MalaMala - The Wildlife

WHITE CLOTH FEMALE

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Location: CENTRAL EYREFIELD/ CENTRAL-NORTH MALA MALA
(3 sightings of the female, 1 sighting of cub on his own)

There were again few sightings of the White Cloth Female and her son this month, but what was seen of them indicated that they're both alive and well. The single encounter with the White Cloth Females' son was of him near a small waterhole in central Eyrefield. He was well fed and resting in the shade of a scrubby Jakkalberry Tree. Being the only water in this area, other animals were eager to make use of it, but the presence of the leopard must have proved somewhat intimidating. However, when a warthog approached, it sensed the leopard, but bravely persisted and when it saw that it was only a young leopard, actually advanced on it for a few paces before moving away. The young leopard very wisely decided not to practice his attacking powers on this pig.

At the end of the game-report-period, the White Cloth Female was seen drinking from the Sand River opposite the Mala Mala Main Camp. She looked very well fed and, after drinking, headed back east with great haste, even bypassing some tempting young impalas. All evidence suggested that she had been feeding from some carcass, perhaps close to the central parts of the Matshapiri River, and had then gone to slake her thirst in the Sand River. But, if she is still hunting in this part of the Matshapiri (and she was seen here last month), then just how successful has her sister, the Kapen Female, been in displacing her and forcing her to move northwards?

November 2003

Location: CENTRAL EYREFIELD/ CENTRAL-NORTH MALA MALA
(2 sightings of the female, 4 sightings of only the male cub on his own)

Sightings suggest that the White Cloth Female has lost her female cub; the only cub seen this month was the male which appeared to be in good condition and, when seen, was apparently awaiting the return of his mother.

The White Cloth Female herself was seen only twice, one of these sightings near to the northern parts of the reserve. Indications are that the Kapen Female, sister of the White Cloth Female, has been forcing the White Cloth Female to move off in a northerly direction, this probably so that the Kapen Female can accommodate her two-year-old daughter in a territory in the area. By vacating some of her territory, the White Cloth Female makes it available to others and in this case her sister or her sisters' two-year-old daughter.

October 2003

WHITE CLOTH FEMALE                     * 10 YEARS 1 MONTH
1 MALE CUB                                           * 7 MONTHS
1 FEMALE CUB                                      * 7 MONTHS

(1 sighting of the female, none of both cubs, 6 sightings of only the male cub on his own)
Things don't look good for this trio of leopards. The only sighting of the White Cloth Female leopard was at the very beginning of the report period when she was found, well fed, lying in a waterhole near the northern parts of the area she has recently occupied. Thereafter she was seen moving north, towards the upper parts of the Matshapiri River.

The following day, her 7-month-old son was found in the area around the waterhole and there he stayed for the next 6 days at least, getting thinner all the time. There was no indication that the White Cloth Female had returned. The last sighting of the female cub of the White Cloth Female was halfway through September and at that time she appeared to have been alone.

So, what has happened? Has the White Cloth Female abandoned her cubs and moved northwards, or does she still have the cubs and has still moved away, this perhaps due to pressure from her sister, the Kapen Female, the latter seeking land for her now independent 2-year-old daughter.

Hopefully sightings over the next few weeks will clarify things. One thing, of course, is that with viewing concentrated around the Sand River, vehicles are certainly not covering the area probably occupied by the White Cloth Female as frequently as in the past and much might be happening but is just simply not being seen.

September 2003

WHITE CLOTH FEMALE                     * 10 YEARS
1 MALE CUB                                           * 6 MONTHS
1 FEMALE CUB                                      * 6 MONTHS

(7 sighting of the female, 3 of these with both cubs, 1 sighting of only the female cub)
The months viewing of the White Cloth Female and her cubs started in a dramatic manner when she and her sister, the Kapen Female, confronted one another, deep inside the area now controlled by the White Cloth Female along the Matshapiri River on northeastern Mala Mala. The interaction went on for many hours and although the two were not seen coming to blows, things came very close. The carcass of an impala was in the area and, if the signs were read correctly, it was the Kapen Female which had intruded on the scene. The initial confrontation between the sisters must have caused the two young leopards to flee and it wasn't until some hours later, after the Kapen Female had fed from the kill (whilst the White Cloth Female watched from nearby) and then sauntered away, that they gingerly emerged and rejoined their mother. Later, as the sun set, the Kapen Female returned to the scene and cautiously approached. At this stage it was not certain whether the White Cloth Female knew what was up, but the cubs kept knocking the kill from the tree and the White Cloth Female kept taking it to another one, each tree further from the direction that she had seen the Kapen Female disappear in. Later on, however, when the White Cloth Female detected that her sister had returned, she again approached her and, at the first hiss of anger, the two cubs shot off, fast as lightning, their instincts telling them that trouble was afoot and that they should seek the shelter of tall trees, which they did. The last of this scene was of the two adult leopards posturing and snarling at one another and although the Kapen Female was clearly the trespasser, she was in no mood to back down.

The day after this, the White Cloth Female took her cubs far north, deep into areas which she has so far not been seen in. Later on in the month, she continued to hunt the areas where she and her sister had come to blows and the Kapen Female was not seen to return. But, in spite of these signs that the threat of invasion had diminished, the White Cloth Female continued to explore northwards and on the last sighting of the month actually left Mala Mala's northern border to the east of the Matshapiri River.

One wonders just what is happening with the various leopards and their territories. With drought conditions creating opportunities of plenty in some areas and robbing other parts of game and a now plentiful supply of young, land-hungry leopards, conflict simply has to happen and so maybe what was seen with the White Cloth and Kapen Females was simply a symptom of the broader picture.

August 2003

WHITE CLOTH FEMALE      * 9 YEARS 11 MONTHS
1 MALE CUB                            * 5 MONTHS
1 FEMALE CUB                       * 5 MONTHS

(1sighting of the female, 4 sightings of only the cubs)
For the first part of this report-period, the cubs of the White Cloth Female stayed in the rocky outcrops of southeastern Eyrefield, but then vanished. Chances are good that they had been whisked away to areas further east and also further north, deeper into what used to be Hlabatini Female heartland. But this old leopard is probably no more, or at least not in her old area, allowing the White Cloth Female access to the myriad of hiding places and in an area not always well patrolled by game-drive vehicles. Movement of the cubs would also be easier since they are quite capable of scampering around on their own and, with milk becoming less important in their diet, they would be taken to more and more kills. This would on the one hand increase chances of encountering them, but would also eliminate the predictability which a regularly used den-site provides.

However, adding impetus to keeping the cubs moving to new places, was a visit by the Rock Drift Male, this at the very beginning of the game-report period, to one of their hiding places. Whilst the Rock Drift Male was almost certainly the father of the White Cloth Females' previous litter, it is highly unlikely that he sired the current cubs and his appearance in this area, controlled by the Newington Male, the likely father of the White Cloth Females cubs, came as a great surprise. Even more surprising, however, was the male leopards' response to finding out that cubs had recently been in the area (they had in fact just been moved); instead of behaving aggressively as one might imagine, the male leopard, after sniffing around, made soft 'adult-calling-cubs' noises, definitely more peaceful than war-like. Maybe he did this because he was familiar with the White Cloth Females smell from previous associations and so assumed that the cubs were his. Nevertheless, it's quite likely that the White Cloth Female would not have been overjoyed by his arrival and this could very well have been one of the main reasons why the cubs were later moved.

Although the White Cloth Female herself was seen only once in August, it was a very eventful sighting. She was first found on central-east Mala Mala, an area which used to be at the heart of her old territory and the one which she is thought to have left to her nearly three-year-old daughter. Not only was the White Cloth Female hunting in this area, but marking territory as well. Then, that afternoon, she was found at the Sand River, close to its confluence with the Matshapiri River, an area now controlled by her sister, the Kapen Female. The Kapen Female herself appeared on the scene just as the White Cloth Female killed an adult female bushbuck and, noticing what had happened, held back and watched as her sister dragged the bushbuck into a thicket and began feeding. After perhaps an hour of this, the White Cloth Female finished eating, snarled briefly at her sister and walked off, moving steadily out of the area.Goodness knows what this was all about, but it certainly cannot be explained through more usual leopard behaviour.

(7 sightings of the female, 2 of these with both cubs, 7 sightings of only the cubs)

The first sightings of any members of this trio of leopards was at the very beginning of the months report-period and was a sequel to the final sighting of them reported in last months log, when the White Cloth Female was seen leading her two cubs away from the granite koppies which have been used as their place of safety for so long. At the time it was speculated that she might have been taking them away to their first kill.

Two days after the cubs had been led away, they were found back at the same koppies, quite happy, it appeared, except for the fact that the male cub now had an obvious kink in its tail; indications are that the tail had been broken and that the break had set badly, leaving a most obvious bend half-way along the length of the tail. What could have happened? Maybe he had fallen from a tree and caught his tail; maybe a hyaena had snapped at him? The answer will never be known, but one thing for sure is that this male leopard will be very easy to identify!

Although the White Cloth Female stayed pretty much to the north of her old haunts, these now largely controlled by her sister, the Kapen Female, she was seen to make one trip all the way down to the bridge over Sand River on SW Mala Mala, perhaps just to get a drink of water.

One good sighting involving the White Cloth Female this month was of her killing a duiker and then dragging it up into some koppies and then into a tree before a hyaena could get to the carcass. The following day both of her cubs were with her at the kill; its not known if they were already there, hiding amongst the rocks, when she secured the kill initially.

Other than that, the White Cloth Female and her youngsters had what might be termed a 'normal' month with her looking after them and all seemingly ending July being healthy and with good prospects. Some evidence indicates that the White Cloth Female is moving more and more to the north of what was thought to have been the northern border of her new territory, suggesting perhaps that her neighbour and leopard which used to control the territory which she has taken over, the Hlabatini Female, is perhaps gone or certainly not territorially very powerful any more. There have been no sightings of the Hlabatini Female for some time now. Could this mean that the White Cloth Female may move even further away from her old territory?

(6 sightings of the female, 3 of these with both cubs, 4 sightings of only the cubs, 2 of only one of the cubs)

The great news this month as far as the White Cloth Female leopard was concerned, was the sighting of her two cubs, these thought to have been born at the beginning of April. In the days prior to seeing the cubs, evidence was mounting as to where the lair-site was, but, in spite of landrovers working the area carefully and one at a time, there was no sighting of the young leopards, until, at the beginning of June, one was seen peering over one of the boulders of the koppies where they were hidden.
At the time of this discovery, the White Cloth Female herself was not far away, feeding on the rotting carcass of an adult male impala which the night before was being fed upon by a hyena. The leopard had evidently found an opportunity to wrest the remainder of the impala from the hyena.

The following day, when the White Cloth Female was at the hideout itself, nursing her litter, it was discovered that there were in fact two cubs, one clearly more cautious than the other. Viewing of these youngsters proceeded with great caution - one vehicle at a time, viewing at a distance and with minimal talking and movement. Although the White Cloth Female was apparently content with a landrover in the area of her cubs, previous experience has indicated that cubs are not necessarily convinced by their mothers' behaviour and a bad first experience with vehicles can have long-lasting effects on how these leopards react later on in life. But the cautious approach, together with the fact that the young leopards had probably been listening to and looking at landrovers long before they were discovered by the landrovers, paid off, and by months end they were cavorting around with hardly a glance at whatever vehicle happened to be around.

And there weren't sightings of the cubs on a daily basis; in fact, at times it appeared as if they had been moved. But then, later, the youngsters would suddenly be around again, playing amongst the boulders as if they had always been there. On one occasion, towards months end, the White Cloth Female arrived at the lair-site, called her cubs, which had been there all along, and led them away, taking them half-a-kilometre or so down to the Matshapiri River. Goodness knows what this exercise was all about, because the following day the White Cloth Female was seen leaving the boulders of the original lair-site again and the day after this both cubs were seen gambolling around the rocks once more. Perhaps the youngsters were being taken to their first meal of meat, or at least to view their first carcass. Young leopards are expected to start eating meat from about three months of age and it could very well have been that the White Cloth Female was getting them acquainted.

But as rosy as the above picture seems to be for the White Cloth Female, her cubs and future leopard viewing, tragedies can occur and two events highlighted this during June. The first happened towards the middle of the month when the White Cloth Female was found out hunting. The night was cool and windy and no doubt this would have had an impact on hearing and smell and so, when some lions suddenly appeared out of the darkness, intent on killing the leopard, the White Cloth Female only saw the danger when it was almost too late and with a desperate rush, just made it to a tall knob-thorn tree and scrambled up, out of reach of her enemies.

The seriousness of the other incident may never be known, but, when the young leopards were back on the rocks of their hideout after being led away by their mother, it was seen that the tail of the larger cub (one cub is definitely slightly bigger than the other and at this stage it is thought that it is male whilst the smaller one is female) had a distinctive kink in it. What could have done this? Did the youngster fall from a tree and get its tail caught or was the injury the result of some game with the other leopard, or, could it have been something more life-threatening, a narrow encounter with hyenas perhaps?

Who knows, but both mother and youngsters have a multitude of hazards to face over the next year-and-a-half at least if the cubs are to make it to independence.

(3 sightings)
Although sightings of the White Cloth Female this month indicated that she is still lactating heavily, but there has been no sign of cubs and no real idea of exactly where the lair-site is.

In spite of the fact that the White Cloth Female has definitely moved her territory upstream along the Matshapiri, leaving much of her old haunts to her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, there is still a fair amount of 'no-mans-land' where the White Cloth Female, her daughter and the Kapen Female (which is the White Cloth Females' sister) all still move through, at this stage seemingly unconcerned as to whether they are the sole users or not.

The identity of the father of the White Cloth Females present set of cubs is not certain. Although it is most likely that the Newington Male is the father of her current litter, there is no great certainty on this. The White Cloth Female still moves within areas controlled by the Rock Drift Male - which probably fathered her previous two cubs - as well as in areas controlled by the old male leopard with the shorter-than-average tail (He may have fathered her first son). But since the White Cloth Female is probably well-known to all three of these males, her cubs would in all likelihood be left alone, regardless of which of the three is the father.

(3 sightings)

The White Cloth Female was seen only three times this month, these sightings being on successive days and all indicated that she had either just given birth to cubs or was about to. She was first seen stalking a duiker, which she failed to catch, and at the time looked to be at an advanced stage of pregnancy. The following day she was still in the same area and was seen climbing a koppie, an area perhaps full of hidey-holes suitable for newborn leopard cubs. As she climbed the granite hill, she was heard calling softly, as if she was warning the cubs of her presence. The day after this, she was still on the hill, sunning herself on a rocky ledge. When she descended, it appeared as if she was lactating, either having just given birth or on the verge of doing so. From this hill, the White Cloth Female then set off on a serious patrol, marking territory with great vigour. A leopard with cubs would have responsibilities beyond those of territory marking and with young and very dependent the cubs, one would perhaps expect a mother leopard to somewhat neglect patrolling territorial limits due to the cubs' requirements.

After these three sightings there were no confirmed sightings of the White Cloth Female. So, has she given birth and if so what has happened to the cubs? Perhaps the cubs were taken elsewhere soon after they were born. When the White Cloth Female had her last cubs, they were moved frequently from place to place, particularly in the early stages. So perhaps this is what has happened again. Next months' viewing will hopefully shed more light on the matter.

(3 sightings)
The White Cloth Female was found towards the middle of March, feeding off a duiker carcass near the lower-central parts of the Matshapiri River. This was the first sighting of this leopard in nearly six weeks.

More and more evidence suggests that the White Cloth Females' changed behaviour has been the result of her having moved her territory, leaving her old holdings - or most of them - for her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. This is perhaps the best chance a young leopard has of establishing itself in as short a time as possible. Not that this guarantees ownership, but it certainly could hardly get closer to it.

And from an overall point of view, this type of sacrifice that the White Cloth Female has made is a way of increasing the opportunity for her genetics, through her offspring, to prosper. Having a territory and having it soon after independence should allow her daughter to mate sooner than a leopard which has to walk far and wide just to find a piece of land potentially available for settlement. In this way not only is their a bigger chance for the young leopard to have babies in the first place, but to have them early will potentially allow her to have more litters in her lifespan.

All of this of course points to the leopard as a creature perhaps not as mercenary as is often suspected.

The White Cloth Female's new territory appears to be upstream along the Matshapiri from that which she used to occupy and has probably been the result of chasing the Hlabatini Female from this area.

(2sightings)
There were only two sightings of the White Cloth Female, both of these just upstream of the confluence of the Matshapiri and Sand Rivers, an area now worked quite frequently by her sister, the Kapen Female, as well as her nearly 2-and-a-half-year-old daughter.

One of these sightings was of the White Cloth Female finishing off the scraps of a baby buffalo. The young buffalo had been abandoned by the herd and had been seen wandering around the area the previous night. Judging by the small amount of meat left when the leopard was found eating it the following morning, chances are good that she had lost at least a portion of her meal to hyenas.

Signs point more and more towards the fact that the White Cloth Female has abandoned the southern and southeastern parts of her territory so that her daughter can try to establish herself in this area. It is not known which areas the White Cloth Female now patrols, but it could almost certainly be further upstream in the Matshapiri River. However, it should be remembered that when the White Cloth Female abandoned her first cub, a male, some years ago, she failed to fall pregnant for some time and sightings of her over this period were relatively few. So perhaps the White Cloth Female will still return to reclaim her territory and her change of patterns of movement are merely a ruse to get her daughter to head off elsewhere.

Location: STHN CENTRAL EYREFEIELD/ SW MALA MALA/ NW FLOCKFIELD (east of the Sand River)

Although the White Cloth Female was seen once towards the central parts of the Kapen River, she certainly spent some time, perhaps most of the month of January, further north and east, up the Matshapiri River. Just based on evidence such as footprints and general signs of leopards in a territory, the White Cloth Female was probably absent from areas which have typically been regarded as being part of her southern and eastern range. And all of this may be happening in order to get her nearly two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, abandoned towards the end of last year, established in these parts. Of course if the White Cloth Female is going to relinquish some of her territory and extend on the opposite side, opportunity for extension must exist. With the Hlabatini Female perhaps spending more time to her north, this could leave the middle parts of the Matshapiri and slightly north of this available for the White Cloth Female.

MalaMala Game Reserve, PO Box 55514, Northlands, 2116, South Africa.
Telephone: + 27 11 442 2267 or 0861 SAFARI.
Facsimile: + 27 11 442 2318
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