WILDLIFE


MPUMALANG A


INTO THE WILD W


During the dry season, animals arrive from Kruger National Park to drink at the Sand River, near MalaMala Camp — where big cats lie in wait


e’re so close I can actually hear her panting. The leopard’s flank heaves, up and down, as she digests in the shade of an acacia


tree. In the boughs above her, there’s a grisly scene: she’s dragged her kill, an impala with fantastical corkscrew horns, off the ground to protect it from hyenas. She seems unfazed that my safari guide, Bens Marimane, and I


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are sitting in an open-top jeep mere feet away. I admire her strong jaw; the ripple of lean muscles under fur; the way her rosettes meet between her shoulders and create a dark trail down her backbone. “I’ve watched her grow up,” Bens tells me quietly. He’s been a tracker and guide at MalaMala


Camp in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve on the southwestern border of Kruger National Park for most of his career. He’s observed


#MEETY OUR SOUTHAFRICA


the area’s lions and leopards grow from tufty cubs to dominant adults, engage in territo- rial tussles, and navigate the minefield of mating and parenthood. They’re a big part of his life: “Even when I’m on leave in my village nearby, I can hear the lions roaring in the bush,” Bens tells me. It’s the peak of the dry season — the


woodlands are yellow and thirsty, and the Sand River that cascades through MalaMala during the rains has evaporated. We meander along, spotting zebra, giraffe, elephant and countless skittish buck graz- ing on the high banks, as Bens looks for fresh paw prints on the ground. “During the dry season, many species come from


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