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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.
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46 sightings by Members
A confident and curious young leopard, that is nearing independence after a remarkable start to life alongside her resilient mother.
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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.
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26 sightings by Members
Having been viewed by vehicles from an early age, this leopard is supremely relaxed around Land Rovers.
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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.
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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.
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The last surviving cub of a litter of three, he is on the cusp of independence.
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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.
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Kate Tennick
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