Makatsa and Mahlori have been busy black eagles in another breeding season at Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden. An egg has been spotted in the nest!
Johannesburg, South Africa (04 May 2026) – The Black Eagle Project Roodekrans has confirmed that Makatsa and Mahlori have an egg in the nest at Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden.
The confirmation came when monitors watched the pair swap incubation shifts, with Mahlori bringing in prey and laying it out on a nearby rock for Makatsa, and Makatsa flying off to eat while Mahlori settled onto the nest, and vice versa.
A second egg is expected this week!
Makatsa, whose name means ‘unexpected surprise’, has been at the garden since 2016. Mahlori, whose name means ‘Miracle,’ arrived in 2019 under circumstances that earned him his title. The previous male, Thulane, disappeared mid-season while eggs were already on the nest, and Makatsa incubated and raised that chick alone for over a month before Mahlori showed up.
The two paired in 2020 and have successfully hatched and raised several chicks over the six years.
As per the BEPR, Eagles have been nesting on the cliffs beside the Witpoortjie Falls since at least the early 1940s, long before the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden was even established in 1982. Makatsa and Mahlori are likely the third or fourth generation to call those cliffs home!
They’ve managed against the odds of rapid urbanisation, shrinking prey populations, and all the noise and disruption that comes with a busy public garden. Their primary prey, the rock hyrax (dassie), has also become more scarce, and the pair have had to adapt their diet accordingly.
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BEPR has had many volunteer monitors keeping watch over the pair and their predecessors since 1992, tracking the breeding cycle, educating visitors, and ensuring the eagles have the best possible chance each season.
If the incubation goes well, Johannesburg could be welcoming a new chick sometime in June!
Sources: Linked above.
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