We had found tracks of a male leopard near Shingalana Dam, right in the centre of Londolozi. The tracks were leading us through the thicket line along the Maxabene riverbed. Shadrack Mkhabela and I were following on foot while Sandros Sihlangu and Eckson Sibuyi scouted a little further ahead with their Land Rover.
Shadrack followed the tracks along a prominent game trail to where he found the remains of a duiker kill on the ground, with some meat still on it, so we knew the leopard that made it, most likely the male we had been following, had to be close by.
Driving down into the Maxabene riverbed itself, we were surprised to come across the Tamboti female lying in the sand. We had been following male tracks, so what was this female doing here. Maybe the male had robbed her kill?
She got up after a few minutes and began to walk away from where the kill was. She paused briefly to drink at a small pan before continuing along the thicket edge.
A quick drink at a pan before moving on to call her cub out of hiding nearby.
Climbing a large termite mound, she started to give a soft contact call and our excitement levels leaped, as we knew she was calling her cub. The cub didn’t come for a while though, and the female stopped calling for a few minutes to snarl at a Natal spurfowl that had climbed the termite mound near her.
The Tamboti female snarls her annoyance at a pesky spurfowl that can be seen in the bottom left of the picture.
After a wait of about 15 minutes, we could hear an answering call coming from a dense spikethorn thicket, and within moments, the female was joined on the mound by her cub.
The cub finally appears on top of the mound where its mother had been waiting for it.
What followed was an amazing sighting in which mother and daughter chased each other through pans, up mounds and over and around wallows. It was wonderful spending time with such animated animals!
The classic pounce position; one which the cub will use more and more frequently as she grows into an efficient huntress. Tremendously powerful back legs make leopards incredible jumpers.
Lethally sharp claws at full extension, the cub takes a proper swipe at its mother.
A three metre wide pan is no obstacle for an adult female leopard.
Surprisingly, the leopards didn’t head back to the kill after that. We weren’t sure if the Tamboti female even knew the kill was there. Perhaps she had been robbed by the male whose tracks we had seen, and knew she didn’t stand much chance of recovering any of the kill. Perhaps the presence of a male had made the cub nervous, which is why it had taken it so long to come out.
With a number of questions left unanswered, we were still thrilled to have spent such an amazing morning with the two leopards in what appeared to be the highest of spirits.
The Tamboti female inhabited the south-eastern sections of Londolozi, having a large part of her territory along the Maxabene Riverbed.
Lovely experience Guy. The cub still seem to be very playful. Driving through the Maxabene is probably one of my favourite drives.
Fabulous sighting, I am sure that your guests appreciated both how rare a sighting that was and the sympathetic tracking that found the mother and daughter leopard
Tamboti is one of my favorites! She was very pregnant with this cub at my last visit and we’re looking forward to seeing them both very soon!
Her cub looks to be over a year old? That was an awesome sighting and quite exciting to watch them play/learn/teach – all at the same time.
What a great sighting and lovely photos. Hope you are enjoying guiding! Also hope to see you when I am there this August!
Incredible sighting!!
With Tamboti missing and presumed dead, has anyone seen her cub?
Hi Linda, yes the cub has been seen on a number of occasions.
It is past the age at which its survival chances increase exponentially, so even without its mother, we are all of the opinion that it will make it!