As we stand on the brink of a new year, I have no doubt that 2024 will bring many more special sightings and stories from the Londolozi wilderness. Amid this anticipation, a captivating chapter unfolds in the lives of one of Londolozi’s leopards.
We are thrilled to announce the transition of the Xinzele Young Female to her new title: the Thumbela 4:3 Female. This independent young leopard has been increasingly seen on her own, stepping out from the shadow of her mother.
The Thumbela Female and her mother, the Xinzele Female.
Born into a litter of two, male cub did not survive. She is seen more and more in central Marthly and rapidly approaching full independence.
A brief recap takes us back to late March/early April of 2022 when she, along with a sibling, entered the world. Regrettably, her sibling did not make it past May of 2022, leaving her to navigate the wild as a lone cub.
The Xinzele Female, her mother, initially chose a den site near our northern boundary, and the duo spent considerable time north of Marthly. While the Thumbela Female was very young, we rangers and trackers considered ourselves incredibly lucky to see her. As she matured, sightings became more frequent, and we hope she’ll venture further southward, and occupy the southern extent of her mother’s territory. Her father is believed to be the Flat Rock Male, and with pressure being put on him by the Senegal Bush Male from the south, he is shifting further north, making the shift south for the Thumbela Female more appealing as she draws closer to being sexually mature.
A morning I will never forget. Patience rewarded us after spotting her mother lying on these boulders. After some time, the tiny Thumbela Female gave way to her curiosity. Here she comes out of hiding to get a better look at us. Such a sighting is easily the most rare and special. This was in early May of 2022.
‘Thumbela’ is a local Shangaan word for a game that one plays with their mother. It’s almost like hide and seek, but where one hides until their mother walks past and then jumps out at her. On several occasions, including one of my favourite sightings of her, she has exhibited this behaviour. She is an incredibly playful young leopard with a wonderful nature.
Here she sits on the cool sand of the Manyelethi Riverbed. Contemplating her chances of catching one of the many vervet monkeys alarm calling at her from the treetops.
This time of year brings an abundance of young impala lambs, warthog piglets, and newly born wildebeest calves across the reserve. For a young, relatively inexperienced leopard entering the independent phase, this is a huge advantage. The timing for her could not have been more perfect.
We have seen young leopards like the Xinkhova Female charging off at high speed across open crests in an attempt to catch newly born wildebeest and impala. For the time being at least, the Thumbela Female’s hunting strategy will be no different. Patience and the art of stealth will come with age.
The Thumbela Female struts down a dirt track toward us.
For nearly two years, venturing into the beautiful Marthly at dawn in pursuit of Thumbela and her mother has been one of my favourite adventures. Now, as the two are seen less frequently together, we look forward to the prospect of another female leopard establishing territory in Marthly.
The Thumbela Female rests on a fallen Marula tree in the early morning hours.
Although we haven’t witnessed, her mother, the Xinzele Female mating again, we anticipate her to have another new litter of cubs before mid-winter next year. Given the challenging odds for leopard cubs, the success of the Xinzele Female with her second litter brings us immense joy. Stay tuned for a follow-up blog on further updates from the Xinzele lineage.
Beautiful Matt! I hope to see her in 2024. Congratulations to her upon acquiring her permanent stature amongst the leopards of Londolozi and best of luck to her!
What a lovely post Matt. Fingers crossed that we will see this magnificent lady when we next visit Londolozi in Jan 2024 🤞🐆
Thumbela! What a beautiful name for such a beautiful leopard! We wish her great success in establishing a territory and being able to navigate the big world out there! She has had an amazing teacher and we wish her mother all the best too… can’t wait to follow their adventures!
Happy New Year 🍾🥂
Matt, thank you for the update. I hope she can establish a territory for herself at Londolozi so we can follow her life.
Matt congratulations on your beautiful young leopard – I’ve been waiting so excitedly to see what she would be named! I hope you were a part of her naming process/ceremony given how she special she is to you. I am ever so grateful for the gift you gave me of a copy of that gorgeous photo of her on the marula tree – it’s captivating and captures her so beautifully.
I will be back at Londonlozi in early June 2024, so I hope to see you, and hope I will be lucky enough to see her again. She has become my favourite leopard, given the time we spent watching her alone and with her mother – thanks to you, Terence and Jerry.
This is wonderful!! Thank you for sharing Thumbela 4:3 with the world.
Such a lovely new lady with exquisite eyes! She has a very nice expression in addition. I remember her grandfather, the handsome Anderson male, bearing fantastic eyes. Maybe she’s a bit like him, a mixture of different lineages. Hopefully she will have new surprises to come in the new year
Thanks Matt, she’s really beautiful. I still haven’t seen her or her mother, so shall keep my fingers crossed for a sighting next November.
Happy New Year to you and Terrence!
Wonderful Matt! Looking forward to her adventures! She’s a beauty . . .
What a playful name for this young leopard! We had a fun sighting of her chasing and catching a mongoose on the Manyeleti riverbed, toying with it until hyenas showed up. The mongoose took off in one direction while Thumbela raced off in another and up a tree!
She sure is a beauty! Her eyes seem so green! Yay another leopard to follow 🙂
Such a beautiful young leopard with pink nose and white line above it. She has the perfect name and it looks and she is going to bring many hours of joy to the guests and everyone looking out for her. The Xinzele female her mother, is also still n young leopardess and will have many more cubs.
Another beautiful young female! I am looking forward to meeting her next year.
The number of leopards at Londolozi is just amazing.
Great name choice Matt! Interesting that you mention the Flat Rock Male as her father; she and her mother have also been seen in the company of the Tortoise Pan Male and her mother was seen mating with TP prior to her birth. But given leopardess’ propensity to be promiscuous, I suppose difficult to know for sure.
Am also curious, was this name chosen for a place on Londolozi (or simply a reference to her playful nature) and was it coordinated with the lodges north of Londolozi like you did for the Makhomsava Female?
Sorry for all the questions and inquiries!
Happy New Year,
Michael
How exciting Matt, that Xinzele’s cub has a name, and a beautiful one at that! Viewing her this past April seemed as though as I was seeing double as she looked like her mother, albeit more petite. The name suits her as my first sighting of the duo, included Thumbela hiding from her mother and then jumping at her as she was moving through the thick vegetation. Now we need a name for the formidable, yet rather elusive, Three Rivers male.
And this skill, knowledge and insight separates Londolozi from so many lodges