Kruger in April and half a leopard kill.....

A young leopard pouncing

Kruger in April:

I got to enjoy a wonderful few days traveling SA at the begining of April, with my two guests Jennifer and Louise of the USA. Namely From JHB - Kruger - St. Lucia - Durban.

It was a fantastic trip and a great time of the year to travel the east coast. We were blessed with amazing weather and great sight-seeing, with wonderful wildlife encounters. We were lucky enough to see the Big 5 in one day and the young leopard above within the first hour of entering Kruger. As usual prolific birdlife was seen both in Kruger and the St. Lucia estuary. The animals we saw from Kruger to Phinda to Cape Vidal were healthy and in great condition. We also witnessed a hyena trying to run down an impala, unfortunately the chase continued off into the bush and so the outcome of the hunt will never be known. 

We in fact saw this young leopard twice in the 3 days we were in the Skukuza area, at N'waswitshaka dam on the S65, to be exact. A dam, river and trough combination well know to the regular Kruger visitor. The first encounter he was in the dam area, before walking up the dam wall and right into the parking lot where some 10 vehicles were parked. He nosed around, quite unsure of where or what he wanted to go/do. I suggested to my guests that he was young and had most probably recently left his mother and would be spending the next few years building his strength and avoiding the resident males, before he could challenge for a territory of his own.

My views were confirmed when 2 days later he once again was hanging around the dam, this time pacing up and down trying to figure out a way to catch the African Jacana (in foreground of photo). He kept putting his front paw in the water before shaking it off vigorously when he realised it was too deep and the Jacana was safely out of reach on the lillies. Just as he lay down on the edge of the dam an unsuspecting wagtail landed a few meters off. After a stalk and pounce, he caught the poor little thing, but then had an even harder time trying to figure out where the meat was.

The 2 encounters with this unsure yet at the same time seemingly comfortable young leopard,  got me thinking about a conversation I had a few years back with a friend of mine, who was working in a private reserve bordering Kruger. He told me of a theory amongst his peers that the leopard sightings were improving each year because of how the young leopards in these reserves are practically brought up in the presence of landrovers. Then when they leave to find there own way, they wonder into Kruger, and after a small adjustment to the quantity of vehicles, become comfortable to the extend that they pay hardly any attention at all. To me here is proof, Facebook fan page (for the whole gallery), of an exact case. This young guy walked up the dam wall towards the vehicles, heading directly past the open vehicles parked there and if anything only showed a little concern only when he saw my big silver bus. Maybe he even felt a little safe by the vehicles after being left in the 'big bad bush' all by himself........

As usual, would love to hear your comments? Do you think the leopard sightings are improving? Becoming more frequent? Does this theory hold true for you?

   

                                     He came within a meter of the familiar green landy......  

Thanks for reading, look forward to hearing from you.

As usual you can find us on:

Face Book 

Endless Summer Tours

Twitter

LinkedIn