Leopard cubs are always high up on the list of most safari goers and for good reason. The adorable playful nature of seeing young cats interacting will leave anybody with a desire to see more. This is certainly the case for all rangers and trackers too. But the tricky part is finding these elusive cats. While tracking a mother leopard and her cubs, it isn’t often that we realize that in fact there is more than one mother and more than one den within very close proximity to another. This is precisely what has transpired over the last week here at Londolozi.
The Nhlanguleni Female slinks through the lush bush with the morning rays bouncing off her orange coat
Initially skittish she spent a lot of time in the Sand River, now relaxed she makes up the majority of leopard viewing west of camp.
The Nhlanguleni Female and her cubs
The Nhlanguleni Female is notorious for her ability to keep her cubs very well hidden for the first few months of their lives. During the global pandemic lockdown in 2020, there were obviously no guests at Londolozi and therefore a far reduced amount of game drive vehicles exploring the reserve each day. A few months into lockdown the Nhlanguleni Female was found with two cubs without having even known about her being pregnant, let alone having raised two cubs to a few months old already. Sadly, neither of the two cubs survived.
Here she is featured with one of these cubs.
Fast forward three years and thankfully we are back to a full fleet of vehicles exploring each day but this time we were aware that she has cubs but they have yet to be seen. Her territory lies just to the west of our camps along the banks of the Sand River. The river has a multitude of densely vegetated areas perfect for keeping cubs well hidden. We have seen the Nhlanguleni Female several times since she has given birth and always with very prominent suckle marks which has been, until recently, our only way of knowing that at least a single cub is still alive.
Ceding Territory to Daughters
The Nhlanguleni Female has only successfully raised one litter, of two females, to independence; the Nkuwa Female and Finfoot Female. It is quite common for mother leopards to cede some of their territories to their daughters compared to young males that will disperse further away from the area they were raised. This serves a few purposes where the males will move out of an area of related females ensuring genetic variation as well as providing the young females a familiar area to den their first litters in den sites they were kept in themselves as cubs.
Two of the Nhlanguleni Female’s cubs from a previous litter sit atop a boulder at one of her favourite den sites.
The Nhlanguleni Female’s Daughter, The Nkuwa Female
The Nkuwa Female was born in March 2018 and is therefore well and truly a territorial leopard capable of raising her own offspring. Up until now, she has had two litters. The first was an unsuccessful litter that didn’t make it past a few months old but her second litter is proving to be far more successful. She currently has two cubs roughly about six months old. Like her mother, she has been incredibly elusive and we have had very few sightings of both her and her cubs.
The Nkuwa Female perched on a termite mound in the golden afternoon light
One of two sisters born to the Nhlanguleni Female, both of whom made it to independence, the first intact litter to do so in 7 years.
What is interesting about the Nkuwa Female is that her mother didn’t really cede much territory to her. Their territories overlap quite significantly on the banks of the Sand River with the Nkuwa Female setting up territory slightly further west of her mother’s. With both females now having cubs with a large part of their territory overlapping it begs the question of what will happen if the cubs happen to be found very close to each other and how the maternal instinct of both females will kick in and if there will be any disputes between them?
The Nhlanguleni Female and her two daughters from a successful intact litter, the Nkuwa Female and Finfoot Female.
A daughter of the Nhlanguleni female, born into a litter of two, both of which survived to independence.
A few days ago, we had seen tracks of the Nkuwa Female and her two cubs on our western boundary along the Sand River. Tracker, Tshepo Dzemba, and I decided we’d try and see if we could find the three of them. We spent a large amount of the afternoon tracking along the riverbed only to find what can only be described as a leopard highway along our southern bank of the river. There were tracks of females, males and cubs going up and down the bank.
Just as we were about to call it quits and head for the vehicle we heard a growl and noticed a tiny set of ears peeking up above the long grass. We raced off to get the vehicle to see if the three of them had, in fact, been watching us all afternoon. We were only able to see one of the cubs emerge from the long grass and with no mother to be seen we decided to leave and return back the next day.
Adjacent Den Sites
On our way back the next day we drove past a set of boulders that the Nhlanguleni Female has always loved using as a den site. We heard a spurfowl alarming at something in the boulders and got off the vehicle to have a quick look. As we poked our heads around the bushes we had a very quick glimpse of a tiny cub scurrying off into the safety of a crevasse within a set of big boulders. Again with no mother around (she had been found 15 minutes prior to this by another vehicle closer to camp) we didn’t stick around.
The cub we had a quick glimpse of was about the size of this cub from one of her previous litters earlier this year.
Upon returning to the last place we had seen Nkuwa’s cubs we found tracks of the mother and cubs heading along the southern bank right towards where we had just had a glimpse of the Nhlanguleni Cub. We were unable to find them again as the vegetation is extremely dense along that section of the river but we did determine that both females must be keeping their cubs within 200m of each other.
One of the Nkuwa Female’s cubs inquisitively peeked its head out through the long grass.
This is the first time since I have been at Londolozi that I have seen two females keeping their cubs in such close proximity to each other. All animals in the bush are wanting to survive and procreate to ensure the passing of their own genes to the next generation. The question is how many generations within a leopard’s lineage will the motherly instinct continue. Based on past experiences of the Leopards of Londolozi we have seen cases where the grandmother has adopted a grandson but this is certainly an exception. However, I would imagine that if the mothers had to come across the cubs of the other’s that they would not act aggressively to them.
The Dudley Riverbank 5:5 Male who was adopted by his grandmother the 3:4 Female
Incredibly, the 5:5 male was adopted as a cub by his grandmother, the 3:4 female, and raised by her to adulthood.
Born to the Tugwaan female in August 1992, this leopard would redefine the relationship between man and wild cat.
For the time being, we can only hope that in the next few days and weeks, we will be treated to some amazing sightings of both mothers and their offspring and that we can report back with some incredible footage of the next generation of the Sunset Bend Lineage of Londolozi’s famous leopards.
Well done, Barry.
So great that there are so many cubs at Londolozi at this time of the year. I am really looking forward to making their acquaintance! Only a few more days to wait till I will hopefully be able to see some of them at least.
The photos of these cubs are so beautiful. Cats – and especially leopards- are just the most beautiful animals one can imagine.
Barry that will be fantastic to see the Nkuwa females cubs and her mother the Nhlanguleni females cubs. That will certainly be a highlight for us all. Cannot believe that they live so close to one another and have cubs. Hope they do not fight with each other.
Fascinating adventure looking for the leopard cubs. Thanks for sharing Barry, I hope these cubs survive to adult hood.
Great story The Dudley Riverbank was our best leopard sighting back in 2011. This year we were fortunate enough to see many more! Back in 2011 he was still a beautiful leopard before he lost his eye.
How exciting, Barry! What’s your guess as to who the father might be?
These two mothers are very successful at keeping their den sites ‘private’ and, later, secreting their older cubs from view! During our recent visit, we saw Nhlanguleni but no cubs and spent the better part of 3 drives searching for Nkua and cubs. We’d seen Nhlanguleni, Nkua and Finfoot together in 2018. So fun searching, though!!
I don’t think there’s anything cuter than a week’s old leopard cub, with their big blue eyes and fuzzy spotted coat. Other big cat cubs are sweet, but the leopard cubs are a 10/10 for me on the cuteness scale. Going forward, I’m hoping both can raise their cubs to adulthood without incidents. Considering mothers are extremely protective, living for now in close proximity, could result in heartbreak. Thanks for this update and I look forward to the continuing story.
Extremely interesting Barry! Great to have a photo of one of the Nkuwa Female’s cubs as well! Do you know the sexes of the cubs yet?
Hi Matt, every time I read about leopards I feel a sense of awe… especially with cubs! In this case, the Nhlanguleni female is both mum and grandma… so she’s sharing territory with her daughter but also a den for her grandchildren. Her dna has more probabilities to survive and her mother- and grandmother? Instinct is surely strong… in several animals, including cats and lions, grandmothers have a pivotal role in taking care of their pride. Maybe some leopards start to act like that? At last in the most primitive form. Very intriguing! Thank you so much for the great article and irresistible pictures!
Exciting and informative post Berry! Looking forward to future updates.
Fun fun playing hide and seek with new cubs! Do you think both sets share a dad?
Leopards are so awesome especially when with their cubs. Amazing that they are denning so close together. Thank you for the amazing article and collection of photos