The end of 2020 saw many a guiding team (ranger and tracker) and their guests viewing an unusually high number of mating pairs of leopards around Londolozi, which is very exciting for us all right now while we try and figure out exactly which one was successful (hint: quite. few of them).
But that is for another blog. For now I will focus on a single day wherein we were incredibly fortunate in getting to witness one of these special events.
But with a twist.
The day had been a quiet one – a sweltering 36° Celsius – but evening had fallen and the temperature with it and we were just settling in for a peaceful night-drive, thinking about the eventual loops back toward home. That is until we rounded a bend in the road just south of the Manyelethi river and our roving spotlight fell across a jaw-dropping sight: there just next to the road was not one, not two but three leopards! A large male – the Flat Rock male – and two females, the Xinzele and the Nhlanguleni female, all arranged in exceptionally close proximity around a termite mound.
Initially skittish she spent a lot of time in the Sand River, now relaxed she makes up the majority of leopard viewing west of camp.
A dominant male leopard over the majority of the north. He originally took over the 4:4 Male's territory when he died.
And even as we puzzled over exactly what was going on, the big male rose and ambled over to the smaller Xinzele Female – we had obviously just missed her rubbing herself against him and presenting herself – and mounted her; the ensuing guttural snarling and neck biting was as thrilling as ever and we waited with bated breath for the swat at the end from the female as the male’s barbed penis was painfully removed. This time it was not to be but that took nothing away from the experience of witnessing such an incredible event.
The Flat Rock male mounting the Xinzele female has the entire vehicle scrabbling for their cameras!
The fearsome guttural growing that accompanies this scene makes for a fiercely intense moment that cannot fail to enthral any bush-goer.
The male, after diving away from the swat-that-never-came, then proceeded to settle himself directly between the two females and that’s when things really started to get interesting. The females, although tolerant of the other’s presence, hissed and spat at each other while at the same time vying for the attention of the male, presenting themselves continuously and rubbing their rumps and tails across the fortunate male’s muzzle. The male, for his part, sat between the two, alternating between hood-lidded ambivalence and ferocious snarls of protest at the two squabbling females, even going so far as to swat at each female in turn as they try to present themselves to him.
The Flat Rock male loses his temper as the females snarl and hiss at one-another, vying for his attention.
But despite his apparent protests he would always eventually relent, and we watched in fascination as he would mount one and shortly thereafter the other, time and time again; the shortest interval between the two was 190 seconds between mounting!
Now, this with one female is fairly standard procedure but with two? Did the Flat Rock male have the stamina for this marathon event? Three days like this would sap the strength of even the strongest territorial male. But given this particular leopard’s recent expansion of territory deep into the northern parts of the reserve, and with him currently holding the largest territory of any male on Londolozi (as far as we can tell), he might just have been in decent enough condition to carry it through to conception with both the Nhlanguleni female and the Xinzele female. And if so, now is the time that those two would be giving birth and denning their new cubs..
A small female often found in NW Marthly. Similar spot pattern to her mother the Ingrid Dam Female.
These two moments were literally two minutes apart!
As far as I am aware, the two females did not have cubs at the time and so this was unlikely to be related to the male’s recent territorial expansion effort, whereby if he had come across any cubs that were not his then he would have killed them, in a single stroke removing genetic competition and inducing oestrus in the female, who he could then mate with to further his own line – this essentially being the goal of every animal out here.
Now as “unusual” as this appears it is not by any means a first for us here at Londolozi, as I was later to find out (I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed to hear this, as there I was at the sighting thinking I was witnessing history in the making…). But there was still something particularly curious about this interaction as the females weren’t related; previous sightings of this nature have often involved sisters or related females and as mentioned earlier, it’s all about the genes, so two related females would be more likely to tolerate each other’s presence more so than two genetically isolated individuals.
But theory and practice will always differ and that is the beauty of being out here. We’re constantly seeing and trying to interpret new situations and interactions and often times we just have to accept that there are some things that we’ll just not ever really know.
And that’s ok too. Sometimes the magic lies in the mystery.
Very well-written Kyle, it made me smile! What a lucky event. Maybe the two females tolerate each other also because such a male leopard was worth the sharing
Absolutely, he is an extremely strong male that has recently expanded his territory by a significant margin – prime genetic material!
Interesting! It just might be that one will have gotten pregnant, the one who was first, if she was first for a couple of matings. It seems to me the male runs out of semen after a while…………….. at least, that is the story with other animals.
Hi Irene, the mating ritual can go on for several days and somewhere in the region of 250 separate mating events!! It is actually the constant mating that eventually causes the female to ovulate. And so conception normally happens nearer the end of the mating period. Additionally, the males’ sperm is very dilute so as to be able to last the entire mating period.
Thrilling account of this mating ritual. I’d not heard of this “arrangement” previously and can only imaging what it must have been like to witness in real time. Incredible story and images!
Neither had I Paul! But it really was fascinating to watch.
Would a female not perhaps fake ‘oestrus’ to protect possible young?
Absolutely Gawie and that is definitely a strategy that we have witness on several occasions. However, these females are fairly regularly seen and we would have noticed had they had suckle marks or some such clue as to cubs in the weeks precluding this day.
Hopefully there will some with suckle marks around now. 😉
Fascinating variation on the mating practices!
What a really exciting event. I would have loved watching these three leopards. Great pictures.
Thanks Christa, it was very special to see!
What an astonishing sighting, Kyle, I’m surprised it didn’t feature on a blog back then. As you say, given the time interval, it certainly looks like he’s the father of Nhlanguleni’s new cub(s).
I would definitely agree with you there, Suzanne!! It was the recent birth of those cubs that reminded me to write this blog.
Kyle that is fantastic that the Flat rock male was mating with both the female leopards and lying in between the two females while they were spitting and hissing at each other. He certainly is worth fighting for, such a majestic leopard. That means more leopard cubs and that is absolutely fantastic.
It was an awesome sighting Valmai!! And couldn’t agree with you more – it will be very exciting going into winter watching any new cubs grow.
Geez!! Who knew that female leopards could present themselves as being so “Amorous” amidst the bush! .. That even makes me blush! Can’t imagine what the male was thinking! (hahaha) – At least it was a pleasant site of nature and conservation.
It was certainly a learning experience for me too, Mama!
How great to come across this group and watch a slightly different dynamic! Victoria
It really was fascinating to witness, Victoria!
Wow, what a sighting indeed! Fascinating interaction! Thanks for sharing, Kyle!
An absolute pleasure, Darlene!
Whatever the science is behind this particular event, the Flat Rock Male certainly got his oats and perhaps for you lucky folk, there will be a lot of cubs to view in the future.😊 It will be interesting to see if he dismisses either one at that stage and might think of killing either of the females cubs …I hope not !
And that’s it, Cally, sometimes we just don’t know what’s going on! But I do have my doubts that a male will dismiss any previous mating event all that easily. Or at least I’ll join you in hoping not!
Kyle, I loved leopards🤗
Flat Rock is a super stud. Love that cat! And Nhlanguleni and Xinzele too
I’ve seen this behavior once with a lion and two lionesses, but never with a leopard and two females. You got great great shots of their behaviors.
Thanks so much, Linda!
Wow very interesting article! Every male’s dream to be in that scenario I bet!!! 😆 Two females begging for him and his attention! He must have thought all his dreams had come true at once! Lol. I can’t help wonder what they must be thinking of these crazy humans and their excitement to be taking pictures of their very private encounter. 😄
Thanks Carly, it really is such interesting behaviour! And, as with any other behaviour that involves the leopards around this area, I’d be very surprised if they took any notice of us at all. They seemed quite oblivious to our presence!
Kyle, what an incredible sighting! It’s amazing to think that female competitors like that could could put themselves in that kind of a situation. It will now be interesting to see if there are future interactions between the two females, and whether they end up having cubs at about the same time!
Well, that’s one way to establish a dominant role – impregnate the available females and then protect his offspring. However, this behavior could backfire as he ages…. at any rate, thanks for your report on this threesome.
Wow Kyle, what an experience. Great storytelling. Wish we were there!!!
excellent. enjoyed very much and can’t wait to hear an update on these 3 and cubs yay