The section of Londolozi north of the Sand River has been dominated by the Gowrie male leopard since early 2013. He first started making his presence known in late 2012, as described in a post by ranger James Crookes at the time, but it was only in the following year that he began steadily pushing the then-dominant Marthly male further and further south towards the river, eventually ousting him from the northern reaches of the property altogether.
The Gowrie male first appeared in the Sabi Sands around 2011. Judging by his size, he is estimated to have been born around 2005/6.
In recent months the Gowrie male was even seen south of the river, and he and the newly-resident Robson’s 4:4 male have been seen growling at each other from opposite banks on a number of occasions. The Gowrie male was a constant presence in the north, with his golden, staring eyes and large territory, but of late, his name has been conspicuous by its absence on the radio waves.
The Gowrie male leaps off the Tutlwa female after a copulating. His disappearance, although sad, means new genes in the area, strengthening the overall genetic health of the population. Photograph by James Tyrrell
No-one has called in any sightings of him for awhile now, and the last suspected sighting of him was from over a month ago, when ranger Dan Buys caught a glimpse of what he was convinced was the Gowrie male, lying in the palm thickets of the Sand River near to where three of the Majingilane were lying.
The Gowrie male stalks through the Manyelethi riverbed. Photographed by Andrea Campbell
Since then, nothing. Enquiries to other reserves bordering Londolozi have been fruitless, and it seems that no-one has seen him. It is not just the rangers and trackers who are starting to suspect he has gone. Other male leopards, eager to expand their territories, have been pushing into the north, and the void left by the Gowrie male is being filled from three directions.
From the north west has come the Anderson male, almost certainly the biggest male leopard I have ever seen. Is he bigger than the Camp Pan male? I suspect so, but we’ll go into that at a later date.
From the south, the Robson’s 4:4 male has crossed the river and has been seen as far north as the leadwood forest on the Manyelethi river, and from the east, the old Dudley 5:5 male has returned to Londolozi, being seen a few times on central Marthly.
The area north of the Sand River has been the Gowrie male’s almost exclusive domain for nearly two years. Now the Anderson male (pink area), Robson’s 4:4 male (blue area) and Dudley Riverbank 5:5 male (red area) have all been seen encroaching into the territory. Enough evidence that the Gowrie male has gone? Probably…
It is probably still too soon to confirm the death of the Gowrie male, since there’s always the chance he has simply been pushed out and forced to relocate to an entirely different area, but a complete lack of sightings makes us suspect the worst…
Written by James Tyrrell, Londolozi Ranger
Photograph by James Tyrrell and Andrea Campbell, Londolozi Ranger
Filmed by Mike Sutherland
Mr Anderson if he want can push the little Robson male all over the place if he wants to…
one look in those eyes and he will be running
I am not convinced Anderson is bigger than Camp Pan but then again I have never seen either in person just going off video footage but he doesnt impress me as much as Camp Pan used too even if he is bigger. I hope Gowrie is still around but with pretty much his whole territory being covered from 3 sides I highly doubt he is know very sad I really enjoyed following him.
Interesting developments,but neither the Dudley 5:5 nor the 4:4 male are a match for Anderson,he has been pushing around much bigger males in the north.In fact,the 4:4 male ended in Londolozi because Anderson chased him from the north,and the Gowrie male was on the receiving end in confrontations with Anderson before he disappeard.It is a one-sided competition…
So much going on. Interesting leopard dynamics.
Alex I would probably have to agree. The Anderson male is an enormous leopard. I imagine he will push further south over the next few months.
So sad, I can’t believe Robsons 4:4 has outlived the Gowrie male!! Anderson chased 4:4 male onto Londolozi to begin with… In the past months, Gowrie was being very much pressured by Anderson. It seemed like he was trying to stand up to the bigger male – a bold but perhaps fatal mistake. Gowrie really won me over. He killed several cubs from some of my favorite females (maybe he was a prime suspect in the disappearance of Vomba Young male?) but appeared to be trying to replace the lives that he took.
Has anyone seen Nanga Young male recently? Or the recently independent Maliliwane Young female who has been wandering about, sometimes outside her mother’s territory? Anderson will surely kill them if he encounters them. I have my reservations about Anderson. If all goes well, he could provide stability to the female leopards of northern Londolozi. His father Emswagen was a powerful, large leopard who rivaled Camp Pan or Marthly male but was not as successful in the long run IMO. We will see about Mr Anderson.
Hi Brian,
We have seen the Maliliwane young female on a number of occasions, recently, and it appears her movements have been centred around the red area in the map above (essentially her mother’s territory or at least very near to it). She is still young and likely to be around this area for awhile. Being independent, it is less likely that intruding males will be as aggressive towards her as they would be to a still-dependent cub.
I remember the Emsagwen male being massive as well, although we didn’t see him all that often on Londolozi.
The Nanga Young male has not been seen for a long time, and we are not sure of his fate. hopefully he made it and simply drifted off into a different area.
Thanks for your response and thoughts on this. I realize it is very difficult to keep tabs on young independent male leopards. Hopefully Nanga Young male has found a home territory somewhere. Final thought on Gowrie– he worked hard to establish himself in northern Londo. It is a shame he did not get to reign longer.
I was also wondering about the Nanga young male. Is he in this area? How is he doing? Thanks so much for all the info!
Now we know where Anderson went.. He has successfully changed the leopard dynamics of the northern Sabi Sands. Now we are waiting to see what happens now with this handsome massive male moving to the south. Hopefully our young males , Xivambalana & Quarantine, will find a niche for themselves. Thank you for the update.. I hope the Gowrie Male is just off on a looong holiday!
As for the Gowrie Male Leopard, we can only hope for the best, that he is still alive.
Lizeka
THanks for the info on the Nanga young male. Please keep us posted….so hoping he’s OK.
The Gowrie male is such a beautiful Leopard. It’s sad to think that we may not see him again…I really hope he is out there somewhere and okay. I also hope that the Nanga young male is okay and doing well.
I was wondering whether there is any news on
Lamula yet? We had the pleasure of encountering him on a couple of occasions on our honeymoon in Sabi Sands