We seem to be experiencing a serious baby boom on Londolozi at the moment. The number of female leopards with cubs takes game viewing to an all-time high. After enjoying the Plaque Rock Female and her cubs in last week’s Virtual Safari, we spend an afternoon with the highly adventurous and playful cubs of the Xinzele Female.
We arrived at the den to see if the mother was there and without her being anywhere obvious for us to see we sat and waited for a bit longer. Within minutes we caught a glimpse of movement from within a bush right next to the den. Before we knew it one of the cubs was out and about playing around and providing us with great quality entertainment. Shortly after sunset, we left the cubs to their own devices and headed on our way.
In the second part of this Virtual Safari, we join Robbie with a pack of wild dogs as they are about to get up and start moving. Hoping they are going to cross the river we wait in anticipation only to be let down as they go in the opposite direction. We then follow them as for a short while as it begins to get dark.
Enjoy this Week’s Virtual Safari…
A small female often found in NW Marthly. Similar spot pattern to her mother the Ingrid Dam Female.
To view the YouTube link, click here.
Great videos. How thoroughly the wild dogs are enjoying playing around in the straw is really great.
The two leopard cubs are so cute.
Thank you so much, Christa. It was so awesome to follow the wild dogs.
So very intriguing the thatch playground for wild dogs. Hoping to see some when we’re there in two weeks.
Thank you so much, Willa. It was awesome to see the wild dogs. I hope they are around for you.
Great video Sean! Awesome to see the cubs and really cool to see the wild dogs at play in a new environment!
Thank you so much, Michael and Terri.
Those cubbies are as cute as buttons Sean. Also interesting to watch the wild dogs interacting with each other. They are remarkable animals, in that they all work as a team. Thanks for sharing – enjoyed the video.
The cubs were really cute and so adventurous. Wild dogs are remarkable animals.
I do prefer the part with leopard mums and babies. It’s like a zen session: peaceful, beautiful. And very entertaining! You live in a unique paradise
Thank you so much, Francesca. We do certainly live in paradise.
Oh Sean that is such a good video of those leopard cubs playing, so very precious. They are quite inquisitive and it is good to see that they inspect everything. The wild dogs were a big surprise to see as they are not always the easiest animal to track. Loved to see them playing in the thatched grass. Very agile and quick to run around each other. Fantastic sighting of both the leopard cubs and the wild dogs.
Thank you so much, Valmai.
The cubs’ agility and balance at such a young age is incredible.
It was impressive to see, i guess at this stage it is all about play and practice which will help them learn.
How marvelous to see both future and current predators in today’s virtual safari. Since the cubs’ video was shot a few weeks ago, fingers crossed they’re both still growing and thriving. It’s always a treat to see the wild dogs given their nature – incredible speed and oftentimes secretive behavior. After viewing today’s footage, it made me think how difficult it must be to keep track of all the new cubs given how often the mums move them from one den site to another, some impossible to reach by vehicle so thank you all for your tracking efforts.
Thank you so much, Denise. It was great to see the cubs and the wild dogs. It is a challenge to keep a track of where they are and how they are doing, but we are trying our best.
Such fabulous footage Sean! It was just great to see the antics of both Leopard Cubs (instant smile on face!) and Wild Dogs with such beautiful light from the sunset. A happy diversion from what I am supposed to be doing! We both look forward so much to these daily blogs. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Jennifer. I am glad you enjoyed this virtual safari.
I did not realize wild dogs are endangered (I suppose all these wonderful animals are so tragically). They are so incredible! My dog reminds me of them with his ears and dark face 🙂 They were the one animal we didn’t see in Kenya 🙁 And the cub footage…brilliant! The environment with their colors so special! Thank you!