NGOBOSWAN FEMALE
| NGOBOSWAN FEMALE
|
| December 2005 NGOBOSWAN FEMALE et again the Ngoboswan female appears to be lactating and all sightings were of her moving to and from the West Street area. It is not certain whether or not she has the cubs in this area, or though she has kept past litters in this area before. This leopard was also involved in one of the sightings of the month where rangers found her in the Princess Alice Pan area after having followed up on vultures descending. When found she had caught a vulture and killed it, stashing it under a Gwarri bush and seemingly reluctant to feed on it. She then moved away from the vulture and it became evident why the vultures were in the area in the first place. As she moved east she approached some nearby elephants and it became evident that one of the cows had just given birth. The Ngoboswan female found the afterbirth and proceeded to feed on it. Although not particularly appetizing, it shows just how opportunistic these predators can be. November 2005 NGOBOSWAN FEMALE The Ngoboswan Female leopard is a mother once again! Nobody has yet seen her latest litter, but when she was seen on 18 November, she was clearly lactating. She was followed on the hunt that day for a while, before she was eventually left heading into the Ngoboswan Donga. It could be that this is where she has stashed her cubs. Earlier sightings of the Ngoboswan Female were of good quality, and on one occasion she was seen feeding on an impala kill near the airstrip, which she eventually lost to hyenas. The Ngoboswan Female was also seen with a bushbuck kill on the eastern bank of the Sand River , south of West Street . October 2005 NGOBOSWAN FEMALE After a very busy September, when she was seen 11 times, the Ngoboswan Female was only seen twice in October and was not seen to do anything dramatic. It was not possible to tell from the two sightings whether or not she is pregnant. September 2005 NGOBOSWAN FEMALE
The Ngoboswan Female was responsible for some good sightings in September. At the beginning of the month, she was found at West Street Bridge with an impala kill, which she had stashed under some bushes against a couple of boulders, just on the eastern bank of the Sand River. The Sand River has stopped flowing, but there are several pools along its length. One tiny pool is just north of West Street , and many animals regularly come to drink there. It is almost certain that she caught one of the impala that had come to drink. While resting near her kill, other herds of impala often came to drink, and the Ngoboswan Female was on the lookout for another opportunity to kill one. A few days later, she killed a baby bushbuck, and fed on its carcass for over half an hour. She did not bother to take the carcass up a tree, and paid the price, when a hyena unexpectedly pitched up and stole it from her. Later in the month, the Ngoboswan Female was seen to approach a young male nyala kill in a tree in the Tamboti Thicket area on Flockfield. She was a little apprehensive about approaching and scent-marked vigorously before doing so. Earlier, a leopard had been seen hastily descending the tree with the kill in it, when a vehicle approached. This all suggests that a second leopard, nervous of vehicles, had been in the area, and that the Ngoboswan Female had discovered this other leopard’s kill. The Ngoboswan Female was seen a few more times during the month, and another of these sightings of her was with a kill, again a young bushbuck. Some lions came very close to the area of this bushbuck kill (on the eastern bank of Wildebeest Crossing), but they did not discover the kill or the leopard. It must be wondered whether the Ngoboswan Female will produce and rear another litter of cubs. She was seen mating several weeks ago, but whether or not she conceived is not yet clear. She is not young any more, and could easily be as much as 12 years old. August 2005 NGOBOSWAN FEMALE The Ngoboswan Female must have lost all the cubs of her last litter eventually, because she was seen in the Sand River on Flockfield, mating with an unidentified male. This male was quite a nervous individual. Apart from the day when she was seen mating, the Ngoboswan Female was seen on just two other occasions, both during daylight hours, when she was hunting close to the Sand River .
July 2005 NGOBOSWAN FEMALE Precious little was seen of the Ngoboswan Female leopard in July, and there was also no sign of the cubs at all. From the sightings of the Ngoboswan Female, it was not clear whether or not she is still lactating. It would be a shame if she has lost her entire last litter, but this could well be the case, particularly with the current high density of male leopards in her territory. June 2005 NGOBOSWAN FEMALE Although there were never any sightings of 3 cubs with the Ngoboswan Female during this game report period, there is evidence that she had three cubs, and now only has two. The cubs were seen for the first time right at the beginning of this game report period. There were clearly two cubs visible, and they were seen with their mother on the eastern bank of the Sand River, very close to West Street Bridge. These two cubs were seen to suckle from their mother and play with each other, as well as with her. A little shy in the beginning, they became inquisitive later. Then tragedy struck, and two days after the first sighting of the cubs, the Ngoboswan Female was seen, frantically pacing up and down the area, calling for her cubs. It was on this day that one of the rangers found that a cub had been killed and the bulk of the tiny carcass had been eaten. Just enough was left to recognise it as the scalp and part of the head of a leopard cub. That evening, just one cub was seen, and there was no sign of the mother. Two weeks later, however, a female leopard was seen with two cubs, and a few days after that, there were a couple of sightings of two leopard cubs, on the eastern bank of the Sand River, not far south of West Street Bridge. The Ngoboswan Female, heavily lactating, was seen on two more occasions, heading towards this general area where the two cubs had been seen.
The most logical explanation for all this is that the Ngoboswan Female actually had three cubs, but the three had not been seen together, for whatever reason. Perhaps one cub was much more shy than the others. Anyway, the Ngoboswan Female still has two cubs, and it seems that the dead one was eaten by a male leopard, very likely the Newington Male. Now the Rock Drift Male is believed to be the father of the cubs of the Ngoboswan Female. It would be in her best interests to keep her cubs within the territory that is controlled by their father, but that land does not overlap with her own current territory. This suggests, therefore, that the Ngoboswan Female is going to have a tough time raising these two cubs, as she will have to constantly try to avoid hostile male leopards, like the Newington Male and the Bicycle Crossing Male. It could be a stressful time for her. May 2005 NGOBOSWAN FEMALE There were only three sightings of the Ngoboswan Female in May, and it is obvious that she has cubs. She is lactating heavily, and was even heard to call softly as she approached a likely area where her cubs may be hidden, this on the eastern bank of the Matshapiri River, between Matshapiri Open Area Crossing and Drum Crossing. April 2005 NGOBOSWAN FEMALE All seems to be going well for the Ngoboswan Female and whatever cubs she is busy raising. There have been no sightings of her cubs yet, but she is clearly still lactating, and it can only be a matter of time before the youngsters are seen and photographed. The Ngoboswan Female spent much time within a relatively short distance of the Sand River at West Street Bridge, and it does seem likely that she has stashed her cubs somewhere in the river bed. On a couple of occasions, she was seen with kills, one of them being an impala which she had hoisted to the very top of a dry, dead Acacia tree in a dried up pan. When she fed on this carcass, the view of her was outstanding. What was rather puzzling, was the fact that the carcass, which was not at all hidden, was not discovered by vultures. It would certainly have been very easily visible from the sky. Perhaps all the vultures in the general area were busy feeding on some other carcass on the ground. March 2005 NGOBOSWAN FEMALE Location: WESTERN MALA MALA / WESTERN FLOCKFIELD The Ngoboswan Female leopard is definitely lactating, but it is not yet clear where she is keeping her cub(s). Some indications are that her cubs are in the Sand River bed, east of the southern parts of the airstrip. Supporting this theory is the fact that she moved to and from the Sand River north of West Street, when she had a large impala kill to the west of the airstrip. On two occasions she took much the same route towards the Sand River bed. On one occasion, she was heading east across the airstrip (apparently from her fresh impala kill, which had not yet been discovered), when she met a female cheetah. The two cats were not pleased to see each other, and some interesting aggression and stand-off behaviour was witnessed. Neither the leopard nor the cheetah was prepared to back down, but eventually the two went their separate ways without inflicting any injuries to each other. Her previous litters of cubs have all provided excellent cub viewing, so perhaps we can look forward to more of the same in the next few months. February 2005 NGOBOSWAN FEMALE Location: WESTERN MALA MALA / WESTERN FLOCKFIELD The Ngoboswan Female has been behaving a little strangely of late, showing signs of edginess in the presence of vehicles. She has done this before, and it is very likely related to the fact that she appears to be either pregnant or lactating. The next few weeks should, it is hoped, give more information on her exact status. She has been heading for the Sand River bed, between West Street and Wildebeest Crossing, and she may again be using the reed beds in these areas as hiding places for her offspring. January 2005 NGOBOSWAN FEMALE Location: WESTERN MALA MALA
/ WESTERN FLOCKFIELD There were a few good sightings of the Ngoboswan Female leopard in January, and all is apparently well with her. She was found one afternoon with a freshly killed vervet monkey. The leopard calmly ate the monkey in long grass at the base of a tree, while the rest of the monkeys shouted abuse at her from the surrounding trees. It was not possible to establish whether or not the Ngoboswan Female is pregnant. MalaMala
Game Reserve, PO Box 55514, Northlands, 2116, South Africa. Copyright © Rattray Reserves |
