One of the most interesting facts of spending time coexisting with wildlife is that change is inevitable and each day, week, month and year we get to experience unique moments, changes in dynamics and a continual shift in the forms of behaviour within Londolozi’s fauna. Over the past few months, we have begun to experience some exciting changes and shifts in the Leopard territories throughout the reserve. New males moving in, older males moving out, females birthing cubs and leopards becoming independent have all contributed to an exciting and ongoing battle for territory amongst the Leopards of Londolozi.
Learning about the behaviours, movements and dynamics of leopards is extremely exciting. Tracking these predators on a daily basis is one of the most rewarding parts of the job. Here, a ranger and tracker pair walk down a sand track behind the trail of a female leopard.
Leopards, by nature, are extremely territorial. Both males and females will look to occupy the best territory possible. With the male territories being considerably larger than the females, here at Londolozi, we see a much more dense population of female leopards. The continual expanding, shrinking and shifting of the territories is extremely interesting, creating an ever-evolving, natural environment for these elusive predators to exist in.
The Senegal Bush Male scanning the road up ahead. Sightings of this leopard have been quite amazing as of late. The frequent sightings have made him a popular leopard among our staff and guests.
Because there is so much going on with the leopards I have broken this into a two-part series:
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Part 1- Males
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Part 2- Females
Male leopards tend to focus their territories around available females in order to mate with and in essence pass on their genes, as well as resources such as food and water. They are much more regimented in their approach, constantly performing territorial patrols to demarcate their boundaries and keep rivals out. Making for males to be the more interesting of the two regarding their territorial behaviour. With some slowly growing older and others entering their prime, we are seeing a slight shift in a few of their territories.
The Senegal Bush Male on a territorial patrol through some long grass.
Initially seen as a young male in 2016, this leopard only properly established territory on Londolozi in mid-2019
The Senegal Bush Male has, since late 2019, occupied most of central Londolozi and held his territory firmly, providing our guests with magnificent sightings. However, within the last few months, we’ve been seeing another, younger and equally sized (if not bigger) male move into our eastern parts of the reserve, the Maxim’s Male, arriving on the scene and putting a large amount of pressure on the Senegal Bush Male from the east.
The Maxims male, as mentioned above, is a relatively new male on the scene at Londolozi. His behaviour towards vehicles is much different to that of the Senegal Bush male, making it much harder to capture clear footage of the encroaching male. His size is extremely impressive, we hope over the next few months he’ll become more relaxed with the presence of game drive vehicles and sighting will improve.
Fairly skittish male that is presumed to have come from the Kruger National Park.
Because of this, the older Senegal Bush Male has shifted his territory a little further north and west towards the Sand River, west of the Londolozi’s camps. This shift in territory is not necessarily a loss for the Senegal Bush Male, as he loses ground to the east he seems to gain ground to the west, in what seems to be fairly vacant land southwest of our camps. Originally occupied by the Flat Rock Male, it has been left vacant as the Flat Rock Male has shifted further north and is now predominantly found north of the Sand River and his territory extends far beyond our northern borders.
A dominant male leopard over the majority of the north. He originally took over the 4:4 Male's territory when he died.
To the southwest, we find the young but impressive Mawelawela Male, pushing back against the advances of the Senegal Bush Male. A relatively unrelaxed Mawelawela Male occupies the open grasslands of Londolozi, unusual terrain for a leopard, but the abundance of zebra and warthog keep him satisfied. However, the lands to the east seem more promising and have resulted in a very interesting conflict between the three dominant males, Senegal Bush Male, Maxim’s Male and the Mawelawela Male, where all three of them could be seen overlapping in a portion of the territory, creating an unknown, interesting leopard dynamic.
These are rough estimates of the territories based on where each male has been seen. With the current dynamics, these boundaries are most likely going to shift and change drastically. You can see that there is also a fair amount of overlap between a few individuals which is rather unusual, and hardly any overlap between others.
Into the deep south of the reserve, we have two formidable males, namely the Nweti Male and White Dam Male. Although not actively applying too much pressure on their northern rivals, these two large males could make a name for themselves in central Londolozi in the future. The Nweti Male, first seen on Londolozi in 2017, he then established a territory in the south-western parts of Dudley subsequent to the demise of the Inyathini Male. Who is still alive and well, however very evidently ageing. He is no longer territorial but lurks along the Sand River in Dudley. The Nweti Male is a very large, tall and attractive male who poses a big threat in the future, should he wish to expand his territory further north.
A phenomenal sighting of the Nweti Male and a buffalo kissing noses.
He is a large, tall, and long male that has an incredible coat and a tuft of hair on his neck
The White Dam Male, although a large and established male, was not seen on Londolozi all too often and has only become a more regular feature in the last couple of months. Definitely a potential challenger to the Mawelawela Male further north, the open grasslands make for the territory to be less attractive to a male leopard and possibly unlikely for the White Dam Male to push any further north just yet.
Large handsome male found in the deep southwestern parts of the reserve.
Lastly, the formerly known Ximungwe Young Male, recently renamed the Mahlahla Male, is found overlapping slightly with the Flat Rock Male in the northeastern corners of Marthly. Currently chancing his luck with the Flat Rock Male, it will be interesting to see if he stays in this area or searches for a territory further afield.
An inquisitive young male that has been pushed further north by the Senegal Bush Male.
The dynamics amongst the leopards is ever-changing and although we have a glimpse into their lives through the tiny portion of the day that we spend viewing them during the game drives, I am sure there is a lot more that goes on amongst the male leopards and their challenges and battles for the most prime territory, with this and the access to females, comes the greatest chance of passing on their genes. Female leopards are probably the most sought after aspect in the battle for a male’s territory and so with this, we will discuss the female dynamics in the next Leopard Territory update.
Leopard dynamics are always fascinating. Thanks for the update.
Mesmerising animals! They are grace and power in person. I wonder if too little room was left in general for all these great predators, also considering what happened to the Tsalala female. I hope leopards will have a better luck and pass on the Mother Leopard’s genpool
Thank you Dan! It is often difficult visualizing who is where (and why…). This really helps!
Wow ! The shot of the Nweti Male and a buffalo kissing noses is a phenomenal photo! Thank you
Dan, Your update on the male leopards is fantastic! We are amazed at the amount of leopards currently in the Londolozi reserve – that’s a lot to keep track of. It’s a testament to the long-term conservation protocols developed by the Varty family! Thanks!
Thanks for the update on the interesting moves and whereabouts of the male leopards.
The photo of the leopard and the buffalo „kissing“ each other is great!
I just love the male leopards! There is always action and drama when they are around. Been very privileged to see both Flat Rock and Senegal Bush males in 2019. Hope that they stay well for a long time!
Interesting update! Love Dean’s photo of the Mahlahla male.
Fantastic update Dan! It’s fascinating to follow their movements through the Londolozi territory. You’ve mentioned the Ximungwe young male has now carved out a bit of territory in the north but I’m curious as to where the Tortoise Pan has settled in, if he is still in the area.
Looking forward to the next installment-the females.
Very interesting story.
Hi Dan, thank you for sharing this map and showing us the territory of each male leopard. Now we can go back to the map and check when we get updates on the males. Senegal bush male is my favorite, but looking at these other males, they are absolutely beautiful and huge. Stunning foto of the Nweti male and buffalo kissing noses.
Thank you. Looking forward to the update for the females. Is there a male leopard named Mawelawela that has territory near Londolozi?
Dan, great blog! Really interesting and we are looking forward to the female segment. Wish the title photo was selectable to add to our individual collections … it’s a compelling photo!
Thanks very much for that, Dan, I’ve been getting quite confused as to how the males’ territories connect/ overlap . On my trip last week I was fortunate enough to see the Senegal Bush and Nweti males for the 1st time and I also saw Flat Rock again. Looking forward to the Part 2 for the females.
Thanks for this dynamics update Dan! Really love these kinds of articles! Am wondering what the origins of the Mahlahla Male’s name is? Thanks again and looking forward to the female portion!
Fascinating read Dan, at least the leopard dynamics seem to take on a much less dramatic manner than the lions of late ! Non the less each day seems to bring a new twist and certainly a great supply of viewings for all to enjoy 🙏🏻