Leopards in Kruger.

I have written before on my fascination with leopards sicne a young age and that story was told in a different place. http://birdwalkin.blogspot.co.za/2011/03/amazing-sightings-of-leopards-in-gir.html

My sightings of leopards have not been as many as I would have liked in Kruger yet they have all been memorable just the same. It is not often that I get to use a camera effectively while juggling talking to guests, watching animals and other vehicles and all of that and so while the photos maybe indifferent the experience has always been awesome.

The quest for leopard began for me when I was in the 7^th grade, donkeys years ago. My grandfather went on safari in India and knowing of my passion for the wild he sent me a trip report of 6 typed pages. The first para had the words “Mr Spots walking over the rocks”. The imagery was bold and had a profound impression on me. He has passed on to his reward now, that trip report has become compost somewhere, I am 40 years older, but I remember the thrill that I got from reading that report in my hostel dorm.

Of the pix I have posted few are just casual leopards I saw on my dasy guiding but one is special to me. The leopardess with a cub. I met a couple at the Skukuza camp and we got to talking. Prashant is a colonel in the indian army posted in UNPKF in Sudan. His wife and son and I spent a couple of really great days in the park. They were really keen to see leopard and we were lucky enough to bump two of them and one with a cub.

I always tell my guests they have to bring their luck with them. I am here daily mine does not count. Ha! Well they obviously did bring their luck and it paid of in spades. We were driving around and seeing a lot of plains game antelope and giraffe and so many others and yet leopards and lions were missing. It was getting close to late afternoon and soon we would have to get back to camp and i would have to leave the park and still nothing. Suddenly we came down a road and one car was parked and the driver was peering across the road. A leopard crossed here he said when I asked and as we watched he came up out of the bushes to lie down and crouch down low as though stalking. Then he noticed that it was buffalo on the other side of the bushes and so relaxed and stayed there for quite a while as we watched. 

The leopardess was a similar case there were cars parked and no one could see her. With the Explore Africa Landrover seats being higher we not only saw her but also the little fellow next to her. What an amazing sighting. Leopardess and cub sleeping 20 mtrs off the road. Supreme. The little guy had his eyes open but he too was dozing and she was out for the count. Did not move for the whole time we were there. 

The beautiful sunset was a close to an awesome day! Explore Africa with me, and bring your luck with you, it will be fun! 

The Baboon Hilton!

While you Explore Africa there is one animal that you will find at once endearing and ever present. The ubiquitous baboon. They are gregarious creatures living in troops of up to a 100 and run by a set of males who all have equal status as Dons and yet among equals there is usually a Don of dons. Il Capo di tutti Capi as they say in Sicily.

The males are almost double the size of the females and they brook no back chat. The whole troop is busy trying to get into their good graces and one very common way of endearing yourself to these big boys is to groom them. The females and junior males alike will groom higher status animals and make ‘friends’ so to speak and the bosses enjoy the attention.

The whole troop will wake up in the morning on a favourite tree that they always use to roost and in their territory there are usually a few of these trees that are the “Baboon Hiltons”. Don’t park under there in the night or you will be rained on and it will not be pleasant and that car is gonna stink for a week. Ha!

The morning is for fellowship and catching up and of course grooming. Females will groom the children looking for nits and lice and bits of food left in their fur and so also adults will groom each other. It’s a bonding activity that takes up a good hour or two depending on the weather.

The troop bonds and gets together each day like this. They are a very tight social unit and very little threatens a large baboon troop. Males have canine teeth that are longer and sharper than leopards or lions and two three big males successfully hold off leopards even on the ground. The cats also have a healthy respect for the males fighting skills, strength and of course the teeth!

Baboons have been known to hunt impalas at times and though they often forage together with impalas they have also been known to kill baby impalas for the curdled milk in their stomach. A favourite food. But this is not so common. More common is impala and others under a marula tree getting access to the fruits that the baboons drop and shake loose as they feed on the delicious marula fruit.

Come and Explore Africa and find out something new every day!

The boys get a talking to!

Young bull elephants go for 20 years under the care and comapnionship of an older bull. We call the youngsters askaris after the Swahili word for soldiers, the big old bull being like a captain over these rambunctious fellows. They get pretty big too and many will be as big or almost as big as the oldest bull.

Sometimes they can also bully each other and this is what one of the elephants I was watching was doing. Dominance hierarchy is what they are all about and they tussle and wrestle constantly testing each others strength.

These two fellows were tussling on the edge of the waterhole and then took the match into the water. They kept at it for quite a while and the other elephants had already moved off a little ways. Then the victor would not let the other one exit the waterhole and it get intense. I mean 3-4 tons on each side and they were shoving each other around…. it was hectic.

The old bull noticed what was happening and came over pushed the bully over to one side and let the other one out of the water. Then it was time for a little disciplinary talk. Ha! Boy when the old one came over he looked pretty upset with what was happening and unceremoniously pushed the bully away. The bully knew what was up next for sure.

Then the little group gathered around again and slowly made their way away into the bush.

Elephants are really amazing to watch and they communicate their feelings and their thoughts so well. It is wonderful to watch. Come and Explore Africa and you will find out it is true.

Victory lap for mommy!

The Leopard hunts in the darkness! An awesome book by Wilbur Smith and a very exciting and provocative title, slightly fearsome to some I suppose, but of all the sights of the African bush none is more awe inspiring and sought after than that of a leopard.

Inkwe/ Ngwe as it is called in most Bantu languages in the northern and eastern parts of South Africa is the most feared by the villagers because it hunts in darkness and in total stealth. It is the rarest sight of the Big 5 in most reserves and therefore the most desired sighting of all. Even I, who would happily spend the whole day with an elephant, would rush off to a leopard sighting.

I had an awesome experience with a particular female over a period of a year where I was based and this is her story.

I came out of the tent next to the fence line one afternoon and got a funny feeling that someone, something was watching me. I turned right towards the fence hardly 4 meters away and there she stepped out of the bush and came straight up to the fence. A 2 meter high fence does not keep leopards out if they really want to get in and the gates were open any way but to be face to face with this most elusive creature in the Big 5 left a deep imprint on my soul. She turned away and silently went down the embankment to the river and I ran in for the camera. Across the stream are two large Camel thorn trees and she loves the one on the right because it gives her a clear view of the open area just beyond and she make calculations as to what or rather who will be on the menu that evening.

She was pregnant at the time I saw her and though nobody knew then, we figured since she totally disappeared from view for a month or so, and then her tracks were found with little ones next to them. She hunted in the same territory as before and was busy raising her cubs. We found them from time to time in trees where she was leaving them when they were old enuf so she could go hunt for them.

Time went on and then I saw them at 9 months old, large and confident walking thru the bush with mommy. Little cubs fall prey to hyenas and lions often and I was so happy that all 3 made it thru that first gauntlet of 6 months when they are too young to defend themselves or flee.

I saw two of them the other day bush walking, and since carrying the rifle does not allow me to carry a camera as well I got no shots, but the sight of the two siblings walking and stalking is again deeply imprinted. I walked past the drag marks of their kill, minutes old, with fresh red blood not yet congealed on the ground,  leading into the reeds on the rivers edge and thought to myself, THEY MADE IT! How cool is that!

Explore Africa baby, it touches you in so many ways!

Explore Africa baby, it touches you in so many ways!  

Klipspringers rock!

When you Explore Africa you come across some amazing creatures that don't really get enuf press. Klipspringers are one of those. Dainty little antelopes that love on the rocky outcrops across the country. In Kruger we call them koppies or Kopjies which is the original Afrikaans word for these rocky outcroppings of granite. They can be from 20-80 meters high and are composed of broken down granite boulders for the most part sticking out of the otherwise sandy soil that prevails in most parts.

I saw these beautiful antelope on the top of the Waterberg mountains in the Marakele National Park and got a few decent pix.

They mate for life and are highly territorial. notice the deep extra 'nostril' on the cheek. It is a scent gland and they mark off their domain with the scent from it to let other klips know that they own the area. Funny thing is if an intruder shows up and its male then the male will fight it off. And they play rough! They have been known to fight to the death! If it is a female then the female fights it off.

Their hooves are hard on the outside and soft on the inside that helps them grab on to the rock and not slip just like the better known mountain goats such as ibex and others.


This pic is from Kruger where the pair was wathcing the car moving at about 150 meters.

They are small only about 3 feet high at best and have hair that is hollow. this helps them stay warm and also pads them if they were to fall. Pretty cool. So like I say come and Explore Africa there is something different right around every corner.