving the elephant. The five females cruise through in a group slowly feeding as they go. We are unsure of where the other Ostrich Family is with the chicks, they have not been seen for quite a while.
After hearing over the radio that there were potentially two leopards together that could be mating, we make that our mission to try and find them again. Getting into the area we have to rely on hearing them in order to find them, as the grass and vegetation are too long and lush to be able to simply spot them from the road. Lucky for us the female who turned out to be the Plaque Rock Female was resting up in a tree making it easy for her to be spotted. Over the rest of the afternoon, we try our best to watch her mate with the Maxim’s Male, but they keep themselves concealed in the undergrowth and so we enjoy the sighting for all the sounds around us.
Enjoy this Week in Video…
A pretty young playful female found along the river to the east of camp
Fairly skittish male that is presumed to have come from the Kruger National Park.
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Hi Sean, the footage of the elephant spraying water and mud on himself is priceless. He his so big and it’s absolutely astounding watching him feed. The leopards are fantastic and I am so excited to see and hear them mating. That is good news because that means more leopard cubs in the future.
Thank you so much, Valmai. Elephants are so amazing to watch. We are hoping that there are some news cubs soon.
Loved the time spent with the Eli and the Ostriches. Funnily enough I was asking after the octrich chicks recently. Wonder if you have managed to find out if there are any survivors from the last clutch (not sure if that’s the right word here!)… wonderful to know there might be some new leopard cubs on the way for the Plaque Rock female. Thanks Sean for the update 💕🙏🏻
time with elephants is always great. I love it. Sadly, we are unsure if there are any chicks from that clutch surviving. We haven’t seen them or the parents for a while.
Exciting news that the Plaque Rock female and Maxim male are mating. Perhaps in a few months there will be new cubs to view. Any sightings of the Xinzele female lately?
It’s always enjoyable to watch elephants take a mud bath, almost balletic in movement. It does look like Sabi Sands is ripe with vegetation due to the amount of rainfall you’ve had – not terrific for viewing but great for all the creatures that depend on water and grasses/bushes. Keep well Sean.
It is very exciting news, hopefully, we do have some news cubs soon. Sadly, no sightings of the Xinzele Female, she has spent a lot of her time north of Londolozi.
Great video, Sean. Hopefully there will be soon a new cub. The sounds these leopards make while mating are really spine chilling.
We are hoping that there will be some new cubs soon, by soon I mean in three to four months. The noises are quite terrifying.
Thank you, lovely again!
Lovely animal scenes! Do you think the former lone ostrich females might be with that group? Mating leopards means more cubs hopefully. Have you any news on the Mashaba female?an elephant bull is always a great sight
Francesca, it is too difficult to tell the ostriches apart, so I wouldn’t know for sure. I think these five females were all from a single clutch a couple years ago though.
Great video Sean! It must be spine-tingling to be there beside the leopards when they are mating. Hope all goes well for the mom-to-be.
Thank you so much, Barbara. It is an intense experience being right there when the leopards are mating, the growling seems to reverberate through your chest.
Awesome footage of the elephant Sean – always a huge treat to see one or more spraying water and/or mud bathing! And the video of the leopards mating with sound as the main/only sense to perceive their engagement only makes the nature of their interactions more vivid!