It’s all about the wildlife today. Day three of Nature’s Gifts keeps us rooted in tradition, while many begin to take it easy over the Festive Season, Sean Zeederberg makes sure you get the best seats in safari! Enjoy this Festive Season Virtual Safari…
Having heard that a single lioness had been seen the evening before, we start off in search of the Tsalala Female hoping it was her. The distinctive orange eyes of the Tsalala lineage help in identifying it to be her. Still looking in immaculate condition, I have high hopes for her and if she can avoid any conflict with other lions, she will be perfectly fine.
In the aftermath of a skirmish with the Mashaba Female a couple of weeks ago, we spend some time with the Ndzandzeni Female while she rests in the shade on a particularly warm morning. Leopards are incredibly resilient animals, and although the wound looks bad, she has done very well in keeping it clean and free from infection and will likely heal in the near future.
With the Birmingham Males being absent for the last while, we take every opportunity to see them that we can. Although only one has been seen of late, he has spent a lot of time with the Ntsevu Breakaway Pride. He was by himself on this particular afternoon and only a stone’s throw away from the sub-adults. We decide to stay with him in the hopes that he may call in an attempt to try and find his brother, hoping that he is still alive. In the knowledge that the Ntsevu Breakaway Pride is not far away and upwind, he eventually gets up and follows their scent.
On our way home, we are surprised by a unique and very rarely seen nocturnal animal just to top off the Festive Virtual Safari.
Enjoy this Festive Week in Video…
To view the YouTube link, click here.
This female is a success story all in herself, being born as a single cub to the Riverbank 3:3 female in early 2012.
While you might not be on a physical safari this Festive Season, we hope that our Virtual Safaris have brought you a little closer to the African bush.
Today our gift to you is an exquisite wildlife print of the Ximungwe Young Male. Click here to download and save the print - bring a piece of Africa into your home.
What a rich video to approach Christmas! The Tsalala female looks really beautiful, she has to face a long time of loneliness. The Ndzanzeni female also seems to be ok, I never saw a leopard cleaning up its back paw so accurately! Lovely. Do you have any news on the Mashaba female? The Birmingham male is regal, his mane is still in its prime. And to end such a lovely view of the serval! Have you ever seen a mother with kittens? Fantastic video!
Thank you so much, Francesca. The Tsalala Female will be alone for a while but if she is successful in having cubs hopefully she will boost the numbers of the pride. The Ndzandzeni Female was very precise in cleaning her paw.
We haven’t seen the Mashaba Female has been rather scarce of late and so sadly not too much news on her. She has spent some time off of Londolozi but has returned a few times. Sadly, I have never seen a serval with kittens, it is a dream of mine.
Thanks for the great sightings! Lucky you with the serval showing up as a bonus for being a good boy all year long! Merry Christmas to you and your precious family!
Thank you so much, Debra. Merry Christmas to you too. It was such a surprise to see the serval on the way home, a great way to end off the video.
Great seeing that Serval!
It really was so great to see the serval, I was so surprised.
Hi Sean, the Tsalala female is a beautiful lioness with her orange eyes, looking quite relaxed. So sad to see the Ndzanzeni female with a open wound on her shoulder. Hope it heals soon and closes up to not get any infection I there. I wonder if the Mashaba female is alright after the interaction with the Ndzanzeni female. Birmingham male lion is still a magnificent lion, hope his brother is still alive so that they can hunt together and be prepared for any altercations with other lions. Beautiful Serval with it’s long legs and big ears.
The Tsalala Lioness is a stunning female and is looking in such good condition. The wound on the Ndzandzeni Female looks a bit worse than it actually is. I am sure she will heal very soon. I believe that the Mashaba Female is fine, I think she did not have any major injuries.
I hope the other Birmingham Male is alive too.
Ah, so that’s how Ndzanzeni got that wound – noticed it in TWIP. I wonder what that was all about? As you say though, the wound looks pink and healthy, and we can only keep our fingers crossed for her cub(s). Wonderful sighting of the serval.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you all, and Sean, say hello to Sam from me.
Yes, she got it from a fight with the Mashaba Female. We hope that she still has her cubs. Hopefully, we get to see them again soon. Thank you so much for the Christmas wishes and will pass the love on to Sam. Hope you have a Merry Christmas too.
I’m so glad that ‘Tsalala daughter’ is back on Londolozi (providing it’s safe), but it breaks my heart to see her alone. I can’t imagine how she feels. I hope, somehow, that she can form an alliance of some sort with the Ximhungwe lioness. They are distantly related – and both are alone after experiencing recent losses in their pride.
I also wonder how her father (Nhena – Birmingham male) would receive her if they came into contact again.
We are so happy that she is back too, long may it last. I think that now she is reaching sexual maturity the Birmingham Male, Nhenha, would accept her and possibly try and mate with her.
Lovely Sean, thank you! It is really great to see the Tsalala girl being healthy and thriving, love it!
How come there is only one female leopard of the Mother line? Did the ladies before her mostly had boys? Hope the Birmingham male still has a brother, but it doesn’t look good now, does it…………………..
Thank you so much, Irene. She is doing really well and it is so good to see her on Londolozi. Yes, sadly she is the only surviving female of the mother leopard lineage. We hope that the other Birmingham Male is still alive, but I guess only time will tell.
Seeing the Tsalala female, the Birmingham male AND a Serval was remarkable! Fabulous photo age on all accounts. Question: If the Birmingham male was with the Ntsevu sub-adult males and the four Ndhzenga Males challenged them, in your experience, would a fight ensue or would the sub-adults take off or would the Ndhzenga Males retreat? I would imagine the Birmingham male would hold his ground. However the sub-adults with no experience but great in number vs the Ndhzenga Males and their little experience -I just wonder. Also has anyone on the other safari camps seen the Birmingham brother? If he is gone it sure has been a huge year of losses for Londolozi. Thank you!
I think it would be a good challenge if the Birmingham Male was with all the Sub-adults and they came across the Ndhzenga Males. In terms of who would win, I would think the Birmingham and Ntsevu Sub-adults would dominate based on numbers, but as you mention, the Sub-adults do not have much experience with fighting so they may back down and run away.
I think the Birmingham Male would hold his ground, a few of the Sub-adults are enormous for their age and so I think they would hold their ground if the Birmingham Male is there.
The Ndhzenga Males have the one male with a hole in his side and feel he wouldn’t add too much value, but the other three are in great condition so would hold their own.
The best thing about these sorts of questions is that we actually never know what would happen. We can speculate, but I think that the situation is vital in determining the outcome. If all the Sub-adults and Birmingham Male are together and they caught a single Ndhzenga Male the outcome would be very different to if all four Ndzhenga Males were together.
With each passing week, the Sub-adults grow in size and confidence and will be a formidable force if they stay together in the future.
I haven’t heard of the other Birmingham Male being seen for a while so it is quite likely that he is no longer around, and sadly increases the losses for Londolozi.
Loved being at Londolozi ( virtually) this morning. Mahalo🧑🏻🎄
Thank you so much, Judith. Glad you enjoyed it.
It is good to hear that the Tsalala lioness is still in relatively good shape. Seems to be a thinner, though. And I think her face is full of ticks, probably because her mother can’t groom her anymore. Being on one’s own is also a disadvantage regarding hygiene, I guess. At least for lions.
The serval was a spectacular sighting. It didn’t seem to be bothered by the car at all.
Great videos, Sean.
She is in great shape, but because she is young I think she would look a little skinnier than normal. I think the grooming would be a slight issue but nothing major. She would be able to groom them off herself by scratching them if they really bothered her. The serval sighting was amazing. Thank you so much, Christa.
Hello Sean! Great virtual safari! Glad to see that the Thalala female is doing well!
Have you seen the nomadic Nwalungu Male lately?
Hope he is well and in good condition.
Could the young Thalala female and the Nwalungu male create a pride? They are both alone.
What do you think?
Thank you for sharing! Alwayes wonderful to see the animals!
Thank you so much, Ann. We last saw the Nwalungu Male a few weeks ago. He has been keeping under the radar. He could start a pride with the Tsalala Female, but it seems unlikely as the male doesn’t stay with the female the entire time. She will often seek out the dominant male to mate with in order to give birth to his cubs and hope for his protection. The Nwalungu Male will likely be overthrown by other dominant males and they will then kill his cubs. It is not impossible to start a pride but it is unlikely as they wont be together permanently.
A nice cat drive and nice to see a serval. Have to say that the Birmingham male looks tired, but amazing that he keeps going. Do you think the brother has died?? Loved the ellie – so peaceful watching them. Thanks for sharing – enjoyed it. Love your outfit by the way. Merry Christmas to you all.
He did look slightly tired, but he is getting old. I thought he looked in fantastic condition given his age, they certainly keep on going. I am not sure if the other Birmingham Male is alive. It is tough to say, he hasn’t been seen by anyone for quite some time, but there is a chance that he has moved into the Kruger National Park and is spending his days there. It has been a long time since he was last seen and the fact that his brother is moving around and no longer calling or advertising that this is his territory may point to him no longer being around.
Thank you so much, Leonie. THe outfit was unbelievably hot while eon game drive, my goodness. Merry Christmas to you too.
What a fantastic virtual Christmas safari Sean. The Tsalala female looks so strong and healthy, and my fingers are crossed that she is following her late mother’s lessons for survival. I truly appreciated the close-up of her penetrating orange eyes.
It’s too bad the Ndzanzeni female has such an obvious wound but I know big cats do tend to heal themselves. Isn’t it alarming that her cubs haven’t been seen in such a long time? Does she still have suckle marks or were they weaned?
The dark moody skies screamed rain is coming and set the mood for the late afternoon drive.
The final gifts, the Birmingham male and a Serval – what a fantastic video to celebrate the holidays!!
PS: love the Ximungwe young male photo “gift”. Thank you!
Thank you so much, Denise. The Tsalala Female is looking great. Sadly, the Ndzandzeni Female cubs may no longer be around since they have not been seen for so long. We are hopeful but will have to wait to see. They were weaned off her milk so that wouldn’t help us tell.
It was great to see the Birmingham Male and what a surprise to see the serval on the way home.
Have a Merry Christmas.
What an incredible view of a cerval, fantastic.
Thank you for the wonderful 7 days of Natures Gifts. Tsalala is looking very well, I hope 2022 is very kind to her. Always a treat to see the Birmingham Male (Nhenha) I hope he will find his brother soon.. Time will tell if he is still with us or has passed into memory. Thank you for all you hard work keeping all of us updated on the latest goings on at Londolozi.
Thoroughly enjoyed the wide variety of encounters. Hope you get another look at the Mashaba female.
Loved the outfit!!!!
Regards to Sam, Sebastian and your dad!
Thank you Sean, the video was great! And that serval sighting really topped it off! Good for you to be Santa for the drive, loved it. Merry Christmas to you and all the Londolozi family, hope it is bright.
I’m late, so very late but have been off line to celebrate with at least one of my sons through this difficult traveling time in Europe. What a super gift for the festive season Sean and I do hope that you and all the Londolozi family have enjoyed it to the full! Although I have a lot of catching up to do at the time of this virtual safari it was Wonderful to see the Tsalala young female looking so well and managing on her own ❤️. With all the close ups of the Ndzanzeni female couldn’t help but notice that amazing X on her right shoulder..never noticed it before. The final Birmingham male certainly looked reluctant to move from his comfy position to join the young ones..hopefully he is still doing well…though I am yet to see the rest of the festive blogs.. 🙏🏻. ..and what a wonderful end ..thank you 💗
Sean, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! What a way to help us celebrate Londolozi – a fantastic video! We remember being at that sandy spot with the rocks in the background watch the Tsalala pride at rest – sprawled everywhere! We are concerned about the open wound on the Ndzandzeni Female – it looks serious, but we are confident that it will heal. Must have been some kind of fight with our Mashaba! Your finale with the Cerval was a special treat! All in all, one of your best ever videos!