LEOPARD MAYHEM

Today was an amazing morning for spots. In typical Sabi Sands fashion, we had Leopards everywhere. This morning alone we saw five different leopards, all found within three hours.

I didn’t watch all of them, instead we followed a young female leopard who had joined up with the resident male and the two patrolled together as a couple. Every now and then the Hlangisa female leopard would flirtatiously present herself to the male and roll over onto her back in a playful fashion in front of him, but he was not interested and instead just growled at her. The duo walked straight into a coalition of three male lions who were feeding on a Buffalo carcass. We watched anxiously as the two leopards followed the scent of the carcass and the sight of vultures perched in the trees. They were both very smart as they approached the carcass, being very careful to keep behind some thick cover and as a result were able to safely spot the lions and get away from the area without being detected.

We followed for another twenty minutes watching as the two scent marked together and walked calmly down the road for a few metres before disappearing into a thick drainage line. That was not the end of the morning for us, we drove another three or four kilometres down the road and found another leopard that was playing with an Impala lamb. The Hlaba Nkunzi female leopard had already killed the mother of the lamb. We watched as she chased and played with the little lamb. It was a shocking reminder about how cruel nature can be, yet it was fascinating at the same time.

To add to the drama a massive Black Mamba snake appeared out of the grass nearby and hurried away up into a termite mound. The Hlaba Nkunzi female played with the lamb for almost a half an hour while we watched. We heard later from vehicles that came in after us that she had eventually killed and started feeding on the lamb a few minutes after we left.

Posted: Exeter Lodges by Craig Paulsen, Date: 27 November 2011