Sightings Update: 11 – 18 February 2013

 

This has really been a week where the pieces of the puzzle have come together. Once again the lion sightings have been interesting, but there was also a cheetah sighting and a few leopard sightings to top the cake. We had one good storm and the Nwasitsontso River flowed once again, if only for a few hours.

 

 

Lions

Koppies females

These girls have been keeping a low profile since the Matimba males were with them. It’s possible that the additional pressure coming from these males and the disappearance of the Sizanani males has turned their world upside down. Mpho had a sighting of the Koppies females to the south of Mantwan Mphisi pan where they were moving south west towards Ndlulamiti road. After crossing the small drainage line, they moved into thick bush and he was unable to relocate them.

 

This sighting, however short, tells us that they are content to stay put and not run with their males, the Sizanani males.

 

The Matimba males & Nkuhuma females

 

These males have once again delivered exceptional sightings in the last week and these sightings have confirmed the foothold that they have in the Manyeleti.

 

 

 

The first sighting we had this week was between South gate and Pungwe access. They were on a kudu kill with two of the Nkuhuma females and two of their young male cubs. At first we thought that the moment the kill was finished, the males would try to find the young males and kill them. The females were really relaxed and the thought that these were Matimba cubs never crossed our minds. To our surprise the males were not aggressive towards the youngsters, except when they approached the food too closely. We are therefore happy to announce and introduce the young Matimba males. These cubs are exceptionally lucky because the area they live in is secured by their powerful fathers.

 

 

 

These youngsters are real characters and showed the normal curiosity of young lions. They approached the vehicle, sniffing and trying to get as close to it as they can. It almost seemed like they were egging each other on. After that they started playing and like true brothers, they had to play with the same stick.

 

 

Three more Nkuhuma females were found around S8 and Pod Mahogony accompanied by nine little surprises! These must also be Matimba cubs as it is slap bang in the middle of their territory. Slowly but surely they are settling the lion politics that has unsettled this area for such a long time. Hopefully they’ll dominate this area for a while to come.

 

 

 

The same three Nkuhuma females were found a few days later on Metsikitsoro plains. Their demeanor was intense and they began hunting a mixed herd on the plains. Impala, Wildebeest and Zebra were all over the plains and the females were using the wind to their advantage. We watched as they started to set up a classic lion ambush. Unfortunately for the lions, the wind changed and the game was up. We followed them for a while as they started moving south again, back to their cubs.

 

 

Nkhuma Females

Matimba Males

 

Leopard

Beacon male

 

There were three sightings of this male this week. All sightings were around the Main dam area. We noticed that the Main dam female was in the same area as well and is possibly the reason why he has not moved around too much this week. He is proving to be a difficult leopard to photograph and is always in the thick bush close to the dam. He also prefers moving around fairly late in the evening.

 

Unidentified Leopard

 

We had two sightings of other leopard in the area. The one was close to the lodge and the other was in the drainage line close to S8. Both were not very relaxed with the vehicles, but Eric managed to get a few photos of the male at S8. We will use this to try and figure out where this male comes from and where he will move to in the future. This is all part of the project we run to try and understand the leopard population in the Manyeleti. If anyone recognizes this male, please send us a message with the information.

 

Cheetah

 

We were lucky enough to find the female cheetah just outside the lodge again. Patrick found her at Xigamba pan stalking some Impala. He had only seen her for a few seconds when she sprung her trap. Pat and his guests were treated to a full chase, but unfortunately for her, she missed. This is not unusual at all, as cheetah normally only have a 20% success rate.

 

She took it all in her stride and again treated us to a good sighting by posing and giving us excellent photo opportunities. She moved north towards Buffalo plains, stopping to get a drink from puddle of water in the road. She was very wary and kept looking around for any danger. She clearly smelt the Matimba males that were in the area.

 

Other views from the bush

 

It’s been a great week in the bush and we hope you enjoyed the blog!

 

Darren and the safari team
Photo & Video editing by Darren Roberts-York