MalaMala Diary Entry: 14 August 1998 Rhino viewing has remained stable and good with anything of up to seventeen different animals being seen in one day. The reliable viewing of these large animals on Mala Mala offers a good opportunity to study rhino behaviour. This week there was a good sighting of a territorial male courting a female which was obviously approaching oestrus. The female was still keeping the male at bay and he was keeping a distance, but at the same time making sure that the young males, which were also in the area, were also keeping their distance and showing the necessary respect.
 The Sand River continues to flow well and with the water and generally cool conditions, reptiles such as crocodiles and Nile monitors emerge to sun themselves. The Nile monitor is a large reptile, which can grow close to 2 metres long at its largest. It is a powerful swimmer but mostly harmless to man, although its tail could perhaps give one a nasty blow. It probably feeds mostly on small birds, insects and small mammals around the water's edge. Leopard What is surprising, however, is the consistency with which the leopards do not take kills up trees and consequently lose them to hyaenas. The sister of the Kapen female is the White Cloth female and she has again been seen regularly. This last week she was found sleeping up a tree when a lioness chanced beneath it. The two species are big enemies, but the leopard was secure up the tree and the lioness soon wandered off. Towards the south of the Reserve, the Toulon female and her cub were also seen feeding off a kill. The two small cubs of the Selati female have not been seen since they were first encountered several weeks ago, being moved by the mother. Two
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viewing over the past few weeks has again been outstanding, with several sightings of mothers and their cubs. Seen together was the White Cloth female and her cub, the Mlowathi female and her cub as well as the Kapen female and her youngster. The Kapen female has not been seen for several weeks now, partly because she lives in an area not frequently traversed by vehicles. Nonetheless, she and the cub were seen on two successive days, both times with a kill and both times losing the kill to hyaenas. Fortunately, little was ultimately lost, the leopards having eaten most of the meat before the hyaenas scented it.
young male lions were found this week, confidently lying around one of the dry dams in the northern parts of Mala Mala. Male lions of this age (approximately four or five years) are usually nomadic, spending their time avoiding dominant males who would consider them a threat and chase them away. They have not yet developed the full bulk of adult males and are still good killers. Nonetheless, they were soon faced with a large herd of buffalo counting some 500 animals. The buffalo then chased the lions and whatever dignity they tried to maintain in their retreat was lost as they were routed. At one time at least one of them was forced into a tree and the large herd of buffalo surrounded the tree, making it well aware of their intentions. In the end the buffalo wandered south and the lions went north.
