This week’s video is a follow-on from the saga we recounted in our Cyberdiary – 17 September 2012. You’ll recall that the Airstrip male was seen showing very little interest in the advances of the adolescent Daughter of the Kikileze female, as he had one thing on his mind – food! That night the male leopard managed to bring down a Nyala, which he dragged up into the safety of the tree, to feed on at his leisure. Fast forward to this great piece of footage, captured by Matt Meyer, and you will note that the female leopard finally managed to get the king of MalaMala interested in mating...

What a spectacular change we’ve witnessed in the bushveld of MalaMala over the last two weeks. Summer is here, and the rain we experienced a couple of weeks ago has had a dramatic effect on the landscape. There is a lush green tinge to everything. The game viewing has been excellent, with a two leopard kills – we witnessed the Bicycle Crossing male kill an impala, and a young male leopard hunting a lizard. The two cheetah brothers caught a kudu again. We also viewed the Styx pride hunting, and watched as the Eyrefield pride brought down a zebra. The Charleston pride was also seen in the...

Matt Meyer captured this week’s fascinating video of two Puff Adders mating. The male snake is the one doing most of the moving, while the female remains fairly static, slithering slowly forward throughout their “mating ritual”. During the mating season, in late winter or spring, female Puff Adders will leave a pheromone scent trail to attract male suitors. Sometimes multiple males will follow the trail and often males will engage in wrestling to establish dominance. The male snake approaches a receptive female, places his head on her back, winds his tail around hers and attempts to join...

Hello MalaMala, Thank you for giving us and our photo guests such a wonderful time while staying at your Main Camp in August. We thought you’d enjoy seeing a couple of photos from our amazing final full day there – 31 August 2012. Leopard & cub We began another beautiful morning at MalaMala searching for lions that had been calling at dawn across the river from the Main Camp. Soon we got a radio call that Keith (the Main Camp Manager) had just sighted a leopard and cub from the camp’s deck. We turned and headed to the edge of the river in the vicinity where they had been seen. When we...

We had some exciting viewing of the Eyrefield pride this week, and were particularly excited when we saw the females roaring in unison into the night, and the strange behaviour that brought about from their cubs. Continuing with lions, we were privy to more than one of the hunting expeditions of the Styx pride. But even more thrilling news was the sighting – at last – of the youngest additions to the pride! Without giving the game away, there was plenty of leopard activity again this week, with a sighting of one of the lesser-seen leopards…you’ll have to read on to see which one...

Renowned wildlife photographer, Max Waugh and his wife visited MalaMala again recently. He was a guest back in 2010, and you may recall his video capture of the Jakkalsdraai female leopard with her cub. He shares his experience, and the magnificient photographs he took, with us. “It was difficult paring down a selection of photos for the blog, since we (once again) had so many great sightings during our stay at Mala Mala. Though I was initially disappointed to hear that we had missed the wild dogs by a couple weeks, that letdown was quickly forgotten thanks to plenty of cat sightings and pleasant...

We had the first rains of the season this week. They have come earlier than expected, as the first rains typically fall in October. It has been an interesting season compared to last year. The cold weather left us early, and to replace it we have had warm spring days – and now it seems the wet season is upon us. A cold front came through from the Cape, which resulted in four days of consistent rain. The Sand River has filled its banks and many waterholes have already started to replenish. The buffalo must be among the most satisfied as their long journeys to and from the Sand River will no...

We’ve had a few dramatic scenes at MalaMala this past week. A group out on a game drive had the good fortune of getting to witness the hunting strategy of a pride of lions first-hand when the Selati pride chased a Kudu bull into a waiting ambush! A sighting of a lifetime, to be sure! MalaMala’s leopards also gave us some memorable moments! Here are the sightings for the week: Number of lion sightings: 19 Number of leopard sightings: 33 Number of cheetah sightings: 0 Number of wild dog sightings: 0 Number of elephant sightings: 65 Number of buffalo sightings: 14 *Rhino sightings currently...