A dramatic choice awaited us on this Virtual Safari – stay with the Nhlanguleni Female leopard in perfect golden light, or investigate the Ottawa Pack of wild dogs mere meters away. We found the leopard draped elegantly over a jackalberry tree branch, her recent kill secured nearby. Our position on a raised bank offered an extraordinary eye-level perspective, allowing us to capture her in stunning detail as the afternoon sun painted her features.
While documenting this peaceful scene, we noticed something concerning – a significant injury on her back left foot. Only later, reviewing the footage in camp, did we discover the true extent: a deep puncture wound, likely from a hyena encounter. The isolated nature of the injury supports this theory, as confrontations with lions or other leopards typically leave multiple wounds. Despite this setback, the Nhlanguleni Female shows promising signs of recovery, demonstrating once again the remarkable resilience of these magnificent cats.
Enjoy this Virtual Safari…
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Happy New Year to you all at Londolozi. Was there a web blog for yesterday? If there was, please could you send it to me, Thanks.
Happy New Year, Sean. Please do keep us updated on her condition. Let’s hope she makes a full recovery. The wild dog pups harassing the vultures was entertaining. Glad they’re all doing well.
Thanks for this great update on the Nhlanguleni Female. I do hope that she has recovered from this wound. Since I had such a wonderful sighting of her and her last surviving cub in 2023 I also feel really attached to this leopard who has not had an easy life
Seeing the Ottawa pack with the pups was also so good. Were they the pack who had so many pups last time round and lost them all? Or nearly all?
What I would also like to know is whether or not you have good rains this season? Thanks, Sean.
Hi, every time I see the Nhlanguleni female I ask to myself “wow, who’s this gorgeous leopard?” She’s so elegant! Slender, has a lovely coat and features. A hyena bite… the bacteria in a hyenas mouth are extremely dangerous, as they finish off putrid corpses that nobody but then and vultures would eat… after the bacteria in the soil finish off the rests. I don’t understand how such a thing may happen. Perhaps she was carrying a prey and the hyena tried to get it… who knows. The foot can be broken as well. Has she any cubs? Well i guess the hyena got a good scratch in change. I lost myself, there are so many names of lions prides, coalitions, leopards lineages that I think to remember. And about wild dogs I remember that the Toulon pack were the disgrace of the pack of three, who are the Othawa pack? And the survivors that were stolen their pups? The pups are doing well I remember…. waiting for news about the Nhlanguleni female
Hi Sean, it was lovely to see the Nhlanguleni female again. I hope she has recovered completely from that nasty injury. Wild dogs are always a treat to watch. Dis I miss yesterday’s email. If so could I get it please. Happy New Year to you Sean, Sam, Seb and little Olivia. Hope this year will bring lots of joy and many babies in the wild.
How many cubs has the Nhlanguleni Female raised to adulthood?
What a wonderful start to the new year, highlighting Nhlanguleni in that beautiful golden light, although it was concerning to see her struggling with that foot injury. I hope she can muster enough strength to continue to hunt as the protein will help her heal more quickly. It is always exciting to see wild dogs and especially the large Ottawa pack. I haven’t seen this pack in a while and it’s great to see so many pups scurrying around the adults. Should they all reach adulthood. will that take this group to over 20 dogs? If that’s the case, it seems they will be formidable hunters and I wonder how many times a week they will need to hunt in order for all of them to survive. Seems the weaker ones will not survive or have to leave. Happy new year!!