| Mlowathi Female
April 2002
Location: SE MARTHLY/ NW MALA MALA (No confirmed sightings) March 2002 Location: SE MARTHLY/ NW MALA MALA (No confirmed sightings) February 2002 Location: SE MARTHLY/ NW MALA MALA (No confirmed sightings) January 2002 Location: SE MARTHLY/ NW MALA MALA (No confirmed sightings) December 2001 Location: SE MARTHLY/ NW MALA MALA (No confirmed sightings) November 2001 Location: SE MARTHLY/ NW MALA MALA (No confirmed sightings)
The Mlowathi Female has not been seen for some time now and the fact that
both the Ngoboswan Female and her one 26-month-old daughter have been
pushing into areas which she used to control suggests that she may no
longer be a force in the area. This may mean that she has moved further
away or something has happened to her.
October 2001 Location: SE MARTHLY/ NW MALA MALA (No confirmed sightings)
September 2001 Location: SE MARTHLY/ NW MALA MALA (2 sightings) Both sightings of the Mlowathi Female this month were
of her in the vicinity of other leopards. The first occurred when she
stole the remains of a kill from one of the daughters of the Ngoboswan
Female and the second when she was in close proximity to her old mate,
the male with the short tail and nervous disposition. Neither encounter
produced much drama. It is believed that the Mlowathi Female has young
cubs hidden somewhere and that these are not yet at the meat-eating stage
of their lives. Hopefully she will be luckier with this litter than many
of her others.
August 2001 Location: SE MARTHLY (1sighting)
The sighting of the Mlowathi Female during August was the first confirmed
encounter with her in several months. The leopard was lactating, indicating
that, as suspected, she must have lost the litter born last year. It will
be interesting to see which male fathered the new litter. Indications
are that it could be either the son of the Newington Female or even the
Tlebe Rocks Male. Both have been seen marking territory inside the area
known to be controlled by the Mlowathi Female. Hopefully she will have
more luck this time in raising the youngsters.
July 2001 Location: N WESTERN MALA MALA (no confirmed sightings)
The Mlowathi Female has remained elusive over the last few months. However,
a Mala Mala field worker reported seeing a female leopard and young cub
walking down one of the roads which is known to be in the heart of the
Mlowathi Females' territory. It is known that the Mlowathi Female gave
birth towards the end of last year, but no youngsters were seen. One of
the last sightings of the Mlowathi Female (May) suggested that she was
pregnant and now this report may well confirm that the litter sired in
July last year is in fact dead and that she has at least one new cub.
But just which leopard is the father is also not certain. When the son
of the Newington Female was seen in June, he was amongst the granite Koppies
of the Manyelethi River where the Mlowathi Female has kept her youngsters
in the past and in fact was seen dedicatedly climbing one of these small
hills. He may well have been paying a fatherly visit and his relative
absence from the areas between the Main Camp and Harrys Camp may be due
to his attentions in this area.
June 2001 Location: N WESTERN MALA MALA
(no confirmed sightings)
May 2001 Location: N WESTERN MALA MALA (1 confirmed sighting)
There was but a single confirmed sighting of the Mlowathi Female this
month and the report was that she appeared pregnant. At this stage, however,
she should have at least one cub of 7 or 8 months of age. Although shortly
after the suspected birth date of this last litter, the Mlowathi Female
was lactating and this continued for some months, there have been no sightings
of any cubs - not surprising, however, due to the relatively limited access
over the last year to this area. This would also mean that the cubs would
have limited exposure to vehicles and so would probably be quite nervous
of their presence. What may be the case, however, is that when she was
seen this month, the Mlowathi Female was simply very fat from a big meal
and when encountered was en route to the place where she had left her
cub(s). Hopefully time will tell.
APRIL 2001 Location: N WESTERN MALA MALA (2 confirmed sightings)
Frustratingly there have yet to be any sightings of whatever cubs the
Mlowathi Female gave birth to 6 or so months ago. When seen this month,
she still appeared to be lactating and so it is hoped that all is still
well with her current litter.
MARCH 2001 (no sightings)
In some ways it has come as a surprise that there were no sightings of
the Mlowathi Female this month, particularly since there has, relative
to previous months, been somewhat of an increase in vehicle activity in
the areas where she could be expected to be found. Nonetheless, her territory
contains much of the lower reaches of the Manyelethi River and the large
granite koppies and rocks in its immediate environs and such terrain provides
a million and one hidey-holes for a leopard to exercise its inherent secrecy.
FEBRUARY 2001 Location: SOUTH WESTERN EYREFIELD/ N WESTERN
MALA MALA (3 sightings)
The three sightings of the Mlowathi Female were within a week of one another
and all around areas in which she could be expected to hide youngsters.
At one of these sightings, when she was on top of a small rocky outcrop,
it appeared as if she may have been playing with a cub, but this was not
confirmed as she soon left the area to set out hunting. In any event,
she certainly still appears to have the cubs as she was lactating heavily.
Later in the month there was a brief sighting of a single leopard cub
amongst the granite boulders of Campbell Koppies; it is quite likely that
this would have been hers.
JANUARY 2001 MLOWATHI FEMALE Location: SOUTH WESTERN EYREFIELD/ WESTERN
EYREFIELD-MALA MALA BOUNDARY (no sightings)
As has been the case for the last half-year or more now, the limited access
to the area in which the Mlowathi Female usually stays has been frustrating,
particularly since she now probably has a litter of cubs. This lack of
regular game-drive vehicles in the area is probably the main reason why
she has been so seldom seen over the last year.
DECEMBER 2000
MLOWATHI FEMALE
Location: SOUTH WESTERN EYREFIELD/ WESTERN
EYREFIELD-MALA MALA BOUNDARY
(3 sightings)
The three sightings of the Mlowathi Female were the first in several
months. Lack of vehicle activity in the area in which she typically
resides has been the main reason why she has been so seldom encountered
over this period. This has been frustrating since it has been suspected
that she would have given birth and this leopard typically provides
some fine cub viewing. These suspicions were confirmed by the encounters
with the Mlowathi Female this month when it was quite obvious that she
was lactating. Taking her mating in mid-July as being the time of conception,
then her current litter would be two months old at the end of December.
NOVEMBER 2000
MLOWATHI FEMALE
Location: WESTERN EYREFIELD-MALA MALA BOUNDARY
(no confirmed sighting of the female this
month )
The lack of sightings of the Mlowathi Female is somewhat frustrating
and probably mainly due to the lack of gamedrive vehicle activity in
the areas typically controlled by this leopard. The frustrating part
is that it is highly liklely that the Mlowathi Female has recently given
birth. Historically this leopard has provided some of the finest leopard
cub viewing, partly because the area she mostly resides in is full of
'textbook' lairs - rocks and crevices ideal for baby leopards to conceal
themselves, but many of them accessible to game-drive vehicles. The
other reason why she has provided such good baby leopard viewing in
the past is because she has produced so many litters over the last 6
years or so, mainly because many of her cubs have died (mostly probably
been killed) quite early on in their lives. Should she have recently
given birth, then this would represent her 6th litter. She has only
raised two cubs, both males, to a stage of independence.
OCTOBER 2000
MLOWATHI FEMALE
Location: WESTERN EYREFIELD-MALA MALA BOUNDARY
(no confirmed sighting of the female this
month)
A lack of vehicle activity in the areas typically frequented by the
Mlowathi Female has probably been the main reason why there were no
confirmed sightings of her this month. This is something of a pity since
she was seen mating in mid-July and, by Octobers end, could well have
given birth.
SEPTEMBER 2000
MLOWATHI FEMALE
1 MALE CUB * 21 months
Location: WESTERN EYREFIELD-MALA MALA
BOUNDARY
(1 confirmed sighting of the female, no
sightings of her son)
There was only one confirmed sighting of the Mlowathi Female this month,
perhaps principally since vehicles have not been particularly active
in the areas usually occupied by her. At this stage she could well be
approaching the stage of giving birth, this after she was seen mating
towards the middle of July. The Mlowathi Female has had at least five
litters of cubs over the last six years and has typically provided some
of the finest cub viewing. Hopefully this will be repeated in the not
too distant future.
AUGUST 2000
MLOWATHI FEMALE
1 MALE CUB * 20 months
Location: SE MARTHLY/ SW EYREFIELD/ NW
MALA MALA
(4 confirmed sightings of the female,
no sightings of her son)
All behaviour from the Mlowathi Female during August indicated that
she is expecting to have cubs, this after the mating seen in late July
(20 July 2000). There was no sight of her now 20-month-old son and it
is certain that she has chased him off. The Mlowathi Female was seen
at the very peripheries of her territory this month, marking territory.
Upon one occasion she was seen to stroll up one of the Koppies where
the 11-year-old Styx Pride lioness was seen hiding her cubs of less
than 2-weeks of age. The leopard actually passed within mere meters
of the small cave where the cubs were last seen, but, if she knew of
them she gave no sign. On another of her territorial patrols, the Mlowathi
and Ngoboswan Female chanced upon one another and after a furious few
minutes of growling and chasing the two went their separate ways, the
Ngoboswan Female perhaps appearing the more confidant of the two. On
another of the sightings of the Mlowathi Female, she was seen resting
high up on some boulders, an area she has frequently used to hide her
cubs. Whilst she was resting up on this rock, her mate was found only
a few hundred meters away. The arrival of cubs will often restrict a
leopard since the youngsters are pretty much immobile for several months,
forcing the mother to return to the same area over and over again, thus
preventing her from patrolling and protecting the integrity of her entire
territory as effectively as possible. So perhaps the Mlowathi Female
is expecting just this, cubs which will restrict her in the months to
come and so she must now do what she can.
JULY 2000
MLOWATHI FEMALE
1 MALE CUB * 19 months
Location: WESTERN MALA MALA
(2 confirmed sightings of the female,
none of these with her cub, no confirmed sightings of the cub on his
own)
Both sightings of the Mlowathi Female were of her mating with the dominant
male leopard of the area. This male has been on the reserve for some
years now and, although pays no attention to game-drive vehicles during
the night, shies away from them in the daylight hours. In the situation
of the Mlowathi Female, she left her territory to find the male which
at that stage was savouring an adult male impala which he had stashed
in an Acacia deep inside the territory of one of the Mlowathi Females'
neighbours, the Ngoboswan Female. Roaring all the way, this to call
the male, the Mlowathi Female located him and the two set about mating,
this taking them north and east, back to the areas more familiar to
the Mlowathi Female. Her next litter will represent at least her sixth
in approximately six years, only two of these, including her current
19 month-old son, which have reached independence. Although this latter
cub was not been seen over this game report period, he should be quite
capable of caring for himself.
JUNE 2000
MLOWATHI FEMALE
1 MALE CUB * 18 months
Location: SE MARTHLY/ NW MALA MALA
(2 confirmed sightings of the female,
1 of these with her cub, 2 sightings of the cub on his own)
Continuing with the trend over the last few months, the son of the Mlowathi
Female is spending more and more time on his own - or at least of the
time spent alone, he is using more of it to venture out and explore
rather than simply curl up and wait for his mother to return and lead
him to a kill. As with all young leopards at such a stage, many other
creatures attract their attention and this month the large herd of buffalo
became the targets of the son of the Mlowathi Female. No buffalo was
in any sort of danger, but the leopards' intent was clear. One of the
best sightings involving the Mlowathi Female and her cub also involved
another young male leopard. Indications were that the 'Mlowathi pair'
had been chased off the carcass of a young bushbuck by an approximately
three-year-old male leopard. This young male was not going to allow
any of the others access to the meat and neither tried to reappropriate
it, although the cub of the Mlowathi Female did spend great lengths
of time up a knobthorn acacia tree, staring longingly towards the area
of the kill.
MAY 2000
MLOWATHI FEMALE
1 MALE CUB * 17 months
Location: NW MALA MALA
(2 confirmed sightings of the female,
1 of these with her cub, 2 sightings of the cub on his own)
Although there were few sightings of these two leopards during May,
indications are that they are certainly still in good health. The son
of the Mlowathi Female will, in the next half year at the most, almost
certainly be abandoned to start a life of his own. The increasing sightings
of this youngster on his own probably reflect not only his greater confidence
which would make him wander around a great deal more, but also the fact
that his mother is probably leaving him on his own for longer periods
of time in preparation for that inevitable abandonment. Should her son
make it to independence, he would represent only her second cub in five
litters to have made it.
FEBRUARY/ MARCH/ APRIL 2000
MLOWATHI FEMALE
1 MALE CUB * 16 months
Location: SE MARTHLY/ SW EYREFIELD/ NW
MALA MALA
(5 confirmed sighting of the female, 3
of these with her cub)
Both Mlowathi Female and her son appear to be in fine form. There were
two sightings during April of a young male leopard which was probably
the cub of the Mlowathi Female. At the age of 16 months, it could be
expected that he would be spending more and more time on his own, preparing
for the inevitable independence. However, sightings in April of the
two leopards still together indicate that the Mlowathi Female is still
looking after her son. From the young males' perspective, the longer
he can remain with his mother, the greater should be his chances of
success during his adult life.
JANUARY 2000
MLOWATHI FEMALE
1 MALE CUB * 13 months
Location: NW MALA MALA
(1 confirmed sighting of the female and
1 of her son; none of the two together)
Compared with last month, there were few confirmed encounters with these
leopards during January. At one sighting when a female leopard and young
male were seen, it was probably these leopards, but conditions did not
permit good access or positive identification. A day or so later when
two male lions were being followed in this same area, they chanced upon
a tree containing the remains of a young impala, almost certainly killed
by one of these leopards. The male lions climbed the tree in an attempt
to steal the scraps. Hopefully now that the youngster of the Mlowathi
Female is getting more independent and presumably more adventurous,
he will be encountered on a more regular basis.
MalaMala
Game Reserve, PO Box 55514, Northlands, 2116, South Africa.
Telephone:
+ 27 11 442 2267 or 0861 SAFARI.
Facsimile: + 27 11 442 2318
e-Mail: reservations@malamala.com
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