We kick off with a rare and fascinating threesome of leopards: the magnificent Nweti Male, the iconic Ndzanzeni Female—the last of the Mother Leopard lineage—and the legendary Mashaba Female. For over three hours, we observed their intriguing interactions. While there was some tension between the females, it was remarkable to see how accommodating they were of each other’s presence—a true testament to the unpredictable nature of wildlife behaviour. Hopefully, in three and a half months, we will venture down into the deep south to find a den for one of these remarkable females.
The drama escalates as we move to the Styx Male and the Ntsevu Breakaway Female, who have been frequent features on the reserve recently. But the highlight of this week comes when the young Styx Male’s confidence almost proves to be costly. Unknowingly walks into the path of the larger Ndzhenga Male, hiding behind a termite mound. What follows is a heart-stopping chase as the dominant Ndzhenga Male asserts his dominance, sending the young lion fleeing—an exhilarating moment to be a part of.
Enjoy this Virtual Safari…
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He is a large, tall, and long male that has an incredible coat and a tuft of hair on his neck
Royal descendant of Mother Leopard lineage. Remarkable single cub success story who overcame injury to continue the royal bloodline.
Londolozi's oldest territorial female. Distinguished by her nose spot, this Sunsetbend matriarch's legacy lives on through her daughters.
Wow, where to start on this?….that was very provocative of the Styx young male to be challenging in his fathers’ territory like that, surely he won’t get away with it again? I guess time will tell. What an incredibly exciting game drive for the guests though!
He is awfully cocky strutting around calling like that. I don’t think the Ndzhenga Males would kill him but they would likely just chase him away. It was a phenomenal game drive to be on for those guests.
Wow. the lion dynamics are really impressive. To be able to watch such encounters between different coalitions and/or single lions is just incredibly fantastic.
The matings of one male leopard with two ladies is also such very special sighting. Certainly one that can only be seen once in a lifetime. So the guests who were able to see that must be really happy.
It was such an exciting week and so everyone who was able to watch this all in person was incredibly lucky.
Fantastic, super, unique video! Mashaba female, Ndzanzeni female and Nweti male all together so close, no animosity… the two old queens know all tricks and know what’s best. Yes the Styx male looks quite naive in front of the Ndzenga male! What a video!
Thank you so much, Francesca. It was incredible to see the three leopards together with very little animosity. And then the Styx male causing a bit of drama.
Dear Sean, very dramatic virtual safari. Nice to see Mashaba.
The social structure of the prides is amazing, but hopefully without to much kills.
It was indeed a dramatic week. So much going on here at the moment.
Sean, fantastic video this week. Leopards and lions, it doesn’t get any better, thanks for sharing.
You are most welcome, William. Thanks for watching! It doesn’t get much better than that.
Oh my word Sean my heart nearly stopped seeing the big Ndhzenga male lion chasing the Styx. When he tripped I thought that the Ndhzenga male is going to kill him. Then the females were having an altercation and I thought this is going to be a full blown out fight between all the lions. Glad to see that the Styx male got away as the female. I wonder what is going to happen next between these lion coalitions. Very interesting to see the three leopards and having two females and one male mating. I would never of thought that this would of been possible, but it just goes to show how things in the wild change dramatically.
It was such an intense sighting, thankfully all these lions got away without harm, but it is just sad for the young Kambula lions. Its going to be interesting to see what happens in the coming months.
What an amazing Sunday virtual safari! First of all it was fascinating to observe the dynamics between the two females and Nweti. It seemed instead of a normal chuffing territorial growl by Ndzanzeni, the sound was more of a purring, but not a soft cheetah purr. Mashaba was eager to have her turn, but it seemed she had to wait a bit. Hopefully one or both of these two senior females will fall pregnant and cubs will be around in the south for a while. I’m curious when this mating bout took place. Given the three and a half month gestation period, they could be giving birth late February, early March. But the best part of this was the footage of the Styx male being chased by the large Ndhzenga male, the Ntsevu breakaway female trying to stay with him but being chased by a Kambula female. Both were fortunate to escape with injury but now that two cubs have been killed, I would imagine tensions are high in the lion world. Looking forward to more news as the lion encounters most likely will continue.
Hopefully, both of them fall pregnant and we have some more cubs in the deep south. This sighting of the three leopards was on the 19 November, so we would probably expect cubs at the end of Feb beginning of March.
The encounter between the lions was epic, its going to be interesting to see what unfolds going forward.
That was a great virtual safari, thanks for posting and the detail. Yes I love the longer content and the more indepth descriptions.
Thank you, Moira. I am glad you like the longer content. Will keep it coming.