NEW HOGVAAL FEMALE
(Daughter of the Kapen
Female leopard)
| NEW HOGVAAL FEMALE
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| December 2004 NEW HOGVAAL FEMALE (daughter of Kapen Female) * 3 YEARS 2 MONTHS Location: NORTHERN FLOCKFIELD, MALA MALA December was another pretty good month for the New Hogvaal Female, and she seems to be coping quite well with the demands of trying to hold a territory. She is on occasion found well within the territory of another female leopard, but this is understandable. She is still young and in the process of trying to assert herself. She has already courted with male leopards, including the Hlarulini Male, and there is every chance that during 2005, she may conceive and produce a litter of cubs.
In December, she was seen feeding on a young impala kill north of the Kapen, catching and eating a dwarf mongoose south of the Matshapiri, and pursuing monkeys in trees between Picadilly and the Ngoboswan Donga. She can be quite an entertaining leopard to watch. Long may this conitinue! November 2004 NEW HOGVAAL FEMALE * 3 YEARS 1 MONTH Location: NORTHERN FLOCKFIELD, MALA MALA (3 sightings)
Although she was only seen on three occasions, the New Hogvaal Female leopard did enough to be able to claim that she delivered some fine viewing. She was followed on the hunt on one morning, and after a good deal of work, managed to kill a baby impala. Sensibly, she took the carcass up a tree, and then she rested at the base of the tree on a termite mound. In the afternoon, however, she was seen to be feeding on the carcass on the ground, in some long grass, and this cost her half her meal, because a hyena suddenly appeared and stole what was left of the kill. Displeased, the leopard watched for a while as her lunch was greedily finished off by the hyena. After that, she moved away in a southerly direction, and this took her, less than 24 hours later, to a meeting with the Hlarulini Male.
October 2004 NEW HOGVAAL FEMALE (daughter of Kapen Female) * 3 YEARS 0 MONTHS Location: NORTHERN FLOCKFIELD, MALA MALA (5
sightings)   
September 2004 NEW HOGVAAL FEMALE (daughter of Kapen Female) * 2 YEARS 11 MONTHS Location: NORTHERN FLOCKFIELD, MALA MALA (7 sightings) Looking at the map, it can be seen that the New Hogvaal Female leopard still spends time within the territories of other female leopards. With the rather high density of female leopards in the area, there is inevitably going to be some overlap. The New Hogvaal Female finds herself competing with at least five other female leopards, just in the areas where she was seen in September. These rivals are the Kapen Female, the Dudley Female, the Ngoboswan Female the Campbell Koppies Female and the adult daughter of the White Cloth Female (still to be named). August 2004 NEW HOGVAAL FEMALE (daughter of Kapen Female) * 2 YEARS 10 MONTHS Location: NORTHERN FLOCKFIELD, MALA MALA (3 sightings) Another newly named leopard is the New Hogvaal Female, most recent daughter of the Kapen Female. At this stage it appears that her territory lies mainly between the middle to lower reaches of the Matshapiri and Kapen Rivers. Years ago, this land belonged to the Hogvaal Female, but after she was killed by the Styx Pride, the White Cloth Female moved in. With the northward shift of the White Cloth Female, coupled with the Kapen Female herself "setting up" her daughter, the New Hogvaal Female finds herself with a good chunk of land at her disposal. She is particularly fond of the stretch of the Matshapiri which lies along and just upstream of Matshapiri Open Area. July 2004 There were two sightings of the Hogvaal Female Leopard. She should very soon be looking to set up her own territory, and it is probable that she will squeeze in between the Ngoboswan Female and the Kapen Female, especially if the Kapen Female is prepared to relinquish a part of her own territory to give her daughter a start. June 2004
May 2004 Has the Kapen Female finally abandoned her daughter? The two weren't seen together this month and on one occasion when the Kapen Female killed an impala, she made no effort to go and fetch the youngster. And, the only sighting of the Kapen Females' cub over this report-period was at the very beginning, suggesting perhaps that she's gone from the area. April 2004 Location: NORTHERN & CENTRAL MALA MALA/ NW FLOCKFIELD (east of the Sand River) (5 confirmed sighting of the female, 2 of these with her daughter and 4 of the youngster on its own)
The Kapen Female was, twice this month, seen leading her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter towards kills, going to great pains to care for what is otherwise an independent female leopard. Goodness knows why she's doing this and simply cannot break away from her daughter. The first sighting of the two leopards had them moving upstream along the Matshapiri River and leave what is thought to be Kapen Female territory and enter that belonging to her sister, the White Cloth Female. And, as they crossed the 'border', there, waiting for them, was the White Cloth Female. Whilst the two sisters confronted one another, the Kapen Female's daughter hung back. The interaction between the two leopards didn't involve any physical contact and after a while the White Cloth Female moved off, leaving the way clear for the Kapen Female and her daughter to continue on their way.
As it was, the two leopards took almost the exact route taken by the White Cloth Female and, when they eventually reached the impala kill stashed by the Kapen Female, there were suddenly three leopards in the area. But they never really had the chance to fight; a hyaena soon pitched up and took control of the carcass and all leopards were soon lying down, only metres apart, watching the meat vanish. After the second incident when the Kapen Female was seen calling for her cub, meeting her and then leading her away, there were no other sightings this month of mother and daughter together. In the end they'll simply have to part ways at some stage - one just wonders when. March 2004 Location:
SW & CENTRAL MALA MALA/ NW FLOCKFIELD
(east of the Sand River) The relationship between the Kapen Female and her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter continues to defy the standard textbook on leopard behaviour. Both mother and daughter continue to occupy the same area of land, continue to apparently be at war with one another and then continue to share kills as could only be described by a mother-with-dependent-cub relationship.
The most bizarre demonstration of this latter part of their bond occurred one morning towards the end of the monthly-report-period when the carcass of an adult male impala was found hidden beneath a thicket close to the Matshapiri River and at the very northerly limit of the Kapen Females' range. All signs were that the impala had been killed by a female leopard and then dragged into concealment where it had been briefly fed upon. Spoor indicated that the leopard had then moved downstream along the riverbank and, several kilometres later, turned towards the Kapen River. That afternoon, several hours after the kill must have been made, an angry Kapen Female and her daughter were both at the carcass, sharing it, but apparently with great reluctance. The carcass was later dragged deeper into concealment and, as luck would have it, no hyaenas arrived on the scene and the two stayed in the area for at least the next 36 hours.
The question, of course, is why does the Kapen Female continue to behave in this way when her daughter is clearly quite capable of taking care of herself? Not only does the Kapen Female tolerate her daughters continued occupation of her territory, but seems to know where her daughter is and, as demonstrated by the kilometres she walked to fetch her, is prepared to go to great lengths to ensure that she gets the food resources necessary for survival.
Before this particular incident, there was another when both mother and daughter were discovered close to each other, near the lower parts of the Kapen River, also looking well fed. Both were also covered in scratches, some quite deep and red, perhaps having just fought with one another. The Kapen Female is a moody leopard; whenever she is with her daughter, she becomes quite hostile and secretive, snarling and moving away from landrovers. When alone, however, she behaves as any leopard habituated to landrovers could be expected to behave and ignores them completely. But when will mother and daughter finally part ways and what will happen to them? Will the Kapen Female move off and find another area, leaving her current territory to her daughter, or will the daughter be forced out to find an area of her own as so many young leopards have to do? One of the problems facing the Kapen Female and her daughter as far as land goes is the fact that the Ngoboswan Female, their neighbour which occupies the land to their northwest, has similar problems and, in, trying to accommodate her own two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, has been putting pressure on the Kapen Female, perhaps seeking to annex the Kapen Females' most northwesterly section of territory. There was one day during March when, in this particular piece of land, the Ngoboswan Female was seen first chasing the Kapen Female and then, later that afternoon, chasing the Kapen Females' daughter. February 2004
One of the better sightings of the Kapen Females' daughter this month was of her running from two male lions which happened to be heading her way. The young leopard climbed a tree and the lions soon lost interest. Unfortunately for the young leopard, she found herself close to a troop of monkeys which were preparing to roost for the night. These monkeys, in their element up in the treetops, advanced upon the leopard, howling abuse at her. The leopard did her best to ignore them, even when they approached to within only a few metres from where she lay. But, eventually it just became too much for her and she descended the tree and bolted. January 2004 Location:
SW MALA MALA/ NW FLOCKFIELD (east of the Sand River)
Although the Kapen Female and her daughter appeared to have lived separate lives this month, there was one occasion towards the beginning of this report-period when they were seen reasonably close to one another and the Kapen Female had been calling, this almost certainly aimed at her daughter. However, whether hostilities were in the air or whether the Kapen Female was trying to locate her cub so that she could take her to a kill isn't known. The young leopard was at the time busy feeding on the carcass of an impala which she had probably stolen from a cheetah and, when she heard her mother's voice, responded only with soft, very obviously submissive cub sounds.
Relative movements of the two leopards during January also didn't indicate very clearly just how they will inevitably separate out in terms of territories. One scenario is for the Kapen Female to move out of her existing territory, at least partly, so that the daughter can gain access to it and so have an easy start to life as an independent leopard. But, in order to do this, the Kapen Female needs to gain other land for herself and although some indications are that she is looking at areas to her north and east, nothing concrete appears to have taken place yet.
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