Just was in Kruger two weeks ago (on an organized tour). Wild cat was seen every night near our lodging at Satara. We had lion roaring one evening outside the camp and came home from dinner one evening to find a honey badger rummaging though our rubbish bins!
IMO Kruger was surprisingly light on big game, at least compared to my experience in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. Elephants, giraffes, and various antelopes were somewhat plentiful, but there weren't a lot of buffalo or cats. We only saw three lions (together), one cheetah, and one leopard in roughly three days in the park. The lions caused a traffic jam that would make the Cross-Bronx Expressway look like a empty road. We didn't see any rhino - most of them have been moved elsewhere to protect them from poachers coming across from Mozambique. The birding was good, but we had a local guide who knew where to find certain specialties. I can't tell you about bird life in Satara, because we were never there during daylight.
You aren't allowed outside the camps at night except on organized game drives. It's basically an anti-poaching measure. They want to know where everyone is after dark, and anyone outside the camps is assumed to be poaching first and a tourist second.
My biggest complaint about Kruger is the "Volunteer Rangers". They're supposed to be assisting in conservation efforts, but these self-important little p***ks try to feel big by policing the visitors. We were standing next to our van looking at a bird with no megafauna around, when one old b***h drove up to us and before even asking us to get back in the vehicle, snarled she was gong to "report us" and started scribbling down our plate number. We were right beside the van, so we simply hopped in and drove off before she could finish her lecture. Another time we were in the van with the sliding door open, and one of them drove up and asked us to close our door. We weren't even out of the vehicle! A third came us and told us were were pulled over on the wrong side of the road. It really made things unpleasant.