Idube Safari Highlights #147: 05 – 09 June 2012

In this highlights video:

The title clip features the Dewane male leopard.

A courting pair of lions – Selati male and Othawa lioness, here the male is using his vomeronasal organ to check the receptiveness of the female.

Dewane male leopard patrolling his territory at night.

A newborn baby elephant staying close to the protective mother.

A big male giraffe feeding.

A buffalo bull ruminating.

A herd of elephants feeding in the Sand river.

Selati male lions with an Othawa lioness along the banks of the Sand river.

Dewane male leopard watching a waterbuck run across the clearings before continuing his patrol.

2 Selati male lions on the clearings in front of the lodge, following a scent trail.

One of the Othawa lionesses sitting on top of a termite mound, the two male lions were following her scent, a third male was in the area but was well hidden in the grass.

Metsi female leopard in the branches of a tall tree, keeping a close eye on the Maxabeni 3:3 young male leopard below her.

A second Othawa lioness feeding on a buffalo calf that she had caught alone after being chased from another kill by the Ximhungwe pride. She was within spitting distance of the two leopards

The Ximhungwe pride of lions (3 females and 2 youngsters – one young male missing) feeding on the remains of a buffalo calf that two Othawa lionesses had killed. The third Othawa lioness was happily feeding together with the Ximhungwes after initially being chased off, unaware that her sister had another kill close by.

The buffalo herd that the lions had been picking calves out of was still close to the lions.

Three Selati males and one Othawa lioness lying close to the lodge.

Tassleberry female leopard lying close to an impala kill she had hidden in the long grass.

The big buffalo herd at sunset.

One Othawa lioness watching the Metsi and Maxabeni leopards walk past in the dark, she did chase them but it was too dark to film. Both leopards got away safely.

One of the Selati male lions close to the lodge on the way back for dinner.

Bull elephants right outside the lodge first thing, they headed to Schotia dam to drink.

Shangwa female leopard looking for food north of the river. The wound in her back leg is probably from a run in with the Selati male lions who are thought to have stolen her previous kill. She walks through a herd of giraffe with neither species paying much attention to one another.

Idube Safari Highlights #146: 02 - 05 June 2012

In this highlights video:

The title clip features a close-up of a male giraffe.

Some elephants browsing outside the lodge.

Hlab’nkunzi female leopard feeding on an impala kill she had killed a couple of days previously.

The Selati male lions sleeping in a grassy area.

A young elephant just outside the lodge.

The Selati male lions patrolling in the same area they were sleeping in the previous clip of them.

One of the Selati male lions listening to his brothers roaring.

A business of dwarf mongoose sunning themselves.

A giraffe feeding.

Another group of elephants outside the lodge.

Tassleberry female leopard hiding deep in some red grass.

Some plains zebra, the lodge is named after them…

A buffalo bull moving through some tall thatching grass.

A brief glimpse of the Dewane male and Dam3 female leopards as they move in and out of the mombosa drainage line.

The Selati male lions patrolling in the north, their attention was on some buffalo in the distance.

The Ximhungwe pride, found after tracking the whole afternoon. # females and 3 youngsters were found. This was confirmation that only one of the male youngsters had been caught by the Selati males earlier in the month and not all three like was previously feared.

The Maxabeni 3:3 young male leopard exploring his new surroundings, again it took the whole morning drive to track him down.

Idube Safari Highlights #145: 20 - 23 May 2012

In this highlights video:

The title sequence features one of the Selati male lions on the rocks in the Sand river.

Buffalo bulls in the Mabrak riverbed at Madagwaan crossing.

A young bull elephant on the southern side of the waterboard.

The Othawa lionesses had joined the Selati male lions at the buffalo kill and the meat was basically finished.

A pair of white-tailed mongoose.

A new male leopard in the Western sector: the Maxabeni 3:3 young male from the Londolozi area.

The lone Ximhungwe lioness resting close to a young zebra that she had killed.

A tatty old buffalo bull feeding next to the vehicle.

Dewane male leopard, fast asleep after a long night of patrolling.

Kashane male leopard sitting in a position where he could watch the clearings for food.

A lovely elephant herd on the southern bank of the Sand river.

Kashane male leopard lying next to a fresh impala kill.

One of a pair of hippo bulls that had been fighting along the river at Inyati causeway.

Two separate mating pairs of lions – Selati males/Othawa lionesses lying a few hundred meters apart.

Whilst we were having a drinks break we could hear som commotion with the lions, we returned to find the two mating pairs had met one another and the males had started fighting. A third male was also in the area. the fight resulted in the two mating pairs swapping partners.

The lions were still together on the afternoon drive.

A spotted hyena feeding on the buffalo carcass the lions left behind.

The lions had been fighting overnight again and the lionesses were with different partners.

A big herd of elephants close to the lodge to end with.

Idube Safari Highlights #144: 16 - 18 May 2012

In this highlights video:

The title clip features waterbuck an impala on the clearings close to the lodge.

The four Selati male lions resting next to the road close to the Sand river.

A spotted hyena walking down the road at night.

The Tassleberry female leopard in the long grass close to the Tulamanzi drainage line.

Buffalo bulls along the banks of the Sand river.

A young member of a herd of elephants with an itchy ear.

The Xindlevhana male leopard, once thought to be dead. It seems he has taken over the territory that the Xinzele male occupied before the floods.

A male hippo feeding on the side of the lodge access road at night.

Kashane male leopard with an impala kill close to the Mabrak river.

The Selati male lions feeding on a buffalo that they killed overnight on the bank of the Sand river.

Idube Safari Highlights #143: 06 & 10 - 13 May 2012

In this highlights video:

The title clip features a warthog on the lawn inside Idube lodge.

The Tassleberry female leopard on the bank of the Tulamanzi drainage line.

Dewane male leopard walking along Mackenzie cutline in the dark.

Kashane male leopard in the Ximobonyane drainage line, resting close to an impala kill.

Dewane male leopard marking territory no more than 1km away from Kashane’s position.

One of a group of bull elephants feeding in a bush willow thicket.

Three of the Selati male lions and the three Othawa lionesses together, mating was taking place but is not shown in this video. One of the males had wounds on his leg so there had been some fighting over possession of the lionesses.

The big buffalo herd crossing the main road onto Idube property.

The Tassleberry female watching some impala on Nkombe dam clearings.

Kashane male leopard, fast asleep near his kill.

A large-spotted genet resting on a fallen tree.

An artistic shot of a giraffe at Piva pan.

The Selati males and Othawa lioness across the river on Othawa airstrip.

Kashane male leopard grooming after feeding on his kill.

An elephant herd digging for roots.

The Ximhungwe pride of lions back in the west after spending some weeks avoiding the Selati males.

Dewane male patrolling his territory along the edge of Idube property.

The four Selati male lions following the scent of the lone Ximhungwe lioness, they had just left the Othawa lionesses and were a bit tired so they gave up.

Mating leopards – Dewane Male and Hlab’nkunzi Female

Since losing her cub earlier in the year the Hlab’nkunzi female leopard has been unsuccessful in her attempts to conceive a new litter. She has come into oestrus roughly every two weeks and has been seen mating with both the Dewane and Kashane males. This sequence of clips was taken one evening as she was mating with the Dewane male.

 

 

 

 

Drinking Leopards!

 

Leopards get mucho of their moisture requirements from the blood of their prey, however, they will drink readily when water is available. The quality of the water is unimportant as these clips show, even a muddy puddle at the side of the road is fine!

 

Now filming:

The Selati males are feeding on a buffalo kill at the moment!
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