May 2008

TOULON (6 Sightings)

The core of the female leopards territory, continues to be along the sand river on Toulon. This female leopard has again been seen most frequently around the river, as winter progresses, she will no doubt been forced into an even closer relationship with the Sand River. One of her favourite prey species is the Bushbuck that inhabit the reed beds of the river. She has been seen to hunt these small antelope on a number of occasions, although she failed to kill any while being viewed.

Daughter of the Rollercoaster female:

The daughter of the Rollercoaster female was seen five times, she is now fully independent from her mother. This leopard is very small but she is doing well and has taken over a part of her mothers territory, hopefully she manages to hold onto this area as she is very relaxed and would provide some great viewing in years to come.

April 2008

ROLLERCOASTER FEMALE UNKNOWN AGE

TOULON
(8 Sightings)

The Rollercoaster female leopard has been frequenting the river for most of this report period. Most of her sightings were within a hundred meters of the river. As winter approaches the areas to the south of the Sand River on Toulon are drying out and water is becoming increasingly difficult to find away from the main river. Toward the end of this report period, the Rollercoaster female was seen to be mating with the Tjellahanga male leopard. They were seen together on four consecutive days. The mating rituals of leopards are very secretive and only last for four to five days. Rangers and guests alike were enthralled by these brief glimpses into the most intimate of events in a leopard’s life. Only time will tell if there is better luck in this union than in the past unions of the Tjellahanga male and the Jakkalsdraai female.

Daughter of the Rollercoaster female: (1 year 11 months)

This young female was only seen once this report period. She is still found on the central parts of her mothers territory, although there have been no recorded sightings of interactions between the two.

January 2008

ROLLERCOASTER FEMALE

Location: TOULON
(4 Sightings)

Once again this female leopard has not featured much during the report period, with only four sightings. It is presumed that she has abandoned her cub.

Daughter of the Rollercoaster female: (1 year 8 months)

his young leopard has also been seen very little lately, only 1 sighting this month. She is now fully independent of her mother and there is very little interaction between them. She is still a fairly small leopard and quite timid in the big wide world where there and many more experienced and older female leopards.