CAMPBELL KOPPIES FEMALE

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DECEMBER 2002

5 confirmed sightings of one of the 39-month-old daughter of the Ngoboswan Female, recently named the Campbell Koppies Female:

This young female leopard seems well and truly entrenched in the area of western and south-western Eyrefield and probably also SE Marthly, the chunk of land immediately to the northeast of that controlled by her mother. The most important sighting of this young female this month was of her mating with the Newington Male, the leopard which now controls the northern parts of Mala Mala. This may well have been her first mating, but it was surely a sign of her confidence, that she really feels that the area which she has been working for is now under her control. Other sightings of the daughter of the Ngoboswan Female involved more day-to-day activities such as hunting and territorial patrolling and nothing particularly exciting was reported. There was also one sighting this month of a female leopard, not positively identified, but almost certainly the daughter of the Ngoboswan Female, east of the central parts of the Mlowathi River, on what really might be considered to be the very eastern-most limits of her new-formed territory. This particular spot would certainly raise the attentions of another of her neighbours, the Hlabatini Female.

NOVEMBER 2002

1 confirmed sightings of one of the 38-month-old daughter of the Ngoboswan Female: The single confirmed sighting of the 3-year-old daughter of the Ngoboswan Female almost certainly gives little indication of her presence on the reserve. It is believed that this young leopard is firmly in control of the area around the Mlowathi River and some of the Manyelethi River.

OCTOBER 2002

3 confirmed sightings of one of the 37-month-old daughter of the Ngoboswan Female: At least two of the sightings of this young female leopard may probably not have happened if it had not been for a male cheetah killing a duiker close to where the leopard happened to be resting. When the cheetah killed the duiker, the daughter of the Ngoboswan Female emerged, chased the cheetah off and claimed the kill. The young leopard was actually already well fed when this happened and did not begin feeding on her prize until some hours later. She then took the small antelope into a tree, climbed down and went to sleep. The following morning, after feeding on the kill once more, the carcass slipped out of the tree and was immediately pounced upon by a waiting hyena. The only other confirmed sighting of this leopard during October involved a pangolin which she discovered whilst out hunting. This scaly anteater then became the focus of the young leopards' attention for at least 20 minutes.

SEPTEMBER 2002

3 confirmed sightings of one of the 36-month-old daughter of the Ngoboswan Female: This young female leopard really seems to be prospering and, barring the unforeseen, should be well and truly the master of the territory which she has been working so hard to gain control of. Sightings this month showed nothing exciting and beyond what is expected for a mature young leopard.

AUGUST 2002

4 confirmed sightings of the 35-month-old daughters of the Ngoboswan Female which is trying to establish a territory to the northeast of that controlled by her mother. This young leopard may well have the area she has been vying for in the bag. This month saw her continue to patrol, apparently successfully. Just how far north the daughter of the Ngoboswan Female will eventually go remains to be seen, but one sighting of her this month had her moving further up the Mlowathi River than she has so far been seen to go. The Hlabatini Female has been known to work these upper reaches of the Mlowathi, but perhaps only irregularly.

JULY 2002

2 INDEPENDENT DAUGHTERS * 33 MONTHS

Location: WESTERN MALA MALA

There were 3 confirmed sightings of the 34-month-old daughter of the Ngoboswan Female which is trying to establish a territory to the northeast of that controlled by her mother.

At least two of these encounters were perhaps further south of where this young leopard is expected to be roaming and within the area patrolled by both the White Cloth and Kapen Females. One sighting of the young female marking territory was followed very shortly by one of her mother, the Ngoboswan Female, walking the same route and scent-marking over where her daughter had just been. It is not known whether the younger leopard realised that her mother was behind her. As it was, the two never met on this occasion, the Ngoboswan Female stopping when she reached where she had hidden her cubs and once her older daughter had moved further north and away from her territory.

The young female then went on to catch a large canerat which she took up and down trees whilst she ate it and avoided a hyena at the same time. There were no confirmed sightings of this young females' twin which has up until now been looking to hold the area south and west of the Ngoboswan Female. Another young female, however, seems to have taken up the challenge to ensconce herself in this particular location and she may have been just too aggressive for the 'other' daughter of the Ngoboswan Female.

JUNE 2002

At least 4 sightings of the two 33-month-old daughters of the Ngoboswan Female - these encounters were northeast of their mothers' territory and also southwest of it, each daughter in one of these respective areas. Although indications are that the two young females are progressing well in the difficult task of securing a chunk of land for themselves, they are by no means there yet. Other land-hungry and possibly stronger and more ambitious female leopards are always out there, ready to compete for a territory. A brief sighting of a female leopard near the causeway close to the Mala Mala Main Camp may well have been one of these young leopards. At the time when it was seen, the Ngoboswan Female herself was also in the area, leading her 7-month-old cubs to a kill. The other leopard did not hang around and vanished; it is unlikely that the Ngoboswan Female was aware of her presence. At one of the sightings of probably this same daughter of the Ngoboswan Female towards the end of the month, it encountered its mother during its travels. Whilst the Ngoboswan Female seemed not to notice her daughter and continued on her way, the young leopard turned tail and fled. It seems that although her daughters want to establish themselves in areas adjacent to their mother, they fully respect her territory and her power. There was one other sighting during June of a female leopard which was probably one of these two young leopards.

MAY 2002

2 INDEPENDENT DAUGHTERS * 32 MONTHS

Location: WESTERN MALA MALA

At least 4 sightings of one of the two 32-month-old daughters of the Ngoboswan Female - this is the youngster still in the process of trying to ensconce herself into the area northeast of that controlled by her mother. Sightings of this young leopard showed nothing extraordinary and she seemed still intent on patrolling territory. Interestingly, there were no sightings of her on the western bank of the Sand River close to the Mala Mala Main Camp, an area which her mother seems to hold very closely, but which this daughter of hers seemed intent on using for herself. The Ngoboswan Female, as well as her current litter of three, made much use of this particular piece of land during May.

APRIL 2002

2 DAUGHTERS * 31 MONTHS

Location: WESTERN MALA MALA/ NW FLOCKFIELD

(At least 8 sightings of one of the two 31-month-old daughters of the Ngoboswan Female)
All sightings were of the daughter which has been trying to set up territory on NW Mala Mala, in the area to the north and east of her mother. Time will tell whether this young female will finally succeed in establishing herself. Towards the end of this game report period, one of her archrivals, the Hlabatini Female, which occupies the area still further to her north and east, was seen deep within the young leopards hoped-for territory. Just what she was doing there is anyone's guess. Perhaps she had been mating, or perhaps she had followed the younger leopard here to give her a good thrashing. When the Hlabatini Female was seen in the area, she was actively hunting, perhaps something a female leopard having finished mating would be most interested in if she had had nothing to eat for a few days. Anyway, the following morning, the daughter of the Ngoboswan Female was found in this same area, with the remains of an impala. The carcass of the impala had been hastily placed in a tree and signs in the area suggest that she had wrestled it from some other carnivore, perhaps a hyaena. Then, that evening, the father of the cub of the Ngoboswan Female, the male leopard with the shorter than average tail, was also seen in the area and for a time fed upon the kill before making way for his daughter. So the area was host to a trio of leopards and a kill in 24hrs - the question is what exactly happened? Did the Hlabatini Female make a kill and was she then driven from the area by the younger female which may have been more confident since it was 'her' area? Or did the daughter of the Ngoboswan Female simply come in to investigate the presence of the Hlabatini Female which may have been mating with the male with the short tail and then killed the impala which was then salvaged from a scavenging hyaena? Several things could have happened. But at the end of the day, the daughter of the Ngoboswan Female came away with a good meal, something she seems to have been in much need of these past few months. But for her the next half-year or so may proceed along much the same course - battling the neighbours and trying to claw out a territory. There was one encounter in April with another young female leopard near Harrys Camp. This may have been the 'other' daughter of the Ngoboswan Female. Another sighting of a young female leopard, this time on the eastern bank of the Sand River, slightly downstream of Harrys Camp, may also have been this 'other' daughter.

MARCH 2002

2 DAUGHTERS * 30 MONTHS

Location: WESTERN MALA MALA/ NW FLOCKFIELD

6 sightings of the two 30-month-old daughters of the Ngoboswan Female: of these two daughters of the Ngoboswan Female, the one which is trying to establish herself to the north and east of her mothers' territory was seen most often this month, at least five times. All encounters with this young leopard were within what could be regarded as the northeastern fringes of the Ngoboswan Females' territory. Perhaps this pressure from the youngster on her mother may cause her to relinquish just a fraction of the area. These initial stages of territory establishment seem to be particularly harsh on a leopard and there was no single encounter with this young female when she appeared well fed. The constant patrolling of borders is absolutely essential in order that others on the peripheries get to understand the level of fitness and will in turn respect those boundaries. But at the same time energy is required and this means that the leopard has to hunt. And so it is a fine balance required, but in the early days, perhaps the leopard needs to work just that little bit harder at getting its borders recognised by competitors.

The 'other' daughter of the Ngoboswan Female was seen only once, this towards the end of March and close to Harrys Camp. She is probably doing much the same thing as her sister, keeping her mother on her toes and perhaps hoping that some of the southerly parts of her territory will be set aside.

FEBRUARY 2002

2 DAUGHTERS * 29 MONTHS

Location: WESTERN MALA MALA/ NW FLOCKFIELD

15 sightings of the two 29-month-old daughters of the Ngoboswan Female:
The young female which is seeking to establish herself to the north and east of her mother was seen 11 times this month and her sister four times. Neither of the young females are at the stage when they could claim to be in charge of their wanted areas. The 'northeastern female' spent the month patrolling and interacting with potential neighbours. She and the Hlabatini Female and Tlebe Rocks Male probably had a get-together this month when all three were found within only a few hundred meters of one another. Although the three leopards were not seen together, all indications pointed to the fact that they were certainly aware each other. This incident happened on what is considered a southwestern limit for the Hlabatini Female. Aside from this meeting, the young female leopard spent much of the month in areas considered to belong to her mother. Perhaps the Ngoboswan Female will eventually relinquish some of her domain to this daughter. The negative side to constant patrolling and the stress of trying to establish ones self is the energy it takes and the time needed to hunt. This time in a young leopards' life can be very traumatic and stress-related diseases such as mange could not be unexpected. The balance needs to be between energy expenditure and energy gain. But with hunting not necessarily prioritised, young leopards at this stage of their lives are probably living close to the edge.

And then there are the real frustrations as exampled when one afternoon when 'northeastern female' was found patrolling around inside her mothers' territory. Soon after she had been found, a family of warthogs with youngsters ran directly towards her. The leopard went haring after them, but was just a little too slow on the uptake and the warthogs escaped. Twenty or so minutes later, the young leopard detected a duiker in a nearby thicket and then set about stalking the small antelope. Using all her cunning, the young leopard came within mere meters of her target which seemed blissfully unaware of her presence. But then birds saw the leopard and started scolding her - the bushshrikes and cisticolas in particular showing no mercy. The duiker became immediately suspicious and alert and for the leopard her hard work came to nought. But remarkable maturity was shown; although she knew that her chances were slim, she did not rush in and try anyway. Instead, she backed off when the duiker skipped away. But later that night the ultimate frustration occurred when she was found strangling an adult female impala. At last she had caught something worthwhile. But before she could savour it, a hyaena appeared and appropriated the kill! An afternoon of hard work for nothing. The second young female leopard was seen mostly close to Harrys Camp and this appears to be the northern limit of her proposed territory. Just what has happened to the Newington Female is not known. She hasn't been seen for some time now and it may be that this young female leopard has been too powerful for her.

JANUARY 2002

2 DAUGHTERS * 28 MONTHS

Location: WESTERN MALA MALA

14 sightings of the two 28-month-old daughters of the Ngoboswan Female: Most sightings were of the young female which has for the last few months been trying to establish herself in the area of land northeast of that occupied by her mother. This month she was seen far north of this, deep inside territory occupied by the Hlabatini Female and following the Tlebe Rocks Male. The male leopard seemed only keen on walking away from her. Whilst this was happening, the Hlabatini Female and her son appeared on the scene. Although no physical interaction took place, the older leopard was decidedly unhappy with the appearance of the young female and a great deal of spitting and snarling followed. Both leopards marked territory before all went their separate ways. To give credit for bravery, the daughter of the Ngoboswan Female did not lose nerve and move away from this area as quickly as might have been expected and for the next few days at least was seen a kilometre or two from where the interaction happened, in an area which is probably close to the western periphery of the Hlabatini Females' territory. Hopefully this meeting of the leopards will have sorted out territories and stability will follow from here. The 'other' daughter of the Ngoboswan Female was also seen a few times and still appears to be in with a chance of occupying a parcel of land south and west of her mother.

DECEMBER 2001

2 FEMALE CUBS * 27MONTHS

Location: WESTERN MALA MALA

(14 sightings of the two 27-month-old daughters of the Ngoboswan Female) Not much is seen of the one youngster which appears to be trying to set up territory to the south and west of her mothers' domain. This may well be a difficult area for her to work in. Not only would her mother be an adversary, but so too would the Newington Female. The other daughter which has been patrolling property to the north and east of where the Ngoboswan Female resides may have a good chance of establishing herself. The Mlowathi Female seems to have vanished and so she is now no longer an opponent and the Hlabatini Female, although potentially still a worry for the young leopard, may really not be so keen to stand up and fight, particularly not with her injured right-front leg. This daughter of the Ngoboswan Female was seen several times this month, marking territory as well as hunting. Much of her most concentrated territorial markings - spray urination, facial gland rubbing, foot-scraping etc. - appears to be along the border common to both her and her mother. Hunting has also been good for this young leopard, this evidenced largely by her apparently good body condition and vigour with which she patrols the area which she is trying to claim. Towards the middle of December this young female killed an adult female impala which was still pregnant - unusual for this time of year when most of the lambs have already been born. Anyway, the young leopard must have somehow managed to creep up to the impala which were in a relatively open piece of land and nabbed one. Then her problem was concealment. Cover was scarce and all the young leopard managed to do was to drag the carcass towards some scrubby trees amongst a pile of small boulders. Within an hour vultures had seen what was happening and were starting to circle and descend. But for some reason they did not stay and moved on and the young leopard managed to keep her food.

NOVEMBER 2001

2 FEMALE CUBS * 26 MONTHS

Location: SE MARTHLY/ WESTERN MALA MALA

9 sightings of one of the 26-month-old daughters of the Ngoboswan Female, the one which is thought to be establishing herself in the area of land to the north and east of her mother. Much of this area used to be controlled by the Mlowathi Female, but she hasn't been seen for some time now. This young female leopard appears to be maturing well and getting more than enough food to eat. The first baby impala killed this year was attributed to this young female.

OCTOBER 2001

2 FEMALE CUBS * 25MONTHS

Location: WESTERN MALA MALA

The two 25-month-old daughters of the Ngoboswan Female have continued to stay around and provide good viewing. Between the two of them they were seen 16 times this month. All encounters were of them alone and there were no known interactions between either of them and their mother. One of the daughters seems to stay on the western bank of the Sand River, the other on the eastern bank and it is this latter one which has been encountered most frequently and appears to be making a concerted effort to set up a territory to the north and east of her mother, perhaps even appropriating some of her mothers' domain in the process. With the Hlabatini Female noticeably absent from this area and also suffering from an injured leg, the chances look good that this young female may well make it to the territory-establishment phase. At the moment though both daughters still have lessons to learn and the more they move around and experience life, the faster the learning curve will be.

SEPTEMBER 2001

NGOBOSWAN FEMALE
2 FEMALE CUBS * 24 MONTHS

Location: WESTERN MALA MALA

(5 confirmed sightings of the Ngoboswan Female, 17 sightings of one or other of the daughters alone)
Although there were no sightings of the Ngoboswan Female coming face-to-face with either of her daughters, much of her behaviour this month indicated that she was still trying desperately to evict them from her territory. But both daughters appear to have been ignoring her and, if anything, have met their mothers' attempts of dominance with those of their own. The one youngster in particular has been seen regularly in the area opposite the Sand River opposite the Mala Mala Main Camp, scent-marking in no uncertain terms. Of the two sisters, this one seems to have the best chances of at least remaining in the area. The land north and east of her mothers' territory in this area was at one time controlled by the Hlabatini Female, but with this old leopard now limping badly and at an obvious disadvantage, opportunity beckons.

Perhaps the almost aggressive manner in which the two sisters have been rejecting their mothers' efforts of forcing them to leave is a sign of the success with which they have been hunting and looking after themselves in the area. If they did not have the energy, they simply could not mount any sort of meaningful response. But they still have much to learn and there will always be times when they can only handle a situation by retreating in the face of greater adversaries. The one youngster was seen losing remains of a kill to the Mlowathi Female, the leopard which occupies the area north of the Ngoboswan Female; the younger leopard did not even attempt to defend her kill against such an experienced and bigger leopard. On another occasion, three cheetahs 'discovered' probably this same young leopard with an adult male bushbuck kill, an item of prey only a very foolish or confidant young leopard would take. The cheetahs could of course do nothing about stealing it and the young leopard simply did not have the strength to take it into the safety of a tree, so when the third of Africa's big cats arrived on the scene, these the three dominant male lions of the area, the daughter of the Ngoboswan could only abandon her food and run. As for the Ngoboswan Female herself, she may well be pregnant and due to give birth towards the end of November, this after the mating with the Newington Male around the 9th August. Hopefully by that stage all territorial complexities would have been finalised - for a short while at least.

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