Amidst growing concerns within the Ranger and Tracker team, the Tamboti female leopard has hardly been seen over the last week.
The last confirmed sighting of her revealed that she had sustained bad injuries to her flanks and back legs. The cause was almost certainly lions.
About a week went past before the next possible sighting of her, when she was found in long grass where the extent of her injuries could not be established, and she was beyond the usually accepted southern boundary of her territory. It looked like her, but in the thicket, this could not be confirmed 100%.
Ranger Guy Brunskill had previously seen her limping badly, clearly struggling with her wounds.
Bite marks can clearly be seen on the flanks and knees of the leopard. At the time of this photograph she was very skinny from being unable to hunt. Photograph by Guy Brunskill
The Tamboti female inhabited the south-eastern sections of Londolozi, having a large part of her territory along the Maxabene Riverbed.
Before a general consternation gets properly fired up, let’s just remember how resilient big cats are. The Ndzanzeni female made a full recovery from what looked like a potentially mortal injury to her back left leg, in so doing giving a chance for the Mother Leopard lineage to be continued. The Dudley Riverbank 3:3 young male from 2009 survived a similar injury, and in the lion world, two different Tsalala lionesses survived brutal hyena attacks in which they lost their tails.
This female is a success story all in herself, being born as a single cub to the Riverbank 3:3 female in early 2012.
As long as they have food to sustain them – whatever form it comes in – their bodies are able to heal themselves and without any outside intervention they are able to recover from what to us may appear grievous harm. Within reason though. They can’t regenerate limbs or anything like that, but injuries that would soon prove fatal to less hardy creatures often heal quite quickly in many of the big cats.
Our worry with the Tamboti female is just how much of an overlap her injured state appeared to have with the interloping of the Mashaba female into her territory. Venturing significantly further south than she’s ever normally seen, and actively scent-marking in the areas in which the Tamboti female usually frequents, the Mashaba female’s movements make us worry that the Tamboti female may even have succumbed to her wounds and passed away. A sighting this morning of a female leopard in long grass appeared to be her (Tamboti female), but we will attempt to confirm this afternoon.
Photograph by James Tyrrell
The Mashaba female is currently Londolozi’s best-known leopard. Her relaxed nature means she is comfortable around the vehicles.
A leopard whose movements are slowed down by damage sustained to its legs will not be able to patrol its territory as fast or as far, and it is certainly possible that in simply keeping a low profile, giving herself time to heal, the Tamboti female has let her scent fade along her usually patrol routes, giving the Mashaba female reason to believe that the territory is no longer occupied.
The two females do not share a significant stretch of boundary. The red dot is where the last sighting of what was suspected to be the Tamboti female occurred, while the dotted black line is the route along which the Mashaba female was seen scent-marking.
These females have encountered each other along the edge of their respective territories before. Take a look at this video from 2013:
Leopards are conflict-averse animals. Without the opportunity or a specific need to expand territory, they are unlikely to transgress established territorial boundaries. The two females in question are long-standing residents, so there must have been a dramatic shift in the status quo for the Mashaba female to be drawn into hitherto unexplored areas, and it is almost certainly the lack of patrolling by the Tamboti female.
It’s easy to jump to conclusions out here; as soon as we see behaviour deviating from the norm we reach for the most dramatic explanation, or foresee catastrophe for the individual(s) involved.
In this case, I’m hoping that it is simply a case of the Tamboti female taking an injury-induced hiatus from her regular movements, but once she has recovered (hopefully), things will return to normal.
I do hope Tamboti survive. It is nature but I can’t help to think “not another leopard.” Has her cub been seen?
Nature can sometimes seem so cruel. Here’s hoping the tamboti female makes it.
Fingers crossed for the recovery of the Tamboti female. It’s too soon to hear of another loss of a star in the feline world. Hang in there Tamboti!!
This is unhappy news. My hope this that she is laying low to heal, however I’m deeply concerned about her ability to hunt and feed. Although the actual attack wasn’t seen, do you think it may have been caused by the Birmingham males? I’m not sure if they share the same territory. There’s been a lot of tough luck with the leopards and their Cubs making it.
Hi Joanne.
Either them or the Ntsevu females, since there is big overlap between the Tamboti female’s territory and that of the lions…
Yip, it’s been a tough couple of years of leopards being lost to lion attack. I make it five off the top of my head, with the Tamboti female being a possible sixth..
Thanks, James. It doesn’t sound optimistic for the Tamboli. I’m pensively hopeful….is that possible? lol When there is a eventual slow death from an encounter, is a body ever found by a tracker before scavengers step in? Suppose that’s a slim chance. No need to reply to my status question on today’s blog. If there was news, you’d tell us. Thanks James.
Hi Joanne.
I’ll be honest, it’s not looking too hopeful. there hasn’t been any sign of her for a few days; the only tracks seem to be those of the Mashaba female, who has been consistently encroaching…
We’ll put out an update as soon as we know anything.
Best,
James
The Tamboti is my very favorite Londolozi leopard. We have a beautiful photo of her that we hung in my husband’s study. Fingers are crossed she is okay!!!
We’re all hoping too, Peggy!
I really, really hope she will recover and be fine. Do you know if her cub is fine? I keep my fingers crossed for both.
Hi Alessandra,
Apparently the cub is fine and has been spending time in the south-eastern section of the reserve. The Xidulu young female was left alone after her mother died and survived just fine, so seeing as the TAmboti cub is slightly older, she has a decent chance of making it, assuming the Tamboti female has gone for good.
James
Oh no! Not another leopard lost to lions! I certainly hope not and surely not beautiful Tamboti! I’m hoping that she’s lying low, recovering. Is it likely her daughter can share some kills with her?
It is always sad to hear that one of our leopards has sustained injuries. I do hope the Tamboti F can make a comeback. I think we have had a very hard time lately with the disappearance and/or death of some of our Sabi Sands Leopards and of course our beloved Tailless Lioness. I hope we will soon have good news regarding the Tamboti Female. Thank you for the update
Hi MJ,
We’ll let you know as soon as we find out anything else..
Best,
James
Has she been found again? I’ve always been amazed by the resilience of big cats, so I’m confident that she will bounce back.