This past week truly highlights Londolozi’s love of leopards as we have been blessed by an abundance of unbelievable leopard sightings.
Leopards mating. Leopards drinking. Leopards patrolling. Leopards snarling. Leopards interacting. To be fortunate to find two or three leopards together is always an incredibly special sighting. And to have had this happen multiple times this past week will make it a week to remember that is for sure!
In addition to the leopards, the diversity of life in this reserve always amazes me. And I feel like the images below highlight just that: cheetahs, male lions, buffalo, giraffes, elephants, jackals, zebras and smaller creatures on the ground or flying high.
Let us know your favourites in the comments section below.
Enjoy This Week In Pictures…
Tough love. Three Rivers Female snarls at her cub as the Young Female leopard rolls over, looking for some motherly love. A positive sign of raising a successful offspring, and a soon-to-be independent new female in the area.
Forced into early independence at 11 months. Despite her small size, she's proven resilient, currently raising a cub in SE Londolozi.
A confident and curious young leopard, that is nearing independence after a remarkable start to life alongside her resilient mother.
A full-bellied, impressive Gijima Male pauses after having a drink in the Sand River.
A morning to remember! The Ximungwe Female and Maxims Male caught in action. Annoyed by the branch obstructing Ximungwe’s face, but hey, still grateful I managed to capture the action!
Dominant since 2019. Once skittish Kruger-born giant now rules vast territory, transforming from elusive presence to formidable force.
Having been viewed by vehicles from an early age, this leopard is supremely relaxed around Land Rovers.
These mating bouts can erupt into a flurry of claws and teeth.
A surprising find. We spotted movement atop a dead knobthorn tree trunk and, having a closer look, we realised it was a small African Rock Python that had caught a Yellow-Billed Hornbill!
A new leopard for us! On a recent gloomy morning, Equaliser found fresh leopard tracks heading into a drainage line. Not long after leaving him on the tracks, he radioed to say he’d found hyena eating remains of an impala kill and spotted a leopard fleeing the scene. We managed to catch up and spent the morning with the Langa 2:2 Female, who seems to be spending more time in the eastern parts of our reserve, north of the river. Beautiful leopard, I hope she stays!
Another first … mating Steenboks on the airstrip! This is not something you ever expect to see while on safari.
Drinking hard or hardly drinking?
Incredible morning spent with the Makathini family, satisfied with their breakfast.
Recyclers on the scene. White-backed Vultures and black-backed jackals clean up a buffalo carcass that the Msuthlu pride killed the night before.
A perfect afternoon scene, an elephant meandering along the banks of the Sand River feeding away as he goes.
Golden eyes in golden light glisten differently. The stunning Ngungwe Female rests in a large jackalberry tree.
Born 2020 during lockdown to Piccadilly Female. Once skittish, now confident mother denning her first litter in Marthly's rocky terrain.
An impressive buffalo bull keeps up with the tail end of a very large herd of buffalo moving through the thickets for one more feed before sunset.
Dynamic duo. Relishing in the sightings we continue to have of the Nkoveni Female and her son. It’s only a matter of time before he enters his independence as a nomadic male leopard.
Londolozi's most viewed leopard and prolific mother. This gorgeous female has raised multiple cubs to independence.
The last surviving cub of a litter of three, he is on the cusp of independence.
The morning golden light catching these giraffe was stunning.
Ximungwe Female quenches her thirst at a nearby waterhole in the heat of the afternoon. Equaliser spotted her in a marula tree with a hoisted impala kill earlier that morning.
Waterholes are sacred places in the winter months. A beautifully symmetrical scene of a dazzle of zebra drinking.
While sitting with the Nkoveni Female watching her rest under a magic guarri bush, this regal elephant bull moved through the area.
Sitting at the edge of a waterhole far beyond the heart of his mother’s territory, the Nkoveni Young Male is cool, calm, collected, and confident in his fast-growing independence.
Uncommon sighting of a relaxed scrub hare during the day.
Proud of this one. Witnessing mating leopards is an experience to behold. And photographing them can prove tricky as they are constantly moving back and forth, changing directions. So to be in the right place at the right time for this shot was a big treat!
Maxims Male asserts his dominance while mating to ensure Ximungwe’s submission, but more importantl,y the pain of biting her neck helps stimulate the female leopard’s reproductive process.
Oh my goodness, Kate! So, so many engaging pix. The rock python with the yellow-billed hornbill, mating steenboks, vulture & black-backed jackal on the buffalo carcass–all quite fine. And the face forward photo of Maxim’s male and Ximungwe female mating is the best display I’ve seen of his imposing size.
Super photos (as always) .
It dawns on me that I haven’t seen any ostrich photos recently ?
Wow, so many unexpected shots this week! The python with the hornbill and the mating steenboks were a complete surprise. I also love how macabre the image of the vulture, jackal and bison skull is—so spooky and raw. Beautiful leopards as usual. 😊
Sorry Kate, I can’t pick a favourite this week as they’re all great! But those gorgeous amber eyes of Ngungwe……
The Langa female is certainly beautiful. Which leopard’s territory have you seen her in?
Hi Kate, thanks for the pics.. I do however have a question regarding identification of the different jackal species.
To me the pictured jackal looks like a silver backed or even side-striped jackal. Can you explain with pictures maybe the differences.
Well, the duo mating is a main theme and the picture of the Maxim male and the Ximungwe female is a winner as well as the steenbocks! I love the scrub hare picture., the Ngungwe female gold in gold and the Ximungwe drinking. The Nkoveni young male is the most photogenic leopard along with his aunt! All big cats are superb. The giraffe, the buffalo, the elephants… all
Hi Kate, this week we were spoiled with stunning leopard sightings, thank you. All your images are beautiful and there is a variety of different animals. My favorite this week is Nkoveni’s young male cub lying all by himself being cool calm and collected.
It’s difficult to choose favorites this week as the leopard photos are phenomenal, but the straight on view of the leopards mating is incredible! One question I have is who is the Langa female?
Other favorites include the scrub hare and Makhatini feeding with her sub-adult cubs. Thanks for sharing your fantastic images!
I love all of your wonderful photos of this week. The scrub hare in this position is really special.
And all the beloved leopards seem to be in great condition. The Gijima male sitting there so fantastically confident and obviously proud of himself,wonderful. Good luck that you saw that Python with the hornbill.
The photo of the zebras is perfect.
I have never heard of the Langa female. Do you know where she comes from?
Crazy shot of the python! Fave has to be the Ellie on the Sand River but also the zebra having a drink 😉
Dear Kate, thanks for that nice TWIP.
Love the zebras drinking. It is fantastic to see the enourmous difference between male and female leopards , when they are mating, special shot.