It’s not often that I’m glad I’m wrong, but a recent mistimed blog post that I scheduled to be posted when I was away from the lodge apparently came out a few days too late for what it was intended.
The Mashaba female was expected to give birth soon (at the time of writing), and we released a post speculating as to where she would choose to stash the cubs. Not only was I wrong about the site, but the date, as she was discovered with three brand new cubs by tracker Sersant Sibuyi and ranger Andrea Sithole on the 26th December – a week before the post went out – and we suspect that the youngsters were born during the night of the 25th, making them Christmas cubs. Some of the photos taken below, on the morning of the discovery of the den, are truly remarkable as we are sure you’ll agree.
When a leopard den is discovered, the usual protocol is to dispatch a vehicle to the site with senior rangers and/or management in order to establish operating procedures around it. The viewing of young leopard cubs is made on a case-by-case basis, but the general rule is to give them space for the first few weeks of their lives, not visiting the den and keeping impact and possible stress on the mother down to a minimum.
The den, with the Mashaba female visible in the upper recesses of the erosion gully.
If the den is one that only permits a long distance view (eg. a rocky outcrop), that’s clearly a different scenario to one down in a drainage line where a vehicle could potentially get close and be far more impactful (like the one in this instance). The decisions made on viewing protocol are always to serve the interests of the animal(s) first.
The den the Mashaba female has chosen this time is very similar to her last one in the Maxabene riverbed; a deeply eroded gully that flows into the main river system. It is quite a random spot, so for now the decision has been made to leave the den area well alone, for a number of reasons:
- The cubs are absolutely tiny (less than two weeks old still) and utterly defenceless.
- The den is in no way secure and hiding places for the cubs are limited. It is therefore vulnerable to a raid by a rival predator.
- Vehicle movement around the den may draw unwanted attention to it, and hyenas are especially curious creatures by nature, so the risk of a hyena coming sniffing around would only be increased if vehicles were visiting the spot regularly.
- Actual viewing of the cubs would be very limited in any case, as the gully is very narrow, and continues around the corner, meaning they will be out of sight most of the time.
With eyes still unopened, the cubs were apparently struggling to find their mothers teats in order to suckle.
In a few weeks we will reassess the situation. The more prominent den sites the Mashaba female has used before are far more secure and within a few hundred metres of where the latest litter is currently being stashed, so we are hoping she will move to one of these spots soon. The cubs will be safer at those boulder-cluster dens and we might be lucky enough to be afforded the occasional view of them.
Three out of the last four litters of the Mashaba female have been of three cubs! Leopard cubs only open their eyes after a week or ten days, and in this photo, taken on the day the den was discovered, one can clearly see the cub facing the camera still has its eyes tightly shut.
For now, we are extremely pleased (understatement) that there are three tiny leopard cubs on Londolozi. 2019 is off to a fantastic start!
They are so tiny. I do hope they survive.
Let us hope it won’t pour down during the coming weeks !
Beautiful James. And I love that they are Christmas cubs. Hopefully that gives them divine blessing to reach adulthood ☺️. Mashaba is my girl so it all makes sense to me!
We feel the same!♥️
So exciting! Yes, put the animals first! That is imperative in their protection. I am so glad you do that! Thanks for posting these incredible photos!
What a great find, James! Congratulations to Sersant and Andrea!! Leopard cubs so often don’t make it through and that always makes me feel sad. Let’s hope that with Londolozi care these 3 will have a great chance of making it to adulthood. Lovely pics of the young cubs. Not an easy place to photo them. Wendy M
Congratulations!!
Hello James,
What a wonderful news! I’m happy for Mashaba. I saw her cubs September 2017. It was fantastic, magical!
It was so sad to read at the blog that they had been killed.
I hope that these will have long, happy and healthy lifes!
Fantastic photos!
How fabulously exciting!!!! Fingers crossed for their continued health. Victoria
Indeed, what a wonderful way to start the new year. I hope they are in for a long and happy life. They are so vulnerable now, so let’s keep our fingers crossed they will one day be able to start their own family.
Truly a gift from God! May they have a Blessed Life, Thank you for sharing.
Wonderful that you have such strict protocols
Spectacular news -wishing them a long and happy life.
Gorgeous little guys.
After losing all 3 cubs of her last 2 litters, let’s hope 3rd time lucky! How far away is this den site from the Ndzanzeni young male’s usual area, and is the dominant male the Inyathini?
My girl…
Brilliant discovery of the Christmas cubs. Sending good wishes that her choice of the den site will prove to be secure enough to keep them safe. Speaking of den sites, how are the Ximungwe (sp) cubs fairing in that rocky nook. They seemed quite secure in their little cave, although one was daring and curious enough to expose itself in the “courtyard “, a quick but thrilling view of such a tiny leopard. I could have the female’s name incorrect but I know it began with an X. Needed to use binoculars but the experience was priceless!!
Awesome news.
Mashaba gifted three Christmas Cubs. What a blessing and I pray they survive!
How wonderful! We can’t wait to possibly see these little cubs when we visit soon – Mashaba is a wonderful leopard mum, so I hope these can make it
So tiny so vulnerable. I sincerely hope their mother moves them to safer ground soon and manages to rear them to independence. Just a wonderful start to 2019 indeed.
Another example of the concern for the “residents.” Very impressive. We learn something new with each blog entry!
Good story. The little ones are cute. I hope they reach maturity.
Sweet! Great picture. Thanks for posting.
Awesome! Congrats!
Oh my goodness me, how precious are these little ones! Please keep safe 🙂 Thank you for sharing James & photographer 🙂