Over the past month, rangers have had a few great sightings of a new young male leopard who’s been exploring the Londolozi area. With most of the spotlight being on all of the recent lion dynamics unfolding across the reserve, the leopards have quietly kept to their elusive selves and seemingly slipped away into the shadows of a strong presence of lions.
It is always exciting coming across a new leopard, and such was the case for a few rangers who found a young male just over a month ago for the first time – the Kangela Male leopard makes an official appearance on Londolozi. I thought it would be of interest to shed a little more light on this beautiful young male:
The Kangela Male confidently walks along the road in the early morning light.
He was born in December 2019 to the Schotia Female leopard who is found to the west of Londolozi on Singita, our friendly neighbours. His father is the late Nyeleti Male.
A rustle in the dry wintery grass catches his attention.
A supremely relaxed male leopard, roaming a nomadic journey for the time being.
He and his mother have been a regular duo in Singita in recent years until his independence in June of 2021. He is a supremely relaxed leopard, which makes for phenomenal viewing and wonderful photographic opportunities.
Although at this stage there have only been a handful of sightings of him, so the photos that we have of him are quite limited. I was very grateful for these lovely pictures from Ranger Kate Arthur.
The word Kangela means “to look with curious eyes”
Young males tend to be nomadic, in search of places that are not frequented by bigger, territorial males. This means that they will usually be found in areas that are often quite secluded and very under the radar. At three and a half years old, he is not yet at the stage where he will be physically strong enough to take on territorial males such as the Flat Rock Male or Senegal Bush Male. He certainly will need to tread lightly in his future explorations into Londolozi.
This photo illustrates some interesting patterns along his coat, where he has quite a few spots (sometimes more than one) inside some of his rosettes. Not entirely unique to him, but certainly a key feature for ID purposes.
The big question is whether he will stick around or not. It is always tough to say with young male leopards. They roam and explore vast areas before eventually settling and becoming territorial. As we have seen with the Ntomi Male, whose sightings have been very sporadic lately. He has sometimes been found in the afternoons close to 6km from where he was found that same morning. The Kangela Male is no different.
We hope that he continues to pop up every now and again going forward. Be sure to stay tuned for any further sightings and updates on this young male leopard.
Terrific news Matt that Kangela has been spotted within the Londolozi property. As I recall, his mother, Schotia, has been quite successful in raising cubs, although I believe one of the favorites, Tavangumi, was unfortunately lost due to a snare injury that then created a problem for local residents. Although it would be difficult for him to stick around, you never know. He’s a handsome and formidable looking leopard, but also young, so he may keep on moving from one territory to the next until he finds his own territory.
Wat a beautiful leopard!
Very cool!
We saw him several times last week, Matt. Very relaxed, handsome and photogenic!
What a beautiful leopard. Thanks for sharing Matt. I hope he stays around Londolozi for more viewing.
Hi Matt, it’s always a great pleasure to read news about leopards and so exciting if it’s a new one! This male looks very handsome and elegant with his slander body, beautiful unique coat, piercing pale green eyes and dark nose. If he stays new genes will enrich leopards population in Londolozi
What a beautiful leopard.
I hope that he will show himself on Londolozi territory often in the future.
That is good news Matt, seeing this beautiful young leopard on Londolozi ground. He is really a stunning leopard, and I hope he will stay and mate with the females bringing in new blood line. He will have to be careful for the larger leopards will kill him.
Another handsome young leopard! I hope he does tread lightly and stick around!
What a handsome young leopard Matt! Wishing him the very best as he navigates his way around Londolozi!
Beautiful, handsome leopard
Kangela is a gorgeous young male, and the full blood brother of Tavangumi, our recently deceased dominant male in the north. Kangela also has the same spotted rosette coat pattern of his big brother, Tav, and exhibited by several others of Nyelethi’s offspring (Tavangumi, Kangela, Misava, Euphorbia, the late Shangwa), which is curious and fascinating, in its own right. I truly hope that Kangela can find his place somewhere on the Sabi Sands or nearby enough to be seen regularly. And that he does not fall into a troubling HWC situation….
Looking forward to reading more
Well done Kate on some super photos
Ian
PS ” Singita, our friendly neighbours” 🤣
PS Singita
The spots inside the rosette’s comes from his father Nyeleti. Hi brother the late Tavangumi had the same pattern. He is a beautiful young male. Hope he stays safe.
He is a beautiful young cat! And his father was born on Londolozi as the last litter of three cubs to survive! Thanks for this Matt!