January has proven to be a  wonderful month for Leopard viewing, the central Sabi Sand is world famous for
the relaxed nature of many of the Leopard and the great game viewing. However they are still Leopard and often not easy to find which makes for challenging and exciting tracking.

Near the end of the month we experienced heavy rains for a period of 12 days of which we had flooding similar to that of the Jan 2012 floods, 292mm over a course of 9 days, this made viewing for us very difficult however we did manage to find a few different Leopard and almost 50-60 sightings for the month.

The Kashane Male who is the dominant male at present has been through the territory on several occasions and provided great sightings including him on a hunt and catching a Common Duiker. Drinking at a pan with 2 Elephant Bulls.

The Maxabeni young male was seen on a young Kudu kill in the far South, this male competes directly with the Kashane male and has on times come into conflict with him. He at present seems to favour the open grass land in the South and has ventured far north into Kashane male’s territory. We are watching closely on how these two males will compete in the future.

The Nyeleti young male who a few months ago killed one of the Ravenscourt female's cub has been seen on
occasion mostly near the Sand River. This male is extremely confident and even though he is young he is well on his way to becoming a territorial male.

North of the Sand River we found the Hukumurri female mating with a male who has always been nervous of
vehicles. This is the first time we have noted her mating and we look forward to seeing her more often this female has a special place in our hearts as we know her by her crystal blue eyes.

Mobeni female has been seen two more and often over the past few months and her cub is doing very well. Now 11 months old, he will become independent soon; unfortunately this male is not relaxed and we hope over time he will grow with confidence.

Ravenscourt female and cub is our most seen Leopard and they have provided us with years of amazing Leopard viewing, this month was no different. The young male cub now 12 months old has been through a lot with his sister being killed by Baboons early on in life and more recently the Nyeleti male killing his brother. This month we witness him killing two warthog piglets.

All round a wonderful month for Leopard.


Dylan  Brandt

Leopard ID Project team member,
Singita Sabi Sand