The Manyeleti has been really rewarding lately. We are seeing some good work starting to bare the fruits of success.

 

 

Lion

 

Sizanani males and Koppies females

 

 

It has been a little quiet with these Lions for a while! We finally found the Koppies females on a young Buffalo kill, on Konkoni road close to Zebra pan quarry. They were seen feeding on the Buffalo for two days. It’s remarkable how these females have relaxed with the vehicles ever since the Sizanani males took over the pride.

 

 

So we got wondering, where were the males? One morning on our way to check on the Koppies girls and their kill, we found both Sizanani males walking from the Lodge towards Zebra pan, right towards the females. We followed the males and they settled about 200 meters from the kill, completely unaware of it. During the day, the females left what little meat was left. That afternoon we found the stronger male with the older Koppies female at Zebra pan quarry. No need to explain what they were up to!
 

 

 

The other male moved off with the other two Koppies females. Their tracks went up Tamboti road.

 

Sizanani Males

 

Koppies Females

 

 

Matimba males

 

The first sighting we had of these males was on Ntzaka loop. This area seems to be a favourite of the two Matimba’s that ventures this far north into the Manyeleti. They were just lying on a big open area, so nothing out of the ordinary. The strange thing about these Lions is that they dominate a large portion of land, but are hardly seen with females. The Mbhiri females also frequent this area but it doesn’t seem like the Matimba’s have managed to settle them down yet.

 

 

A few days later, we found four Matimba’s together on S6 cutline not far from Tamboti road. Our concern was that this was where the Sizanani male and two Koppies females were. If the Matimba’s got any clue of them, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill the male and they have a reputation for killing females too. Luckily they went east towards Main dam.

 

 

 

 Nkuhuma females

 

 

 

We had one sighting of these females with a young male at S8 dam. We didn’t see the young Mungana male with them. This was a dangerous place to be, especially for the young male, as it is a favourite area of the Matimba males. The drama continues to play itself out with these Lions.

 

 

 

The new pride

 

We had one sighting of these nervous Lions on a Buffalo kill on Lomfane pan. After the Beacon male Leopard fed on the kill, they returned to the carcass and fed. These Lions are still a work in progress and we are doing everything to help these Lion relax and call the Manyeleti their home.

 

 

 

Leopard

 

Beacon male

 

The Leopard male that we wrote about in the blog on 7 November, has been identified as the Beacon male from the Sabi Sands. He was seen again a few times and is definitely setting up territory in the Manyeleti. He was first seen at the airstrip, then on Ingwe Manzi and lastly at Lomfane pan. The sighting at Lomfane pan just highlighted the confidence of this male Leopard. The new pride of Lion from the Kruger National Park (the skittish pride also written about on 7 November), pulled down a male Buffalo at Lomfane pan. When Eric found the kill, these Lions ran away from the vehicle. Without knowing it, the Beacon male had been watching the Lions from the nearby treeline. He didn’t pass up the opportunity for a free meal and wittingly fed on the Buffalo kill for about five minutes, always keeping an a watchful eye for the Lion. He then casually moved south towards Tamboti road and into the drainage line. The audacity of this cat surprises me!

 

 

Main dam female

All the sensitivity with this cat is starting to show results! If we compare her to six months ago you might think that this is a different cat! What is even more exciting is that this is still a young cat. She must be only about three or four years old. Her distinctive markings are a heart shaped spot pattern under her right eye and a notch in her left ear.

We had a great sighting of her! We were having sundowners at Mantwaan Mphisi pan when we heard a pair of Side Striped Jackal alarm calling towards the S6 area. When we found the Jackal, they pointed us straight to her. She was lying on a termite mound and as always we approached with care. She started moving and we followed at a respectable distance. Soon she stopped and so did we. She then did the unthinkable. She approached the vehicle! She came around sniffing about ten meters or so from us and then moved again. When she came across an unidentified male Leopard, she tore into him. He did not see it comin!. He took off with a flash and we have not seen him since. She then proudly settled down and we watched her from fifteen meters away.

 

 

The one concern we have is that she doesn’t seem to be lactating anymore and the last we knew she had cubs. This might be the reason for her aggression towards the male Leopard.

 

 

 

 

Other views from the Bush

 

Spotted Hyena 

 Leopard Tortoise

 

Plains Zebra

 

 

 

 

Darren Roberts-York

 

 

 

All photos and videos taken with a Nikon Coolpix P510
Video taken and edited by Darren Roberts-York
Photographs edited by Darren Roberts-York

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been a fairly good and easy going time in the bush the last while. We have been eagerly anticipating one of the big calendar moments in the bush…. The arrival of a whole new generation of young Impala! The mothers still have them safely tucked away but pretty soon they will come and strut their stuff!

Lion

Sizanani and Koppies 

 

They have been in their core territorial area for the last while and have not had any major dramas during this period. For the last while they have been apart and the males have been trying to re-enforce their dominance over their territory. For the girls though it’s been business as usual. One of their favourite areas of operation is to the south of the lodge. It’s a gabbro area with fantastic grazing and plenty of big grazing animals such as Zebra and Buffalo. So the sightings we have had of them were around Panicum road and Manor house pan.

 

The Sizanani males moved a lot more, and were seen around Zebra pan and Catwalk west, before slipping off the radar for a while.
 

Sizanani Males
 

Koppies Females

 

 

Leopard

Eric had one nice sighting at Skybeds dam of a female with 2 cubs. According to Eric she was nice and relaxed but unfortunately, as luck would have it, he had no camera on that drive. We will however focus our efforts on that area to try and establish who she is and to work at habituating the cubs.
 

 

 

Wild Dog

There was one sighting of the two dogs on Red road and it seems they have moved north towards Orpen for a while. 

The big pack of eighteen dogs was on the Manyeleti once again. The first sighting was at Ndlovu Manzi close to main dam. From there they moved to the Tintswalo airstrip and also moved north to Red road and then to Orpen. 

 

The good thing is that all the pups are still alive and have gotten really big. With the current dismal numbers of Wild Dog in the greater Kruger National Park, this is a fantastic success story!
 

Other views from the bush

 

 Nyala Bull

 

 

 Male & Female Giraffe

 

 

Male African Elephant

 

 

Special thanks go to Eric Mokoena for helping out with the wonderful pictures and information for the blogs!

 

Darren Roberts-York

 

 

All photographs taken by Eric Mokoena with a Nikon Coolpix P510

Editing by Darren Roberts-York

 

 

 

It’s heating up in the bush as the big cat politics gets more interesting by the day! Just to add a little spice to the casserole we had a new group of lion move onto the Manyeleti.

 

 

 

Lion

Sizanani males

After a rough month of Matimba incursions, these lions have once again settled down. They have been spending most of their time around Tamboti road, AK road and up to Catwalk area. There hasn’t been any major upheaval’s and it’s just been “business as usual”.

 

 

They were with the Koppies females again on Catwalk east and ended up on a Buffalo kill on Gumede road, less than a kilometre away from the lodge, a few days later.

 

 

 

Koppies females

Once again reunited with the Sizanani boys, they have found a confidence that we have not seen before. Ever since the Sizanani take-over, they seemed to have relaxed around the vehicles. Patrick first found them not far from Metsikitsoro plains. From there they moved west and killed a small Buffalo at Ingwe Manzi. This was quite a sighting for the guides on drive as a group of 20 plus Hyena were attracted to the kill. Through the day the Hyena moved closer and closer. That evening we could hear the eruption of Hyena’s whooping and lions growling all the way from our staff village. Eric was the first to return and told me that when one of the females got up to drink a Hyena pounced at the opportunity. The tenacious Koppies girls did however hold them off and kept their kill.

 

Skybeds males

We only had the one sighting of these two males, that seem to have lost the rest of their pride, at Koppies. Unfortunately this is quite close to where Nduna, the biggest Matimba male, was last seen. He was last reported close to Talamati Bush Camp in the Kruger National Park, which is only a few kilometres from Koppies. Let’s hope they stay out of the big guys’ way!

 

The new pride

These guys pitched up from out of the blue. We first found them on a Wildebeest kill on Buffalo plains. They were quite wary of the vehicles and we thought they may be a group from the Kruger area. They were found the next day on a Kudu kill at Bee-eater drive which meant they moved several kilometre’s during the night and made another kill. They were then found by Mpho north east of Red road a few days later.

 

This group comprises of two adult females and two sub-adult males. One of the females is quite light in colour, but definitely not white. The two young males are probably around two years old.

Leopard

We found this male for the first time at the Ntzaka sewerage wetlands. He was exceptionally relaxed and had no problem with the vehicle. He initially walked next to the vehicle and then started hunting Impala on the open area. Unfortunately we lost him as we had to put the light off as to not affect any outcome. A few days later Patrick found him on an Impala kill on S6 drive. We were treated to classic leopard feeding behaviour.

 

 

We saw distinctive markings just below and to the side of his eye, on the left hand side of his face. The spot marking is one large dot, surrounded by seven or eight other spots in an almost perfect circle. He is in his prime and we estimate his age at about six or seven years old.

If anyone knows this leopard, please let us know. We would love to know his life story!

 

Cheetah

We had two fantastic Cheetah sightings and surprisingly both at the same place. Both sightings were at Xigamba pan. First we had our usual female stalking an Impala. After about 45 minutes we left her to it.

The next day, a male was at exactly the same place. Coincidence? I wonder…

Wild dog

We had two wonderful sightings at Manor house pan where both sightings were of the two dogs that we have been following. The guests at Manor house were lucky enough to have breakfast and watch the Wild dogs right on their doorstep.

Other views from the bush

 

 Hippopotamus

 

 

 Tree Agama

 

 

 African Elephant

 

 

Cape Buffalo female with a funky hairdo

Darren Roberts-York



All photos & videos taken with a Nikon Coolpix P510