The far southern reaches of Londolozi are exciting to explore, mainly because they aren’t driven consistently.
The south-eastern sector is particularly thick, and to be honest, actively tracking leopards down there can be a fairly daunting task. What we have found as a result is that the leopard population in that area remains the least viewed as a group of any on Londolozi. Cubs often stay skittish for longer, not seeing vehicles regularly, and we might go a couple of weeks between confirmed sightings of individuals.
Here though, are the leopards we might expect to see – or at least whose tracks we might expect to find – in the deep southern areas of Londolozi:
Ndzanzeni female:
The last of Londolozi’s official “Royal” lineage, the Ndzanzeni female is a direct descendant of the original Mother Leopard that was first viewed in 1979. Our fear is that she might die before producing a female heir, thus ending the genetic line (the lineages are only traced through females, not through males), but she is still young (born 2012), so as long as she keeps reproducing, the lineage is in with a fighting chance.
Twice over the past couple of years the Ndzanzeni female has been viewed with a bad injury, hobbling with one foot off the ground and looking fairly emaciated, and both times we have been forced to hold our collective breaths as she pulled through.
She successfully raised the Tortoise Pan male to independence, but unfortunately lost a different male cub earlier this year. Sightings of her have been infrequent over the past few months, likely owing to the incursion of the Three Rivers female into the area, and we believe the Ndzanzeni female may have shifted her territory slightly further south.
Tatowa female:
Although female leopards regularly set up territories adjacent to their mothers, the Tatowa female was an exception, moving from her birthing area around Ximpalapala Koppie in the north of Londolozi to the deep south-west, probably because so much of the area near the river was already firmly occupied.
This leopard is almost certainly on the podium of least-seen females, inhabiting an area comprised of extensive rocky sections and deep drainage lines that make her hard to find.
The Tatowa female has raised a single male cub to independence, who dispersed and was reportedly seen further south towards Lion Sands, and she is now in the process of raising a second cub – also a young male – to past one year of age.
Nweti male:
After briefly moving through Londolozi in 2018, having dispersed from his natal area west of Londolozi, the Nweti male seems to be establishing himself down in the south-eastern corner.
A large chunk of his territory is south of Londolozi, but the increasing frequency with which we’ve been viewing him suggests that he is pushing back north, possibly taking advantage of the ageing of the Inyathini male. In fact, given that no fewer than four new males (Senegal Bush, Mawelawela, Maxim’s, Nweti) are being viewed consistently around the edges of the Inyathini male’s territory, it might be safe to assume that age is finally catching up to him.
If he is or he isn’t either way the Nweti male looks like he’s going to be sticking around…
A new face on southern Londolozi – the White Dam male.
A couple of drifters have been viewed in the deep south as well, including the Ntsumi female and White Dam male, both who have wandered up from the southern sections of the reserve, and we’ll put together a post on them and a few others once we know a bit more about them.
This female was born in the Sabi Sabi camps and became territorial in central Shaws, after inheriting a piece of her mother's territory.
With a number of young leopards on Londolozi at the moment – some newly independent, some still with their mothers – the whole look of Londolozi’s leopard population could be very different in the next 12-18 months!
James is the Mashaba female not descended from the Mother leopard? Was Vomba not descended from that lineage?
Hi Marinda,
No they came from the Sunset Bend lineage which is different to that of the Mother Leopard.
It’s certainly conceivable that before the leopards were viewed regularly and records were kept that the Sunset Bend female and Mother Leopard came from the same common ancestor, but without substantial DNA testing (which is actually going on), we can’t say for sure.
Thanks James. The research that is being done is fascinating. It is interesting to track the animals and to know where they come from. New DNA research show that us humans share an ancestor that originated in Botswana.
James, I love leopards – of course you are known to have the largest leopard population! I have recommended to you several people – hope they will all come to see the leopards that you are known for🤗
Thanks Joan!
James, always a good day when working the leopard’s of Londolozi
Of course!
Hi James,
It’s so great to read about Nweti, I saw him when he was still hanging around in the Western Sector.
He carries on Hlabankunzi female’s and Nyelethi male’s heritage!
Hopefully he finds a great ‘home’ in the south-east area.
Thanks for the update!
James, thank you for the continuing coverage of the Londolozi leopards. It’s wonderful to know there is such a healthy population within your boundaries, including visitors from other properties in the immediate area. Aside from the leopards in this Deep South area, are the usual species found ie giraffe, rhinos, hippo…..?
Hi Denise,
Yip, all the usual suspects are down there. The habitat is very varied – thickets, river frontage, open grassland – so the species diversity is fantastic in the area.
Hippos would be the one animal you are unlikely to see as the Sand River in that section doesn’t have any deep pools, but occasionally one will be seen hat has been pushed out by a rival and is forced to exist in one of the smaller waterholes.
Good stuff
Let’s hope that the Ndzenzani female produces a female cub at some point. Great photos
Thanks for the update,James.Inyathini is definitely losing ground on all sides,with younger males pushing into his territory and also coming to blows between themselves.Last month N’weti fought with Maxim’s and two days ago Flat Rock was on the receiving end in a fight with Maxim’s when the Nkoveni stepped in and bit Maxim’s male,so the boundaries between all these males are far from being sorted,which is bad news for the females in the area.Off topic,are there any updates on the Anderson male?I am convinced that he suffers from some sort of disease,maybe TB,he has declined way too fast and he is not even that old.
I don’t think he’s been seen in the last couple of days. When males get pushed out by rivals their decline generally accelerates quite a bit, and given that sightings of him have been intermittent at best over the last year he might have been going downhill for some time without anyone properly picking up on it.
He’s around 11 years old, so I agree, he probably had a couple of years in him left.
We’ll post an update as soon as we have one…
Thank you James,i am am looking forward to further updates.
Thanks James really appreciate this and seeing a few leopards soon
James, we still remember the amazing sighting in a huge tree with Inyathini, Ndzanzeni and her then cub. Hoping she can bring up a female too!
I join with others hoping that the Ndzanzeni female has a female off spring to carry on the lineage. She certainly is beautiful. Also it’s good to get a update on the Anderson male, although sad.
My all-time favorite photo is of the Ndzanzeni female drinking from a small pool at sunrise!