December 2009
TJELLAHANGA MALE +/- 10 YEARS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(11 sightings)
The old man is back. Lately sightings of this male have dwindled but this month he made a strong showing and in all his traditional spots like Tjellahanga pans and Beaumont’s hippo pools and around central Charleston. Besides his aging face and torn ear the male looks in great shape for a 10 year old and looks to be in control as always of the south.
November 2009
TJELLAHANGA MALE +/- 9 YEARS 11 MONTHS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(6 sightings)
This big male still controls his vast territory in the southern parts of the reserve and shows no sign of slowing down. A few months ago he restricted his movements to mainly Toulon but in recent times, especially this month, he has moved back into his old ranges of southern Charleston. With increasing pressure from young males he has taken the offensive and now patrols regularly along the sand river from Beaumonts hippo pools to sands end east. His old enemy the Beaumonts male made a few appearances this month but disappeared quickly when the Tjellahanga male moved into the territory. He still has yet to meet the Bicycle Crossing male over land around Charleston north but it looks like he instead of expanding is consolidating his control over the river between KK crossing and lion crossing.
October 2009
TJELLAHANGA MALE +/- 9 YEARS 10 MONTHS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(8 sightings)
This male had a quiet month in comparison to his usual self. He still remains the Alfa male in the entire south and even with a few run-ins with younger males this winter the old man made it out alive still at the top. He has in the recent few weeks moved back into the northern parts of his territory, for a long time he wasn’t spotted in the Jakkalsdraai area but now possibly due to pressure he has started patrolling this area again. He was also seen with some of his offspring during the month, sightings had him in the vicinity of the cub of the Rollercoaster female, and the Jakkalsdraai cub. The latter was not sired by him but the Jakkalsdraai female cunningly mated with him shortly after she gave birth and so he now believes he is the father. It will be interesting to see what the future hold for this male, he has dominated for so long that new males must be on the verge of pushing him out or at least partly taking over.
August 2009
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(13 sightings)
Ever dependant this large male of the south was spotted all over his territory from Beaumont’s hippo pools in the north to lion crossing in the south to the Kingston break in the west. He continues to be challenged by a young male who is slightly nervous who we also see hanging around the windmill at times but so far he has managed to fend off his competitor and still holds court over channel two. Some interesting sightings had him in close proximity to the Jakkalsdraai female and her cub who he didn’t father and would pose a great threat it if he found it, thankfully all the sightings diffused peacefully and all leopards walked away unharmed.
July 2009
+/- 10 YEARS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(9 sightings)
This male was not seen until the last two weeks of the month. When found he often to the south of the sand river an area he hasn’t spent much time of late. The reappearance of the Beaumont’s male could be the cause of this sudden move south or perhaps the sustained pressure from the bicycle-crossing male to the north. Either way this male didn’t look to be backing down, patrolling and vigorously scent marking all throughout the southern parts of his territory. Some sightings had him in close proximity to the Jakkalsdraai female and her cub but either he believes the cub belongs to him, which it doesn’t or he never got wind of the young male which is a great relief as it would have ended in certain death for the cub.
June 2009
+/- 10 YEARS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(6 sightings)
This is one of the least amounts of time this male has been seen. With all the new males being seen in the south and the reappearance of the Beaumont’s male he has his hands full protecting his massive territory. Being found in many different parts of the property goes to show the pressure he is under and how much he is going to need to patrol in order to maintain his dominance.
May 2009
+/- 10 YEARS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(15 sightings)
The dominant male in the south did not disappoint this month, making an impressive 15 appearances. He still appears to hold a very large territory and was seen scent marking as far north as Jakkalsdraai open area. The majority of sightings for the month were however concentrated along the Sand River. With winter approaching and game starting to concentrate along the reserves major water course there is no doubt that he will come under increasing pressure from other males in the area to hold onto this prime piece of real estate. Only time will tell weather he will be able to fend off these heirs to be and remain the dominant force in the south.
March 2009
+/- 10 YEARS 6 MONTHS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(14 sightings)
Being the only dominant male in the southern half of Mala Mala carries some perks, like being able stroll unopposed through your vast territory or getting to mate with many different females. But the drawbacks are that sooner or later you must defend such a vast expanse of land. The Tjellahanga male did exactly that this month when he confronted a young male looking to push him out. The older male was last seen walking after the young upstart salivating and roaring, proclaiming to all that he is still firmly in charge.
February 2009
+/- 10 YEARS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(8 sightings)
Again the stalwart of the southern leopard sightings this male continues to dominate with an iron fist. With the river in full flood and rangers not being able to cross most of the months game viewing by Kirkmans vehicles was restricted to south of the river and so a lot of the southern viewing was patchy at best. Animal movements were also restricted with the swollen river and so this leopard was found for most of the month restricted to Toulon.
Tjellahanga Male - Image By Andrew Batchelor
December 2008
+/- 9 YEARS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(9 sightings)
Being the most seen male leopard is not an easy feat with the likes of the bicycle crossing male and the Emsagwen male as competition but the Tjellahanga male makes his presence seen and felt in the southern parts of the reserve. The male moved mostly around the Sand River and central Toulon. Two very interesting sightings of the male were had during the month. The first sighting was when he discovered a kill the Jakkalsdraai female had made and he immediately stole it. When the female moved away from the area the male stalked after her perhaps knowing she was hiding a cub nearby and also knowing he didn’t sire it. The female played coy and the male finally lost interest. The second sighting was again with the Jakkalsdraai female but this time the two leopards were seen to mate for two days. This couldn’t result in cubs as the Jakkalsdraai female has a cub which is only a few months old and the female won’t be on heat yet. The likely answer to this strange behaviour is that the female came into a false oestrus so that if in the future the cub is discovered by this male he might believe he has indeed sired it.
November 2008
+/- 9 YEARS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(5 sightings)
Still showing no signs of slowing down, the Tjellahanga male still rules the South with an iron hand (paw) and encountered a great stroke of luck when he came upon a dead buffalo. At one stage the leopard and attending hyenas both fed off the carcass at the same time – this is something that is poorly documented elsewhere but seen rather frequently at Mala mala when the kill in question is large enough for there to be enough food for both of the animals.
October 2008
+/- 9 YEARS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(10 sightings)
This male was again the most viewed of the male leopards; he continues to control a large portion of the south and moved along the river for most of the month. He was seen with a number of kills around Ingwe donga and Sandy crossing although rangers don’t believe he caught many of them, one of the privileges of being the big dominant male is that you get to steal everyone else’s kills.
September 2008
+/- 9 YEARS
TOULON, CHARLESTON
(13 sightings)
The Tjellahanga male has been seen regularly in the south. He maintains the largest southern territory and has not been under too much pressure from the Beaumont’s male. He is seen regularly from the eastern bank of the Sand River to west of KK Crossing, but most often around the Rocky Crossing area. He has been hunting well and is still seen to court the Jakkalsdraai female leopard. He has also been courting with the Rollercoaster female.
