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Mashaba 3:3 Female

Mashaba 3:3 Female

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James Souchon

Field Guide

James started his guiding career at the world-renowned Phinda Game Reserve, spending four years learning about and showing guests the wonder of the incredibly rich biodiversity that the Maputaland area of South Africa has to offer. Having always wanted to guide in the ...

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25 Comments

on Where is the Mashaba Female?

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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.

Digital Ranger

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!

Senior Digital Ranger

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!!!

Master Tracker

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!

Digital Ranger

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.

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