We conducted another aerial game count on Hlambanyathi last week Tuesday.  Our main aim is to identify all countable species' population growth trends over the last few years.  We weren't flying for more than a few minutes when we came across another leopard male sitting out in the open.  This is in all likelihood the same male we saw from the air a few days ago but a few kilometers south from his previous position.  He had the same casual attitude towards the helicopter hovering a few meters above him but the unknown female that was with him did not.  We only saw her when she broke cover and headed for a nearby drainage line.  The possibility exists that they were mating.  These leopards were far from any roads and in a mountainous part of the reserve not frequently visited.  The area is ideal leopard habitat consisting of scattered rocky outcrops on top of hills with a multitude of drainage lines criss-crossing the lower areas.  At the confluences of these drainage lines there are large shallow pools and a variety of bird and animal species utilise this surface water.  We also saw spotted hyena, cheetahs, porcupines, bushpigs and a host of other species not usually seen. 

Unknown to us, Caroline escaped from the holding enclosure on Monday evening and whilst we were flying, she was heading straight back to the community area.  This proves that she has become a stock-killer, as there was no reason for her to leave the boma with enough food, water and shelter available to her.  Houdini visited her on several occasions but these two have spent time together previously, Houdini being the sire of her last litter of cubs.  She left the enclosure and was back within the community land within two days, killing a goat that same evening.  After darting her last week, she was extremely wary of the vehicle and did not offer us an open shot from the ground and we therefore decided to call in the services of a helicopter.  After less than 10 minutes of flying time, the dart was in and we used the helicopter to fly her back in to the reserve rather than waste time driving back on the bumpy road.  Her behaviour has come as a shock to us as it is clear she can look after herself in the wild, but just realized that goats are so much easier to catch.  She is currently in the southern boma (Steffie's old enclosure) and we are awaiting an export permit to relocate her to a larger reserve in the north with no neighbouring communities to eliminate the possibility of further stock killing.  We are extremely happy with her progression from a nervous cat with no previous exposure to natural wild conditions to the relaxed individual she has become, looking after herself, interacting with other cats and even giving birth to a litter of cubs.  She will be sorely missed.

Three days ago Caroline managed to find a hole in the fence and escaped through it.  Making matters worse is that she caught a goat roaming around on the other side.  It seems as if she was forcefully driven away from a reedbuck kill she made a few days ago.  This caused her to move south and west, eventually reaching the boundary line where goats roam the other side on a daily basis.  The temptation must have proven too great for her and she picked herself a huge billy goat as her next meal.  We became aware that she escaped when looking for her on Wednesday.  It was a sickening feeling to find the VHF signal originating from our south-western neighbours, which consists of an informal settlement along the Mkuze river.  Many questions entered my mind about the state of her well-being (at first I feared she was poached) and the state of any other person on the other side's well-being, as the area is also frequented by young herdboys.  Even though her VHF signal stopped broadcasting at 9:30 I still decided to head out and attempt to locate her, as we at least had some sort of direction on her.  She was located using the handheld remote download unit that works in tandem with the collars, by activating the collar's send/receive function and uploading a new VHF schedule which broadcasts 24hrs/day.  Getting into close proximity of her was easy after this but the area is heavily encroached by sickle-bush which resulted in my ATV getting a lot more nicks and scratches than we bargained for.  Although she was in plain sight, there was always intervening grass or twigs between us which made darting impossible.  The noises eminating from nearby people also seemed to scare her, and she was not as bold as she usually is, therefore never coming into the open to allow a clear shot.  After nearly 3 hours of sitting with her and finally coaxed her out of a thicket.  By this time she has moved about 700m away from the kill already, the whole time darting in between thickets and just keeping the bush between us and her.  My heart raced as she stepped into the open, about 15m from us.  This was most likely the last chance we'll get today as the bush just became thicker the further south we went, and darting from foot is out of the question.  Luckily the dart flew true and stuck in the middle of her shoulder.  The previous sentence is the perfect way to spell relief, and the long wait and stalking efforts paid off.  She was down within a few minutes and we blindfolded and hogtied her before loading her onto the vehicle to make a high-speed dash for the boma.

She had a bite-mark on her left front leg, probably caused by another leopard.  The problem is that we do not know of any other territorial female in that area, even after intensive baiting and camera trapping the previous years.  The fact that she stayed in that particular area for more than 5 months now, vocalizing and scent marking without incident can indicate that this could have been a once-off clash.  She did not have any noticeable claw marks on her which is usually a good indication of a fight between leopards.  We found male tracks in the area and it is possible that she did not allow the male on her kill, which could have caused him to nip at her, although a good slap is usually the order of the day.  The bite mark consisted of two holes caused by the upper and lower canines on one side, and was also the only mark on her body.  This still caused her to relocate south-west and getting driven towards the fence. 

Steffie's death has left us with the option to relocate Caroline to her original boma in the south, as we believe there are no other female leopards in this part of the reserve.  This is confirmed by Houdini's GPS data, as although the area falls in his territory, he has only visited it 3 times in 6 weeks, and covered a huge area but never staying more than a day.  The area is also too small to contain another dominant male and we hope that Caroline accepts this as a new home.

Over the weekend we conducted a helicopter game count on the farms Soetveld and Marica as this is a 2500 hectare portion we are planning on including into the main reserve within the next year.  To our surprise, less than 15 minutes into the flight we came across a huge male leopard lying down in the shade of a weeping boer bean tree.  This was our first sighting of the particular male and judging by his size, he should be a dominant male in that area.  This could be the male that rules over the western part of Hlambanyathi, as according to Houdini's GPS data, he never ventures into the western sector.  Another possibility exists that it could be the dominant male on Soetveld but he'll definitely be using a larger range than the 2500 odd hectares available there, and that another male is residing on Doornhoek.  We have therefore decided to start baiting and camera trapping in that area to identify the residents and their approximate range use.  The male showed little fear of the helicopter as we hovered about 20m above him, but decided to slowly give way and move into the thickets.  We kept our eyes open for any other leopards whilst flying but obviously couldn't get that lucky twice in one morning.

Vukile was 900m from her den site this morning and we headed into the thick fever tree forests to have a look at the den site, and maybe even see some cubs as we estimate them at 5 weeks of age now.  The going was hard as the whole area is infested by Chromolaena odorata (triffid weed) which can be used as denning sites due to the entangling thickets formed by this alien plant.  The going was slow but we got closer and closer.  Vukile's den site is on a slightly raised area overlooking the confluence of two streams.  The area also has a lot of fever trees and fig trees which prefer the lower ground where more moisture is available in the soil.  We bushwacked through the thick stuff, following game trials (thanks elephant and buffalo) until we reached the second stream which we followed as it was more open.  According to the GPS we were 55m from the den site when we heard the first rustling of grass towards the den site.  This could have been any animal (perhaps a bushpig) and as we checked Vukile's position less than 10 minutes ago, we were confident that she was not there.  We slowly continued closer and a few seconds later we heard a large animal move through the vegetation, this time accompanied by a deep growl.  The three of us immediately stopped and looked at one another with huge eyes, thereby confirming that it wasn't just our imaginations.  That was a very deep growl and also very unlikely to be uttered by a 5 week old cub.  Discretion was the better part of valour and be headed straight back to the vehicles.  The den site can be investigated at a later stage.

We are getting some incredible movement and activity data on the collared leopards but sightings of Houdini and Vukile remain scarce as these are your more typical leopards with high nocturnal, but hardly any diurnal activity.  We therefore decided to start tracking them at night and duly changed the scheduling of the VHF broadcasting signal to remain on after dark.  It seems like night time is the right time as the first time we tracked them at night we first came across Houdini lying out in the open.  He seemed to be slightly relaxed and he was lying on his side, seemingly just as curious about us as we were about him.  He is a magnificent cat and I would so dearly love to see him like this during daytime.  We watched him for a good few minutes and headed towards where Vukile was, hunting north of the Hlambanyathi dam.  We located her within a very short time and to our surprise, with a little cub in her mouth.  She was probably moving den sites as the cubs have been in the first den site for an unbelievable 5 weeks!  She was wary with us being in the company of her little cub, as this was the first time she encountered a vehicle whilst being with her cub and out in the open.  We followed her with the low range gear ratio engaged and had a wonderful sighting of this beautiful cat.  It was an unbelievable evening to find our two wildest cats within 15 minutes of one another, with the cub being an absolute added bonus.

A cold front came by last night and with the icy wind howling both cats preferred to keep in the thicker stuff; Vukile with her cubs in the thickets and Houdini seeking refuge below the dam wall.  We caught a few glimpses of Houdini through the thick bush but he was not on his way anywhere.  The icy wind forced us home earlier as we were spoilt by our previous sightings of the cats in the open - unbelievable how quickly the goal posts have shifted...  Our nocturnal following of the cats will continue and if all goes well they'll allow us some daytime sightings quite soon.

The GPS collars are amazing tools for wildlife monitoring, as without them we would never have noticed that Vukile keeps returning to one particular spot.  After downloading and mapping her movement data yesterday morning it became as clear as daylight that there is an area within the fever tree forest that she keeps returning to, which is no doubt a litter of cubs.  She has been wearing a GPS collar for about a week but withing that week she has made no less than 10 movements to and from one localized area within the forest.  We have currently got about 10 readings of her in that area, and all within 10m from one another.  Her hunting forays can also clearly be seen on the map, with huge loops beginning and ending in the same spot.  This morning at 6:00 she was still with a kill she made about 400m from the lodge after spending the whole Sunday there and I picked her up at 8:00 back with her cubs.  We haven't seen the cubs yet and the fact that they have been in one den site for nearly 3 weeks indicated that they are still very young, and definitely less than 3 months old.  I can't wait for the day they finally emerge from the den site and start following their mother around.  The den site is within Houdini's territory and the cubs should be safe from him, but there is quite a high concentration of spotted hyenas in the area and we hope she can successfully raise the cubs until they are able to climb trees in order to avoid danger.

Caroline also made a kill yesterday but I could not find it to verify what she caught.  She was in good condition and rested a few meters from the vehicle, with the smell of a kill hanging in the late afternoon air.  The area she has chosen for herself makes leopard spotting very difficult as the grass is more than 1.5m tall in some places, and photographic opportunities are therefore limited.

The cats made life hard for us this morning as we couldn't decide which one to follow up on.  Houdini and Vukile were in close proximity this morning, both being south of the dense Hlambanyathi stream.  Whilst standing on a rise overlooking the area they were in, some vervet monkeys were alarm calling in Houdini's vicinity, no doubt having spotted him.  He was, however, in a particularly dense area with no road access and I decided to head after Vukile.  The area she was in could not be described as open but I hoped for at least a glimpse of her.  I approached quite close and her signal came from the direction of a herd of nyalas, so I stopped and turned off the engine.  After downloading her GPS and activity data I checked on Houdini's signal and found it to be coming from about 200m to the west. 

Rather leaving Vukile in peace to do her hunting I headed towards Houdini to download his newly logged data but the moment I finished, one of the nyalas barked a gruff alarm call where I just came from.  They no doubt saw something they didn't like and have moved slightly east of their initial position.  Rushing back there I realized Vukile was close to them, and they were clearly nervous, stepping around with heads and ears moving side to side.  The VHF signal confirmed Vukile was close, really close but still well hidden and just waiting for an unfortunate animal to walk by.  Suddenly, the nyala herd split in two and were running.  It seems like the nyala's barks attracted two spotted hyenas, who came running in at full steam, wanting to investigate the cause of the nyala's alarm calls.  They ran straight to the cat, which broke cover and headed to the safety of the large fever trees nearby.  Houdini himself probably came over to investigate the alarm calls and Vukile stumbled across him whilst running away from the hyenas.  They disappeared from sight into the thick stuff and I sat there with a helluva predicament on how to get visual on the animals again.  I tried several paths to get closer to the action but got blocked of each time as the openings between the trees just got narrower and the trees only thicker.  Finally, after a few dead-ends and high speed maneuvers through the thick bush I got close but not close enough to see anything.  The cats were still together but just behind a thick clump of bush, with a pushed over umbrella thorn blocking my only way.  Behind that one tree was a huge clearing but with absolutely no way of getting there.  Frustrated, but still smiling as a result of the wonderful scene I was just a spectator to, I headed to Caroline to find a more accommodating cat.

She was sleeping in a drainage line next to the road, and barely looked up when I finally stopped next to her (I drove past without seeing her the first time...).  She was as round and full as a leopard can be and did not even try and emulate the sighting I just had of the other cats.  Looking at her full belly I do not blame her and after spending a few minutes with her and seeing that she was in good nick, I headed home.

I received a phone call late Saturday night and was informed that Caroline caught a goat.  The goat somehow got inside the reserve and was easy prey for her.  This is very worrying because we do not want her to start specifically targeting livestock, although there is not supposed to be any livestock within the reserve.  The community members were upset by this occurrence but better animal husbandry practices by them will minimize the chance of this happening in future, since the herd boys chased the goats onto our land and into the reserve.  We are currently busy lowering and pegging the fenceline into the soil around the area where the incident took place which should make it even harder for anything to get in or out.  Any leopard would have taken the opportunity to kill such an easy meal but it is still disconcerting that the leopard in discussion was Caroline. 

I went after Houdini this morning but he is as elusive as only a leopard can be.  He was back in his favoured area north of the Hlambanyathi stream, which can only be described as excellent leopard habitat and in no small measure due to the amount of cover for stalking (and hiding!).  Whilst following him, he passed in close proximity of 2 nyala herds which started after him with large eyes but did not utter any alarm calls.  They were probably confused about why this massive male leopard slinked past them without any intention of catching them or maybe they just didn't see him at all.  Each day we attempt to come within relative close proximity of him without harassing him by crashing through the bush after him.  He should become used to this and perhaps allow himself to be seen but only time will tell.  He made a suspected kill about 500m from my house on the southern bank of the river and spent at least 2 nights there before venturing far south and returning to where I found him this morning.

Vukile's VHF collar is a nearly useless item and searching for signal whilst on the higher hills rewarded us with dead static on the receiver.  It was actually whilst going after a cheetah male this morning that I decided to check for her location again and finally obtained a direction to head into.  Were it not for her relatively small home range she would probably have been impossible to track down.  I headed south towards the red pipeline crossing and along a road she frequently uses when moving in between her 2 favoured areas, being the fever tree forests along the Hlambanyathi and Soetveld streams and the lower reaches and southern bank of the Mkuze river up to the lodge.  As I approached, the receiver started beeping loudly but I honestly did not expect to find her that easily.  She sat bolt upright at the approach of the vehicle and was just as inquisitive about me as I was about her.  This was only my second (proper) sighting of her but her behaviour suggests that if correctly handled she should become accustomed to vehicles easily.  She was on a fresh female nyala kill, most likely made this morning and she had barely started feeding on the carcass.  The kill is presently less than 30m from the road but she'll probably move it into a nearby thicket a bit later.  She showed small signs of nervousness and after staring at me for a minute or 2, she lay down in the grass.  When I started the vehicle she would sit upright again and stare at me with her large eyes (her ears also seem larger than Caroline's as those were the first things I saw, but then again, Caroline's ears aren't exactly whole anymore).  The kill should provide some viewing of her for the next few days and will help a lot in getting her accustomed to vehicles.  The only postive spinoff about her carrying a VHF collar is that we get 24hr broadcast and can perhaps go view her at night when all leopards seem to have more confidence.

Houdini is still up to his usual tricks and seeing him seems to be impossible - quite a feat considering how close we get to him and how well he hides himself despite his size.  We have come very close over the last 3 days and each time he would be hiding a few meters from the road.  We do not want to follow him off-road yet as he might consider this as aggresive behaviour on our part and we'll only do drive-bys and spend a couple of minutes in close proximity to him before leaving again.  If we keep this up for a while he should realize at some stage that a vehicle does not neccessarily mean bad news and he'll allow himself to be seen.  He has thus far utilised a total area of 3800 hectares since being collared and it is nice to see repeating movement patterns from his data.  He'll most likely use a larger area but seems to be content with the circuits he completes at the moment.  We plotted his activity data yesterday and was surprised at his lack of diurnal movements.  This is usually more typical of nervous animals and it will be interesting to see if his activity patterns change over the long-term (should we get him more relaxed, though).

Vukile is found in the fever tree and riverine forest without exception.  She is still slightly shy and prefers to keep away from vehicles but with some effort in habituating her to vehicles should pay off in the long run, as is evident of previous sightings of her.  The biggest obstacle in our way is the dense areas she prefers to hunt in and although you can get within a few meters of her, any sighting is obscured by the dense undergrowth (in most cases the invader Chromolaena odorata).  If all goes well we can start clearing again within this year and start taking on that pest for good.  Vukile's collar is not as reliable as the Vectronics units we use on the other cats so her signal quality is poor at the best of times, but you realize how close you get to her when the tracking device seems near bursting point when emitting is beeping noises.  Her core area seems to be the upper reaches of the Soetveld stream behind the Hlambanyathi dam as she is found in the area at least 50% of the time.  This is the area where she and her mother Matilda spent their last few months together before Matilda disappeared and the possibility that Matilda moved back to her prior home range can not be excluded.

Caroline's suspected honeymoon is over and she is back in the vicinity of her koppie.  Whilst following her yesterday she nearly caught a common duiker but the little antelope was just too quick for her and disappeared in the long grass with high leaps and bounds.  She only followed a short distance (about 10m) before giving up, but she is well-fed at the moment and probably did not exert all the effort needed to catch such a quick moving antelope.  We followed her for hundreds of meters through a vast open grassland and even when following in close proximity she would stilll disappear in the golden late-winter grass without even trying.  The difficulty in finding her again in the long grass was quite amusing.

We have a strong suspicion that Caroline is mating again, which in all likelihood means that her cubs are dead.  We cannot rule out the possibility that the male she is mating with now is the cause of her missing cubs as he was not the sire of her previous litter and it is not uncommon for a dominant male to kill any offspring that he did not sire.  Caroline was mated by Houdini around new year but gave birth to her first litter outside of Houdini's territory (which we can confirm with GPS data).  There is no man-made boundaries that define Houdini's range and from the 120-odd confirmed positions we have on him, he has never ventured into the west of the reserve towards Doornhoek.  It seems the western boundary of his range is defined by the Doornhoek stream heading north-west to south-east which confirms that there is another unknown dominant male utilising that area, probably of similar size to Houdini.  This male was seen by some guests whilst we were fitting Houdini with his GPS collar and unfortunately they could not manage a picture before he disappeared. 

Cub mortalities in the wild are high, especially for the first litter of an unexperienced female.  After losing her cubs, a female may recycle into oestrus within any time period ranging from 2 - 6 weeks.  Some females have even been seen mating although they were raising cubs at that stage.  I was with Caroline for the last 2 days and tried as I could, I just could not get a sighting of her.  She stayed just out of sight and within about 40m of the vehicle.  When I called her in, she would come right up to the vehicle and did not display any fear or anxiety and her erratic movements at pace is most likely the result of going after the male which is not accustomed to vehicles.  This realization set in when I was following her yesterday and her modus operandi all of a sudden seemed very similar to Houdini's evasive tactics when being followed.  The possibility exists that her cubs were running away from the vehicle but it is a very small chance as the speed and distance they covered would have been too much for 3 month old cubs.  Their relaxed attitude towards vehicles also minimizes this possibility.  A female's urge to mate is strongly developed and she will follow a male around wherever he goes.  I recount an article I read where a male leopard climbed into a thin silver cluster leaf tree to get away from the female's attentions.  She promptly followed but their combined weight was too much for the tree which bent down sharply, resulting in both cats tumbling to the ground, where they mated again.  Caroline's activity data confirms major nocturnal activity within one spot, and I know that she is not hungry as I gave her a whole impala carcass hoping that she would head to the cubs after she had eaten her fill.  If they were mating, it occurred at regular intervals mostly at night, as her activity readings are measured to the limit of the collars capability, which is unusual activity for a well-fed leopard that stays in one spot.

We arrived this morning from a week-long course and have been searching high and low without having a single sighting of Caroline's cubs.  The last time we saw them was 12 days ago at pride rock and Caroline's GPS data shows erratic and huge movements.  The distances she moved would be too much for any cub to follow and added to that, we found her on an impala kill this afternoon where she has spent the last 3 days.  Incidentally, the cheetah female caught an impala not 500m from Caroline's position and was also feeding.  Caroline's latest movements does not show any affinity to a particular area as has been the case when she stashed her cubs when she went out hunting.  We'll follow up on her again tomorrow morning but the chances that the cubs are still alive are very slim indeed.  Leopards often lose litters to other predators which could have been the case in this instance.  Houdini is spending some time in the riverine forest in the area where he was caught the first time and it is good to know that he is still within the reserve boundaries.  We did not pick up any signal on Vukile but did not search the east of the reserve where she spends some of her time.  Tomorrow will be a busy day trying to get into a position to download Houdini's data and to get a signal on Vukile.  If the cubs are still alive we should bump into them sooner or later if we keep following Caroline. 

We've had a very busy start of June with the cats giving us a hard time of tracking.  Houdini and Vukile (Matilda's cub) were mating in one of the fever tree forests and spent 3 days together in the same spot.  Afterwards, Vukile made one movement down the river but turned around in front of the lodge and headed straight back to the the area they mated in.  Since then she has been spending all her time in the dense fever tree forests and we have not had a single sighting of her.  She was quite close to a road this morning but the area was just too dense to see her.  The vervet monkeys had no such problems and were making more noise than the crowd at Loftus Versfeld (when the Bulls are in front of course).  Houdini has made some surprising movements but currently seems to be centered around the Hlambanyathi dam.  Last night he walked past our house and into Steffie's former territory where he spent a few hours, probably looking for her, but he headed straight back to within a kilometer or two from Vukile.

Caroline is still on top of her koppie but we have not had a single sighting of her cubs since last week Wednesday.  Her GPS movements show no affiliation to a particular area where she could have hidden the cubs and this is really starting to worry us.  Whenever we found her, she was not close to any of her former denning sites.  She was calling for the cubs on one occasion but they did not respond and the possibility exists that something bad could have happened to them.  Only time will tell if they are still alive but we are hoping for the best. 

I surprised Caroline this morning whilst she was in the process of moving her cubs.  When I came across them they were relaxing in the open, although the grass was about knee-high and the only way I knew the cubs were present was by the grass around Caroline suddenly jumping to life as one cub would pounce on another.  After resting for about 20 minutes Caroline got up, and grabbing one cub by the scruff of the neck, started marching towards a collection of large boulders we jokingly referred to as pride rock when once passing there.  For the cub that was not carried, the whole trip seemed an adventure in itself as the little one would bound over tall grasses and tree stumps to keep up with its mother and sibling.  In typical "Lion King" fashion, Caroline made herself at home on top of the boulder whilst the cubs ran around the area quite energetically.  Her tail was once again a target for both cubs and she had to lash it upwards several times to escape the cubs' attention (and no-doubt razor sharp teeth)!  This was the first time I came across Caroline moving denning sites with a cub in her mouth, and it will probably be the last time with this litter, as the little one showed who followed at (nearly) the same speed as its mother.  Today was also the first time that Caroline has moved her cubs from the mountain top and into a flatter area that can possibly be reached with a game viewing vehicle.  The cubs are 60 days old today and if some textbooks are correct, she should be introducing them to meat quite soon.

Sightings of Caroline have just became difficult again as she has moved her cubs back to their third den site.  We found her hunting this morning, and dearly wanting to see the cubs headed to the old den site where we wasted a considerable amount of time waiting for her cubs.  Meanwhile, she moved into some thick stuff and when we came back to look for her it was almost impossible to get into a good viewing position.  We left her and hoped that by this afternoon she'd be back with the cubs.  As we'd hoped she was with them but the direction indicated by the VHF signal came as a bit of a surprise.  We had to drive back around the koppie she was on and moved up it by driving next to a flat area next to a donga that leads upwards.  They are in a very rocky area again and it took some serious maneuvering to get into a relatively good position.  Luckily she was resting on top of a boulder and the moment we stopped both her cubs popped out of their hiding holes and started suckling almost immediately.  We got to about 12 meters but there was still a lot of intervening branches and grass stalks in the way (from a photographic perspective, at least) but it was still such a great priviledge to be a spectator to the scene.  Our daily visits seem to be paying off as the cubs did not even lift their heads the several times we started the engine to move into a slightly better position.  We got some curious glances from them but they did not seem to be alarmed in any way, which bodes well for future game viewing once they finally quit the den sites and come back to the flatter areas with its higher game concentration.  On the way back we bumped into our new cheetah female who made a kill shortly before we arrived.  We sat with her while the sun set in another glorious show of reds, oranges and yellows.

Winter is well and truly here as we can attest from driving home after the sun has set.  Early mornings are almost not an option to go out on the ATV as you freeze to death after covering the 15 odd kilometers to get to Caroline and the cubs.  It seems as if Friday's realization that dawned on her has left a permanent impression as she almost completely ignores us and the vehicle even though we are sitting completely exposed, with just our legs below the knees not showing.  We were with her on Sunday, following her back from a combined hunting expedition and patrol and she barely looked at us whereas in the past we would be treated to much suspicion when compared to a large land cruiser.  It was great us usual to follow in the exact path she walked and make our way up the mountain using her paths.  At one stage we could follow no further as the rocks she was climbing over were too rough to tread over, and we passed her using another route and waited at the den site.  The sun had already set when she arrived and we could just barely see her outline in the gathering darkness.  She was less than a few meters from us when she started with her soft contact calls, which almost sounds like saying "Ow" in a croaky voice.  Literally a few seconds later both cubs were with and all over her and their bathing session started.  It seems as if the habituation has paid off as the cubs did not even move when I started the engine, but were quite wary when the vehicle started moving. 

We found Caroline again last night, resting about 200m from the den site, but only after we visited the cubs at the den site.  They were in a crevice when we approached but soon came out and started exploring around the rocks, chasing after lizards and possibly other small creatures.  Just as suddenly as the appeared they were gone again and no other viewpoint could give us a clear sighting of them.  It is impossible to say whether Caroline was resting far away for some peace and quiet but it is not unimaginable as the cubs hardly ever leave her alone when they are together at the denning site.  She was not active at all and I sat with her until late.  She did once move down a donga to investigate some noise she heard but I left her sitting there wihout a care in the world.

I found Caroline yesterday afternoon as she was out hunting about 500m from the den site.  She was in an area with a lot of low scrub and it took me a very long time to find her, but when I finally saw her it seems as if she has been sitting in the open all along, watching me.  She was about 15m away from the open ATV and after watching one another for about 20 minutes she made a decision.  She slowly walked up to the open vehicle, seeming quite curious and not afraid at all.  When she was about 3m away I let her know she was too close but she obviously does not understand Afrikaans!  It was the closest I've been to her in the open vehicle and the fact that I did not have a windshield, window or door to close I decided to move back.  I started the engine and she did not even flinch, and just sat down and had a good close-up look at me.  I moved back about 15 meters and stopped the vehicle again, and she got up again and moved closer.  By this time I could see that she was actively hunting and not worried about my presence at all, as all matter of things happening around us caught her eye - some wildebeest uttering their "gnu" sounds on the neighbouring hillside, hornbills calling in a duet, flocks of small birds flying low and fast to their roosting sites and sounding like a jet plane rather than the collection of little things they are and some rustles in the grass made by some small animal.  She walked right past the back of the vehicle and stopped for a while to have a look at me again, but lost interest quickly.  Finally, she flopped down in an open clearing where she lay until I left her after dark.

Dearly wanting to see the cubs again, I went out this afternoon to make an effort to get them on video.  The light was a stunning deep golden colour as it is almost every afternoon now and the shot I had in mind was one of Caroline sunning herself on the warm-baked rocks in the last rays of the day with the little ones playing around her.  As luck would have it she was lying in the exact position I was hoping for, on that massive boulder and bathing in lovely golden rays but the cubs ducked into a miniature cave the moment the vehicle came too close.  No problems, I thought.  I'll wait...  Literally a few seconds later one of only two clouds in the sky moved in between the sun and our position and there all the beautiful light disappeared.  The clouds were not in a particular hurry and I sat quietly in that position waiting on the light and the cubs, but all to no avail.  Finally, my patience reached its limit and I decided to move around the back of the den site and look straight back into the sun (albeit behind the clouds), if only to get a better look at Caroline.  The shot I had imagined suddenly lost several key components on my wishlist, including good light and no obstructions!  I would be happy just to see the little ones.  Caroline turned around when I approached so now I had whatever little light there is shining on her blunt end (i.e. not her head and face), and I thought things can not go any worse!  However, a few seconds later she started uttering soft cub contact calls, and within seconds the cubs were out of their lair and all over their mom.  Our patience in following her with the open ATV's paid off as she climbed down the rock and lay down in the open, 14m away from me (according to the camera's focus reading).  The cubs pounced on her again and immediately started suckling.  They suckled for 5 minutes or so and then some serious play started.  They ran up and down the boulders, alternately taking turns to chase and tackle one another, and then for good measure just making sure mom can't sleep by pouncing on her from on top of the rocks.  If one went up a tree, the other was sure to follow, and they only periodically glanced in my direction.  The cubs need to learn about vehicles and that they don't pose a threat so habituation started today.  I started the engine for a short interval and the sound was overwhelming in the quiet surroundings.  The cubs scattered immediately but only went about 6 feet each when they realized the sound disappeared.  No problems then, and they resumed play by both tackling mom and going after her tail.  I sat with them for a while until the sun set when Caroline got up and climbed on to a boulder, probably to enjoy the last heat of the day caught up in the rock.  I started the engine and drove closer but this was too much for the cubs who ducked into one of the many crevices in the rocks.  Finally I had an open view of her, with no bushes and grass interfering, and also only about 8 meters away.  The light through the video camera was a beautiful mix of violet and light greens, with some soft yellow residual light highlighting the outline of the cat's fur whilst the fur underneath her body retained its white.  I decided to try and imitate Caroline's cub call and unbelievably, a few seconds later, one of the cubs popped out of the hole it was hiding in and climbed up the rock next to mom.  It stared at me for a good few minutes before settling down for a bout of suckling.  The camera rolled throughout the event and I was amazed by the amount of light still useable even after the sun set.  It was an incredible day.

This morning started off by finding Caroline with a freshly killed warthog piglet.  Incidentally, she was about 20m away from where I found her yesterday so I was convinced that the cubs were in her immediate vicinity but again searching for them proved fruitless.  At least Caroline was looking after herself quite well which was some form of consolation for the fact that we haven't seen the cubs for 2 weeks.  We located Caroline again yesterday afternoon, this time lying on top of a massive vertical boulder which is probably 4m in height.  She was bathed in stunning late afternoon light and just as I set up the camera and 600mm lens a small head popped out behind mom!  I cannot begin to describe how relieved I was.  The cub crawled over his mother and came to rest underneath her chin, with both cats staring down at me about 20m away.  The cub did not appear frightened at all although Caroline was initially a little wary of my presence.  Whilst Caroline and the little male stared down on me, the little female behind them was making a full-hearted effort at catching her mother's tail.  Who knows what she'll do with it once she gets it but she enjoyed herself immensely.  The cubs' eyes have already taken on a normal colour and they have really grown a lot in the last few days.  I was just as surprised at their agility when jumping from rock to rock or going after Caroline's tail.  I think the female caught the tailtip twice, and judging from Caroline's surprised reaction the cubs' teeth have probably emerged as well...  As luck (or preparation) would have it, I did not take the video camera along but I'll be back this afternoon to see if we can get some documentary shots of the little ones playing.

We arrived home last night after a wonderful weekend away, and we got some very nice leopard shots to boot.  I was out in the cold this morning to track down Caroline and found her at the rocks where we believed the second denning site was.  She was sunning herself on top of a large boulder but wasn't very agreeable to the ATV approaching too close.  She seemed quite anxious in my presence and climbed up and down the rocks several times, so I hoped that this was a new den site.  Once again I realized how well a leopard can camouflage itself as she climbed down the rocks and sneaked by my only a few meters away without me noticing her.  When I switched on the telemetry device a few minutes later she was already 100 meters away and stalking some impala.  The herd consisted of a single male and his harem of about 20 females and the male was mating with some females.  Hopefully this distracts the impalas so that Caroline can catch one and feed herself for several days.  I headed back to the den site and quickly scanned through it by foot but saw no sign of the cubs.  Houdini was seen again on Thursday afternoon and apparently it was an incredible sighting.  He was found in the road at round about dusk and was rolling around seeming very pleased with himself.  I've been driving around every day to find him yet I've never had a close-up sighting of him, but if he continues to settle down as he is now, it shouldn't be too long before we start seeing him on a regular basis.

Caroline is making it extremely difficult for us to track her down.  We believe that the cubs are still held at den site 5 as this was the direction she headed to whilst we followed her this afternoon.  She was out hunting and judging from her condition she did not catch anything.  I followed her up and down steep hillsides but could never get a clear glimpse untill she entered a donga leading up towards the top of the hill that she is holding her cubs in.  Unfortunately she decided that the donga was a convenient resting place before she tackles the steep incline ahead of her and I had to wait for nearly an hour before she decided to head back to her cubs.  I had an idea of where she was, but even driving along both sides and through the donga I could not see her at all, and remembered someone who once wrote that you do not see a leopard, but a leopard allows itself to be seen.  When she finally started moving back I engaged the low-range on the vehicle and followed alongside her all the way to the top of the hill.  It was, as usual, an incredible feeling of awe to be driving alongside a beautiful cat such as her in a vehicle that is completely open.  We are leaving for Mpumalanga on Wednesday and will only be back on Sunday, when we'll start baiting again in preperation for later capture.  Houdini was at a bait again last night and being up to his usual tricks, stole even the rope to which the bait was attached.  If he continues like this I'll have to get another 30m length really soon.

It is incredible how fast time flies and that the cubs are a month old today.  They were moved for the 4th time yesterday after spending 2 weeks in their 4th den site, which is a really long time.  Ntombi, our cheetah female, also left her cubs in one site for 16 days so it seems that the better the denning site, the longer the female will leave her cubs in it.  Caroline was out hunting today and we walked up to the area where we believed the den was located to see if the cubs were still doing well.  Even at this age their camouflage is incredible and it took us a considerable time to find them amongst the dense vegetation and broken boulders.  The little male gave his position away by a hiss and a snarl and nearly gave me a heart attack as he uttered those noises when I was nearly on top of him.  We could clearly discern the lovely hole that Caroline sleeps in but we could not see the female cub.  I walked (climbed) around the bottom of the den site and really started worrying that something could have happened to the female, when I spotted her, lying about 2 meters from me on a rock, and just staring at me with large grey-blue eyes which are just starting to show a hint of the leopard's normal yellow-green eye colour.  Whilst I was on the other side looking for the female, Mariska saw the little male move about in the den site, and apparently he already moves very fast for such a young creature, as she saw him climbing over rocks and tree stumps.  We snapped 10 quick pictures on burst mode and left the cubs in peace to await their mother's return.  The 5th den site is inaccessible to a vehicle and sightings of the cubs will be very rare for the next week or so and we are holding thumbs that Caroline moves the cubs to a better position (from our point of view) quite soon, as valuable filming time is lost with the cubs being in such a difficult area.  She, however, probably knows better than us what she is doing and we'll just have to be patient and see what happens.

Caroline caught a wildebeest calf yesterday and finished a large portion of the carcass.  There is still a lot of meat left and the carcass should last her for a few days.  We followed her this morning as she was heading back to the fourth den site over some very rough rocky terrain.  This was the first time we saw how cautiously she approaches the den site, barely making a sound.  We expected to see the cubs come out to greet her but they could possibly be afraid of the sound made by the vehicle's engine.  She plopped down on a large and comfortable looking boulder outside the entrance to their den site and promptly fell asleep.  This was the first time we approached her this close in an open vehicle and initially she was slightly worried about our presence, but relaxed completely after a few minutes.  We spent nearly 2 hours with her and before leaving I slowly stood up to see whether the cubs are around but saw nothing whatsoever.  This annoyed her and she made her feelings clear by lashing her tail around, but luckily did not display more aggression.  We left her so she could rest in peace.

The fourth den site is such a good one that Caroline seems reluctant to move her cubs to a new area.  Every sighting we have of her is over quite quickly, as she usually shows herself to investigate the vehicle arriving but then ducks back in between the boulders.  She is probably hunting at night as we are unaware is she has been away from her cubs over the last few days.  We have posted some pictures of the cubs in our leopard gallery but by the time we see them again their eyes will probably have taken on a more yellow-green hue.

I picked up Caroline's signal far away from the den site, and was worried that something happened to the cubs.  I rushed to the top of the mountain where the fourth den site is located, and after searching for almost 20 minutes, I finally located the cubs safely lying in a crevice.  After a few quick pics I left them in peace and went after Caroline.  She was about 3km from the den site, and moving away.  I could see that she was hungry and left her in peace but came across her at about 12:00 again, in the river bed.  After locating her again this afternoon she still hasn't caught anything but was heading back in the direction of the den site.  The golden afternoon light was beautiful and I leap-frogged her 3 times with the vehicle to get ahead of her.  I got some great shots of the cat walking straight towards me, and each time she passed the driver side door without even glancing up.  She was still far from the den site, and maybe now, with darkness on her side, she'll catch an unwary animal.  Whilst heading back, she was scent marking intensively but that was to be expected as she hasn't been in that part of her range for the last 3 weeks.  The remote download unit has returned from Germany and if I have it by next week we'll have a lot of data to download, and finally update the activity patterns for March and April.  Houdini did not visit the bait last night but we expected that he will head away in order to continue patrolling his territory.  He'll most likely be back soon.

Caroline moved her cubs into the 4th denning site, which is at the top of the koppie she has been spending a lot of time at.  The den site is right at the top, and it took some careful driving to get all the way there, but the view is spectacular.  Apart from the tall marulas, knobthorns, bushwillows and flowering kudu lilys she has a complete 360 degree view of riverine forest, open grassy plains and more hills to the west.  There is quite a large concentration of animals on the hill with some resident kudus, wildebeest and impala that are in close proximity to the denning site.  The last time we saw the cubs were 6 days ago but the location of this particular den site makes it impossible to see them, unless we investigate the site by foot whilst she is away.  We sat there for the whole afternoon yesterday, hoping to catch a glimpse of the cats but with no luck.  The den site is located between several large trees growing between large broken boulders, which creates ideal hiding places for the cubs.  I decided to call her in today to make sure she was fine and we had a magnificent sighting of her as she appeared on the top of the largest boulder, staring down at us about 30m below her.  She was in very good condition and probably made a recent kill in the vicinity.  My remote download unit should be arriving within the week, and I'll be able to download the mass of data stored on the collar, which should make for interesting observations regarding the time of birth, location and  time spent at denning sites, her preferred hunting times and even possible kill locations.  Our baiting has paid off with one bait taken last night.  Unbelievably, the motion sensor camera did not take a single picture!  The cat was not happy to eat in the tree and broke the nylon rope in 2 pieces, thereby dislodging the bait.  I must say that it was an old rope which was frayed due to the numerous times it has been used as an anchor for bait.

I found Caroline coming back from the hunt this morning and it seems she was unsuccessful.  She followed the main road back to the vicinity of where she hid the cubs, scent marking along the way, but then she threw me a curve-ball as she turned left and 90 degrees away from the second den site.  The terrain is very rough and I could not follow her in the vehicle, so I drove around and waited at the second den site.  She did not arrive after half an hour and I decided to walk to get a location on foot.  I investigated the second den site and the cubs were clearly not there and so the long and nervous walk began.  I got a very strong signal from two large boulders about 300m away from their birthplace but could not see her in the tall grass.  If that is their new den-site, it is definitely a very good one and should offer protection from the elements as well as predators.

I found fresh female leopard tracks next to the river this morning in an area that Caroline has avoided during her travels.  This is most likely the core of Matilda's cub's territory.  These tracks were also not very far from where I found yesterday's tracks, but this time they were leading in the opposite direction.  I'll put out baits later and see if we can get some camera trap pictures of the cat in question.

We had a massive rainstorm Saturday evening and I was worried about the cubs that were literally trapped within the confines of the cement dam.  I found Caroline and her cubs first thing Sunday morning where her and one cub was lying underneath a bush about 10 metres from the first denning site.  The cubs blue eyes were beautiful.  She was probably in the process of moving them as we found her a further 100-odd metres away this morning.  We did not see any cubs but assume that she moved them into the second denning site which is a Combretum tree that was pushed over by elephants.  The depression where the roots were anchored, coupled with the nice overhang the created by the roots was her den site of choice.  We did not go too close in fear of disturbing her at the new site and she was her usual relaxed self. 

The nice rains we had wiped the earth clean and our anti-poaching unit came across Houdini's fresh tracks this morning.  He was not far away from where we had to turn the game-drive vehicle around on the way back from Caroline due to some nasty muddy ditches created by the heavy rainfall, so we probably just missed him on the morning drive.  He is in the Doornhoek stream and quite close to where we found his tracks on Thursday morning.  Since Thursday he moved deeper into the reserve, following the Mkuze river downstream to where the Hlambanyathi stream enters the Mkuze river.  From here he moved back west again and was seen on Saturday morning, heading back east in the same stream.

The cubs' eyes have finally opened and although I know they are supposed to be blue in colour, the cubs are still in such deep shadow that you cannot make out any colour in their eyes at all!  That gives a total of 8 days until opening which is the same period as the cheetah cubs.  Caroline was giving the cubs a good cleaning this morning and even turned one cub onto its back to get to those hard-to-reach spots (no pun intended).  This gave me the opportunity to determine the cub's gender but it is much more difficult than I thought.  The train of thought went something like:"Yes, definitely a male..., no wait..., ja a female... but maybe, yes a male but what about......etc."  I still have no clue whether it is male or female but luckily we can authoratively say that it must be one of those options.

We've been having difficulties logging on to the site to update our blog, so we haven't posted in a while.  The cubs are 6 days old today and the one cub's eyes are starting to open.  They are only slightly open but you can see something is happening.  Its eyes will most likely be fully open by Friday.  The cheetah cubs we followed only opened their eyes from 8 days and onwards and by day 11 their eyes were fully open, although it did not seem that they registered what they were seeing.  Once the cub's eyes are open they should become slightly more active, but they are probably still too young to climb out of the cement trough they were born in.  It is interesting that Caroline has not moved them yet, but the lack of suitable denning sites in the area could account for that.  The cheetah female moved denning sites on average every 5.5 days but stayed in one very good site for a much longer period (16 days if I remember correctly).  We set up a drinking trough not far from Caroline's denning site and when she came across it she drank furiously.  The lack of water in the vicinity of her cubs coupled with the drain on her own resources as a result of lactating is making her very thirsty.  It was the first time in nearly 2 weeks that I saw her drink, but she could possibly have moved towards the river throughout the night to drink without us knowing.  Our remote download unit was sent in for repairs and should be back with us in about 2 weeks time, when I can download her activity data for March and post it on the site.

Caroline and her cubs are still in the same place she gave birth.  She really chose a difficult spot and we can only view her and the cubs through a small gap in the wall.  Initially she was not too happy with the presence of the vehicle but she quickly accepted us in the vicinity and rolled onto her side to allow the cubs easier access to drink.  Even with their eyes closed they still fight and squabble when too close to one another, especially when drinking.  Caroline's teats almost completely fill their small toothless mouths.  It almost seems as if they have grown considerably during the last 24hrs but it is probably just my imagination.  They are definitely more active though.

It seems like our earlier suspicions were confirmed.  I left Caroline yesterday afternoon and came back this morning to find her with 2 newborn cubs, born in a watering trough for an unused cement dam.  As luck would have it, I did not have a camera with me but hurried home to get all my equipment - video camera, 600mm lens, 300mm lens, two camera bodies and a whole bag full of extras.  The trip back was a tight squeeze in the front of the vehicle. 

The cubs are probably no more than 20cm in length and when not sleeping, they crawl all over their mother and make soft squeaky noises.  Caroline chose an area with low competing predator densities but the prey density is just as low, so she'll have trouble fending for herself.  The area is also neighbouring a local community and we stepped up the security to provide for 24hr protection, as the last thing we want is for the cubs to be killed by underfed dogs.  The closest water is about 3km away and we thought of installing a temporary water trough a couple of hundred meters from where she gave birth.  The cheetah female chose a similar area when she gave birth 2 years ago, with the closest water 6km away!  Photographic opportunities are limited due to the intervening grass and the only view you could have of the cubs is through a 20cm gap in the cement wall but it was just such a priviledge to have seen them. 

I can't wait until they start moving around actively.

As you can probably judge by the caption, Caroline is doing very well for herself.  I found her this morning with yet another warthog kill, this after she left her other kill only 2 days ago.  She has not even moved more than a kilometer from where I found her yesterday morning, but most likely made the kill this morning.  She was definitely not that hungry and was fast asleep next to her kill, her belly bulging and the warthog barely touched.  It seems that she has perfected the art of ambushing pigs, and her "lazy" hunting method is paying off dramatically.  Unfortunately when you come across fat cats such as this one, they tend be lying around and doing more or less nothing.  She fell asleep almost immediately after I arrived, and will probably spend the next day or 2 in the vicinity of the kill.

After last weeks wild leopard sightings, this week has been quiet.  We set up a bait in an area where the other leopards (Houdini and Matilda's cub) were spending some time, but only had a brief visit by one of the cats (Matilda's cub) last week Tuesday, and Houdini was seen that same evening heading back west.  The river is flowing quite strongly which probably accounts for the cats not using the normally drier banks as a traversing route, but prefer to use adjacent game trails.  It was with perserverance that the snail reached the Ark so we'll just continue baiting until we receive our trapping permit, which should be within the next week or 2.  The new GPS collars are lying all shiny in our dining room and I can't wait to start getting some data on the other cats.

Caroline has moved west along the river and we saw yesterday that she somehow managed to injure herself.  She could not walk properly and the problem seems to be with her right front paw.  We noticed what looked like a small cut just behind the main pad and have no idea about the extent of the injury.  We decided to feed her so that she can give the paw some rest and recover faster but when we returned this morning with an impala rump she had already caught and killed a warthog herself, and had no inlination to feed off the impala I tied up a tree.  All that bushwacking and tree climbing for nothing...  The area she chose to rest in is adjacent to a very busy game trial, so if she stays there she'll most likely catch again soon.

The weather is still dark,cold and drizzly after the weekends rain.  Caroline moved north a kilometer or two and I found her underneath an Acacia tortilis tree with a young warthog she caught.  I obviously missed the kill by a few minutes - again...  She only started feeding on the piglet when I arrived and the warthog sow with two remaining piglets I saw close by were probably the focus of her attention a few minutes ago.  Caroline is as round as a leopard can be and seems to be in very good health. 

We made an effort to determine the whereabouts of the other cats whose tracks we found in the river over the weekend.  It seems that Houdini and Matilda's cub were in close proximity to one another but our trapping effort has as of yet not been successful.  The young female's tracks were found this morning a kilometer upstream from where the trap was set, and it seems that she is heading in that direction.  However, she is very wary of traps and has proven to be a difficult cat to catch.  Houdini's fresh tracks were found in the Hlambanyathi stream, heading west and away from our trapping area.  He should be back within a week or so and maybe we can get him collared quite soon, as he seems to have no fear for the cage traps we are using.  That is, unless he doesn't pull out one of his tricks to just simply disappear out of a trap.  The current trap we are using has been modified, so once a cat is inside there is no chance of it lifting the cage door, or at least, so we believe.  We'll be putting out some camera traps again to see what is happening in Matilda's former territory as we haven't seen any activity in that area for a long time, although Houdini still ventures there on some days.

We found an area where Houdini and Matilda's cub are interacting in.  Their tracks are littered across the dry riverbed and we set up a cage trap in order to collar the cats.  I've got GPS collars for both of them and it should only be a matter of time before we get one, if we persist in trapping of course.  I fed Caroline a full impala earlier in the week, as her high fever a week ago was worrying for us.  We secured the carcass in a tree in order to find and monitor Caroline easier and find out immediately if something is wrong with her.  She has mostly been feeding at night, followed by early morning patrols in the vicinity of the carcass, scent marking along the roads.  This morning, we could smell several of the trees she scent marked when we drove past on our way to her.  Climbing out of the vehicle and smelling the trees at a leopard's spray urinating height confirmed the scent marking.  It was interesting to see how many people drove straight past her on a daily basis where she was lying in the tree, less than 15m from the road. 

Today has not been a great day.  I was looking for Steffie the whole of yesterday afternoon and only picked up a signal at 17:00.  I got close to where she was but the collar stopped broadcasting at 18:00 without seeing her.  I was very close and decided to return first thing in the morning to find her.  This morning, I found her carcass next to the river.  Chap, the vet, came over and from what we could see there were no external injuries to her body.  The cause was deemed to be either disease or snakebite.  She was still happily feeding of her last impala kill on Thursday and left the area on Saturday to head to the river, probably to have a drink after the huge meal.  According to the combined GPS and activity data, something untoward happened at 17:55 on Saturday, as her activity readings were maxed to the recordable limit which is 255 measurements in 5 minutes.  These high readings continued until 19:45 when they decreased gradually, only to pick up again at 20:25.  Thereafter they steadily decreased and she died between 20:50 and 20:55.  The activity and time period corresponds to a reaction to neurotoxic venom and the most logical explanation was that she was bitten at about 18:55 and tried to move as far away from the incident as possible, up to 19:45 when she lay down.  The high readings over this period can be due to instability on her part, with initial quick movement to get away, and unbalanced swaying starting to occur as the venom took effect.  The spike in readings at 20:25 could be the start of seizures and the gradual decline from 20:45 shows how she slowly died.  This was a very sad day for us all. 

Caroline has been acting strangely the last week or so.  She left her home range and moved very far towards the west into an area where there is no water.  Her last kill was a vervet monkey she caught 6 days ago and we have no idea when the last time was that she drank water.  Another interesting thing was that she was scent marking out of her own territory.  She came across the fenceline and started pacing up and down the line for 4 days until we decided to dart her and move her back to her own territory.  The possibility exists that she is after a male which could be on a neighbouring reserve but staying in that particular area was definetely detrimental to her health.  After moving her back and giving her a thorough examination, the vet found that she was running a high fever of 40.3 degrees C and that she was dehydrated.  We set up a drip in the veld and will be keeping a close watch on her for the next few days.  She woke up close to water where we left an impala's rump for her to eat so she shouldn't have to hunt and risk injury for the next 2 days or so.  This morning she was still next to the dam where we left her, resting in a thick clump of bush.  Her behaviour doesn't look abnormal at all and hopefully this was just a temporary issue.

Things have been hectic since coming back but we found both cats on the same day returning from the Kruger Park.  Steffie was in an area close to her old boma and release site, which by now has been removed completely.  We found her while it was still very warm and she was lying underneath a pushed-over Acacia tortilis tree.  We moved north to find Caroline and found her far away from her home range in the mountains and gorges on the western side of the reserve.  She caught a vervet monkey and was lying next to the carcass but she did not eat it, unlike Steffie who seems to have a taste for them.  Today, Steffie was hunting impala in her old boma area and after following her for about 400m she came across a bachelor herd of impala.  The antelope were quite nervous and I left her as not to disturb the hunt.  Caroline has moved south and was found on the perimeter fence bordering a tribal community.  I followed her for probably 4km as she walked along the fence, scent marking and head rubbing against conspicuous landmarks like large rocks and trees.  It seems she was following scent deposits of another leopard as she frequently knelt down to smell certain areas, and grimaced to better test the urine samples left behind.  Whether it was from a male or female I cannot say but it was interesting that she scent marked over the areas where the other cat marked.  She was still on the fenceline this afternoon so I decided to call her deeper into the reserve.  I drove ahead and called to her frequently and she duly followed the vehicle at her own pace.  We covered about 5km in 3.5 hours until I was satisfied she was far enough from the fenceline.  She took her time and stopped to have a look at all interesting things around her, like an abandoned pumping station on the river's edge.  She walked in the open door and found a shady spot to lie down on the cool concrete.  Luckily she completed her investigation of the building quite quickly and after calling her again she got up and followed me away from the fenceline.  It was quite comical to see a leopard emerging from a building though!  I found Houdini's fresh tracks in the river and if all goes well we can start trapping again tomorrow and should we get the GPS collar on him we will be able to see how the females and the dominant male spatially arrange themselves.   We ordered another spare GPS collar for a female leopard which should be here by next week.

Sorry for not having updated the blog for a while; we are currently sitting in Kruger.  We'll be back on Wednesday when I'll try and find both cats to download their activity data and post it ASAP.

From what I've heard, Caroline has moved back towards her home range and went around Hlambanyathi dam and back towards the river.  Her riverine ventures are always a treat to follow so I hope she's still there when we get back.

At last!  I picked up Steffie's VHF signal from my house and went after her this morning.  I found her about 400m away, moving back towards her release boma (which by now has been fully removed).  There was a huge herd of impala about 200m in front of her and in the road, and it was obvious that she was aware of them.  I followed her through the veld until she came to a marula tree, which she scaled and used as a lookout point.  I could see that she was hungry, and after she came down the tree I leapfrogged her and the impala to try and get a shot from her stalking towards me and the herd.  The area was very rocky and going was tough, but I finally got myself into a more or less open position.  I could not see the cat at all at this point in time as I was about 200m from her, but she was coming closer.  All of a sudden, an impala alarm call snorted to my left and the whole herd (probably about 100 strong) scattered, with the majority stampeding off to the right.  I gave her 30 seconds more and started the vehicle to move closer, when I saw a warthog coming towards me at full speed.  More warthogs scattered in front of me and then the squeals of a pig in distress pierced the early morning air.  I raced closer (at about 10kph in the rough terrain...) and then a warthog sow appeared on my left, running in the same direction.  Steffie had just scampered up a knobthorn tree with a piglet clenched in her jaws, and 3 large warthogs were milling about underneath the tree, obviously very angry at this spotted cat which just snatched a piglet from underneath their very eyes.  She did not have a good hold on the piglet, and had it by the neck and shoulder area, whilst at the same time having to navigate the thorny tree.  After a few more squeals and grunts, the larger hogs disappeared, leaving myself and the cat in the tree right next to me, struggling to maintain a good hold on her catch.  She balanced as well as she could with the piglet kicking and struggling, but blood loss was taking its toll and the pig's struggles became weaker by the minute.  After standing like this for about 20 minutes with the still (but barely) living pig in her mouth, she quickly shifted her grip and held it around the throat.  Thereafter, death was swift.  She wedged the piglet in a fork in the tree and moved away, thoroughly grooming herself and resting, as she was almost out of breath after the ordeal.  There were some beautiful marula trees in the vicinity but she kept her kill in the knobthorn and started off by licking up the blood around the bite-wound.  This was also where she started feeding and after spending nearly 3 hours with her, I left her to enjoy the rest of her meal in peace.  (Note to self - next time bring spare tapes...)

We darted Caroline today as the wound she had did not heal properly as it attracted a lot of ticks.  We found her next to the river, quite close to one of her favourite sausage trees.  We gave her a light dose of the sedative as she is a smallish cat and she was out within about seven minutes, choosing to lie down in a lovely soft-sand area in a grove of tamboti trees.  The wound seems to have healed properly but the area attracted a lot of bont ticks (probably about 30 concentrated on the same patch).  Whilst she was down we also plugged her collar into a laptop and adjusted her UHF receiver time to start earlier and end later, as this feature can not be adjusted remotely.  She woke up again after about 3 hours and we left her as she moved back into the bush, albeit a bit groggy.

I did not see Caroline this morning as she was in an inaccessible area, but returned this afternoon to find her resting in the shade of a common spike thorn.  I am constantly amazed at how well camouflaged these cats are, as the area she is in has hardly any grass cover, and still it took me a good few minutes to see her.  After some grooming, she got up and started moving west and in an up-stream direction alongside the river.  As she moved, she scent marked against the trunks of some umbrella thorns several times, and then suddenly crouched down into hunting mode.  Her target was a lone impala ram, but she only stalked for about 3m before the ram saw her and she gave up the hunt.  The impala snorted his alarm call and boldly walked up towards the leopard, which then turned around and headed into the thicker riverine forest where I could not follow anymore.  If all goes well she'll catch something tonight and hopefully be in an area accessible by vehicle.

Steffie made a kill through the night.  This was her first impala kill in about 4 months.  We tracked her to the same area where I saw the first live leopard kill on the reserve, on the 27th of January.  The area consists of clumps of Acacia tortilis, A. nilotica and some Gymnosporia bushes with more open areas in between (just large enough spaces to accommodate the vehicle).  This is obviously a perfect area for ambush hunts and is most likely what happened in this case. 

We were looking for the cat, but could not get close due to some trees and stumps in the way.  We drove around the thicket to find an entrance on the other side, when we came across a drag mark, littered with short reddish and white hairs.  This drag mark led us straight to the carcass, dragged in underneath an old fallen-over tree.  Judging by the loud beeps emitted by the tracking system, she was very close but the grass was tall and we could not see her.  The whole carcass was covered in grass as leopards sometimes do when kills are too heavy to cache in a tree, with only one leg slightly protruding from the huge pile of grass.  Finally, she showed herself and cautiously sneaked closer.  (I suddenly thought of our previous meeting in the same place and half closed my window, just in case...)  Luckily she didn't show any aggression and after removing some grass and turning the carcass on its back, she resumed feeding.  She didn't eat much and after finishing, she covered the whole carcass with grass again.  It was great to see this instinct to cover her kill, in order to hide it from the prying eyes of vultures, which in turn could lure other predators.  I hope that she will tree this kill quite soon as we also found the tracks of a large spotted hyena in the area.  It is unbelievably hot today, with hardly a breeze blowing, and the heat should cause the carcass to rot much quicker with the accompanying smells likely to draw in the hyenas.

Both cats are currently making viewing very difficult due to the thick bush or long grass they are in.  Steffie has moved south back into a fever tree patch where she spends a considerable amount of time.  There are no roads in this area and finding her is extremely difficult.  We saw only a glimpse of her before she skulked off in the forest undergrowth, disappearing as quietly as only leopards can.  Further viewing was impossible as we could not get around or through the dense stands of trees.

Caroline has also moved slightly south and is now in a tall grass area fringing on a short-grassed open plain.  The area is teeming with prey species ranging from large flocks of guinea fowl to plenty of warthog and impala.  She was lying in this tall grass area when we found her this morning and we could literally only see a few spots through the grass.  Later, she finally got up and we followed her down a road for a few meters before heading off into some more thick stuff, seeking some shade.  The wound on her left flank looks much better but it is the area between her left front leg and body that we can not see very well.  If the wound does not improve we will have to dart her and treat the wound before the end of the week.  It does not seem to be bothering her a great deal though.

Out of interest's sake, the love-sick cheetah male is spending almost every day in the vicinity of the release boma where our new cheetah female is situated.  She seems to be accepting his presence as we found her right next to the fenceline, whereas previously she kept her distance.  Once we are convinced she familiarised herself with the area she will be released.  This should not take longer than 3 months.

I decided to follow up on the southern female again as she was obviously hunting, but came across her resting in an umbrella thorn Acacia tortilis just as the light was turning towards a beautiful shade of yellow.  I was still approaching when something caught her attention and she climbed out of the tree quite quickly.  I immediately stopped the vehicle and switched off the ignition and saw her disappear in the grass, stalking something.  Seconds later I heard a scuffle through the undergrowth and a warthog squeal.  I started driving towards the noise but seconds later a leopard came charging straight past me and up the same umbrella thorn, followed by a VERY angry grunting warthog sow.  The large warthog stopped underneath the tree, grunted a few times and then ran off.  Steffie obviously tried to tackle one of her piglets but the mother decided against that.  Both leopards are specializing in warthog piglets at the moment and I'm sure this has happened a few times without me being there.  This could also be a factor contributing to the leopards treeing kills, which only happens infrequently in KZN.  I do not know whether Steffie injured the warthog and so I sat with her until she climbed out and moved to the area where the altercation took place.  It seems like she was searching for the piglet and I followed her as she criss-crossed through the Euclea thickets, until she finally climbed into a dead tree and lay down in the stunning late afternoon light.  There she lay until it was dark.

Typed in the date and only realised now that it is Valentine's day!  Both cats are back in hunting mode and Caroline caught something last night.  Unfortunately the area she is in has dense grass standing to about 1.5m in height and I could only view her from a relative distance (5m) in this tall grass, but could not get closer to her due to the trees in my way.  The tall grass was heavily disturbed in some patches around the thicket she is in.  She has made a huge movement to the north, back to the tall grass area she was in about a month ago.  This morning she was grooming herself thoroughly as leoaprds often do after they have fed.  There was probably not a spot on her body that she did not lick clean, from her chest to the tip of her tail.

Steffie is enjoying the large patch of fever trees she is in.  This is truly a beautiful area as it consists out of a large concentration of these trees with short grass patches in between.  There are also some umbrella thorn and scented thorn in between, all occurring on dark brown clay soils.  The area is a highway for prey species heading to Clerkness dam (the only constant source of water in the south) and whilst sitting with her, warthogs came trotting past us twice.  It will only be a matter of time before Steffie will catch something; maybe even today?  I left her as the vehicle is quite conspicuous and draws the attention of prey species and therefore also drawing attention to the cat.  Currently, Steffie is the best bet to film a kill or even her everyday activity as she was busy this morning.