For a day there was not a leopard to be seen. In spite of the hard hours tracking and eyes desperately searching the winter bush, these beautiful creatures remained elusive. And then, seemingly all at once, the flood gates opened and individuals appeared sauntering down a dirt track, appearing from behind a bush and even mating with each other. After a day of silence they were back, as magnificent as ever. This week we saw, amongst others, the Vomba 3:2 Female, The Maxabene 3:2 Young Male, the Short Tail 5:4 Male and the infrequently seen Maxabene 3:3 Male (b.2006). Enjoy…
Short Tail Male's bout of mating featured last week continued into this week. Here he leaps out of the way of yet another swipe from the female.
The Maxabene 3:3 male, born in 2006, had not been seen on Londolozi for some time. Although he now spends most of his time east of our boundary, he made a few appearances this week. This is a picture from his younger days, soon after first dispersing.
Maxabene 3:2 Young Male Leopard
The Maxabene 3:2 Young Male was looking decidedly sorry for himself when seen for the first time in a while this week. With an empy stomach and injured left eye, he is finding life on his own a little tough it seems.
Tutlwa female sneaks out of the shadows into the afternoon sun after an unsuccessful hunt of some nyala.
The "unknown" female from last week turned out on closer inspection to be a female very seldom seen around the old Moodies Camp. The scar on her left side changed the appearance of her spots on that side of her face, but the black spot in her left eye was unmistakeable.
Vomba Female was seen a number of times this week. She seems to be pregnant as well, which would be expected considering the timing of her last round of mating.
Vomba Female clambers across rocks in the Sand River, heding towards Plaque Rock
Most rangers hope to at some stage in their career have a sighting of a leopard at the historic Plaque Rock. I finally had my chance with the Vomba Female, as she leaps up a rock past the memorial.
Some fantastic pictures of some beautiful leopards. I notice that most of the leopards have 3:2,5:4 etc after their names. What do the numbers account for?
Jamie these numbers refer to the unique spot patterns that each individual leopard has. Have a look closely at the first row of spots both left and right of the nose, just above the whisker line. Hope this helps…have a closer look at the leopard photos and see if it makes sense to you!
Now it makes sense. Thanks for that.
David – These are fabulous photos! I especially like the one of the Vomba female reflected in the Sand River. Well done! We can’t wait to get back to Londolozi – only a month or so from now!
That’s exciting to hear that your trip is not too far away. Looking forward to having you back here Henry and hopefully showcasing some of your pictures from your stay. Thanks for your comment. Rich
STUNNING photos of the most amazing animals! Such a pleasure to see them! You all do an amzing job of tracking and capturig each animal’s unique beauty…Thank you!
Great pictures David, love Vomba female across the rocks on the Sand River and the “unknown female looks like the black spot is the Londoz logo in her eye, now thats commitment! hope your well
Hi Sue, great to hear from you! Agree on the eye spot, should get our marketing team onto it!
David Dampier – I really love that photo of Vomba in the River. The light is awesome and such a special spot.
What are the chances that Vomba is going to drop her cubs in the river again?
Hows Mxabene Young Male’s eye? Wasnt his grandmother also blind in one eye?
Many thanks Graeme. I do think Vomba is almost certain to keep her cubs in the river again, although with the looming summer rains she is going to have to make sure she moves them out before the river rises.
Maxabene Young Male’s eye is still not looking great. His grandmother was Munghen Female-I will double check but I think you may be right about her having one eye, which would be quite a coincidence