It is always special to see leopards mating and Londolozi is one of the very few places where this is seen fairly frequently. When I started guiding, it was always a goal of mine to witness this rare phenomenon and I have been lucky enough to discover a mating pair a couple of times during the past 2 years. From my experience, mating leopards tend to stick to areas where there is a lot of cover and hence thick vegetation along river beds is a favourite area. Usually their presence is given away by the growling, snarling and other vocalisations that accompany the mating ritual. For this reason I have found that it is often difficult to get good photographs of these animals mating, however we were recently afforded an amazing opportunity to watch the Camp Pan male and Maxabene female mating in a clearing.
The Maxabene female surveying her surrounds. Her greying features give away her age. One of the smallest females on Londolozi, she has been extremely successful. At 14 years old, does she have it in her to raise one last litter to independence?
With leopards being solitary animals, this is one of the very few times that we have the opportunity of seeing two leopards interacting.
When the female leopard comes into oestrus she will actively start seeking out a male. The urge to find a mate is so strong, that this is the only time she may leave her territory, an action that could have dire consequences if she comes into contact with a rival female. Males have much larger territories than females and the territory of a single male will encompass that of a few females, so as to give him a better opportunity to proliferate his genes. Once a male detects the scent of an oestrus female, he too will start pursuing her.
Once the leopards track each other down, there is often a fair amount of hostility. This comes about largely due to the fact that leopards are naturally solitary animals. There is therefore a conflict between their desire to be solitary and the need to mate. Initially there is a lot of snarling and growling, but this seems to settle down after a couple of days, only to surface again towards the end of the mating period.
The Camp Pan male shows his displeasure at her sidling up to him.
Mating is initiated by the female, who performs what is known as lordosis. During this seductive ritual, she will walk and sway from side to side in front of the male, presenting her rear end and often brushing the male’s face with her tail. She will then lie down in front of the male, inviting him to mount her. As the male mounts the female, he bites onto the loose skin behind her head. It has been suggested that, as this is the way a mother carries her cubs, it induces submission in the female and enables the male to secure her. As the male dismounts, he will often jump away in an effort to avoid the female who often responds with a retaliatory swipe of the paw.
A portrait shot of the two together gives one an appreciation for the difference in size between male and female leopards, albeit that the Camp Pan male is extremely large and the Maxabene female quite small.
This retaliation by the female is likely brought about by a resentment at being mounted as well as the fact that the male has a barbed penis which, when withdrawn, is painful to the female. This feature is important to the reproductive behaviour in leopards, as ovulation in the female is stimulated by continuous mating and, in particular, the pain caused by the male’s withdrawal. A female will mate with any willing male and, as such, may not only mate with the dominant male who would likely have the best genes. The mating induced ovulation gives the strongest male, with the best genes, time to find and displace any subordinate male before fertilisation takes place in the female.
I love this shot of the two of them gazing into the distance.
During the early stages, mating will take place very frequently, with the animals lying side by side for most of the day and night. Over time this tapers off and eventually the male becomes hostile towards the female’s advances after which the animals invariably separate.
The Maxabene female performs ‘lordosis’, trying to seduce the Camp Pan male into mating with her. His expression says it all. At the time he was lying on a termite mound which was a warthog burrow. His attention was firmly on the entrance to the burrow, hoping to catch a warthog by surprise as it left the burrow. The commotion on top of the mound likely convinced the warthogs that they best stay put inside!
After ‘lordosis’, she lies down in front of him, inviting him to mount her. He begrudgingly obliges.
The dismount wasn’t as hostile as I’ve seen before, but the grimace on the female’s face indicates that it was still fairly painful.
A previous coupling of these two leopards resulted in the 3:3 and 3:2 Maxabene youngsters being born in October 2008. As discussed in previous posts, these two males are in fantastic condition and look to be in the process of establishing territories. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if the Maxabene female was able to raise one more litter? At 14 years old, she may be a bit old to raise one last litter to independence, but it certainly isn’t out of the question. Our concern is more with the Camp Pan male, as he has been seen mating with quite a few females in recent times, none of which seem to have fallen pregnant, so we suspect that he may be infertile. Time will tell and we will be holding thumbs.
With all their focus on mating, the leopards tend to leave themselves vulnerable to attack by other predators. The Maxabene female checks the area to ensure that there are no threats. Framed by a dead tree stump, she remains one of Londolozi’s most beautiful leopardesses.
This small female leopard was found around the dry river bed in the heart of Londolozi known as the Maxabene.
The King of Londolozi in his day; an enormous male whose offspring still inhabit the reserve.
Written and photographed by James Crookes
Absolutely beautiful animals, thanks for sharing.
Thank you for this fantastic Blog.
Very interesting story James and terrific pics of my favorite Londolozi animal.
Beautiful. Thanks!
Wow fantastic posting James – I do hope she carries some cubs – Stunning photos of the two of them together – they make lovely off-springs – at what age is a leopard fully grown? If the Maxabene boys follow the stature of their father they are going to be quite impressive!!
The King and Queen of Londolozi Leopards! How wonderful if they produced just one more litter!
Lovely pictures; always wonderful to gaze into the future possibility!
Thank you.
We would all be delighted!
Can’t see much wrong with the 7D in these photos James.Well done .
Regards Kevin.