Scenes From A Dulini Lodge Safari Part III: Tlangisa & Her Cubs
I’m going to use Part III of my Safari Trip report to introduce to you Tlangisa and her cubs. Tlangisa is one of several female leopards that calls the Sabi Sand region home who earlier this year had given birth to a pair of cubs. Normally, this is a fairly non-descript event. What makes this special is the fact that both cubs have survived their early ‘childhood’ and are now moving towards ‘adulthood’. As you can imagine, there is a high mortality rate among newborn critters born in the wild and the fact that Tlangisa had protected both of her offspring successfully is actually quite an accomplishment. So much so, that the guides and rangers rate her among the best Leopards that they have ever seen as far has her ability to raise her cubs.
When we came across Tlangisa and her cubs, we spent over an hour tracking them as they moved through thick Grasslands. On occasion it looked as though they were hunting something specific but it turned out that they were scouring the area looking for opportunity. At one point they isolated a Scrub Hare, but it managed to get away from one of the cubs who was practicing his hunting skills.
This created a great opportunity for me to capture them in action. With them moving from point to point, it gave me a lot of places and positions to snap off several dozen shots of which some are my favorite from the entire trip.
Hopefully you enjoy these shots as much as I do!
Tlangisa (left) and her cub apparently see something of interest.
Tlangisa strikes a phenomenal pose. Leopards can be told apart by their distinctive ‘Necklaces’ and unique spot patterns on their heads.
One of the cubs scouring for opportunity….
I would love to know what she was thinking at this very moment….Was I too big for lunch?
This shot of one of the cubs is one of my top 3 favorite photos from among the 8,000 pictures that I took that week…..
Tlangisa walks by, fairly disinterested in us.
One of the cubs taking a brief break.
The temptation to bring one home was quite strong!
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