This week’s Virtual Safari takes on a slightly lighter tone; it’s a blend of beauty, calm, and a little humour from the bush.
It began as we made our way out on a drive early one misty morning, only to be slightly delayed at the Londolozi airstrip. Once we finally got moving, we spent some time with the Maxim’s Male Leopard, who had lost a carcass to hyenas but was still following their tracks, hoping to reclaim what he could. It was one of the closest and most relaxed sightings we’ve had of him yet.
We then found our way across to the Xinkhova Female Leopard and enjoyed a slightly unusual sighting. With a duiker carcass hoisted nearby, she was prowling through the grass, pausing now and then to graze on the blades like a zebra. Every so often, she’d stop, sneeze, and shake her head, then erupted into a full-blown sneezing attack. It seems even leopards aren’t immune to the pollen and tickles of spring!
To round off the morning, we stopped to enjoy a few other familiar faces, the Gijima Males lounging contentedly, and later a group of the Kambula Sub-adults. Having just come from the enormous Gijima Males, I couldn’t help but notice the sheer size difference, a reminder of how much growing these young lions still have ahead of them.
Enjoy this Virtual Safari…
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Looks like the darker-maned Gijima male has quite a limp?
He does have a limp, but it is only after he has been resting for a while. Then every now and then you see him favouring his right side when running.
Hi Sean, how gorgeous the Xinkova female is… such a pleasure to watch! Being a cat she eats grass, to help digestion and very likely to heal her cold as well… you don’t see often ill animals in videos. She looks fine, hopefully it’s just something mild. Sometimes grass tickles the cats’ nose too. The Maxim male… his muzzle asks for caressing, but just in its round shape! Such a stunning leopard. The Gjima dominant male is spectacular. What a lion! His limping looks serious. His brother has a larger face, rounder. They are incredible. I’m sorry for the Kambula sub-adults, they are in the same situation as the once Birmingham-Breakaway females and offspring were… hopefully they’ll manage to escape and thrive, also given the conditions of the bigger Gijma male….
She is such a gorgeous leopardess, I am sure it was just the grass tickling her nose. I don’t think it was anything serious. The Maxim’s Male is a spectacular leopard.
The Gijima Males are impressive and we have noticed him limping a bit but once he is up and moving the limp seems to ease up a bit.
Hi Sean, that was quite something watching the Xinkhova female sneezing a few times. A first for me, never thought they could also get a bit of hay fever. Maxim’s male is an enormous leopard and you got some pretty stunning footage of him. Gijima males are huge and the sub adults still have a lot of growing to be done, to be able to match the Gijima males.
I am not sure if it was hay fever, I was just making a joke about it because she was sneezing so much throughout the morning. I agree the Gijima Males are huge.
Such a great photo op w/ the giraffe! The sneezing fit a first for me to see! Made me laugh! Did I miss what happened w/ the Gijima males? So handsome! But one had a gash on his face and another limping…??
It was interesting to see the Xinkhova Female sneezing so much.
We are not sure about what happened to the Gijima Male that is limping, but we did mention it a few videos ago, it seems to ease up a bit after he is up and moving.
The other one with the gash on his face had a very swollen face, he was treated by the vets and then a few days later found with a gash, so it could have been conflict with other males in the area or even his brother.
I remember the swollen face, yes. Poor guy having a rough go lately! 🙁 Thank you Sean!
Thanks for this update on the Xinkhova female, MaximsMale, the Gijima lions and the Kambula pride,Sean.
The Xinkhova doesn‘t seem to be pregnant yet, or is she? How old are the young Kambula lions? It is really bad luck for them that their fathers have gone. I hope they still have a chance.
The Xinkhova Female doesn’t appear to be pregnant yet, we are hoping that she finds a male and mates soon. Most of the Kambula Sub-adults will be three in February, with two being slightly younger. They do still have a chance, it is going to just be a challenging time for them.
Given the nature of cats in general, it’s not surprising that after rooting around in fresh grass for a bit of fiber, that a leopard might end up sneezing several times. I’m sure it’s not common to witness this during your drives so viewing Xinkhova sneezing today was an added bonus. I noticed the dark maned Gijima still is walking with a limp so perhaps that is going to be permanent, yet I doubt it will hinder his ability to hunt or defend himself/prides/territory. The Kambula subadults will face challenges but there are 7 of them so strength in numbers.
It certainly is not common to see a leopard sneezing like that. I think it is a permanent limp for the Gijima Male, he could have arthritis or some other issue in the joints of his back left leg.
I just love the Maxim Male. Becoming a legend.
Hi Sean, thank you for all your wonderful videos every weekend. Since male lions cover such large territories do you stay in contact with guides and rangers from Sabi sands and Malamala game reserves to keep up with the ever-changing lion dynamics?
Sean, Wow, those male lions are truly massive, and not anything that any of the younger group of lions will want to deal with! Hoping the young group will take advantage of this time to organize themselves with no real challenges.
They are enormous lions and we are loving seeing them so much.
Let’s hope the young lions can avoid any danger and set themselves up somewhere.