Moving his hand swiftly upwards, tracker Freddy Ngobeni indicated for me to stop, as he had just heard the chattering alarm call of a squirrel. I immediately switched off the vehicle, and looking in the direction of the distressed rodent, Freddy, without saying a word promptly got off his tracker seat and proceeded to make his way into the front seat of the vehicle. Instantly I knew he had spotted a leopard and began cheering internally, quietly yet with excitement explaining to my guests what had just happened. Upon approaching the leopard, we were amazed not only to see the Piva male but also the Tamboti young female, lying a few metres away from him! Little did we know this was only the beginning of what would turn out to be a phenomenal morning safari!
The Piva male surveys his domain.
Directly descended from the original mother leopard and therefore part of the royal lineage of Londolozi.
The Tamboti young female was in what can only be described as an amorous mood and began rubbing herself up against the Piva male, fluttering her tail in his face and subtly growling to win his affection. Reluctantly, he was persuaded by her persistence and they began mating. It is always such a privilege to witness leopards mating. They repeated their copulation on a number of occasions whilst slowly moving through the thicket and out into a clearing.
Leopard mating can be a seemingly violent affair.
The Tamboti female inhabited the south-eastern sections of Londolozi, having a large part of her territory along the Maxabene Riverbed.
Whilst my guests were photographing the Piva male to our right, I noticed the gentle ear twitch of a kudu calf in a nearby thicket to our left. It was only a few seconds later that the Piva male turned his head and got a glimpse of the young kudu himself. Still in its infancy, the kudu was oblivious to the imminent danger stalking through the patchy grass. There was relatively scant cover for the Piva male to conceal himself behind, but he crouched as low as he could and made a swift yet methodical approach, pausing whenever it looked as if he might be spotted. Although we could see both predator and prey, it appeared as though the leopard made his stalk to perfection, as at no point did the kudu give any indication that it was aware of any danger. Being only young, maybe a couple of weeks old, the kudu probably wasn’t exhibiting the same kind of awareness an adult might have, nor did it have the relative protection and guidance of its mother, who must have been feeding elsewhere. Although she would probably not have had a chance of defending her calf against an adult male leopard, the mother’s extra pair of eyes and ears may have detected the danger in time.
With the Tamboti young female looking on, the Piva male took full advantage of the situation, raced in and quickly subdued the calf.
The typical killing grip of a leopard – clamping down hard on the throat to asphyxiate the prey and to prevent any distress call being given.
Having successfully made the kill, the Piva male dragged his prey through a clearing to a nearby thicket line. He proceeded to drag it onto a termite mound, roughly one hundred metres from the kill sight, thereafter laying down to catch his breath. All this time, the Tamboti young female was slowly trailing him, hoping for a free meal at some stage. After resting for a few moments, the Piva male began feeding whilst also scanning the trees above looking for a suitable place to hoist his kill and keep it away from the prying hyenas and lions.
One can clearly see how young the kudu calf was in this picture.
The Tamboti young female follows in the wake of the Piva male.
After dragging their kills to a relatively safe spot, leopards will generally check to see if any other predator might be approaching.
The Piva male looks towards where the Tamboti young female was sniffing around.
Although the superb eyesight of Freddy Ngobeni made the initial discovery of the leopard pair, I believe that a more a powerful and profound lesson can be rendered from such an experience. If it had not been for the alarm calls of the squirrel, we may never have seen the leopards nor witnessed such an incredible sighting. It is a lesson that we can all learn from, and take with us in our daily lives; never disregard the small things in life, you never know what they might lead you too…
Filmed by Freddy Ngobeni
I hope your guests realised that was a once in a lifetime game drive
Amazing story, pics and video as well.
Piva is certainly a magnificent leopard.
Callum and Freddy (the photographer ?) … an unbeatable duo. Love them both.
awesome stuff!_rarely seen
What an amazing sight that was! Well done to Freddy for his amazing tracking ability. Thank you both for the pictures & write up. Have a lovely Easter Weekend with lots more awesome sightings 🙂
As you say, never disregard the small things in life. It is true, the big things emanate from the small things.
Brilliant sensitivity….everyone! A first class witnessing of the natural, wild world of life in the bush of Londolozi. That is why you folks are the BEST! And then the follow through with the reporting to all of us who have been guests and are scattered through-out the world. Made my day….in West Vancouver, BC, Canada