This week we start off with an official announcement of an incredible find! The Nhlanguleni Female’s new den. Having suspected she had cubs for a few weeks, we searched long and hard to try and find her and in turn hoped that we found her den. One lucky morning Jess and Advice happened to get a brief glimpse of the Nhlanguleni Female carrying a cub to a new den. It was late morning and the game drives were coming to an end. We swiftly headed out to find where Nhlanguleni would establish her new den. We sat in the scorching heat for an age, then the mother got up and went to collect a second cub. A once in a lifetime sighting.
Outside of this, we enjoy some other amazing sightings of the Senegal Bush Male, Ximungwe Young Male and the Three Rivers Female as they go about their lives.
The mother cheetah and her cub spend a morning playing around on a fallen marula tree providing incredible photographic opportunities.
On the lion front, the Ndhzenga Males have still been seen mating with the Ntsevu Females. Three of the Ntsevu Young Males have been moving around as nomadic young lions and provided a great sighting as they were resting on the Londolozi airstrip.
Let us know your favourite image in the comments section below.
Enjoy this Week in Pictures…
As the Nhlanguleni Female rounded the corner, revealing her young cub to us as she gently carried it in her mouth on the way to a new den.
A broadside view as she walked past allowing an amazing view of the cubs face, complemented by the contrast of the cubs pink tongue.
Initially skittish she spent a lot of time in the Sand River, now relaxed she makes up the majority of leopard viewing west of camp.
During the heat of the day the mother wasted no time in moving her cub to the new den, marching swiftly straight down the road.
After walking down the river bed towards us, she turned towards the boulders on the riverbank to stash her young cub.
During a rather quiet afternoon drive, we decided to park ourselves on the banks of a large watering hole in the eastern parts of the reserve and watch hippos wallowing about in the water. This one gave us fantastic show by opening his jaws wide, exposing his impressive tusks.
The Senegal Bush Male is now our most viewed male leopard and has been providing us with some phenomenal sightings as of late. On this particular afternoon, he strolled up alongside our vehicle and paused just a few feet away from me allowing me.
Initially seen as a young male in 2016, this leopard only properly established territory on Londolozi in mid-2019
The water levels of the Sand River are already starting to drop as we dip into the dry season. This Nile Crocodile had found a sand bank in the northern channel of the river to rest on making him look as if he was floating above the water.
It isn’t that often that you see giraffe sitting down like this. Its quite a vulnerable position to in as it takes them a while to get back to their feet again. We bumped into this bull resting in next to the road not far from camp and, from a distance, was framed beautifully by the surrounding trees.
Having had a number of recent sightings of the mother cheetah and her cub, this one was more spectacular than most as the two spent a while playing on a fallen marula tree.
Once again, the Ximungwe Young Male puts on a show in the early morning light. He is growing in confidence every day and looks set to become a rather large male leopard in years to come.
A single cub of the Ximungwe Female's second litter. Initially rather skittish but is very relaxed now. Birth mark in his left eye.
We spent the morning with the Three Rivers Female and her male cub that is growing in confidence on a daily basis. He takes a break from playing with his mother on this fallen over tree.
Forced into early independence as her mother was killed by the Southern Avoca Males.
Mating lions is always an intense situation, none more so than this encounter between this Nzenga male and Ntsevu lioness.
Three of the Ntsevu Sub-adult Males have been roaming around Londolozi for a few weeks together. Being driven out of the eastern parts of the reserve by the Ndzhenga Males they are firmly in their nomadic phase of their lives buying time until they are powerful enough to claim a territory of their own as a new coalition of males.
Driving over the causeway is often a place to get a close look at a few crocodiles. Here a small crocodile slips into some clear water and glides away.
As we followed a pack of wild dogs down the road, one of the males stopped and turned back watching the rest of the pack following behind them.
An African Fish Eagle perched up on a dead branch of a knobthorn, overlooking a waterhole in the hopes that a few fish venture a little too close to the surface allowing an opportunity for the Fish Eagle to swoop down and try and catch one.
Hi Sean my favorite foto this week is the mother leopard with her cub in her mouth where the cubs face is so beautifully shown with the little pink tongue showing. All the foto’s are stunning this week and thank you for always showcasing the best foto’s for us.
Thank you so much, Valmai. That is a great shot.
Lovely leopard photos. The other and cub are for any the shots of a lifetime
Indeed, the shots of the mother carrying the cub are once in a lifetime shots to get.
Well done Sean and the Londo team on another super week of photos.👌🏻Its always difficult picking a winner as they are always all so special. Having said that, The leopards win this week and as much as my heart loves the broadside view of the Nhlanguleni female and her tiny cub, I have to say the Senegal Bush male is tops.
Thank you so much, Cally. It truly was an amazing week for photography. That side-on shot of her carrying the cub is a winner alongside the Senegal Bush Male.
The leopards of Londolozi get better looking every year. Really enjoyable pictures
Thank you so much, Andrew and Daniel.
Oh, wow! The baby cub is so darn cute! Fantastic bunch of photos! It’s really not hard to pick this week for sure! The momma and baby leopard! Of course, if you had not put that one in there it would have been a more difficult decision! Thanks for all that you folks share with us less fortunate to not be living or traveling to such a beautiful places!
Thank you so much, Debra. There were some great images this week, we were so lucky to be able to see something as amazing as that.
Despite all the other amazing pics this week, for once it is easy to pick my favourite – Tristan’s broadside colour one of Nhlanguleni carrying her cub. Sorry Sean, but Tristan edges you because of the view of the cub’s face (and that little pink tongue!)
Just too many fabulous photos Sean! However, Ntsevu sub-adult on the left, punk hair-do waiting to become fully fledged mane, clearly relaxed and enjoying the warmth of the airstrip, but with an expression of – I’m still alert and watching you, made me smile. The composition, light and reflection on Ximungwe young male is brilliant.
Thank you so much, Jennifer. Those are some great choices. We were so fortunate this week with the photographic opportunities.
Thank you so much, Suzanne. Tristan’s image is such a cracking shot. I had to make the decision to either capture a few photos there or rather video, and I went for the video option. But at least I am so glad that I had Tristan there with me to help capture some shots while I was videoing.
SPECTACULAR!
Thank you so much, Barbi.
What an array of stunning photos this week!! I wish I had been there. Mama carrying her leopard cub with the pink tongue is adorable. Tristan’s African Fish Eagle is quite majestic. The small crocodile glides away mysteriously while the giraffe’s laid-back demeanor is unique to me. Lion’s mating is always exciting, but this guy definitely has a rather crazed expression captured! All pics with these remarkable sightings are amazing, however this week Sean’s Cheetah photo speaks to me so beautifully!!
Thank you so much, Camille. It was such a great photography week with many amazing images to choose from.
Spectacular TWIP! Finding the leopards den is very exciting. Hope she is successful in raising her cubs. I really enjoyed the many different animal and bird pictures today, thanks.
Thank you so much, William. Finding a leopard den is always exciting and this one came at the perfect timing.
Truly majestic, the fish eagle.
I love all your pictures, they are all great. Favorites are, of course, the ones of the leopard mum and her cub. So sweet!
I wonder, do they ever hurt a cub during such a transport? And another question: Doesn’t it disturb them when you are watching these transports to new dens?
Thank you so much, Christa. The shots of the leopard and her cub were so amazing. We were incredibly lucky.
I don’t think it disturbs the mother when moving the cubs. Leopards would normally move away from the vehicle if they are unhappy or uncomfortable with the vehicle around. We would normally park far enough away that the leopards are then able to make the conscious decision to approach the vehicle and it is completely on their terms.
Oh such beautiful animals, the Senegal bush male close-up is hypnotising. The Nhlanguleni female’s cub is the beginning in life and the Ximungwe young male the circle is complete. And the cheetah… motherhood is amain theme here, my favourite. Great pictures of the lions, hippo, crocodile and giraffe. Big cats especially leopards are unrivalled!
Thank you so much, Francesca. It was a great week with some stunning imagery. Motherhood definitely is a strong theme coming through.
Hi Londolozi team, great selection this week! Those three Ntsevu males have been seen in the northern Sabi Sands around Elephant Plains and Simbambili over the last couple of days. Also any insight on who might be the potential father of the Nhlanguleni Female’s cubs?
Thank you so much, Michael. Yes, I believe that the Ntsevu Sub-adults have ventured further north, they are roaming around so unpredictably.
we are not too sure of who the father of the Nhlanguleni Female’s cubs is. It is most likely between the Flat Rock Male or the Senegal Bush Male as they cover most of the territory in which we find the Nhlanguleni Female. When the cubs get a little bigger we will try to get some scat for Panthera to determine the paternity.
Wow, I didn’t realise the paternity of the cubs could be established from scat! – how long have Panthera been doing that?
Yes, they run a DNA test on the scat. If the father’s scat has been collected and DNA extracted they will have that information in the database and will be able to determine the paternity. I believe for a good few years now.
A beautiful week in pics with lots of cats and some dogs! Loved every photo, but you know that the leopard carrying her tiny cub is the top photo! I think the one by Tristan Cooke takes the prize with that little cub sticking his tongue out too! This is a tough TWIP to top! Try saying that fast three times! 😂
Thank you, Darlene. It was such a great TWIP, with so many unbelievable photos to choose from. It is such an incredible photo that Tristan managed to capture with the tiny little cubs face and its tongue sticking out.
Sean, you’ve given us an impossible task to choose one favorite so this week I vote for Chris’s image of the Ximungwe male taking a drink. His face is nicely illustrated and the reflection in the rippled water is a plus! However, right behind that image, the Senegal Bush male’s close-up and Nhlanguleni carrying her cub in the side view are priceless. In fact, all of the mother and cub photos are amazing. What a week you all enjoyed.
Thank you, Denise. The image of Chris’s is a cracking one. We certainly did have a good photographic week with some priceless sightings.
Chris captured a great image of the Ximungwe Young Male at the pan with a great use of the early sunlight. Sean’s head-on shot of the Nhlanguleni Female and cub was perfect.
Thank you so much, Vin. We were just so lucky to be in the right place at the right time in order to have such a phenomenal sighting.
Thank you so much, Michael and Terri. It was such a great sighting of the Nhlanguleni Female and her cub along with many other images.
Oh my goodness – the Fish Eagle! Absolutely exquisite photo! Absolutely love the hippo and of course the leopard and her cub too.
Thank you so much, Carly. There were a few great images this week.
Absolutely loved the images this week! There were so many that highlighted beautiful, contrasting colors. Spectacular. I can’t choose a favorite.
Thank you so much, Chelsea.
I have to agree with many of the others! That cute little pink tongue just gets me so that’s my vote. However, the other photos are great also. Thank you for putting together this amazing set of photos this week. It must be hard for you to choose also.
Thank you so much, Barbara. It is really hard to choose and the quality of imagery that is being put forward is so great.
Wow what stunning photos!!
Thank you so much, Karin.
I am really pleased to hear that the Senegal Bush Male (Kunyuma) has seemed to relax and settle into his dominance on Londolozi! He is a beautiful boy and will carry on the Karula lineage in the southern part of the Sabi Sand!