Guests and staff at Tshukudu Bush Lodge have been lucky enough to witness some amazing sightings this year, and here are some of our favourites, written and photographed by Tshukudu's head Field Guide, Jann-Rick Louw.

21 February 2022

Just a bit of history of Motsamai.

Motsamai and her sister Kgodisa were estimated to be born around October 2013 which will make both of them 9 years old today. We have no idea who their father is/was but their mother was the beautiful Iketla female which I unfortunately never had the privilege of meeting.

Motsamai is the mother of two beautiful young leopards named Pride rock male (which established territory in the Black Rhino concession) and Legadima female (which still hangs around her mother's territory).

Recently Motsamai was seen with 3, yes 3!!! Brand new cubs and we can't wait to see these little fluff balls grow up.

Both Motsamai and her sister Kgodisa are very relaxed individual leopards and they are probably the most often seen leopards in Pilanesberg.

28 April 2022

This morning my guests and I experienced a once in a lifetime sighting as father and son leopards (Gahiji and Zawadi) teamed up and worked together to hunt down an impala (unfortunately we don't know if they were successful as they dissappeared into the long grass.)

Leopards are highly adaptive cats, specialists in behavior that that will or can inflict serious injuries. Serious injury = death. That is why they can and do survive anywhere and occasionally tolerate the presence of other leopards, especially in a park like Pilanesberg where there are many leopards which territories overlap.

They would rather tolerate each other than get injured.

14 May 2022

Rain is alive!

For months nobody has seen female cheetah Rain. Many thought her to be deceased. and everyone accepted it to be the case.

Two days ago my guests were delighted to inform me about a cheetah with cubs in front of the lodge. Thinking it is Tale (Rain's daughter) with her three sub-adults cubs, I quickly rushed upstairs to join the guests. As I got to them, they pointed her out to me and told me she has 2 cubs. I thought to myself what a shame... Tale lost one of her cubs still thinking Rain is no longer with us... I looked through binoculars and quickly realized that these two cubs are very small and that is when it hit me. It's Rain!!!!!

We went for a closer look at them and was blessed with a beautiful sighting, we didn't overstay our welcome as I believe this is the first encounter with a vehicle/people for these new little ones.

Watching Rain move gracefully along with her new cubs was a really special moment, especially after seeing her with a severe injury months ago and everyone believing her to be dead. It was like I was looking at a ghost or a memory of the past. She just knows how to avoid her fans when she wants and needs privacy.

Needless to say she looks amazing, happy and content.

May she raise these two cubs in peace and may they survive to adulthood in our beautiful park.

16 June 2022

Having grown up in Pilanesberg, spending time around elephants and lions since I was a few months old, I often get asked by guests of I ever get bored or tired of it... The answer is NEVER!

This afternoon I headed out in the hopes to find either one of my favorite elephant family groups or atleast one of the upcoming bulls following in Amarula's foot steps. My guests and I were blessed with both. We found two different family groups of elephants as well as a young bull named Little Keyhole (not so little anymore) which I've got to know when both him and I were 12 years old, making him 28 years old today. He is as gentle and calm as his mom always is and walked pass us not once but 3 times! Leaving me and my guests in awe.

Later on we headed to a lion sighting which started off bad as we couldn't see them but one guest quickly spotted them walking straight towards us. And they were not just any lions. It was the Eastern pride! This specific pride is not often seen in Pilanesberg and although there are only 4 individuals in this pride, it is still lovely to see them. The pride consists of 3 females and one young male. I personally haven't seen this specific pride in months.

Lastly we ended off our drive with a beautiful serval sighting 5min from the lodge, unfortunately we were all so excited to see it none of us got a photo of it.

It might be cold out there but the animals definitely made it worth every second.