About the Author

James Tyrrell

Alumni

James had hardly touched a camera when he came to Londolozi, but his writing skills that complemented his Honours degree in Zoology meant that he was quickly snapped up by the Londolozi blog team. An environment rich in photographers helped him develop the ...

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on Is the Sand River Safe for Leopard Cubs?

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James, do we know who the potential father is? Given that she was so visible at the end of the airstrip when her Mother and the Piva male were mating clearly stating “This is my territory”. Would she select a site in the territory of the father to avoid any potential conflict especially as the Flat Rock Male and Piva moving into what was the 4:4 territory ? Great blog ! BTW I am in the instinct camp rather than the ability to categorize risk. JT you being mischievous again LOL ?

Another fantastic read James. Thank you. The combination of your journalism and photography transports me back to Londolozi. Can’t wait for the next instalment to find out about the chosen area for the den and the upcoming birth.

James, I’ve always felt that animals’ intuition is so much better than humans though, so we just need to hope that luck is on Nkoveni’s side this time as well and she is able to keep her cubs safe and out of the way of the Tsalala pride. Your pictures are beautiful and I especially love the one of Young Mashaba and her Mom and miss seeing them together.

Thanks for the comments, Jill.
I tend to agree and guess there is some kind of intuition when it comes to this kind of thing. At least that’s what I’d like to believe…

Cherrill thickitt
Guest

James I have a question. It was sad to read the blog on departed leopards. It must have been really sad for you knowing these animals so well. Five leopards seems a high number. Considering that not many cubs make it to
maturity how does this affect the population of leopards for the future can they sustain their numbers.

Hi Cherrill…
It is sad, yes, but you come to accept it as the way of the wild. In terms of the future population, there are always going to be young leopards waiting in the wings to claim unoccupied territories, so although locally it seems like a big loss, in the context of the total population of the park (over 1000 leopards) the loss is, in fact, minor…

Cherrill thickitt
Guest

Thanks James I am pleased to hear that there are such good numbers of Leopards in the park.

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