For those of you that have followed the story of the Leopards of Londolozi over the last couple of decades there will be names that stand out to you. Strong females with even stronger blood lines that have shaped the leopard dynamics in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve over many years. Names like Sunset Bend, Maxabene and Vomba females spring to mind very quickly and that’s just the start. I could add a lot more names to that list, but I don’t want this post going too far down memory lane as the one female leopard I want to focus on today is still very much around, but we just do not see her as much. She is the Mashaba Female.
The Sunset Bend Female lived to 18 years old and over her lifetime raised numerous cubs to adulthood. She is the grandmother of the Mashaba Female.
The Vomba female is the mother of the Mashaba Female and she lived to 16 years old.
Sightings of the Mashaba Female have been few and far between of late, largely due to the fact that the two cubs she raised to adulthood, the Nkoveni and Ximungwe females, have taken over large parts of her territory. It is natural for a female leopard to cede territory to her daughter(s) in order to accommodate her/them but when you start to have multiple offspring that you do this for, it does mean that either your own territory becomes incredibly small or she has to shift it completely, which seems to be what she has done.
The Nkoveni Female was the first cub that the Mashaba Female raised to adulthood. She is now 8 years old.
The Ximungwe Female was the second cub that she raised independence and she holds much of what used to be the Mashaba female’s territory. She is currently 5 years old.
The Mashaba female is 12 years old now and up until a few months back she used to occupy a territory that was very close to the Londolozi camps. It was this proximity to camp that meant she fast became one of the leopards that we saw the most of as each time we set off on and returned from a game drive it was straight through the middle of her territory. As a result, the rangers of Londolozi over the years have able to her story as closely as one could hope for.
These days she seems to have moved a bit further south on our reserve, confining her movements to the central parts, but it seems that she is not holding as much territory as she used to. This means that the need for her to undertake extended territorial patrols that would help our tracking efforts in the past are not as prevalent. She is still in very good condition and although 12 years is moving into senior status as a leopard, there are many cases of female leopards reaching ages well upwards of 15.
One of the ways we use to identify the Mashaba Female quite easily is by looking for the brown marks on the tip of her nose.
The Mashaba female with a litter of cubs from a few years back.
Like most of the other leopards that descended from the Sunset Bend female, the Mashaba Female has a beautiful rich golden coat.
The last sighting of her was a couple of weeks ago when she arrived at the scene of a hippo carcass that was being fed on by lots of hyenas. She must have been chased up the tree that she was seen in because she did not look comfortable and it would seem as if she had been looking for an easy meal on the carcass. Most leopards will scavenge if the opportunity presents itself but as they get older this behaviour is more frequent. Age-wise she should still be very capable of hunting, but it has been some time since we have seen her on a kill of her own. Maybe we just haven’t been looking hard enough!
The Mashaba female was mating with the Senegal Bush male two months ago. Could she be pregnant again?
I now have an incredible urge to go and find her and spend some time following her just to try and get some sort of idea what the next chapter in this incredible leopard’s life will hold. With a mother that lived to 16 years old and a grandmother that lived to 18 years old, the Mashaba Female has some strong genes. Will she be able to raise a third cub to adulthood? Is she still as capable as she was in her prime? Will she take over more territory? These are the questions that still needs answers and we will definitely let you know what they are when or if we find out.
Londolozi's oldest territorial female. Distinguished by her nose spot, this Sunsetbend matriarch's legacy lives on through her daughters.
James, Mashaba is my favourite female leopard. She was the first leopard we viewed at Londolozi 10 years ago when she was still the Vomba young female. Going through old photos taken at Londolozi, I found quite a few of her when she was young. She was and still is beautiful.
Interesting blood line! Leopards are my favorite, so I really enjoyed this. Thanks for sharing.
Great photos of a wonderful beast.
James, what wonderful blog – I have seen Mashaba Female leapord
Have managed to see Mashaba female on all 4 visits. The last included an exciting adventure as it “dropped” its kill almost directly on our vehicle. (Sean Z captured that perfectly on video.)
Hi James. The story of the Leopard Family (ies) at Londolozi is fascinating. In certain respects much more interesting than my husband’s or my family tree (up to a point). Thank you, James. Have you any more on this subject for us? Wendy M
i do hope that this beautiful leopard has several years ahead of her. she is truly gorgeous. fingers crossed all is well with her. stay safe. Victoria
Hello James, Interesting article about Mashaba female. Hope you find her and can tell us more of her life right now. I saw her 2017 with her two cubs by their den. It was an amazing couple of hours! I will never forget her or her small cubs and their interaction!! Unfortunately the small cubs were killed. It was very sad to read that news.
I hope she will have new cubs and a nice and good territory of her own! Looking forward to hear more about her new life! Thank you for sharing!
Interesting, informative historical leopard blog James. Mashava female is so goldenly beautiful and it would be exciting if she has another cub.
It would be very interesting to see if she has a new litter of cubs soon!
Was the Tamboti female related to the Mashaba female? Their golden coats are so similar!
Hi Peggy, yes the Tamboti female is related. She is the daughter of the Sunset bed Female whereas the Mashaba Female is the grand daughter of the Sunset bend Female
I meant leopards, sorry i was in the hospital
James, perhaps she’s self distancing, if pregnant, keeping a low profile…… that’s why animal behavior is so fascinating. We can predict movement, habits, territory to a certain extent and then they throw us a curve ball! I’ve been following two squirrels that visit in my backyard and enjoyed their daily antics- then they disappeared for three days. Did a hawk catch one or both, did they find a better yard, better food??? Alas, they returned and up to their same playful antics. Where were they?! Who knows but that is what keeps me entertained and fascinated. Sampson and Delilah have stolen a piece of my heart as Mashaba has stolen the hearts of everyone who has watched her over the years, or at least followed her story. We’ll stay tuned…..
This is exactly why I love leopards! Each individual has a unique story and by merely spending time with one individual you can learn so much! The way nature works is mesmerizing!! Hopefully you can find the Mashaba female and tell us more about her whereabouts!
I’ve never had the pleasure to see the Mashaba female, only her daughter Ximungwe (she gave us some beautiful sightings) . It’ll be interesting to see where she ends up and hopefully she carves a nice space out for herself. It would be great to see her have more cubs – though that might put too much pressure on her. What an interesting balance these magnificent cats have to attain – the inborn desires to procreate and yet that very thing might lead to their ultimate demise.
Hi James, how wonderful it would be if she could raise a 3rd cub to independence, but she has lost so many litters at a young age now since Ximungwe. We were lucky enough to spend an hour or so in October 2017 with her and her 3 cubs, which were about 3 months old then. The cubs were beyond adorable as they wrestled each other and clambered over her. Then about 2 weeks later, they were all dead – with lion pawprints around them. I think Tortoise Pan killed another litter, and there seem to be so many other times they’ve just disappeared. How many do you think she’s lost?
Our first and favorite female leopard!!!
Nick Kleer’s photo of her with the two cubs is stunning
Wow absolutely beautiful an amazing bloodline hopefully she’s alive please keep us posted. Thank you
We saw Mashaba in early August of last year, looking quite rotund…..either she had a huge feed just before, or was visibly quite pregnant. She was lazily patrolling and scent marking, finally settling to rest on a large termite mound. It was a pleasure to follow her and spend some time with her that day!
James, We hope all the answers to the questions you posed are YES! She has been our favorite too. Terri has so many photos of her and thinks the spot on her nose is in the shape of Africa! What do you think?
Hi Michael and Terri, I can definitely see the resemblance! So unique!
Stay safe and healthy for all of you!
The mashaba female is my favourite leopard, so placid and always looks as if she likes to be photographed. Hope she also grows old with dignity like her mother and grandmother. She is so beautiful.