Involved Leopards

Flat Rock 3:2 Male

Flat Rock 3:2 Male

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Piccadilly 3:3 female

Piccadilly 3:3 female

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Sean Zeederberg

Blog Editor

As a young boy growing up on an agricultural farm in Zimbabwe, Sean spent every opportunity entertaining himself outdoors, camping in the local nature reserve and learning about all facets of the natural world. After completing a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental ...

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17 Comments

on Virtual Safari: Ultimate Game Drive Highlights #129

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Suzanne Gibson
Guest contributor

Sean, that was extremely unfair of the leopards to wait till you’d just left before mating on the boulders! – but great that Stoff was able to film it.
Am I right in thinking the Piccadilly female is the older half-sister of the 3 Rivers female? – and didn’t she bring 1 cub to independence not long ago?

Sean Zeederberg
Blog Editor

It was rather unfair, wasn’t it? But I guess that is how the bush works and I am grateful that Stoff was there to video it for me. Yes, the Piccadilly Female and the Three Rivers Female are both daughters of the Xidulu Female. The Piccadilly Young Female is now independent and we will most likely be giving her a name shortly.

Vin Beni
Guest contributor

Good demonstration of persistence and the oustanding skills of Freddie.

Sean Zeederberg
Blog Editor

Freddie has a gift when it comes to tracking.

Valmai Vorster
Master Tracker

Oh Sean the video footage of the two leopards mating was awesome and also to hear them while mating. How wonderful and exciting that was for you and Freddy to find them on foot and be able to see and hear them so closely. Wonderful to see that last 3 sub adult cubs from the Birmingham lions. The lionesses looked after them superbly and now that lineage can go forth.

Sean Zeederberg
Blog Editor

Thank you so much, Valmai. It was very exciting to find them on foot and hear them mating.

Valmai Vorster
Master Tracker

I forgot to say that it is wonderful news of the leopards mating, know we now there will be more leopard cubs. We will wait in anticipation for these cubs and remember the video of there mating sessions.

Sean Zeederberg
Blog Editor

WE are very excited that there could be some more cubs on Londolozi.

Denise Vouri
Guest contributor

What an amazing virtual safari today! It was terrific to see the Ntsevu lionesses with their three cubs but I did read that since this was filmed, one had disappeared, presumed dead. So now with two left to protect, I do hope these two females will be able to care for them long enough so that they can find a safer place to roam and settle.

And then you topped off this week’s video with the mating of the Flat Rock male and Piccadilly female, causing me to believe that her daughter is now totally independent. In watching Stoff’s footage, it was truly obvious that the female was certainly the aggressor in the mating ritual. Having watched other pairs mate, it was the male that was more the aggressive one, but is it possible that towards the end of the mating, the roles so reverse – females tire and the male pushes for more contact? At any rate, I’m glad Stoff was able to capture them on the rocks, although disappointing for you.

Sean Zeederberg
Blog Editor

I do hope that these females are able to raise the cubs successfully.

The Piccadilly Young Female is now independent and we will hopefully be giving her a name soon.

Christa Blessing
Master Tracker

Thanks for the great videos of the lions and the acting of the leopards.
At least somebody was able to watch that mating. Wasn’t is quite dangerous to get into that thick bush to find the leopards? Really brave of you.

Sean Zeederberg
Blog Editor

At least someone was able to watch them mate. When we were tracking, we moved very slowly and would stop often to listen.

Johanna Browne
Senior Digital Ranger

Amazing footage. So very sad that one of the cubs is missing. Do you know if it was the female or one of the males?

Sean Zeederberg
Blog Editor

Thank you so much, Johanna. I think the remaining two cubs are both female.

Francesca Doria
Master Tracker

So glad to see the Birmingham last cubs and looking forward to seeing them again, hopefully…. leopard mating is a fascinating play of agility and caution. As females have a short orstrus and get not easily pregnant, furthermore both partners spend a lot of energy, I think hyenas are becoming a bit of a problem generally speaking in Africa, because they are too many in comparison to other predators. Super video!!

Sean Zeederberg
Blog Editor

It was good to see the Birmingham offspring again. It is a challenge for the female felines to fall pregnant, hence the strategy of multiple copulations over a short period of time. There are indeed a lot of hyenas around.

Paul Canales
Master Tracker

All of this is super cool Sean!

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