MalaMala - The Wildlife

TOULON FEMALE

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December 2003

TOULON FEMALE
1 MALE CUB * 14 MONTHS

Location: CENTRAL CHARLESTON-TOULON BOUNDARY/ CENTRAL-NORTHERN TOULON
(8 confirmed sightings, 6 of these with her cub, 1 of the cub on his own)

As far as sightings suggested, these two leopards had a good month and both seemed to get more than enough food to eat. The young male seems to be getting more independent by the day and also a great deal more relaxed in the presence of landrovers.

Although the Toulon Females' son still has some way to go before he is quite capable of looking after himself (perhaps half-a-year or more with his mother) things do look good and, in what may be her final years, it looks as if the old Toulon Female will, after many failures, have success with this cub.

One of the better sightings involving these two leopards occurred towards the end of the report-period, when the Toulon Female led her son to a freshly killed impala. The kill was later taken into a tree just before a couple of hyaenas arrived on the scene and the leopards spent the next couple of days feasting from it.

November 2003

TOULON FEMALE
1 MALE CUB * 13 MONTHS

Location: CENTRAL CHARLESTON-TOULON BOUNDARY/ CENTRAL-NORTHERN TOULON
(9 confirmed sightings, 3 of these with her cub, 2 of the cub on his own)

There was nothing too dramatic to report for the Toulon Female this month, except that she and her son appear to be prospering and, although he is still somewhat apprehensive of landrovers, the young male seems to be settling down quite nicely now in their presence.

Towards the end of the month, after perhaps having been visited by the Hlarulini Male (which is probably his father and had been found walking away from where the young leopard was seen), the son of the Toulon Female was seen catching a banded mongoose. Interestingly, the Toulon Female herself killed a couple of banded mongooses, probably from the same family group, in this same area a year or so ago. Banded mongooses (and all other mongooses for that matter) are really not eaten by leopards and are attacked almost certainly out of pure instinct and almost always by young leopards still in that rapid-learning phase of their lives.

October 2003

(8 confirmed sightings, 2 of these with her cub, 8 of the cub on his own)
The Toulon Female and her cub seemed to have had a good month, although, towards the end, a small act of not securing a kill in a tree cost them their meal when a hyaena arrived and took a freshly killed bushbuck from them.

The cub appears to be getting more sure of himself and was seen several times doing things (such as stalking bushbuck and rhinos) which are so essential in getting a young leopard on the path to adulthood.

September 2003

(3 confirmed sightings, 1 of these with her cub)
Nothing too dramatic can be reported for the Toulon Female this month, except that the few sightings of her and her cub indicate that they are in good health. The young leopard has still not yet fully relaxed in the presence of vehicles.

August 2003

(7 confirmed sightings, 4 of these with her cub, 4 of the cub on its own)
Sightings of these leopards this month revealed that the youngster is male, not female as originally thought. The Toulon Female appears to be hunting well and keeping her son well supplied with food, particularly bushbuck it seems, these antelope of course very abundant along the river where she tends to hunt.

(3 confirmed sightings, 2 of these with her cub, one of the cub on its own)
The first sighting of the Toulon Female and her daughter were of the two of them feeding on the carcass of an adult male bushbuck kill on NE Toulon, close to the Sand River.

Although both leopards appear to be doing well, the cub remains shy of landrover, even when with its mother. This is in spite of the careful way in which viewing of the cub has been conducted. Hopefully things will still work out and the young leopard will learn to trust landrovers around it.

(5 confirmed sightings, 4 of these with her cub)
Sightings during June of the Toulon Female and her surviving cub were good, particularly one when the mother was seen carrying a cane rat from the reeds of the Sand River over quite a distance to the rocky outcrop where her cub had been left hiding. Two days after this, the Toulon Female was found leading the youngster to the carcass of a baby nyala.

Although the Toulon Females' cub is most aware of vehicles and sightings involving it are still restricted to one vehicle at a time, there is definitely a greater acceptance of their presence. This careful approach will hopefully win the young leopards' trust.

(4 confirmed sightings, 1 of these with her cub)
At long last, towards the end of the May game-report-period, there was a single sighting of the Toulon Female and one of her cubs. Many of the previous sightings over the last six or more weeks were only of the female and suspicions became stronger that she had lost both of her youngsters. But its good to know that at least one has so far survived. Also, the young leopard seems to be getting all the more confidant with a vehicle around it.

One of the sightings of the Toulon Female, near the beginning of May, had her risking her life somewhat when she responded to curiosity and went sniffing around a giraffe carcass which lions were still busy with. Although the lions were not in the immediate area of the carcass when the Toulon Female arrived, they could have been close by and would certainly not have taken kindly to her arrival.

April 2003

(4 confirmed sightings, 1 of these with her 2 cubs, none of the cubs on their own)

It is not certain whether the cubs of the Toulon Female are still alive and well; they were seen only once this month and this towards the beginning of April when they were together with their mother. At their current age it could be expected that they would perhaps be more outgoing, more adventurous and this would give greater opportunity for them to encounter vehicles, something perhaps necessary to get them more accustomed to landrovers. And of course as they get older and need to eat more meat, so it could be expected that they would be more mobile and encountered more frequently.

But, subsequent to this one sighting, there were no more. Of the Toulon Female herself there were certainly further sightings, but not of the cubs. With her track-record of raising cubs, it would perhaps come as no surprise if they did not make it. But having survived for half-a-year, hope certainly grows. The one thing which could have acted against the cubs would have been the regular presence of lions in the area in which the cubs of the Toulon Female were last seen and where they have so far spent much of their time. Lions will not hesitate to kill a leopard, cub or adult, not to eat it, but to get rid of another meat-eater, another creature competing with them for the same limited resources.

Hopefully next months viewing will provide more information on what is happening with these youngsters.

March 2003

(6 confirmed sightings, 1 of these with her 2 cubs, 2 of the cubs on their own)
The Toulon Female has continued to behave somewhat secretly, probably because her cubs still do not need a large amount of meat and so her work-load is not as high as it soon will be. When the cubs become larger and are weaned of milk, then the Toulon Female will have to hunt more regularly and cover more ground to satisfy their increasing demand. This will also hopefully expose the cubs to gamedrive vehicles on a more regular basis and cause them to be more relaxed. At the moment they are still quite shy and cautious viewing of them is the order of the day.

But perhaps the best news so far concerning these cubs is the basic fact that they are still alive. The Toulon Female has a poor record of keeping cubs, but with every day that the youngsters remain alive, they become more savvy and better equipped to dictate their own passage to maturity.

February 2003

(2 confirmed sightings, 1 of these with her 2 cubs)
The Toulon Female was the model of secrecy this month, probably as a result of her cubs still being young and not yet that dependent upon a diet of meat. Indications are that, certainly for some of the month, the two youngsters were secreted in the general area of the Sand River, just south and west of the junction between the Chellahanga and Sand Rivers. The extensive reedbeds in this area would, one suspects, provide fine hiding places for young leopards.

As the cubs grow older (and hopefully this time the Toulon Female will have luck go her way) and require more meat, so the Toulon Female will have to hunt more frequently and move them around more often, increasing the chances of encountering them.

January 2003

The exciting news regarding the Toulon Female this month was the discovery that she has two approximately three-month-old cubs. These youngsters were seen when the Toulon Female was followed back to an outcrop of boulders on SW Toulon. Evidence suggested that the Toulon Female moved the cubs from this area of security soon after they were seen. This particular area would be considered to be close to the southwestern border of her territory. Towards the end of the month she was seen north and east of this, close to the Sand River, an area of dense reedbeds and other vegetation which she frequented prior to giving birth. The Toulon Female is an old leopard and has a poor history of raising cubs; hopefully she will have better luck with this litter.

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