NGOBOSWAN FEMALE
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December 2003NGOBOSWAN FEMALE Location:
WESTERN MALA MALA Although there were no sightings of this mother and daughter pair together over this game-report-period, sightings towards the end of the month suggested that the two had interacted and that the Ngoboswan Female had given her daughter something of a hiding. For much of the month, the younger leopard roamed the northern parts of her mothers' territory, as she had done last month, using its resources and even scent-marking. Both of these acts were bound to raise the ire of the Ngoboswan Female, but she seemed slow in responding, even when the two leopards were found in close proximity to one another.
Then, towards the end of December, when the daughter of the Ngoboswan Female had killed a young nyala and had taken it into a large Jackalberry Tree, the two apparently had a fight. This wasn't actually witnessed, but the Ngoboswan Female was found at the sight of the kill, where the younger leopard had last been seen, scent-marking and posturing around the area. The following day, the younger leopard was found not far away, looking edgy and sporting some vicious looking scratches to her rear legs and thighs. At the time the Ngoboswan Female herself wasn't far away, perhaps following up on her daughter to complete the message that she needs to vacate the area. This turned out to be the last sighting of the Ngoboswan Females' daughter this month. One wonders what will become of her. With her mother clearly not willing to relinquish some of her own territory so that her daughter can establish herself and with the immediate area surrounding that held by the Ngoboswan Female seemingly strongly held by other leopards, the young female might just have to travel some distance to find a place for herself.
The Ngoboswan Female was seen to interact with another of her daughters this month, this time the Campbell Koppies Female which has a territory to the northeast of that held by the Ngoboswan Female. The two leopards clashed when the Ngoboswan Female came across the Campbell Koppies Female in the Sand River on NW Mala Mala, just downstream of the Main Camp. The Campbell Koppies Female may just have been in the area for a drink of water, but she was clearly out of her territory and inside that belonging to her mother. There was a short, sharp fight when the two met and the Campbell Koppies Female fled north and east, hotly pursued by her mother. No physical damage was done to either, but the Campbell Koppies Female was certainly the loser. Fortunately the day was very hot and the common border between these two leopards' territories was not far off, so the chase lasted less than 10 minutes. The Ngoboswan Female mated with the Rock Drift Male on 9 September and, with a pregnancy of 3-and-a-half-months and assuming that this mating was indeed successful, the Ngoboswan Female may well be expecting her fourth litter towards months end. There were some indications that the Ngoboswan Female is indeed pregnant and perhaps her sudden change of attitude towards her daughters is also indication that cubs are due. November 2003NGOBOSWAN FEMALE Location:
WESTERN MALA MALA The Ngoboswan Female and her two-year-old daughter continued to occupy the same area of land, this the region considered to be territory of the Ngoboswan Female.
Surprisingly, the two leopards weren't seen making contact and coming to blows, this in spite of the fact that the young leopard enjoyed a productive month, killing regularly in the area (particularly bushbuck), effectively making full use of her mothers resources, something which could be expected to enrage the Ngoboswan Female. Adding insult to this was the fact that the young leopard appeared intent on advertising her presence by scent-marking, particularly towards the northern limits of her mothers' range.
What could ultimately happen of course, is that the Ngoboswan Female could run out of patience and chase her daughter off, or she could attempt to realign her own territory, making an effort to accommodate her daughter in the area and still retain enough land for herself. This latter option, however, may not be so feasible, particularly with areas of land immediately surrounding her territory apparently already taken and strongly held by other female leopards. October 2003NGOBOSWAN
FEMALE Location: SE MARTHLY/ WESTERN MALA MALA/ NW FLOCKFIELD (7
sightings of the Ngoboswan Female, 13 sightings of the cub, none of the
two together) 
Ngoboswan Female The Ngoboswan Females' daughter had a good month and was seldom short of food. And there were some dramatic moments. Towards the beginning of the report-period, she was found with the freshly killed carcass of an adult male bushbuck, a not insubstantial prey animal for such a young leopard to deal with. Anyway, the carcass was too heavy for the young leopard to hoist into a tree, and she had hidden it as best she could in a steep-sided, wooded gully. Nevertheless, hyaenas stole some of the kill, but she then managed to win the rest back and these scraps she took into a tree. But then her older sister, the Campbell Koppies Female, arrived and the two were busy confronting one another when a pride of lions also pitched up. The two leopards forgot their differences, fled, and left the lions to climb the tree and take what was left of the carcass.   
Ngoboswan Females' daughter On
another occasion, the day after the young leopard was found with a freshly
killed adult duiker, she had another carcass, this time a young male impala,
secured in tree nearby to the first kill. This impala kill, however,
had been through the jaws of a hyaena and one wonders just what went on
before the young leopard finally managed to secure what was seen in the
tree. She then spent several days feeding from these two carcasses. The Ngoboswan Female herself continued to patrol her territory, perhaps preparing things for her next litter of cubs, which, if her mating last month with the Rock Drift Male was successful, could be expected in the early parts of next year. September 2003NGOBOSWAN FEMALE Location: SE MARTHLY/ WESTERN MALA MALA/ NW & CENTRAL FLOCKFIELD
For the Ngoboswan Female, it has been time to start thinking of another litter and at the very beginning of the game-report-period, she was seen mating with the Short Tail Male, her old partner in the area. But, as has so often been the case with this large leopard, things did not go well and two weeks later the Ngoboswan Female was mating again, this time way out of her territory and with the Rock Drift Male, long-time rival of the Short Tail Male. Given the mating performances of the Short Tail Male with the Ngoboswan Female and other female leopards over the years, all indications are that although he is physically up to things, he could well be sterile and, sensing this, females then seek out alternatives. The strange thing, of course, is that, once cubs are produced, the Short Tail Male continues to look after them in the manner expected of a dominant male leopard.
Other than these incidences, the Ngoboswan Female avoided her two-year-old daughter and appeared to spend a great deal more time on territory patrols than has been the case over the last few months, perhaps because she now has the time and no longer has to devote most of her day to finding food for her daughter and herself. Also, if she is expecting a litter in three months, now is the time to consolidate borders, before the next round of cub-raising begins. Two things characterised the Ngoboswan Females' patrols this month, the one the fact that she strayed further south of where she usually goes, into territory probably controlled more by the Dudley Female, and then when she went eastwards, into Kapen Female territory. In fact, these latter two leopards were seen squaring up to one another just inside land considered to belong more to the Kapen Female than to the Ngoboswan Female. And it seemed as if the Ngoboswan Female emerged the stronger of the two leopards. But whether this was the start of a territorial rearrangement or whether it was simply the reaffirmation of existing boundaries, is not known. August 2003NGOBOSWAN FEMALE Location: SE MARTHLY/ WESTERN MALA MALA/ NW FLOCKFIELD (16
sightings of the Ngoboswan Female, 7 of these being her cub, 11 sightings
of the cub on its own)
On one memorable occasion, after the Ngoboswan Female had killed an adult male bushbuck, she went to fetch her daughter, only to have their prize taken by a hyaena an hour later. But, as things turned out, the leopards managed to salvage at least some of the kill and take it up a tree. Once the remains were secure, the leopards both stayed in the area mostly ignoring one another. And from here the hostilities became more evident. After feeding from the kill, the Ngoboswan Female was about to descend, but saw that her daughter was approaching the tree, no doubt to ascend as soon as her mother jumped out. But the Ngoboswan Female did not want it this way. Instead, she perched herself on a limb in such a way that the younger leopard would have had a difficult time reaching the kill even if she had attempted to climb the tree. And, given the hissing and snarling directed at the young leopard every time she moved nearer, that is the last thing she would have contemplated with her mother in such a foul mood. Seeing what was happening, the youngster bounced all over the place, trying to reach the kill from a nearby tree, retreating and then reapproaching and then, scent-marking in full view of her mother, this surely an aggressive act. Eventually she retreated and waited for the Ngoboswan Female to climb down, which she eventually did, snarling back at her approaching daughter as she walked away. But the battle-lines have clearly been drawn and the younger leopard simply must be aware of what is happening.
Once this kill had been completed, the Ngoboswan Female left the area and, later that same day, took over another bushbuck carcass, this one initially attended by the cub of the Kapen Female which had probably killed it, but within the southern parts of the Ngoboswan Females' territory. Such blatant trespassing seldom requires much effort to deal with and the guilty party fled, leaving all to the Ngoboswan Female - which spent the next 36 hours eating, without making any effort to call her daughter to share it with her. The young leopard, meanwhile, spent the next week or so in the same general area where her mother had left her, continuing with her 'education' - exploring, stalking and killing what she could. Every bushbuck, duiker and impala in the area must have been abundantly aware that a 'trainee' leopard was on the loose, making things all the more difficult for the young hunter. She did manage to catch a Slender Mongoose, which, although good for practice, is of no food value at all and was ultimately abandoned by the leopard. The very last sighting of both mother and cub over this report period was of both together again, in the area where they had had so much drama 10 days before, and with another bushbuck kill. It is not known if the mother killed it or whether it had been her daughter. Both leopards were in the area, studiously avoiding one another or, alternatively, exchanging subtle and sometimes not so subtle hostilities.
On 26 August, two leopards were found to be mating on the western bank of the Sand River, to the east of the Mala Mala airstrip. The leopards involved were the Ngoboswan female and the short-tailed male, known to be a previous mate of hers. July 2003NGOBOSWAN FEMALE Location: SE MARTHLY/ WESTERN MALA MALA/ NW FLOCKFIELD (10 sightings of the Ngoboswan Female, 1 of these being
of her & only 1 of the cubs, another of the Ngoboswan Female
& both cubs and 16 sightings of a single cub on its own)
And this seemed to continue during the first half of July's report-period, until, just before mid-July, the Ngoboswan Female was seen to find one of her youngsters and then, whilst moving off with this one, joined up with the second and all three leopards headed off, presumably towards some or other kill. But after this, it was back to sightings of each leopard doing its own thing, until, at the very end of the month, the Ngoboswan Female was again seen with one of her daughters, this time when they were sharing the remains of a Nyala carcass.
Each leopard seems to have its own way of dealing with its cubs and how long they are kept and, when they are being watched, how intense the level of interaction from the mother might be. Much of this may very well be unplanned and depend upon a variety of factors such as food availability, the mother falling pregnant again and so forth. But, with experience and individual genetics also playing a role, a calculated approach, to at least some degree, should perhaps not be discounted altogether. June 2003NGOBOSWAN
FEMALE Location WESTERN MALA MALA (7 sightings of the Ngoboswan Female, 1 sighting of her & only 1 of the
cubs, 6 sightings of a single cub on its own)    
The only sighting of the Ngoboswan Female and one of her cubs was at the scene of the scraps of a bushbuck kill; evidence suggests that the youngster was only called to the carcass when very little meat remained. Perhaps the next step, once the Ngoboswan Female is sure that they can take care of themselves, is for her to turn hostile and drive them out, beyond the borders of her territory, so that she can get on and raise her next brood. Whether she has mated again or not is unclear. The increasing presence of the Newington Male, the father of her current cubs, inside her territory, suggests that she may be approaching season or has in fact mated. For the young leopards it has not been an easy time and although there were several sightings of them hunting with great enthusiasm, they were never seen to actually kill anything and were always either thin or, at best, on the lean side. But, hopefully their mother is still lurking, watching from a distance and will intervene should she detect that they are struggling a little too much. May 2003NGOBOSWAN FEMALE Location: SE MARTHLY/ WESTERN MALA MALA/ NW FLOCKFIELD (9 confirmed sightings of the Ngoboswan Female, 1 sighting of her and both cubs, 3 sightings of the Ngoboswan Female and only one of the cubs, 11 sightings of a single cub on its own and 1 of only the two cubs together) Towards months end indications were that the Ngoboswan Female is starting the process of getting rid of her cubs, chasing them off and forcing them to look after themselves.
Over the past couple of months in particular, the two sisters have shown an increasing willingness to do things by themselves. Not only have there been fewer and fewer sightings of the Ngoboswan Female with even a single one of her daughters, but also fewer encounters with the two sisters together. The only occasion during May when both of the Ngoboswan Females' cubs were seen together was when they were found sheltering in trees whilst ten hyenas devoured the carcass of an adult male impala below them. It is not certain whether the impala had been killed by a predator or by another male impala. With the impala rutting season in full swing at the beginning of May, this sort of death could be expected. But, whatever the cause, the two young leopards had lost out and were doing the wise thing by staying out of the way of so many hyenas. The last sighting of the Ngoboswan Female and one of her cubs was in mid-May when she was seen taking what must be the least precocious of the pair with her towards the causeway over the Sand River near the Main Camp. As the pair moved through the reeds, the Ngoboswan Female certainly seemed to be doing quite a bit to discourage her daughters attentions and a good deal of snarling was directed towards the youngster. And this is where the young leopard was left, no doubt thinking that sooner or later her mother would return to lead her to some other kill. If this happened, it certainly was not seen and the young leopard hung around this area for several days, pursuing all sorts of creatures, particularly the local bushbuck. But the only animal which the young leopard was seen to catch, and this in a most spectacular display of agility, was a genet. Whilst moving from some chattering monkeys, the leopard flushed the genet from beneath a fallen tree, pursued it up a spindly sapling and then another one when the genet jumped to this, and caught it. Once the genet was dead, the leopard carried it to a fallen tree and started to eat her meagre prize. However, she soon found that something about the genet disagreed with her and all that she had consumed was vomited up again. After resting for a while and cleaning herself, the leopard tried to feed from her kill once more, but obviously found the taste too much to bear and left it alone. A couple of days later, however, leaner than before, the young leopard headed back to where the quarter-eaten genet carcass still lay, untouched by others, and once more had a go at it. But again this proved too much and once more the small body of the genet was abandoned.
The cub was later seen heading out of the immediate area of the causeway, no doubt out to seek greener pastures. Within hours of the youngster leaving, the Ngoboswan Female herself appeared, but instead of trying to seek out her daughter, the smell of which simply must have been very obvious, she moved upstream, out of the area. So, is this the end of the care which the Ngoboswan Female is prepared to give her daughters and are they now on their own for good? And will they survive? The one seen so often around the causeway area, regarded as being a bit more cautious than her slightly larger sister, certainly showed great enthusiasm but very little capability. The early stages of living alone can be very stressful for these young predators and every meal is vital for them. What is perhaps also quite stressful for these particular youngsters is the fact that they will probably have to move some distance from where they grew up in order to find a territory of their own; not only does it appear unlikely that the Ngoboswan Female will give up her own territory for the good of one of her daughters, but land around her appears taken by other female leopards which are still very much in control. Of course the other question now is that, if this is the end of the mother-daughter relationship for these leopards, is the Ngoboswan Female pregnant with her next litter already? April 2003NGOBOSWAN
FEMALE Location: SE MARTHLY/ WESTERN MALA MALA/ NW FLOCKFIELD (8 confirmed sightings of the Ngoboswan Female, 3 sightings of her and both cubs, 2 sightings of the Ngoboswan Female and only one of the cubs, 5 sighting of a single cub on its own and 7 of only the two cubs together)
The Ngoboswan trio continued to provide excellent viewing this month as the youngsters continued on their path to independence. Although the mother continued to care for her daughters, leading them to food and to new areas of safety, aggression between her and them became more evident. Inevitably there will be a parting of ways and when that happens the mother would have done her job and the youngsters would be on their own and technically all would be enemies with one another. So the sooner they get this in their minds, the less traumatic the parting of ways will be. Already the two cubs seem quite capable of looking after themselves; they were seen with at least four kills which they made themselves, all of these small animals. The Banded Mongoose population within the area occupied by the Ngoboswan Female was particularly hard-hit by the young leopards and they killed at least three, none of which they actually ate. What they did catch and eat, however, was a canerat, an elusive and tasty item for any leopard.
Although the cubs were seen in close proximity to one another on several occasions, as was observed last month, there was little love lost between them as they gambolled around chasing one another. They interacted as if they were always trying to better each other, evidence indeed of their very individualistic way of life. March 2003NGOBOSWAN FEMALE Location: WESTERN MALA MALA/ NW FLOCKFIELD (6 confirmed sightings of the Ngoboswan Female, 2 sightings of her and both cubs, 1 sighting of the Ngoboswan Female and only one of the cubs, 4 sighting of a single cub on its own and 1 of only the two cubs together) The three 'Ngoboswan leopards' continued to supply fantastic viewing this month. They were not encountered particularly frequently towards the beginning of the month, probably spending more time to the west and north of the reserve. Later on, however, when the Ngoboswan Female seemed to move her 'centre of operations' further eastwards, there were some fine sightings.
Of the more memorable encounters was an episode which started when monkeys were heard chattering on the western bank of the Sand River, just to the south of the Mala Mala Bridge. Upon investigation, the two cubs of the Ngoboswan Female were located beneath the trees in which the monkeys were jumping around and shouting hysterically. Young leopards often respond to these taunts by chasing after the monkeys, invariably ending up being humiliated by the more agile primates. But as tempted as the young leopards were, they backed off. They were well fed and this too could have caused them to have second thoughts on chasing after the monkeys. It was soon discovered that the Ngoboswan Female herself was in the area and had the carcass of a young bushbuck hidden in a thicket. When the cubs went to the kill, she left it to them and more or less vanished from that point on. The youngsters then took the kill into a Sausage Tree where they played around with it before sort of settling down as the day warmed up. There was a reasonably tense moment when a herd of elephants walked beneath the tree looking for shade. The young leopards ceased their antics and for a while the elephants loitered beneath the tree. Surprisingly, the elephants showed no sign of having detected the dead antelope or the leopards in the area; with their keen sense of smell it would have perhaps been expected that they would have and then acted with some panic. As it was they did not stay long and the leopards were left to themselves. Later on that afternoon, the one young leopard took the kill from the tree and positioned it in another, not far off, but without letting her sister know. When the second leopard arrived back at the scene, probably having gone to drink some water from the nearby river, it took her perhaps half-an-hour or more of patient sleuth work to relocate the hidden kill. This behaviour is only to be expected of young leopards; siblings but certainly also independent rivals. Once this kill was finished, the leopards stayed on in the general area for a few days, hunting whatever they could find and generally exploring the surrounds. For the Ngoboswan Female this must have been quite exasperating at times. On one occasion she was trying to stalk some impala, only to find that one of the young leopards was doing likewise. With an enthusiastic naivety only to be expected with young hunters, the result was bound to be failure; the impala noticed the leopards and soon all animals in the area were quite aware that danger was lurking. But at least this sort of behaviour is progress; as the youngsters rapidly head towards the inevitable day of independence, any opportunity to learn can only benefit them. It cannot be long now before their mother decides that they are ready to face life on their own. February 2003NGOBOSWAN
FEMALE Location: SW EYREFIELD/ WESTERN MALA MALA (9
confirmed sightings of the Ngoboswan Female, 4 sightings of her and both
cubs, 2 sightings of the Ngoboswan Female
and only one of the cubs, 3 sighting of a single cub on its own and 3
of only the two cubs together)
And then, for the second half of February, these three leopards provided fine viewing. The cubs are becoming more independent by the day and not only from their mother, but from one another too. Their mercenary side was only too clearly indicated when, towards the end of the month, whilst waiting for their mother to summons them to their next meal, one of the cubs caught a canerat. There large rodents, related to the porcupines, can get to nearly 5 kilograms in size and not only make a good meal, but involve challenging hunting and can teach any leopard a thing or two about food acquisition. The two young leopards had been wandering around some dense reeds close to a pool in which a large bull hippo was getting twitchy, when one of them managed to catch a canerat which happened to be sharing the same reedbed system with them. The young leopard, which had the canerat, did not kill it immediately. Instead, she carried it away from the area in which she had caught it and also away from the area in which her sister was still foraging around. She then set the canerat onto the ground and proceeded to play with it, letting it run and then chasing after it. Then, when the poor creature was probably too far-gone to make any sort of escape, she used it almost as a kitten would play with a ball of wool. But, suddenly, the second young leopard wandered onto the scene and all thought of play stopped. The leopard with the canerat became aggressive and snarled threateningly at her sister, her message for her to stay away quite clear. This done, the canerat was picked up, carried into some dense reeds and eaten.
Just before this incident, the three leopards had given great viewing in this same general area when the Ngoboswan Female had taken her cubs to the carcass of a young female bushbuck that had been carried high up into a tree on the banks of the Sand River. At least three hyenas eventually arrived on the scene too, but they failed to get anything beyond scraps of meat and chips of bone. Whilst the leopards were taking turns to feed, aggression between the Ngoboswan Female and the one cub became quite obvious when it climbed the tree to replace her at the carcass. It was a moment of lack of respect, when the young leopard encountered its mother descending and failed to give way with good speed. The Ngoboswan Female snarled savagely at the young leopard, which immediately jumped to another branch, allowing its mother access to the ground while at the same time still giving it a route to the meat in the tree. One of the young leopards is definitely more precocious than the other. One wonders how many months it will still be before the Ngoboswan Female forces them away and into a life of their own. JANUARY 2003NGOBOSWAN FEMALE Location: SW EYREFIELD/ WESTERN MALA MALA/ NW FLOCKFIELD (12 confirmed sightings of the Ngoboswan Female, 4 sightings of her and both cubs, no sightings of the Ngoboswan Female and only one of the cubs, 8 sighting of a single cub on its own and 4 of only the two cubs together)
The January game-report-period provided superb viewing from the Ngoboswan trio of leopards. Both youngsters seem to be developing well and are becoming more independent by the day. Although they are seen together from time to time when they have been left by their mother in some place of security, they mostly do what they want to do independently of one another; typical mercenary leopard behaviour. The Ngoboswan Female continued to provide them with kills, although there were occasions when the youngsters were left alone for several days at a time. One wonders whether leaving them for so long was deliberate, trying to get them to become independent as soon as possible, or whether it was simply the result of the Ngoboswan Female battling to find food. There were two sightings of the Ngoboswan Female finding food and eating it herself without calling the cubs. In both cases the kills were small, one a duiker which had perhaps been killed by something else and the other a baby warthog. But then on other occasions the Ngoboswan Female has been seen making quite a bit of effort to take her cubs to a small carcass such as a dead monkey. Early on in this report-period, the Ngoboswan Female, after she and her cubs had just shared an adult female impala kill with the male leopard with the shorter-than-average tail, their 'guardian', she took her cubs to where she had stashed a dead monkey and, without eating anything herself, left them to this meal and headed off looking for something else. The cubs then took turns in eating the kill, one youngster clearly the most assertive and dominating over her sister. The arrival of a hyena caused the one youngster to take the remains of the monkey up to the top of a very tall and spindly tree, providing most entertaining viewing as the two cubs struggled to ascend, descend and eat the kill in this precarious position. But the hyena had the last laugh. When the kill had been taken out of reach, it did not even hang around in the hopes that scraps would fall. Instead, it picked up on the scent of the Ngoboswan Female and followed it, catching up with her just as she killed an impala. Wasting no time, the hyena charged in and stole this substantial meal.
A few days later, in much the same area, the Ngoboswan Female and her cubs were found sharing the carcass of an adult male bushbuck when one of her older daughters, now called the Campbell Koppies Female, invited herself, climbed the tree in which the kill was stashed and started intimidating one of the young cubs feeding on the kill at the time. This commotion brought the Ngoboswan Female dashing in and in a flurry of growls and flashing claws, the nearly three-and-a-half-year-old Campbell Koppies Female went running from her mother, heading for safety near the Campbell Koppies themselves which fall within her territory. The pursuit did not last long, and once the Ngoboswan Female seemed happy that her older daughter had been disciplined, returned to her cubs and the kill. Later on in the month, the Ngoboswan Female was seen following up on another intruder, this her first and now five-year-old daughter which appears to have occupied the area to the north and west of the territory controlled by the Ngoboswan Female. No face-to-face interaction was seen between mother and daughter this time, but the Ngoboswan Female was certainly showing great interest in following the path just taken by this oldest daughter of hers along what is certainly a common boundary dividing their territories.
If anything, viewing of the Ngoboswan Female and her various daughters this month only emphasised just what a successful leopard she has been in her time on Mala Mala so far, arriving as a nervous but determined young female and now, six or so years later, the mother of three litters, two of which have produced females which have subsequently set up their own territories adjacent to the area where they were born. MalaMala
Game Reserve, PO Box 55514, Northlands, 2116, South Africa. Copyright © Rattray Reserves |
(12
sightings of the Ngoboswan Female, 13 sightings of the cub on its own)
So
just what is happening? Does the Ngoboswan Female have a special way
of making sure that her daughters are going to cope with life by forcing
them to fend for themselves, but always watching their progress and helping
when it is necessary? This bit-by-bit disengagement may well be a most
successful way of getting each youngster to learn as much as possible
in the time spent with its mother and so, when the day finally comes for
separation, they will be as best prepared for survival as could possibly
be hoped for.
