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Sean Zeederberg

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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 When Will We Meet The Nkoveni Female’s Latest Litter?

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It is quite something how, while the Mashaba Female has struggled with rearing cubs in her nearly 15 years, her two daughters have both reared as many and/or more cubs than she. And while there are descendants off of Londolozi, the Mother Leopard’s legacy on the reserve is down to the Ndzanzeni Female who is already 11. Does she still have her cub?

It is incredible to see that stats of the Nkoveni Female. We hope she is successful with these cubs. The Mashaba Female has been seriously unfortunate with her cubs. Sadly, the Ndzanzeni Female lost her cub. We will put a post out on it soon.

Hi Sean, the Nkoveni female is a favourite topic for us, thank you for this beautifully written article and pictures! She seems to smile in the first one. It is a genetic factor that she produces most females? The twins were the most awesome surprise! It is not common to be able to observe three female leopards living together. I’m super excited about the new cubs! So sad for the Ndzanzeni female! I truly hope she will be blessed by luck in the future. Looking eagerly forward to news and pictures

The Nkoveni Female is an amazing female leopard and we wish her luck with raising these cubs. I think it could just be coincidence that she has had female cubs. If I am not mistaken it is the male’s sperm that determines the sex of the offspring.

Master Tracker

Fantastic , with other lodges , it’s here’s a leopard , with Londolozi they know the leopard and much of it’s history
One of the best if not the best place to track leopards in the world

It is such a privilege to be able to follow the lineages and have the viewing that we have now thanks to all those that have come before us in the habituation process.

Hi Sean, what is surprising to me is that the Nkoveni female successfully raised her 3 cubs. She is an exceptional mother and I loved the images of her and the 2 cubs playing with each other. On the other hand Nkoveni ‘s mother the Mashaba female has a bad report on keeping her cubs and raising them. In such a wonderful environment full of abundance, let’s hope the Nkoveni female shows us her cubs very soon. There is nothing more precious than a tiny leopard cub.

This is true. The Nkoveni Female has been really successful with raising cubs but sadly her mother has not had the same luck.

She is indeed a really successful mother. Let’s hope that she will bring up her latest litter at Londolozi, too.

We hope so. She has been a great mother.

Sean, great update on the Novena female and her cubs. They are growing fast and soon to be on their own. Thanks for the pictures.

They are growing fast and hopefully we will have them on Londolozi a bit more often.

Your blog reads like a prayer, Sean – to Mother Nature and for Nkoveni! As we traverse the reserve with Ross and Life these two weeks, we are always on the lookout and wish successful motherhood once again to Nkoveni as well as Nhlanguleni!

I hope you are able to get a view of the Nkoveni Cubs while you are here.

Sean, Thanks for creating hope to find the cubs – we know you will! She has done better with her cubs than her mother – hope Mashaba can raise more successfully. We wonder if Nkoveni and Mashaba would get along if they ran into each other?

SHe has done better than her mother, it hasn’t been easy for the Mashaba Female. I think there would be some hostility between them but not to the point of a life threatening situation.

Nkoveni is quite an amazing leopard, but given her lineage, I’m not surprised. Whilst her mother has struggled to raise cubs to independence over the past few years, she has certainly taught her daughters through their own upbringing, the ways of the wild and how to survive. I am sending good bush vibes so that all of you will have an opportunity to to view her and her cubs.

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