• Love is in the air this week with many of the Mapogo mating with the Ximungwe females. In total there were three mating pairs scattered around the western sector, showing that the Ximungwe females are all coming into oestrus again and hopefully will produce some more cubs within the next 3 – 4 months! Watch this space!

• We were fortunate to see one of the Mapogo coalition joining up with one of the lionesses at Treehouse Mackenzie. He approached very cautiously over the dam wall, and she showed her initial dissatisfaction with a snarl, which caused him to lie down for a while a little distance from her!

• We had another great view of the hippo at Treehouse Mackenzie giving us a good ‘yawning’ display.

• With the bush still thinning out as the dry season continues, we are getting many great views of the animals that are usually shyer, such as duiker, steenbuck, and particularly kudu. We had this particular view of five kudu bulls coming right out into the clearings to browse on some of the new shoots.

• For the birders among our readers, we had a great view of a Shelly’s Spurfowl calling very close to our vehicle. This is a pretty rare bird in this area, and I have only seen it on two or three occasions in our area in the past four years!

• The leopard viewing in our area is world renowned, but this week was particularly good, with 10 leopards being found on our concession in one drive, and 12 in one day! There was also a mating pair of leopards this week, but they stayed in the thickets of the Sand River, and we were unable to get a photo of them. As with last week, Mambiri and her cub gave us great viewing! While the cub was waiting for Mambiri’s return, we had a great view of her trying to pounce on something in the long grass!

• Independence Day is nearing for the cub though, and we found Mambiri walking a very long way east of where she left the cub on Saturday. She was heading east through the area burnt three weeks ago, and it may just be co-incidence, but she seemed to be following closely behind the Kashane male that was also found in the burn. He himself is pushing his territory further west into our area than he has been seen before, and perhaps he will be fathering Mambiri’s next litter!