About a year ago I filmed the Maxabeni 3:2 young male leopard catch and haul a small duiker up a Marula tree. At one year of age, this sub-adult male leopard was showing the first signs of a hunter. Now at two years of age, this leopard and his brother, the Maxabeni 3:3 young male, have both grown into magnificent male leopards. They move with attitude and act with confidence, until the hyenas arrive that is….
Maxabeni 3-3 Young Male Leopard
These precocious brothers owe their personalities to their mother, the Maxabeni female. A small female whose contribution to the leopard populations of Londolozi and the surrounding areas is as enduring as her will to survive. Independent from 10 months of age, she has come full circle and mastered the environment which is now her territory. Her mastery extends from survival to territorial defence to hunting. So efficient is her hunting ability that she was recently able to bring down two Kudu bulls in rapid succession.
Leaving one kudu for her sons to feed on, the young males were quick to consume as much as possible. 2 years of life had taught these leopards to be well aware that bushveld is ripe with scavengers desperate to chase them off such a prized meal. They had been taught well as a single hyena arrived shortly after their first bout of feeding. And so the steady process of stealing the prey from these two leopards began.
Meanwhile, 80 meters north of this drama, the Maxabeni female lay quietly at the base of a thicket. Picking apart her kill she fed completely uninterrupted. Looking up for a brief moment her big round eyes caught mine. They were sharp and focused but had the soft familiarity of a wise sage. She had lost kills herself and she had done battle with hyenas before, but she was now teaching those lessons to her offspring. Not by telling them or taking control but by letting them experience the necessary pitfalls of life in this wild world, so that they may gain the same wisdom as she.
Later that day when the hyenas disappeared and her two sons came down from the tree, she let them sit at the carcass with her. Who knows what she communicated but I’m sure it would be to tell them once again what they need to know when they no longer have her to rely on….
The trials and tribulations of motherhood, even more so apparent in the bush. Great story writing.
The young males full circle is slowly turning 🙂 Fantastic!
Indeed. We have been watching with anticipation to see what becomes of these two males for the last year and they only continue to grow bigger and stronger each day. It won’t be long now before their father might not tolerate them any longer and then it is anyone’s guess where they will go to and for how long they will stay together. Their current success, as mentioned in the post, is undoubtedly because of their mother and how much she provides for them.
We saw these “boys” while on safari in August… they are special to me! Is it normal for the hyenas to gain control of the carcass? As a mother I do worry about them getting enough to eat! Thank you very much for allowing me to continue my safari adventure while located in Boston, Massachusetts!
Hi Sue, in certain areas (the Sabi Sands being a primary one) it is quite common for hyenas to gain control of a carcass. It ultimately boils down to a numbers game. You will see that the leopard was initially sharing the carcass with a young hyena. Obviously not threatened enough to move off it, he shared it probably knowing that it would eventually be taken by other hyenas. The mentality was to eat as much as possible whilst he could.
Thanks to their mother, these young males are never shy on food. Both very handsome, well fed and strong leopards they should actually be able to hunt and kill for themselves by now. We are watching the next few months with interest to see if their father (the Camp Pan male) chases them out of his territory or allows them to stay for longer.
Two of my favourite leopards by far, i sincerely hope they stick around.
Thanks for your thoughts and glad to hear you are keeping updated in Boston.
Rich
Maxabeni is such a wonderful leopard…it has been such a joy to see her raise these cubs…We will be very sad when the time comes for them to leave her….but watching this, they still have some lessons to learn 🙂
Very true, there is a clear difference between the leopards who have been forced to survive from a young age and those that have had the benefit of being looked after by an experienced mother.
Rich, i cannot believe the mxabene female brought down 2 adult bull kudu. Thats incredible. She is so small in comparison.
Hey Gav,
I agree it is a pretty sensational occurrence but there really is no other explanation for it. There were no other predators around who could have done it, the kills were very fresh when we arrived on the scene. She had obviously killed managed to kill one which her two sons started feeding on and then my guess is that she stumbled across the second one and quite opportunistically brought it down as well. She just stayed out of trouble with the hyenas who were pretty swift to arrive on the scene…
love the magazine.
I wish I had been around to see these brothers in action.