Another early start at 5.30am from Exeter River Lodge pays dividends immediately. The Day One male leopard from yesterday has hauled the impala carcass up a tree and is busy feeding on it. He eats the entire carcass…spindly legs, hooves and all. The only thing he probably hasn’t eaten is the stomach and the lungs.
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This could be the hippo from earlier this week roaring a greeting.
Speaking of leopards up trees, this is the Dam 3 female, spotted quite by accident by Chris the tracker as we were searching for her. She has her kills stashed high up in this tree. As you can see, the weather is still grey and overcast, and quite chilly when driving. Also visible in the photo is a partially healed wound on her ribcage, perhaps from a fight or an injury sustained in a kill.
The birds are busy along the Sand River, with a sighting of a pied kingfisher, cormorant, and pygmy kingfisher. The pygmy kingfisher is a miracle of Canon optical engineering. This little bird was smaller than the autofocus point on my focussing screen on the Canon 7D Mk II.
Later in the evening, we find the Dam 3 female leopard again. This time she is feeding on her kill up in the tree, but she later descends, and it is apparent that the wound that was visible on her side this morning has reopened, and she has in fact 4 wounds in total, probably incurred from the horns of the impala that she has killed.
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