The Nhlanguleni female seems to be having great success in rearing her second litter of cubs, and we too are benefitting as sightings of the three have been nothing short of spectacular.
What is especially pleasing about this current litter is just different they are in temperament to her first litter of cubs. Sightings of that litter (initially three of them) were few and far between. They were first viewed at around 2 months old in a den north of the Sand River, but due in part to the female keeping them well hidden in the Sand River, they never got used to vehicles, and remained incredibly skittish until just over the age of one year, when they were killed – we believe – by the incumbent Flat Rock male.
One of the previous litter of cubs. The skittish demeanour can clearly be seen in the furtive way in which the cub looks towards the camera.
It wasn’t too long before the Nhlanguleni female reproduced again, and so far the male population seems stable; a key factor in cub survival. With both the Anderson and Flat Rock males having mated with the female, both males are invested in the paternity, and both are comfortable with the cubs, and they with them. There was a brief scare earlier this year when the Hosana male stumbled upon the den site in which the cubs were hiding, but they escaped unscathed.
The current litter when they were much younger, happily exposed on a boulder when their mother was nowhere near.
At the moment, with the Sand River essentially completely dry, access to the Nhlanguleni litter’s riverbed haunts has been relatively straightforward, and the twisty, turny channels are for the most part quite easy to navigate with a Land Rover. A combination of this ease of access and a far more localised movement of the female than we’ve seen in recent years, and you have the ingredients for a habituated litter of cubs.
The cubs a couple of weeks ago in the Sand River.
At this age the size difference between male and female would already be quite marked. I myself haven’t seen the cubs too many times, but in this particular sighting one was clearly a female and the other was so similarly sized I had no hesitation in concluding it was the same sex. I’ve been wrong before though…
Yet even before viewing became regular, the cubs were far more relaxed around vehicles than their predecessors. In some of their early dens, they would quite happily remain in the open even if their mother moved off, and these days, as they slowly close in on the golden age of one year, to see them moving with their mother through the riparian fringe along the river is an absolute delight.
While we can’t say for sure why these two cubs (both females as far as I’m aware) are far more habituated, it seems clear that leopards, like people, simply differ in temperament between individuals. Some cubs are bold, some are shy.
We can debate the whole thing ad infinitum, but there’s really no point. Far better I say, to just enjoy it for what it is, which is some of the most consistent leopard-and-cub viewing Londolozi has experienced in many a month.
The cubs are gorgeous. Just my theory, but they might be more relaxed because the mother is more relaxed. Human mothers are much more relaxed with the second child than with the first. It might be the same with this female?
How wonderful!
I am really looking forward to my stay at Londolozi in April next year and do hope to see all those wonderful leopards myself
Fantastic! Is this the Nhlanguleni the leopard that used to be know as the Mashaba Young female before she became independent from her mother Mashaba .. or am I getting confused!
Hi Gillian,
No this used to be the Tutlwa young female. She was born around May 2011. I imagine the leopard you are thinking of is now the Ximungwe female, born to the Mashaba female in May 2015…
Oh wonderful, lucky guests to get to see cubs . Mind you I suspect a degree of thought and discipline went into habituating the cubs and mother
Hi Ian,
Absolutely, although the approach was the same between both litters. One vehicle per drive when they are young and only if the mother is there, etc. That approach just seemed to work on this litter a lot faster…
Hi James. They really are the most beautiful of cats, aren’t they? We so enjoy receiving the stories and the pics. Makes us feel we are going on safari again. We live in a fascinating country with its mountains, sea, and bush wild life! We feel so privileged to be here. Wendy and Neil MacNicol
Hello James,
Wounderful pictures! They are so incredible sweet!! I hope they will have a long and healthy life!
I think we saw these two cubs while on our visit in October.
Hi Joan,
It’s very possible; I think they were seen quite a lot then!
We saw them when we noticed that one of the cubs was watching something – it was 3 female lions with 4 cubs. They were not noticed by the lions, but we assume they took cover. It was very exciting to see both sets of cubs, leopards and lions – what a thrill!
Hi Joan,
Wow that’s quite a sighting. To have both cats so close is pretty special!
These two young leopards certainly fall into the category of young animal cuteness. Viewing wild animals is both exciting and educational but the added joy comes when a sighting includes a youngster, especially under a year of age. Rhinos are not traditionally beautiful and yet their youngsters are quite endearingly sweet cute.
During my visit last week, we had a brief view viewing of the newest leopard additions, hidden in their rocky encampment, but curiosity got the best of one of them and it wandered into a clearing for a few seconds behind their nursery.
Only a novice observation, but it seems lion cubs are more accessible to public viewing- could this be because their mothers are more relaxed in general, more sociable?!
Thank you James, lovely pictures again. I was lucky enough to see this leopard with her cubs in October; they were taking turns to feed from an impala stashed underneath a bush – or at least they were until a large hyena came running in and stole it!
Such good news and viewing of these two cubs! I was dismayed when learning the previous litter had been killed. Consequently these beautiful leopards are a joy to see. We all hope for the very best as they mature and move on. Meanwhile…..happy viewing and great clicks!
Jamo, we spent an amazing afternoon with these two as they fed on an impala kill in a Sausage (Kigalia) tree in the Sand river. Their tenacity and confidence as they hoisted a carcass almost their equivalent weight up the tree was truely remarkable – your post brought all those amazing memories flooding back! (PS – Thanks for your views on the sex of the cubs too as we were debating it ourselves)…
Hi Grant,
Was that sighting at the Kigelia a couple of weeks ago? It was superb; some of the pictures in this post were from that day…
…sure was (13 Nov I think?)…I thought I recognised the distinctive bark…thanks again for the memories ?
It’s definitely an interesting topic surrounding leopards attitudes to vehicles and how they differ between inidividuals. I firmly believe that they have different personalities like us (or I would like to think so).