We were heading south towards the Sand River when we spotted the Camp Pan male lying on the causeway. Before we could reach him, Tyson, the dominant male leopard from Marthly, walked straight towards us. Tyson, bleeding from his lip and limping with a gash in his right leg, had clearly been in a fight with Camp Pan. Only when the Vomba female purposefully strutted up behind him did the reason why become clear.
The King of Londolozi in his day; an enormous male whose offspring still inhabit the reserve.
Vomba is a beautiful and intelligent leopard. She is unscarred, well kept and best of all this legendary leopard has had great success as a mother. The reasons for these successes only occurred to me this last week when I watched her play Camp Pan and Tyson off against each other. The territory of these two male leopards now overlaps the Sand River.
The Vomba female was a leopard with an instantly recognisable rich golden coat. She spent much of her life around the Londolozi Camps.
Placed directly between Camp Pan’s northern boundary and Tyson’s southern boundary, lies Vomba’s territory. It is a prime piece of river frontage with abundant game, masses of trees, cover as well as year round water. Different males, such as Camp Pan (who has also been documented mating with the Nottens Female on this blog) and Tyson who move through this territory provide her with the opportunity to increase the chances of her offspring reaching maturity by mating with these two males.
Vomba Female’s Territory
By mating with Camp Pan and Tyson, Vomba has created uncertainty as to who the real father is and, hopefully, this will reduce the risk of either males killing their potential offspring when they are discovered in time. Past rangers have witnessed Vomba implementing this ‘tactic’ before and her record is clearly successful. Her recent lineage includes:
The 2:3 Vomba Young Female (Born April 2003)
The 4:3 Tutlwa Female (Born March 2006)
The 4:4 Vomba Young Male (Born March 2006)
The 4:4 Vomba Young Female (Born March 2006)
The 3:3 Vomba Young Female (Born Sept 2008).
The Vomba Female Leopard
It is often thought that beauty and brains are a rare combination to find. In the world of leopards this might also be true and as a result this makes the Vomba female all the more special. As always we wait with baited breath to see if she produces cubs in 3 months time. If this is the case then we will certainly be able to continue to witness some of the most astoundingly beautiful leopards on the planet.
wow, what footage! No skaam to get it on right in the middle on the road. haha. Fantastic stuff. She’s not just a pretty face that female 🙂
Glad that you enjoyed it Penny, I agree that she is not just a pretty face. Cunning, sly and knows exactly what she is doing.
Gorgeous Vomba, i was priviledged to see her a couple of times including mating in previous years. Good to see that she refined her tactics 🙂 Unbelievable beautiful. Missing Londolozi very much but hopefully soon again. Sonja
Thanks for you comments Sonja, glad that you have had the privilege of an experience with her. See you soon!
She certainly is large for a female leopard but beautiful. The offspring will be big leopards too b y the look of Tyson.
The offspring (particularly if they are males) are going to be absolutely incredible leopards in years to come. That is assuming they make it to adulthood….
Is Campan healty, after fight with Tyson? How Campan conditions?
Camp Pan was not badly injured after his encounter with Tyson. He has been seen elsewhere in the property and has not sustained any serious injuries. Tyson’s wound on his right leg has also healed.
Thank you very much Rich.
I’m glad for Tyson and Camp Pan; both Camp Pan and Tyson seem very big; how much difference there is in size between these males?
Is Vomba the first female leopard adopting this tactic for her offspring?
I would say that there is very little size difference between Camp Pan and Tyson. I used to think that no leopard could take on Camp Pan, but then I saw Tyson ‘in person’ (so to speak) for the first time and was very impressed with his size.
As for Vomba, this is not something unique to her. There are many stories, and I have witnessed a few myself, of female leopards adopting this trick. I would suggest that you it is typically demonstrated by more mature, experienced females. Particularly in areas where there is a lot of male leopard competition.
Thank you very muc Rich.
How has it changed the land use of these two territorial males?
At present not too much. The Sand River is still the loose boundary of their territories. The pregnancy of this female will not have too much of an effect on these two males, however it will make them hesitant as to who the father of the cubs is.
…years ago – we spent 1 week at Londolozi – and had a great time – not only with lots of Lepards interactions; it was the whole story around the tree-house where we had so much joy and fun !
…hopefully we will come back – seeing progress – and I just want
to congratualate for your progress on the information-platform !
…greetings out of Hamburg – Germany – with best wishes to you all
Dieter and Liz Gutmann
Many thanks Dieter, the treehouse is such a great place to spend time at Londolozi. Glad that you will hopefully be coming back soon all the way from Hamburg. We will keep posting videos and stories to entice you! Thanks for your thoughts.
Hi Rich.
There are other male leopards with the mane on the top of their neck?
This, in addition to the impressive size, gives majesty to Tyson.
How much difference there is in size between Vomba and Tyson and what does the difference in the size of their prey?
I think it would be an extraordinary experience to see these animals live with those beautiful landscapes.
Every leopard is different in size, form and look. There are other male leopards out there with a slight mane on the top of their neck.
Tyson would be substantially bigger than vomba. If you watch the video you will be able to see a direct comparison between the two leopards. As for their prey, both leopards are well practiced hunters and would be able to take down a variety of antelope, possibly even a kudu. Tyson might have more success with the larger prey owing to his size and strength.