Mxabene and the Bicycle Crossing male leopards are regulars on the Umkumbe traverse. Occupying different parts of the reserve, there’s generally no cause for concern about a potential scuffle and blood-curdling cat fight. While a sequel to Brad Pitt’s “Fight Club” might be well-received, it’s not something we’d like to witness in the world of leopards!
The Bicycle Crossing male is an old-school legend on a neighbouring reserve and graces us with his presence when he needs a change of scenery. He has been involved in plenty of battles and has always walked away victorious and with his dignity in tact. Slightly less aloof, is our star of the show – Mxabene. Dear old Max is extremely accustomed to the presence of vehicles and thinks nothing of letting a vehicle get into his personal space. Yet again, “power rangers” Geoffrey and Nadia delighted guests with a rewarding Max sighting.
Knowing that we spot the two stoic males on a fairly consistent basis, it was quite surprising to spot the seldom seen Inyathini on our traverse. Males are often tolerant of sub-adult males exploring the peripheries of their terrain, but intolerant to established males. This isn’t the first time Inyathini has brazenly wandered over onto sacred ground. He does seem to have firmly established boundaries in the eastern region of the Sand River, which is good news. Hopefully a showdown won’t happen!
A mysterious enigma, Inyathini appears to be the ultimate epitome of a leopard – a lone and vigorous leopard with little known history. What we have established is that the rakish and previously aggressive Inyathini wandered over from the Kruger National Park and has since settled into the Sabi Sand. Sightings of him are quite rare and he is seemingly more relaxed nowadays than when initially spotted. A rare leopard sighting indeed! Rangers Nadia and Geoffrey caught him in the midst of dinner – he’d just taken down a small impala. Things quickly escalated when one of the Sabi Sand’s many hyenas let out a cackle and hurriedly scurried over to Inyathini to steal his kill – always a drama around dinner time!
Females occupy a much smaller range than males and tend to seek out habitats rich with game and potential den sites. Males seek out areas rich with females ! This is probably why our ratio of females is somewhat higher. This would explain our regular sightings of a variety of females. This past week Tatowa was the star of the show, while the males dominated sightings.
Catch us next week for another Sabi Sand leopard update!
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