Early one morning we set off in the hopes of finding a leopard and we got a little more than we bargained for.
The morning started off with tracker Freddy Ngobeni signaling to me to stop. He had found fresh tracks of a leopard that seemed to have been dragging something across the road. As Freddy hopped off his perch on the front of the vehicle to have a closer look, one of my guests impressively spotted a leopard in a tree that quickly descended and ran off into the bushes. Amidst all the excitement, Freddy quickly jumped back into the vehicle and we drove towards where the leopard had run.
Unfortunately, we did not see it again. With the brief glimpse we had, we were able to make out that it was a male just based on the sheer size – it was a big leopard. We moved in a bit closer and noticed that there was an impala kill hoisted in the tree from which he had descended from. Given the area that we were in and how skittish this male leopard was, we could quite easily narrow it down to most likely being the Maxims Male leopard. He is generally quite elusive and does tend to shy away from vehicles, so much so that we have very few photos of him. Knowing this we decided that our best chance of seeing him again was to give him a bit of time to relax and potentially return to his kill. With this in mind, we left the area with the plan of returning a bit later to see if he had returned.
A tracker’s dream! Tracks of a leopard walking straight down the road.
Continuing on a bit further afield it was not long until Freddy had signaled me to stop again.
More leopard tracks!
He pointed out tracks of a female leopard and her two cubs, the Ndzanzeni Female. After a few minutes of assessing the tracks, Freddy could see that only the mother’s tracks continued down the road from where we were now parked, suggesting that maybe she had left her cubs nearby.
Just as I was turning the vehicle around to go back and have another look, one of the cubs gave itself away by peeking its head through the long grass. As you can imagine we were all extremely excited about this find! Knowing that the mother was not around, we thought we would wait for a short while only, as we did not want to put any unnecessary pressure on the little cubs or draw any attention to them. We appreciated a brief but extremely special moment with the cubs before continuing with our original plan, which was to head in the direction of the Maxims Male leopard.
Arriving back at where the hoisted impala was, we could not see any sign of the Maxims Male leopard. We hoped that by parking a little distance away, we would allow him to eventually make a return to his carcass. We waited for quite some time… Just as we were about to leave, a few impalas began alarming close by. Thinking it could be the leopard coming back to the tree to feed, we drove around to see if it was indeed him that the impalas were alarming at.
There he was! He was making his way back to his kill.
As soon as he realized that he had been spotted he dashed into a small thicket, leaving us with yet again just a glimpse. Blending in so well with his surroundings, we could only see a few of his rosettes at this stage. Even though it was such a brief view of him, it was rewarding nonetheless.
One of the very few photos we have managed to get of the Maxim’s Male.
Fairly skittish male that is presumed to have come from the Kruger National Park.
After some exciting leopard sightings, we were pretty impressed with what the morning provided us. Little did we know it was about to get better. I had just got word that two other rangers had found another male leopard, the Nweti Male. It sounded like he had found the scent of the Maxims Male leopard’s kill and was heading directly our way. Before we knew it, he arrived on the scene with the Maxims Male leopard still nowhere to be seen. He stopped briefly at the base of the tree where the kill was hoisted. Wasting no time, the Nweti Male leopard leaped right up into the tree, picked the kill up in his mouth, and carried it back down to the ground. He walked off with it proudly in his mouth. We could not believe our luck as he dragged it along the road for quite some time until he settled in a thicket and started feeding.
The Nweti Male carries off the stolen kill.
He is a large, tall, and long male that has an incredible coat and a tuft of hair on his neck
After watching him feed for a while we decided to leave him and go have a hot coffee and reflect on how this truly was a morning we will never forget. As I think back I wonder what would have happened had the Maxims Male still been up the tree. Would the Nweti Male have still been so confident and tried to steal the kill or would he have backed down to avoid any confrontation and the risk of injury?
Tayla, what an exciting and head-spinning experience! Very cool that you are learning more about these two relatively unknown leopards. It will be interesting to see if they are seen more often and potentially spend more time at Londolozi! Given the respect you are giving to Maxim’s, maybe he will become more accustomed to your vehicles.
What a morning! I suppose the more elusive an animal is, the more rewarding is its view… leopards have a fashion embedded in mystery. They are an epitome of freedom, as they don’t adjust well in captivity. The leopard native clans know it well, in its whole leopardity! So rewarding to see them especially the cubs for us too. Thanks for sharing
That peeking cub pic by Alex is the BEST!
How sad that he had to leave his kill because he was afraid of the vehicles not once but twice and ultimately lost his hard earned dinner.
Longing for another visit soon. Great stuff Tayla
May I add to my creds that I am also a leopard and Wild Dog enthusiast?
What a wonderful game drive for you and your guests, Tayla. Hopefully Ndzanzeni mated with both the Maxim’s and Nweti males, for the sake of her cubs. How old would they be now?
What a great morning in the company of so many leopards!
How lucky you and your guests were. This is really fantastic.
Well what a morning you had with sightings of so many leopards. Little cub peeping is absolutely gorgeous. The other two male leopards are beautiful and not often spoken about. I think the Nweti male would not of gone up that tree if the other male leopard was still in it. Just my thought on the situation. The Ndzanzeni female and her cubs are stunning cats.
The glimpses of something elusive just keeps making you want to see it more! I think it would give you even a bigger rush! That baby leopard pic by Alex melted my heart!
Thanks for your post! I enjoy your writing style.
Tayla it seems lady luck is still with you, yet another fantastic game drive for you and guests !! What a special day indeed 🙏💖
What an exciting morning for you, Freddy and your guests! Seeing one leopard is always a bonus but a rarely seen one is over the top, like the Maxim male. The cubs are really cute at this stage and that photo by Alex of the “peeping cub” is adorable.
I don’t believe N’weti would have stolen the kill if the Maxim male had been around. He’s conflict adverse as I witnessed in SabiSabi when he and the White Dam male merely growled at one another one evening only meters apart. Needless to say, your sighting would fill a few pages in one’s daily journal …..
Fantastic morning for your guests. Freddy is a very special tracker!
A nice cat blog Tayla – good you got to see the cubs. Thanks for sharing – excellent pics.