TOULON FEMALE

Archives: 2000-2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007

December 2004

TOULON FEMALE
1 MALE CUB * 26 MONTHS

Location: CENTRAL-NORTHERN TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(1 sighting of the female, not with her cub; 1 sighting of the youngster on his own)

December was a quiet month for the Toulon Female and her son, with each of them only being seen once. The Toulon Female could well be preparing to have her next litter, should the mating between herself and the Chellahanga Male prove fruitful.

November 2004

TOULON FEMALE
1 MALE CUB                             * 25 MONTHS

Location: CENTRAL-NORTHERN TOULON

(3 sightings of the female, none of them with her cub; 4 sightings of the youngster on his own)
All seems to be going well for the Toulon Female leopard and her son, and now it looks more likely that they have parted company. Both mother and son were seen with kills, and there was never any sign that one of them was looking for the other. There is, of course, a very good chance that the Toulon Female is now pregnant, although it is still too early for there to be clearly visible signs of such pregnancy.

October 2004

TOULON FEMALE
 1 MALE CUB                             * 24 MONTHS

Location: CENTRAL-NORTHERN TOULON

(7 sightings of the female, two of them with her cub; 10 sightings of the youngster on his own)
As is so often the case, just a few weeks after a conclusion has been drawn that a female leopard and her youngster have parted company permanently, the Toulon Female was seen to again spend a little time with her 2-year old son, and share a kill with him!   She definitely left the area of a kill she had made, sought out her youngster, called him and led him to the kill.   An uninvited guest to the party was the Hlarulini Male, but he is in all likelihood the father of the 2-year old son of the Toulon Female anyway, and there was no real friction.

If the recent mating between the Toulon Female and the Chellahanga Male resulted in conception, then it can be expected that the Toulon Female will show hostility towards her son as the date of birth of her next litter approaches.   It will be interesting to witness the developments when these next cubs are born, particularly regarding the whereabouts of the "lair" used, and how the male leopard dynamics affects this.

September 2004

TOULON FEMALE
1 MALE CUB                             * 23 MONTHS

Location: CENTRAL-NORTHERN TOULON (8 sightings of the female, none of them with her cub; 7 sightings of the youngster on his own)

It seems that the Toulon Female and her son have now parted company, which is to be expected.   As usual, the Toulon Female gave good, consistent leopard viewing in the south of the reserve.   She was involved in at least two sessions of mating, both of these with the Chellahanga Male.   This choice of mate is perhaps surprising, as Toulon Female territory falls well within Hlarulini Male territory.   On one occasion the pair moved well out of the Toulon Female's territory, but this is quite normal that a female in oestrus follows her mate.

Of the seven sightings of the son of the Toulon Female, five were in the immediate vicinity of Rocky Crossing on northern Toulon.   This, too, is predictable behaviour.   A newly independent leopard often spends many days in a very small area, perhaps close to where he and his mother had their most recent encounter.   This could be because the youngster is hoping that his mother would soon return to the area, call him and lead him to a kill.   The subsequent two sightings of the young male leopard showed that he is more than able to look after himself, as he was seen on two kills in the space of a couple of days.   These were both bushbuck kills, one of them being an adult male.   Interesting times lie ahead for this youngster now, as he enters the life of a lone leopard.   He is bound to be nomadic for a while, and is quite likely to leave the area of Toulon altogether in the next year or so, before he establishes himself somewhere.   It is usual for young male leopards to move right out of their mothers' territory, while young female leopards are quite often accommodated in land adjacent to their mother.

August 2004

TOULON FEMALE
1 MALE CUB                             * 22 MONTHS

Location: CENTRAL-NORTHERN TOULON (10 sightings of the female, 3 of them with her cub; three sightings of the youngster on his own)

Once again, the Toulon Female continued to provide good, steady viewing in the south of the reserve.   Unlike in the previous month, there were occasions in August when she and her youngster were seen together, but the bond between mother and son is certainly weakening.

July 2004

TOULON FEMALE
1 MALE CUB                             * 21 MONTHS

Location: CENTRAL-NORTHERN TOULON (7 sightings of the female, 7 of her cub separately; no sightings of the two leopards together)

The fact that the Toulon Female and her sub-adult son were not once seen together during July, but both leopards were seen 7 times, suggests that the youngster may already have been left to fend for himself.   He certainly is old enough to kill anything up to impala size.  On one of the days when both leopards were seen, they were seen in fairly close proximity, but were not seen to come together.   The Toulon Female would probably not yet be too hostile towards her son, but if she mates and conceives again, she would start being much less tolerant of her son when the birth of her next litter is imminent.

June 2004

No photographs or game report for this period

May 2004

TOULON FEMALE
1 MALE CUB                             * 19 MONTHS

Location: CENTRAL-NORTHERN TOULON (10 confirmed sightings, 4 of these with her cub, 4 of the cub on his own)

The Toulon Female and her son continue to prosper.  This month there were several good sightings involving both of these leopards, one when the mother was seen leading her son for several kilometres towards where she'd stashed the carcass of a young impala, this actually outside of the area considered to be her territory. As the young leopard matures and the date when he'll be abandoned draws ever closer, so the Toulon Female can be expected to lead him to outside areas, perhaps because she wants him to start venturing beyond the region that he's familiar with or perhaps to keep up with his ever-increasing need for food, she simply has little choice but to use these far-flung parts.

Another fine sighting of both mother and son was when they invited themselves to an impala carcass which had been taken into a tree in the Chellahanga River by the Hlarulini Male which is almost certainly the father of the youngster.  Not all male leopards will share their food and some will do so one day and then change their mind the next.  On this occasion, the Hlarulini Male felt generous and all three leopards took turns at feeding on the carcass.

The Toulon Female had another encounter with the Hlarulini Male this month when he was mating with another female leopard in what is probably the eastern limit of the Toulon Females' territory.  The other leopard, believed to have been the White Cloth Females' three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, wasn't there to steal territory, she was responding to the need to mate and would have headed home when the mating was over.  But the Toulon Female was still taking no chances and scent-marked the area heavily, letting the other female know that this was her territory and that she was in charge.

Towards the end of this report-period, the Toulon Female was seen killing an adult female impala on western Toulon, this probably towards the very southwestern parts of her territory.  She fed from the kill and tried to carry it into a tree, but failed, whereupon she left it and went to fetch her son, which, earlier in the day, had been seen a couple of kilometres away, closer to the Sand River.  Luckily for both of them, the carcass wasn't stolen by another scavenger, and they spent the next two days feeding on it.

April 2004

TOULON FEMALE
1 MALE CUB                             * 18 MONTHS

Location: CENTRAL-NORTHERN TOULON (4 confirmed sightings, 1 of these with her cub, 2 of the cub on his own)

The Toulon Female appears to be in the 'home stretch' as far as raising her son to the point of maturity goes and it cannot be many months now before she chases him off and he is forced to fend for himself.

And, as the youngster gets older and eats more food at a greater rate, so the two will spend less and less time together, and this, one would expect, would accelerate the young leopards' self-education programme.

March 2004

TOULON FEMALE
1 MALE CUB                             * 17 MONTHS

Location: CENTRAL-NORTHERN TOULON
(5 confirmed sightings, 2 of these with her cub, none of the cub on his own)

Perhaps the best sighting involving these leopards occurred near the beginning of the month when the Toulon Female was seen leading her son towards an impala carcass on SW Toulon.  Then, when they were feeding on the kill, another adult female leopard approached, but bolted when she saw the Toulon Female.  A hyaena later arrived to steal the kill and the following day the two leopards were back where they'd initially been found the day before.

Thereafter, sightings of the Toulon Female were all of her alone and either resting or on the hunt.

February 2004

TOULON FEMALE
1 MALE CUB                             * 16 MONTHS

Location: CENTRAL-SOUTHERN CHARLESTON/ CENTRAL-NORTHERN TOULON
(9 confirmed sightings, 3 of these with her cub, 10 of the cub on his own)

As the Toulon Females' son approaches that time when he will eventually be left to his own devices, he appears to be spending less and less time with his mother and more and more time exploring his surroundings and learning the lessons of life.  And, as the young male leopard grows and demands an ever-increasing supply of food, so the Toulon Female has to work harder to meet these needs.

There were several superb sightings of these leopards over this report-period. Near the beginning of the month, the Toulon Female was seen killing an adult female kudu in the reeds of the Sand River on northern Toulon.  For a leopard to kill an antelope which weighs perhaps three-times what it weighs is not the norm.  Firstly, the risk of injury is huge as it tries to subdue the large thrashing beast and then, once it has managed to kill it, how does it protect its prize from scavengers?  As it was, at least one hyaena arrived on the scene and although both the Toulon Female and her son managed to feed from the carcass, the hyaena probably had the best share.

Another good sighting involving these two leopards was when they were joined by the Hlarulini Male, which is almost certainly the father of the cub.  Both cub and adult male leopard were seen walking side by side through a large open area before the youngster left and went to rejoin his mother.

January 2004

TOULON FEMALE
1 MALE CUB                             * 15 MONTHS

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

The Toulon Female and her son continue to prosper and this months viewing showed a female leopard bent on making sure that her cub was getting plenty of food.

There were some sightings of the Toulon Female hunting in areas perhaps on what could be regarded as the very periphery of her territory.  And perhaps not surprising.  With rains this month dispersing prey animals and with her son now growing rapidly and requiring an ever-increasing supply of food, the Toulon Female will have to work just that little bit harder and this could very well involve the exploring of hunting areas not often used.

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

Copyright © Rattray Reserves