Photo of the Day
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| Kuhanya on the verandah of 'Cheetah' |
Morning Drive
(Marka and Johannes)
1 x leopard (Kuhanya female) – Motswari, Camp
1 x rhino (Nhlangula male)
Afternoon Drive
(Marka and Herald)
1 xbreeding herd of elephant - Motswari, Wedge
1 x breeding herd of elephant - Peru, Wilkin's Way
1 x breeding herd of buffalo - Argyle, Crossing Below Vyeboom Dam
Daily Synopsis
The morning started off with the guides hearing a leopard calling on the other side of the Dam wall at the lodge, so they set off there and soon located Kuhanya leopardess. Her calls could very well be a sign that she is indeed in estrus and looking for a mate, and could maybe explain her behaviour over the last few days.
They followed her to the mudwallow behind Elephant Room where she rolled around in fresh buffalo droppings until her head was almost black! From there she continued to walk into camp and wander around the newest part of her territory, scent-marking as she went!
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| Kuhanya after rolling in buffalo droppings and then scent-marking her territory! |
She even went as far as jumping onto the verandah of one of the rooms and checking it out! At the end of game drive, she was back in camp wandering around reception before moving into the bush.
Other than that, a small breeding herd of buffalo was on Piva Plains, and Marka headed south to see Nhlangula male rhino.
The afternoon proved to be a bit of a quiet one, no doubt due to the seering heat that we have been experiencing the last few days! Just some general game and buffalo and elephants were seen, bu the cats remained aloof; well, except for Kuhanya whom John saw sleeping on the patio of reception at about 18h10 in the evening! She did however move off into the bushes when she saw him, and was not seen again in camp during the night.
The afternoon proved to be a bit of a quiet one, no doubt due to the seering heat that we have been experiencing the last few days! Just some general game and buffalo and elephants were seen, bu the cats remained aloof; well, except for Kuhanya whom John saw sleeping on the patio of reception at about 18h10 in the evening! She did however move off into the bushes when she saw him, and was not seen again in camp during the night.
God bless Kuhanya was stuffed from the day before! My only question is, how are guests told to behave, when they arrest in camp and suddenly come across with her? Really exciting...
ReplyDeleteThank you for the exciting update! Looking forward to the following days.
Regards, Claudia
Hi Claudia!
ReplyDeleteYeah, exciting times for sure! Kuhanya fortunately seems to come into camp when its quiet and the guests are on drive. At night we always escort the guests to and from the rooms, so they are always with a ranger or the nightwatchman.
Even last night again, john found her sleeping on the patio at reception, but she ran off as soon as he went around the corner - that is typical leopard behaviour, and i really dont think she poses a problem...but we will tell staff and guests to be on the look out, and just to give her space if they see her. she is a wild animal, and still has a fear of humans, so she would rather move off than attack someone....
its a bit of a idfficult situation for us...we are afterall guests in her world, and it doesnt seem right that we should chase any animals out of camp as its their territory. i look at some other lodges in adjoining reserves, and see how they too have leopards that are often in their camps, and if anything, their leopards are far more at home in thier camps than kuhanya has made herself in ours. Nthombi in the south is regularly seen in one of the southern lodges and poses no problems (except to the bushbuck there!)....so i dont think that at this stage it is something to be concerned about yet. we will just monitor her behaviour and activities around camp, but at the end of the day, as i said, it is her territory, and we have to respect that...
im also looking forward to the next few days to see how things unfold...but as the lodge gets busier towards the weekend, i am sure kuhanya will move off again :)
thanks for your comments :)
cheers,
Chad