Back in mid-2012, the Dudley Riverbank female gave birth to a single cub at a place called Paul’s Crossing in the Tugwaan drainage line. The area is thickly covered with bushwillow and acacia thickets, and prior to the birth of what was to be her last cub, the Dudley Riverbank female seemed destined to fate into relative obscurity. After the den-site was discovered, she enjoyed over a year of incredible prestige, as for awhile she was the only leopardess on the property with a cub, and on every drive rangers and trackers would take their guests into the area to look for the pair.
Sadly we believe the Dudley Riverbank female to have succumbed to old age somewhere in the wilderness, as no one has seen her for months now, and she was looking very frail the last time she was seen. Thankfully however, the very same cub that she was so successful in raising through 2012 and 2013 now seems destined to fill her mother’s shoes. Occupying an almost identical territory to her late mother, the recently named Ndzanzeni female (formerly Dudley Riverbank young female) is believed to be denning a newborn litter somewhere in the south-central areas of Londolozi. The Ndzanzeni female is of ‘royal’ blood, being a fifth generation descendant of the original mother leopard, making her cubs (should they survive) sixth generation offspring. An incredible testament to the success of the Leopards of Londolozi.
The Ndzanzeni female as a cub herself. Photograph by James Tyrrell.
She was seen heavily pregnant by ranger Garrett Fitzpatrick and tracker Life Sibuyi on the 16th December last year, but it wasn’t until yesterday morning that she was seen again by Nick Sims and Bennet Mathonsi. Nick reported that matted fur around her teats indicated that she had been nursing cubs. Nick and Bennet followed her for awhile, but she eventually moved through a thicketed area where they could not follow with the vehicle.
The Ndzanzeni female has a distinctive 4:3 spot pattern. For a better understanding on what these numbers mean, click here. Photograph by David Dampier.
This will be the first litter the female has birthed. She is not yet four years old, but it is usually from the age of around three and a half that females start mating, and there have been cases in which females have given birth at under three years of age!
Needless to say, it is wildly exciting news! A first litter from a newly named female? A great story to follow up on. Traditionally at Londolozi we will name mature leopards after the territories they occupy for ease of identification, and for reasons of consitency we were about to name the DRB young female the “Ndzanza” female. Ndzanza is the local word for the tsessebe antelope, and is a road in the area where we often see the leopard. When debating the name, ranger Melvin Sambo suggested a slight variation, Ndzanzeni, the best translation of which means an incredibly beautiful yet almost unreachable place. The beauty of leopards and their secretive nature tied in closely with that name, so it stuck.
Hypnotic eyes, reminiscent of the snake Kaa in The Jungle Book. One can’t tear one’s eyes away… Photograph by David Dampier.
But I digress. We will be monitoring the area closely for any signs of the female returning to a den. On the map below are marked two prominent drainage lines that run through the Ndzanzeni female’s territory; the Tugwaan (red) and the Mad Elephant drainage (purple), both of which she herself was kept in as a young cub at various stages. Both drainage lines offer a number of fantastic dens-sites in the form of boulder clusters and tangled root systems.
Black dots indicate the four most likely den-sites we have identified. All four of them are dense boulder clusters that the old Dudley Riverbank female used on a number of occasions. The blue shaded area is the rough extent of the Ndzanzeni female’s territory.
Hopefully within a few weeks we will be able to report the discovery of a litter, but we’ll have to wait and see…
Such exciting news James and I love the name that Melvin chose…a beautiful name for a very beautiful leopard. David’s close-up image of her is breathtaking and maybe the best leopard shot I have ever seen, with incredible eye contact. I can’t wait to see the first pictures of her cubs!
That’s wonderful news! I was lucky enough to see her as a 1-month old cub back in April 2012, and have been desperate to see her again since. Maybe I’ll be lucky again when I come back in October?
This is fantastic news for us. We were with Adam Bannister when the Dudley female hauled an impala kill into a tree. Adam made us sit for an hour as he was sure that it was close to the time when her cub needed to be introduced to meat. After she had rested all that time, she slowly made her way back to the den and we followed thru wild terrain and sure enough she called to the cub who appeared and she took her back to the kill. Thank you Adam, and thank you Londolozi for your fabulous blog and all your efforts to keep track of all the cat families. By the way, Adam had had us on a walking tour in that drainage ditch earlier that day?
James, Thankyou for such an exciting and informative view of the leopards. In 2012 while on safari with Lucien we photographed Campan mating with a female,who I think was called Hawthorn.She was quite old at that time,and I would love you to identify her, and let me know if she has any connection to the leopards you talk about today.Thanks for the great news, will be waiting eagerly for more news on them.
Hi Krishna,
I do remember some activity between the Camp Pan male and the Dudley Riverbank female around that time; it may well have been her. The Dudley Riverbank female was the mother of the Ndzanzeni female, who is the one discussed in the post.
As far as I am aware there has never been a leopard called Hawthorn on Londolozi. Perhaps a mix-up with a leopard from somewhere else?
Hypnotic? No kidding. Possibly the best leopard photo ever. Kudos.
Great news. And who do you think the father is? Piva Male??
Great photos, she is a beauty like her mother (RIP DRB female!). It is very exciting that a direct female descendant of 3:4 should become territorial here. Looking forward to seeing more of Ndzanzeni and her first litter. So many up and coming young leopards right now!