10 July
PM
-1 Female Leopard (Kurula) and her 2 cubs were found finishing off their Impala Kill near Vuyatela. They moved off towards the west before being left to themselves in a riverbed close to Philemon's Dip.
-2 Lionesses and 4 cubs (Tsalala Pride) were found resting in the south-western part of the reserve. Just before sunset the pride moved southwards off the reserve.

11 July
AM
-5 Rhino bulls were found west of Vuyatela, grazing in the woodland.
-A large herd of Buffalo were found at Rubbing Post Dam.
-A breeding herd of Elephants was found near Buffelshoek Dam.

11 July
PM
-1 Female Leopard (White Cloth) and a large herd of Buffalo were found on the Bush Lodge Open area. The Leopard was contact calling for her dead cub and this attracted the attention of the Buffalo herd. The herd stormed towards the Leopard who managed to avoid them by sneaking into the riverbed behind the Bush Lodge Dam. She was followed for some time before moving west into the neighbouring reserve.

12 July
AM
-A mall herd of Elephants was found feeding in the woodland near the Fig-Tree area.
-1 young male Cheetah was found on the Djuma Entrance rd. He was moving east and was followed for some time. He chased after and successfully killed a young steenbok. After eating his full, the carcass was spotted by some vultures and the Cheetah was chased off his Kill.
-A breeding herd of Buffalo was found at Jacobin open area.

12 July
PM
-A large breeding herd of Buffalo were found at Hardekool Dam, moving north.
-A number of smaller bachelor Buffalo herds were reported in various locations around the reserve.
-A large group of Elephant bulls were found in the Big Dam area.

13 July
AM
-2 groups of 3 Rhinos each were found on the western part of Gowrie this morning.
-A large herd of Buffalo were found at Baobab Dam
-A large breeding herd of Elephant was found near Twin Dams.
13 July PM
-A large herd of Elephants were found at 3 in a row pan drinking. After drinking the herd moved swiftly southwards into the woodland
-A breeding herd of Buffalo were found drinking at Baobab dam.

14 July
AM
-2 Male lions and 3 lionesses (Nkuhuma Pride) were found East of Vuyatela. They moved into the Mhuluwathi riverbed to rest for the day.
-3 Leopards (Beacon female), her cub and a young male, were found west of Khaya Manzi. They were finishing off the remains of a young Kudu before moving off in different directions.
-Buffalo bulls were reported in various locations around the reserve.

14 July
PM
-The 5 lions from the Nkuhuma Pride were found resting in the Mhuluwathi riverbed. They woke just before sunset moving northwards through thick bush.
-1 Female Leopard (White Cloth female) was found feeding on a Baboon near Cheetah Cutline.

15 July
AM
-2 Male Lions and 4 Lionesses (Nkuhuma Pride) were found on Dolerite Rd. The 2 males were feeding on the remains of a Zebra foal; they had killed earlier in the morning. The Lionesses left the males feeding, without having fed on much themselves.
-3 Rhino bulls were located near Nyala Dam.

15 July
PM
-1 female Leopard (Beacon Female) and her cub, were found feeding on the remains of a Steenbok Kill. A young male Leopard (from the Beacon Female's previous litter) was found feeding on the same carcass. Shortly after dark a fourth Leopard (Jordaan's Male) found his way to the carcass where he moved in to feed on the rest of the kill. This amazing sighting ended with amazing interaction between the Beacon Female's 2 cubs from different litters. They were seen sniffing one another at close range and the younger cub on more than one occasion approaching her older relative with very few signs of aggression. To see this much interaction between these usually solitary cats was amazing.
-4 Lionesses (Nkuhuma Pride) were found moving north past Khaya Manzi Dam.
-A large Elephant bull was found drinking at Cheetah Plain Pan.

16 July
AM
-6 Lionesses (Styx Pride) were found drinking at Cheetah Plain Pan. Their full bellies and bloody faces suggested that they had recently been feeding. After drinking they moved east to rest in the shade near Buffalo Dam.
-1 Female Leopard (Kurula) was found moving east away from Twin Dam's. She was looking very thin but was not seen hunting. She was more interested in scent marking and patrolling her territory where the White Cloth female had been seen the day before.

The Ranger's diary is updated weekly

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