September 2001 Location: NW TOULON (no sightings)
There is every likelihood that this old leopard is now dead and that others
will be moving in to claim the area she once controlled. August 2001 Location :NW TOULON (no sightings) July 2001 Location :NW TOULON (no sightings)
It has now been many months since the last sighting of the old Chellahanga
Female and it may well be that she has finally died. The fact that the
Toulon Female was also seen on the northern bank of the Sand River in
what has recently been Chellahanga Female territory also suggests the
worst. June 2001 Location : NW TOULON (north of the Sand River) (1 sighting)
There was but a single sighting of the Chellahanga Female this month.
Perhaps as she ages - and the Chellahanga Female is indeed an old leopard
- and territory becomes more and more difficult to maintain, the need
for moving around is not quite the same and it could be expected that
encounters with such a leopard would be reduced. It would come as no surprise
if, within the next year or so, the Chellahanga Female simply vanishes,
finally succumbing to old age. MAY 2001 Location : SE CHARLESTON/ NW TOULON (north
of the Sand River) (2 sightings)
The old Chellahanga Female simply continues to exist and sightings of
her this month were really only of a female leopard out on the prowl.
As far as is known she has not mated since last December and at this stage
of her life there is probably little chance of her conceiving. For her
there really only remains the act of clinging onto power and already there
have been sightings of another female leopard in the south-eastern parts
of Charleston, the heart of her territory. This may have been her old
enemy, the Paradise Valley Female, which has not been seen for many months
now, or it may have been one of a probably inexhaustible supply of youngsters
out looking for a territory. The Chellahanga Female is certainly able
to hold her own as was seen not so long ago when she defeated the Toulon
Female, but for how much longer this will be is not known. From the north
there is also always the threat of the Kapen Female and her daughter,
the latter soon to be chased off by her mother and then surely out to
establish a territory of her own and the closer to home for her the better.
This month the Kapen Female was found way south of her usual haunts and
well within an area considered to be that of the Chellahanga Female. Also,
with the Rock Drift Male paying less attention to the area occupied by
the Chellahanga Female and another young male already sensing this, the
Chellahanga Female may have to go through the trauma of adapting to a
new dominant male. Interesting times ahead for this old leopard.
APRIL 2001 Location
: SE CHARLESTON/ NW TOULON (north of the Sand River)
(3 sightings)
Sightings of the Chellahanga Female in April showed
no indication that she has given birth, this something hoped for since
her last matings with the Rock Drift Male in late December last year.
Age has probably finally caught up with this old leopard and it is highly
likely that even if she does give birth again, she may not have the capacity
to adequately look after any cubs. However, in spite of her age, the Chellahanga
Female proved this month that she is still a force to be reckoned with.
This was seen when she beat up the Toulon Female and appropriated a kill
which the latter had just made. The circumstances leading to this event
involved the Toulon Female crossing the Sand River from west to east,
entering her old territory which she vacated last year when the Sand River
was in flood and which had subsequently been occupied by the Chellahanga
Female which at the time was being pressurised by the Paradise Valley
Female further to the east. It is thought that the Toulon Female herself
is being challenged by another young female leopard on the Western Bank
and this may have prompted her to explore her old haunts. Whatever the
reasons, the reception which she received was anything but friendly and
she may well think twice before doing the same again.
MARCH 2001 Location: CENTRAL & SOUTHERN CHARLESTON/
CENTRAL TOULON
(north of the Sand River)
(9 sightings)
There were four encounters with the Chellahanga Female on successive days,
these of her at the carcass of an adult impala which she had killed. When
the kill had been reduced to scraps, one of the Golf Course Male lions
arrived on the scene and stole it from her. Interestingly, a short while
before she was seen killing this impala, one of the sons of the Paradise
Valley Female, her old enemy, was observed catching an adult female bushbuck
only a few hundred meters from this position. It is not known if the respective
leopards were aware of each other, but they were certainly not seen interacting.
Other sightings of the Chellahanga Female were of her hunting in areas
to the east of where she had been pushed by the Paradise Valley Female.
There have been no confirmed sightings of the latter for some months now
and it is certainly this absence which has allowed the Chellahanga Female
access back east to her old ranges. Of course if it is young cubs which
have kept the Paradise Valley Female from roaming around marking territory,
then when she starts again, the Chellahanga Female may well be forced
back west. If this happens, she may well find this western section contested
by another female. Already the Kapen Female appears to be making increasing
forays into this area which also happens to be where she grew up when
he mother, the Trollips Crossing Female, controlled it. It is still not
certain whether the Chellahanga Female is pregnant or not, but if she
is, it could be expected that she would give birth next month (April).
There have certainly been no matings seen between her and the Rock Drift
Male since late December last year. Perhaps undue optimism has driven
the suspicions, but several signs have indicated that she could well be
expecting youngsters.
FEBRUARY 2001 Location: CENTRAL & SOUTHERN CHARLESTON/
CENTRAL TOULON
(north of the Sand River) Surprisingly there were no sightings of the
Chellahanga Female this month. There were, however, reports of other leopards
in the areas which she has recently taken to patrolling. The Kapen Female
was seen several times close to the Sand River on Western Charleston,
twice with a kill, but was never challenged by the Chellahanga Female.
Further south of this, there was a brief sighting of a leopard tentatively
identified as the Paradise Valley Female, the Chellahanga Females' old
enemy from the eastern areas of the territory which she controlled years
ago. Why she would be so far west is not known and, even if it was not
the Paradise Valley Female, why was a foreign leopard in the area. It
would be nice to think that the Chellahanga Female is somewhere with cubs,
but this would be impossible since she and the Rock Drift Male were seen
mating towards the end of December. If conception had occurred, then cubs
could only be expected, at the earliest, by the end of March. However,
last months reports suggested that the Chellahanga Female was moving back
east towards her old haunts, areas where she typically kept her cubs and
that there has been a surprising absence of the Paradise Valley Female
from these parts. So perhaps she is still alive and well, but has been
given the opportunity of claiming old grounds and may well be preparing
for cubs in a month's time.
JANUARY 2001 Location: CENTRAL & SOUTHERN CHARLESTON/
CENTRAL TOULON
(north of the Sand River)
(4 sightings)
All encounters with the Chellahanga Female this month were 'regular patrols'
of the more central and eastern parts of her territory. There were no
sightings of her mating with the Rock Drift Male and with the amount of
territory which she covered this month, there may be an outside chance
that she is pregnant. This months encounters with the Chellahanga Female
placed her quite far east of where she has been seen recently. These areas
used to be core territory for her until the Paradise Valley Female started
to strongly pressurise her and then she was forced west, this helped by
the fact that the Toulon Female had vacated this area. Now that the Paradise
Valley Female has at least temporarily vanished, perhaps the Chellahanga
Female has decided to move back east again. It could be that the Paradise
valley Female has new cubs and with these smaller creatures keeping her
close to whatever lair-site they are being kept in, she is no longer in
a real position to continue with the maintenance of her territorial borders,
thus allowing the Chellahanga Female at least temporary access to her
old domain.
DECEMBER 2000 Location: CENTRAL
FLOCKFIELD/ WESTERN CHARLESTON
(east of the Sand River) (4 sightings)
Three of the sightings of the Chellahanga Female were of her mating with
the Rock Drift Male, this towards the end of the month.
NOVEMBER 2000 Location: CENTRAL-EASTERN CHARLESTON/TOULON
BOUNDARY
(north of the Sand River) (1 sighting)
There was but a single encounter - confirmed that is - of the Chellahanga
Female during November, this quite far east of where she has been more
regularly encountered over the last few months. OCTOBER 2000 Location: NORTH CENTRAL
CHARLESTON & NW TOULON(east of the Sand River) (5 sightings)
Two of the sightings of the Chellahanga Female were of her mating with
the Rock Drift Male, this towards the end of the month. When the Rock
Drift Male departed after several days of mating, the female appeared
reluctant to see him leave. At another of the sightings of the Chellahanga
Female, she was quite close to where the Rock Drift Male, Paradise Valley
Female and what was probably the Newington Female, were all together.
It is certain that the male and the Newington Female were mating and the
other two leopards were simply putting on a bit of a power display to
dispel any remotely invasive ideas from the Newington Female which had
left her territory to the West of the Sand River to seek out the Rock
Drift Male. A few days before this the two leopards were deep inside the
territory of the Chellahanga Female and she was probably simply shadowing
the pair until the Newington Female had departed. The Paradise Valley
Female has of course forced the old Chellahanga Female from the eastern
parts of her old range.
SEPTEMBER 2000 Location: NORTH CENTRAL & WESTERN CHARLESTON (2 sighting of the Chellahanga Female on
western Flockfield, both when she had followed the Rock Drift Male whilst
the two were mating) (4 sightings)
The Chellahanga Female has now quite clearly relinquished her old haunts
of eastern Charleston to her lookalike which is now known as the Paradise
Valley Female. To the advantage of the Chellahanga Female, the Toulon
Female seems to have made no moves to cross back onto the eastern and
northern banks of the Sand River in this area, allowing the Chellahanga
Female an easy avoidance of the Paradise Valley Female. This month, in
spite of her waning strength, the Chellahanga Female came into oestrus
and sought out the Rock Drift Male, finding him far to the north of her
territory, deep inside that of her neighbour the Kapen Female and even
as far north as the sister of the Kapen Female, the White Cloth Female.
After at least three days of mating the two again parted. It has been
close to a year and a half since the Chellahanga Female lost her two cubs
from her last litter and it will be surprising if she falls pregnant.
Even if she does conceive, it will surely take a great deal of luck for
the babies to survive.
AUGUST 2000 Location: SOUTH CENTRAL
CHARLESTON (1 sighting)
The single confirmed sighting of the Chellahanga Female this month was
of her furiously chasing another leopard, this probably one of the nearly
2-year-old sons of the female which has been slowly moving into her territory
from the north and east. There were one or two other sightings of leopards
to the west of this area which may have been of the Chellahanga Female,
conditions again preventing definite identification.
JULY 2000 Location: SOUTH CENTRAL
CHARLESTON (5 sightings)
There were several good sightings of the Chellahanga Female over this
game report period, including two of her mating with the Rock Drift Male.
The Chellahanga Female has borne at least four litters in the last 8 years,
three of which she saw to their independence. The last litter died over
a year ago and despite numerous matings with the Rock Drift Male, she
has not conceived again. Past performances indicate that the Chellahanga
Female does not fall pregnant easily, this not only with matings with
the Rock Drift Male, but also with her old mate, the Jakkalsdraai Male.
Now, with age creeping up on her and the psychological pressure resultant
from territorial advances of another adult female leopard residing to
her north east, the process will be all the more difficult. Another good
sighting of the Chellahanga Female was of her carrying a freshly killed
impala carcass up into a tree. The following day two hyaenas were at the
base of the tree and, only a few hundred meters away, were two sub adult
male leopards. These two males are the sons of the female which has for
at least two years now been the main territorial rival of the Chellahanga
Female and, certainly just prior to this other female giving birth to
cubs, launched an aggressive territorial push against the Chellahanga
Female. The two male leopards are now at the age when independence is
imminent and they are growing in confidence and exploring new areas all
of the time. It is quite likely that they were aware of the Chellahanga
Female and she of them (chattering monkeys certainly caused the Chellahanga
Female to stare in their direction), but both parties stayed their distance.
Fortunately for the Chellahanga Female, the continual avoidance of the
northern and eastern banks of the Sand River by the Toulon Female which
resides to her west has allowed her to move in that direction. This should
minimise hostilities between her and the female leopard which has been
pressurising her from the north and east. Towards the end of the month
the Chellahanga Female again provided some good viewing when, whilst she
was being followed, flushed and killed a baby duiker.
JUNE 2000 Location: SOUTH EASTERN
CHARLESTON (1 sighting)
The single encounter with the Chellahanga Female was brief and the first
in many months. There was no indication that she is lactating or is pregnant.
MAY 2000 Location: CENTRAL
CHARLESTON (no sightings)
The lack of encounters with the Chellahanga Female have almost certainly
been mostly due to the almost non-existence of game-drive vehicles in
the area usually patrolled by her, this a consequence of the rains earlier
this year as well as Kirkmans Camp closing for a few months in order that
renovations get carried out.
FEBRUARY/ MARCH/ APRIL 2000 Location: CENTRAL
CHARLESTON (no sightings)
Flood waters and wet conditions have denied good access to areas frequented
by the Chellahanga Female. The film crew working on Mala Mala, however,
reported her mating with the Rock Drift Male in late April.
JANUARY 2000 Location: CENTRAL CHARLESTON (5 sightings)
The sightings of the Chellahanga Female all involved her with kills and
in all instances these were impala kills. At one of these encounters she
was seen catching a young impala and then taking the kill up a tree. At
another of the sightings she was on a carcass on the northwestern extreme
of her range, basically where the territories of her, the Toulon Female
and the Kapen Female meet. The lack of sightings of her mating since late
November could well mean that she is again pregnant. If this mating was
successful, then she could be expected to give birth in mid-to late-March.
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