SIGHTING OF THE WEEK
Shinzele Male Leopard, Mashiyambanje Male Leopard and Dam Three Female Leopard
There has been a lot of interesting leopard interaction in the past few weeks but this sighting was exceptional. Shinzele and Mashiyambanje were at eachothers throats again as they continue to battle for territory along the river, but this time the Dam Three female was involved as well. The two males walked parallel with eachother for an entire day, frothing saliva at the mouth and resting in intervals, then jumping up and challenging eachother again and again. The Dam Three female was focussing on Mashiyambanje and while he rested she would try and court him. This all happened south of the river which is essentially Shinzele’s territory, and the Dam Three female was lactating which lead us to believe that her current cubs are probably fathered by Shinzele and that she was courting Mashiyambanje to possibly try and convince him that the cubs could be his if he ever found them. An amazing display of a mothers effort to protect her cubs and a privileged experience to witness such rare leopard activity.
Mashiyambanje
Shinzele
Dam Three Female
OTHER SIGHTINGS
Mapogo and Ximungwe Pride
The Mapogo returned from the east early in the week where they had finished off a buffalo carcass. They wasted no time in meeting up with four of the Ximungwe lionesses and cubs and on closer inspection it was revealed that a fourth lioness from the pride has given birth. She was lactating heavily and later on in the week three very small cubs were sighted on top of a rocky outcrop. One of the 3 month old cubs has however disappeared so the total number of cubs in the pride is now 8. Makhulu singled out the remaining lioness that does not have cubs and has stayed close to her throughout the week while the rest of the pride, except the oldest female and oldest cubs, has continued to move as a unit. On one morning they were able to kill a young Kudu but Skoro was close by and stole most of it. The 3 month old cub was very bold though and battled his older sibling for the spoils and even challenged Skoro a few times who unceremoniously swatted him away with a huge paw!
Kashane Male Leopard
Kashane proved fairly elusive this past week and was only sighted once. He was on a mission as usual and left the property on the same day that he arrived, living up to his name as ‘the one who travels far’. He did pause on a termite mound which afforded us a brief opportunity to get a few stunning pictures of his pale eyes as he stared straight through us.
Ndlevane Male Leopard and Metsi Female Leopard
Ndlevane and Metsi continued their courtship and were together for a total of 12 days! They did eventually split up with Ndlevane heading north and Metsi going south. Ndlevane is sporting a nasty limp on his front right but it is unclear as to the cause of his injury. Courting leopards can be quite violent towards eachother or perhaps he could have made an error while hunting. This has added to his already dark temper and he was not followed when found on his own after leaving Metsi.
Day-one Male Leopard, Hlangisa Female Leopard and Metsi Female Leopard
Another incredibly interesting display of leopard behaviour was this time between one male and two females. The Day-one Male managed to kill an adult female kudu early in the week which meant he was static for a long period of time while he fed on the large carcass. Hyenas did eventually sniff him and stole most of the carcass but not before Hlangisa had located him and tried her best to court the young newcomer. Hlangisa herself is still too young to mate but it was interesting to see the inexperience of both leopards. The male would repel the female and move away from her, but then turn around and call to her as if indicating to her to follow him. This went on for a whole day and when we found the male again the next day he again had a female with him. On closer inspection though it was not Hlangisa but Metsi who was now looking for his attention. Again it was interesting to observe a female courting more than one male to cover her bases should she fall pregnant. Being more experienced Metsi was a lot more insistent than Hlangisa but the young male just reacted more violently. He was clearly confused however as he again called softly to the female to entice her to follow when she lagged too far behind.
The Son’s of Metsi Female Leopard
Both of Metsi’s recently independent sons were seen this past week. The less relaxed one continues to inhabit the very southern parts of Alicecot while the other son is sticking to the area around Ulusaba Rock Lodge. On one occasion the more relaxed son had to scramble to avoid the attention of one of the Ximungwe lionesses as she happened upon him on her way back to her cubs on top of the koppie next to the lodge. He was taking no chances and decided to spend the rest of the day sleeping in the very top branches of a Jackalberry tree.
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