MalaMala - The Wildlife

The two sightings of the Dudley Female leopard were at the beginning and end of this game report period respectively. All seems to be well with her, and she was actively hunting and scent marking when seen. It was not clear whether or not she is still lactating.

September 2004

DUDLEY FEMALE

Location: WESTERN FLOCKFIELD

(No confirmed sightings)

August 2004

DUDLEY FEMALE

Location: WESTERN FLOCKFIELD (One confirmed sighting)

The single sighting of the Dudley Female in August did little more than to confirm that she is indeed still alive. She was seen on the eastern bank of the Sand River on Flockfield, and from there she moved quite steadily west. She had a few battle wounds on her, but apart from that, seemed to be in good shape. It is not known whether or not her cubs are still alive. There has never been a sighting of the latest litter of Dudley Female cubs, but she was definitely lactating a few months ago.

June & July 2004

It has been a few months since there was any confirmed sighting of the Dudley Female leopard, and there is increasing doubt whether she is still alive. It is possible that she and her cub(s) are spending most of their time on the western bank of the Sand River, south and west of Flockfield. The next month or two might give further clues.

A film crew reported seeing the Rock Drift Male mating with a female leopard in the area around the old Harry's Camp. The mating pair went south and weren't relocated by game drive vehicles. This area is thought to 'belong' to the Dudley Female. Could it have been the Dudley Female which the Rock Drift Male was mating with? If it was, then it would mean that she'd lost whatever cubs she gave birth to earlier in the year.

The Dudley Female hasn't been seen since she was encountered last month, lactating and approaching a thicket in the riverbed of the Sand River, calling, as if to a cub. Heavy rains subsequent to this caused the river to come down in flood, so hopefully all is still well with the Dudley Female and her litter.

February 2004

The single sighting of the Dudley Female this month was of great significance. She was found towards the middle of February, on the eastern bank of the Sand River, opposite the old Harry's Camp, lying at the base of a tree. The leopard appeared to be lactating and, soon after she was found, headed westwards, towards the Sand River. As she approached a thicket under a fallen Bushwillow Tree, she started calling softly, as if to cubs. When this happened, the sighting was called off and the leopard(s) left to themselves.

The Dudley Female was seen mating with the Rock Drift Male over a period of several days towards the very end of October 2003 and, with a 100-day or so pregnancy, any cubs in the area would have been very young, close to new-born and probably still blind and about as helpless as a young leopard could be.

Experience has indicated that although the adult leopard might be comfortable with vehicles and will allow them to accompany her to where she has hidden vulnerable cubs (new-borns even), the cubs themselves are still responding to very basic feelings and will ignore their mothers' acceptance of vehicles and respond to their own instincts. And too much of big growling landrovers too soon can terrorise a youngster, potentially making it wary of them for the rest of its life. So, with this in mind, young predators at Mala Mala are typically given a wide berth, regardless of what their mother's behaviour might indicate, and only gradually introduced to vehicles.

Hopefully the Dudley Female will have success with these cubs and, if, as the single sighting of her this month suggested, they've been hidden in the reeds of the Sand River, she would have moved them when the river came down in flood towards the end of February.

The Dudley Female didn't appear to continue with any sort of eastwards push, this perhaps expected following on from last months viewing. So perhaps she is content with her territory as it is and will simply patrol existing borders as usual.

If she is pregnant, this following the mating with the Rock Drift Male towards the very end of October 2003, then cubs could be expected anytime in early to mid-February. Hopefully this next litter will be more successful that the last.