The Week in Pictures #663 – Londolozi Blog

The change of seasons is soon upon us, the mornings remain a touch crisp but the jackets are coming off a little earlier these days. We’re heading toward a time of year that many of us love; spring, the reflowering of the bush after a long period of dry dormancy.

It’s been a predator-rich week here on our little patch of the mother continent, all pups and cubs seem to be thriving through the harsher winter months. The ongoing saga of the two packs and the three pups continues to keep us on the edge of our seats. The Ntsevu Pride’s little ones are a joy to behold, their energy and curiosity insatiable as they gambol under the watchful eye of their mothers and aunts. The Nkoveni Female’s maternal prowess remains unparallelled as her two cubs grow in stature and prowess; climbing, exploring and even making their own small kills every now and then!

On the herbivore front, there’s a nursery of several young giraffes that melt hearts with their adorable curious stares and the elephants are making great use of the river as all the smaller waterholes and ephemeral pans await the refill of the summer rains. The river and waterholes that remain full are photographic goldmines through the last weeks of the dry season.

And finally, two relatively rare characters (at least for me over the past year or so), the Mawelwela Male and the Tortoise Pan Male, two beautiful male leopards showed themselves, and what specimens those two are! Also, the Mawelawela Male was mating with the Golonyi Female, a resident female of our southern neighbour, a female none of us had seen yet! The romance was broken up as the Kambula Pride wandered through the area, catching wind of the two and treeing them briefly before losing interest and moving off.

It’s been another wonderful week at Londolozi, everybody. It always is.

Let us know your favourites in the comments below.

Enjoy This Week In Pictures…

You can still see the umbilical on this young calf, indicating it is somewhere between 1 and 3 weeks old.

The Tortoise Pan Male! One of the first leopards I saw when I arrived at Londolozi 5 years ago. I remember vividly how we saw him stand on his hind legs to peer over some grass, a very special memory.

Born in 2016, this male spent his early years in the south-east of Londolozi, but began moving further afield in late 2019.

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Shouting at mum!

A little sentinel.

A big old yawn from a big old male! One of the Ndzhenga Males shows off his gnashers!

The waterholes at this time of year are wonderful.

The mother of the three hotly contested pups pauses to glance toward the den as she quenches her thirst.

The Nkoveni Young Male, what a character!

The Golonyi Female! What a stunning female she is.

The Mawelawela Male, wide-eyed and nonplussed after the chaos of being tree’d by the Kambula Pride.

Began as a fairly unrelaxed leopard in the southwestern parts of the reserve. Now providing great viewing in the open grasslands

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Learning from the best.

Stopping temporarily at a waterhole to quench its thirst.

Like mother, like daughter.

A gorgeous female who is found to the east of camp. Easily recognised by her 2:2 spot pattern she is often to be found in Marula trees.

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Ranger Shadrack Mkabela and his crew pulling up for sun-downers.