December 2005

MATSHAPIRI FEMALE                       *5 YEARS 2 MONTHS
Location: EASTERN MALA MALA, EASTERN EYREFIELD
(2 sightings)

Seen less frequently than the previous month, the Matshapiri Female leopard did appear to be lactating which suggests that she does have cubs somewhere on eastern Mala Mala. This would be her first litter and it is hoped that she will display good parenting skills like her mother, the White Cloth female.

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November 2005

MATSHAPIRI FEMALE                       * 5 YEARS 1 MONTH
Location: EASTERN MALA MALA, EASTERN EYREFIELD
(7 sightings)

November 2005 was a really good month for the Matshapiri Female leopard. Seen more frequently than in most recent months, she also covered a good deal of territory, occupying much of the land vacated by her mother, the White Cloth Female, who has seemingly moved north out of Mala Mala land. The Matshapiri Female was seen on a couple of impala kills and she was also followed on the hunt on a few occasions. She again seems to be pregnant–perhaps this time she will be able to raise a litter.

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October 2005

MATSHAPIRI FEMALE                       * 5 YEARS 0 MONTHS
Location: EAST-CENTRAL MALA MALA
(2 sightings)

The Matshapiri Female was only seen twice in October and these sightings were on successive days. She had made two kills and stashed them in a tree close to where the Hlabatini Donga enters the Matshapiri River . One kill was a steenbok, the other a duiker. On the second day the Newington Male arrived on the scene and fed on one of the kills. As far as could be judged from the sightings, the Matshapiri Female appears to be pregnant. At five years she is now certainly mature enough to be able to raise a litter of cubs. Often younger female leopards will lose their first litter through inexperience.

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September 2005

MATSHAPIRI FEMALE                       * 4 YEARS AND 11 MONTHS
Location: SOUTHERN EYREFIELD , EAST-CENTRAL MALA MALA
(2 sightings)

The two sightings of the Matshapiri Female leopard were two weeks apart, and in both cases she was hunting. On the first occasion, the leopard, visibly pregnant, very intently stalked a female warthog and her two youngsters. She came to within 5 metres of them, using dry grass as cover, but then made a very half-hearted and unsuccessful attempt to catch one of the youngsters. When she was seen two weeks later, she was hunting along the banks of the Matshapiri River . She encountered impala and duiker, but was not able to catch one.

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August 2005

MATSHAPIRI FEMALE                      *4 YEARS AND 10 MONTHS
Location: SOUTHERN EYREFIELD , EAST-CENTRAL MALA MALA
(4 sightings)

The Matshapiri Female seems to be pregnant, and her cubs should be born in the second half of September. She covered a fair amount of territory, much of which was White Cloth Female core territory a year ago. The most recent sighting of the Matshapiri Female was at Ostrich Koppies, where she was high in a tree, with a number of lions (Styx Pride) at the base. The leopard chose a good moment to descend the tree and she fled, with the lions only showing half-hearted interest. It could well be that the Matshapiri Female was inspecting Ostrich Koppies for suitability as a “lair” site for her first litter of cubs.

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July 2005

MATSHAPIRI FEMALE                       * 4 YEARS AND 9 MONTHS
Location: SOUTHERN EYREFIELD
(2 sightings)

As was the case with several other territorial female leopards, there were very few confirmed sightings of the Matshapiri Female leopard in July. When see, she appeared to be in good shape, but it is probably still too early to tell whether she is pregnant.