3 August
PM
1 Rhino Bull was found at Jordaan's Dam drinking alongside a Big Elephant bull.
2 Rhino's, a cow and her 2-year-old calf were found North of Torchwood Camp. They were a little nervous of the vehicles and so it was decided best to let them move off into the woodland so as not to stress them out after we had a short yet good look at them.
The Hyaena den was particularly active with 5 adults and seven cubs playing and nursing close to the safety of the den.
The three Skuthane female lions were found still resting at Kudu corner dam.
Also seen were Bushbabies, African wildcat and an abundance of general game.

4 August
AM
A Large herd of Buffalo was found at Umbrella Thorn Clearing moving to the East.
The three Lionesses (Skuthane pride) were still lying at Kudu corner dam where they remained unmoved from last night.
4 Rhino's were found at long pole, where the large bull was giving one of the younger bulls a lesson in "submission".
2 other Rhino were found on Vlakvark road.
Elephants were seen throughout the drive.

PM
The drive was packed with great sightings of general game, and the rarer Civets, Bushbabies and Spotted Eagle Owls.
The three Skuthane Lions were found at Kudu Corner where they were still lying down close to the water's edge.
1 Female Rhino was found with her tiny calf moving into the reserve from the Kruger Park.
There were a number of Elephant bulls found throughout drive.
8 Buffalo bulls were found drinking at Buffelshoek dam whilst being closely watched by a group of 3 hippo at sunset.

5 August
AM
4 Rhinos were found at Tamboti dam grazing in a very relaxed manner towards the West.
There was a herd of Buffalo south of the airstrip and were watched for sometime before a disturbance was noticed from the rear of the Herd. Three Lions (Skuthane) were found sitting low in the grass behind the herd and they seemed to be looking at two straggling bulls with intent. They moved in without making a sound, and one of the females made a good attempt but the Buffalo had a good head start. The lioness managed to get a claw to the bull and was unable to hold on. The buffalo sped off and when we caught up to him he was bleeding from the claw marks. The Lions did not attempt another kill as the day was warming up and the Buffalo were already aware of the Lion's presence, so I have no Doubt they will be trying again tonight.
2 Elephant bulls were found near Marula pan Browsing as the moved slowly toward the South.

PM
We started off this afternoon's game drive with great sightings of general game. A herd of buffalo was found at Nyala Dam, where they had come down for their afternoon drink.
After dark the eight members of the Styx Pride were found just south of Torchwood Dam. They were on their way for a drink and soon after started out north towards Buffelshoek airstrip where they made a failed attempt on a herd of zebra. They regrouped but soon picked up the scent of the Skuthane Pride who had been sighted in the area in the morning. After analyzing the scent for sometime with typical flehmen behaviour they started to move steadily south away to avoid contact with the other lions.

6 August
AM
The morning started with a sighting of two rhinos right outside Bush lodge entrance. The animals were skittish and were left heading into the woodland south of the camp. It was a morning during which many rhino were seen, during the course of the morning we saw another group of 3 and 1 lone bull were found.
Tracks of lions were followed up successfully and the Styx Pride were located south of 3 in a row pan where they were lying with full bellies from a successful hunt during the night. We retraced the tracks were we found the remains of a wildebeest where we found 2 hyena feeding on the scraps. Another group of 2 lionesses and one large male (2 Skuthane females and 1 Manyeleti male) was found in the north rock open area.
A breeding herd of elephants was found at 2nd rock and there were 3 large bulls hot on their heals.
A large herd of buffalo was found at cheetah pan, grazing slowly to the south. A disturbance at the back of the herd led to an investigation where a young male leopard (Mathloti, the 2 yr old offspring of the Beacon female) was found eyeing out a potential meal. Optimism is a common characteristic displayed by many young leopards, as a buffalo is generally way out of a young leopards league, he would be better off if he focused on smaller animals if he wishes to be successful.

PM
We left the lodge and headed straight to the vicinity of where we left the Styx pride on the morning safari. We found them laying down in the same position, it was only later that they got up and moved south across the border into the reserve to the south of Djuma.
The Skuthane females and 1 Manyeleti male were found in the same location and remained there until the end of drive.
One large male leopard (Jordaan's male) was located to the west of umbrella thorn clearing where he had made a kill. The waterbuck carcass was dragged up into a Marula tree where it was draped over one of the branches.
There were elephant bulls found throughout the reserve and a buffalo herd was located at Big dam.

7 August
AM
We woke up this morning to a raucous display of lions roaring from every direction around camp.
We headed straight north along our old entrance road where we found one male and one female lion (1 Sandy Patch female, 1 Manyeleti male) laying down in the road. The remaining 2 Manyeleti males and one Sandy Patch female were found just to the east laying down. Both sets of lions were roaring continuously.
Four rhino were found to the west of Longpole that were very relaxed, we left them lying down in the sun.
A large herd of buffalo was found west of Khaya Manzi moving in an easterly direction.
The elephants are becoming a permanent fixture on drive and many are sighted each drive. This is due to the abundance of permanent water holes on the reserve.

The Ranger's diary is updated weekly

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