August 2010
Daughter of the Ngoboswan female: (2 years 10 months) (10 sightings)
This young female is getting more and more confident, with her mother’s genes we can expect her to get even more dominant and she will more than likely take territory from West Street south and east which will be most of the area her mother once had and even some of her aunts’ territory. Soon she will come into contact with the Flockfield female, if she has not already. At the beginning of the month the Daughter of the Ngoboswan female was found with a duiker kill and she had wounds on her ear and leg from a fight, maybe the Flockfield female, or hyeana? No matter who she is fighting with she is quickly establishing herself a territory and between her and the Flockfield female there is more than enough to go around with the Ngoboswan and Kapen females dead.
July 2010
Daughter of the Ngoboswan female: (2 years 9 months) (8 sightings)
It has been a relevantly quiet month for this female leopard. Last month we saw her twice as much and she is often the highlight of many guests stay as she establishes herself in her mother’s old territory and is a very active and good hunter as well. She seems to be establishing herself around West Street and as time moves on we are sure that we will be able to give her a territorial name soon. However for the fewer times she was seen this month, the sightings are always value and entertaining as this young female hunts, scents and plays. She, like her mother was, is very relaxed around vehicles and it almost seems as if she is posing for the photos, but we hope that she continues to establish herself throughout the winter.
June 2010
(2 years 8 months) (14 sightings)
This young female has made up the bulk of our leopard viewing this month. She is quickly establishing herself around the lower reaches of the Matshipiri River and the West Street area. She is becoming a successful hunter, even though she had her kill stolen this month by her father, she has managed to make a few kills this month and is looking in good condition and has established herself well in the area that once belonged to her now deceased mother, the Ngoboswan female. Also with no challenge from her aunt the Kapen female, also deceased she is almost unchallenged while she sets up her core territory during the winter months. Her older sister the Kikilezi female has been down to West Street once this month, which is the area were these two territories overlap, but nothing developed and the Kikilezi female moved out of the area quickly back north to her cubs. Winter will tell what area she will claim but at the moment she seems very settled and it is going to take a lot from the Kikilezi female to move her younger sister now.
May 2010
(2 years 7 months) (8 sightings)
With both the Kapen female and her mother the Ngoboswan female now gone she has found herself with a large area in which to claim as her own and she seems to be doing very well, most of the sightings she has been seen scenting and even roaring indicating that she is quickly establishing her territory which is around the Sand River, West Street bridge and the lower parts of the Matshipiri River.
April 2010
(2 years 6 months) (9 sightings)
Looking very healthy for a female leopard of her age. Most of the sightings have been centred around West Street Bridge. This month there seems to have been a lot less variance in her distribution. Many of the occasions she was seen scent marking around West Street Bridge and so it seems that she may want to take over her mother’s territory, which is now vacant. It is an area that she is very familiar with and so probably feels very comfortable with it. The only thing though is that it still lies within her father’s territory. The next six months will be the deciding period in where she will set up territory.
March 2010
(2 years 5 months) (4 sightings)
She was sighted four times during the month, once again at Piccadilly like last month and then around the Mlowathi and Gowrie trust road. She seems to be actively seeking territory in the far north-western corner of Mala Mala. This could be taken as a good sign but let’s hope she does not move off Mala Mala, which would be a sad lose.
February 2010
(2 years 4 months) (2 sightings)
She was sighted twice during the month, once at Piccadilly and the second time at Matumi rocks. Both places she has never been before and the latter is in the far northwestern corner of Mala Mala. This could be taken as a good sign that she is actively seeking out a territory but she could potentially move off Mala Mala, which would be a sad lose.
January 2010
(2 years 3 months) (2 sightings)
One sighting had her around west street bridge well within her mother’s old territory while the second sighting had her on the Charleston Toulon boundary, about as far as you can get from her mothers territory. She is still wondering looking for free space to live in and potentially take over in the next year or so, but for now we are seeing very little of her which is a great shame.
November 2009
(2 years 1 month) (7 sightings)
It looks as if she has taken over from her mother especially along the river between Rattrays camp and west street bridge. She has been on regular occasions scent marking and roaring, added to this the sudden disappearance of her mother leads us to believe she is now in control. She now will have to contend with adult issues such as protecting her territory from invasion mainly by the Kikilezi female and potentially the Flockfield female.
October 2009
(2 years) (17 sightings)
The most viewed leopard this month, this young female continues to live well within her mother’s territory she is scent marking regularly and has started roaring on the odd occasion. During the last few months her mother has continued to lead her back to kills even though she was pushed out nearly six months ago, this month however this looked to have stopped or at least we didn’t see much of this behaviour. This means possibly that the Ngoboswan female might have relinquished her territory to her daughter or that she might just be taking a back seat. Interesting times lay ahead for both leopards as one generation gives way to another.
August 2009
(1 year 10 months) (10 sightings)
Seen slightly less this month she continues to hang around the lower reaches of the Matshipiri and the west street bridge areas. Interesting to note is that she has been seen to scent mark throughout the area and even though she isn’t two yet she might be entertaining thoughts of taking over from her mother one day. Another interesting note is that her mother continues to take her to kill she has made, she has for the last three months been independent but four or five times this month her mother called for her and lead her back to a kill site. This is a must watch development.
July 2009
(1 year 9 months)(8 sightings)
Seen a lot on the eastern bank between Rattrays camp and main camp. She was involved in a fight between the two Kikilezi sons over some meat towards the middle of the month. She also seemed to find a lot of her mother’s kills and made her way to the meat while mom didn’t seem to mind too much, one occasion had her following her mother to a kill. This young beautiful female looks to have taken to independence slowly but hopefully in the near future she will be capable of living alone.
June 2009
(1 year 8 months)(15 sightings)
It seems the time has come for this young female to strike out on her own; she looks to have become independent in the last few weeks of the month. The cub was found on three separate kills with her mother during the report period but her mother did not bring her to the kill site. This youngster will still live within her mothers territory for some time and so we expect to see the two of them interacting for some time to come, but this will be a hostile affair. The mother made all the three kills but the daughter must have sniffed them out and forced her way in to feed. During all three sightings a lot of hostility was witnessed between the two females. Exciting times lay ahead for this young female, as she now has to learn about single life and start to try and find a territory for herself.
May 2009
(1 year 8 months)(15 sightings)
It seems the time has come for this young female to strike out on her own; she looks to have become independent in the last few weeks of the month. The cub was found on three separate kills with her mother during the report period but her mother did not bring her to the kill site. This youngster will still live within her mothers territory for some time and so we expect to see the two of them interacting for some time to come, but this will be a hostile affair. The mother made all the three kills but the daughter must have sniffed them out and forced her way in to feed. During all three sightings a lot of hostility was witnessed between the two females. Exciting times lay ahead for this young female, as she now has to learn about single life and start to try and find a territory for herself.
