Every day we head out into the bush a new adventure awaits but further to this there are hidden treasures to be found. I like to use the analogy that the bush provides us with a treasure map every day but we aren’t sure where the clues are at the point we set off, and we don’t know where they will lead us until we are there.

A few mornings ago this was precisely the case and there was a whole story to unravel that we were totally surprised by.

For me, there’s something special about morning game drives. There is a certain energy in the mornings that just hits differently than in the afternoon. When you leave camp, there is a sense of anticipation that one needs to figure out what has transpired during the night. Far more happens between dusk and dawn compared to during the heat of the day. Predators tend to cover larger distances and there are generally more surprises in the early morning than in the early afternoon.

The cubs had been left nestled in a densely vegetated den near a dry riverbed while their mother ventured out in search of prey.

The Plan

Our plan for the morning was to look for the Ximungwe Female and her two cubs. We had seen the cubs the evening before but their mother was nowhere to be found. During the night there was some heavy rain and leopards often successfully catch prey during these downpours. Our hope was that we would get to the same spot the cubs had been left at the day before and find tracks of them being led to a carcass.

First Tracks

At the outset, we knew the best place to start was along the dry Maxabene Riverbed, just as we had hoped, tracks of the Ximungwe Female and one cub headed straight down the riverbed and then cut out into a very thick area. Stepping out of the vehicle was our only hope now, slowly following the trail of the Ximungwe Female, we traced each footstep to not miss anything. Scanning carefully ahead, we caught a glimpse of one of the cubs hidden amongst some dense foliage. Without any sign of the Ximungwe Female nearby, we left the cub alone to search for where its mother could be.

One of the Ximungwe female’s cubs was hiding in amongst some dense vegetation but briefly peeked out into the open

The pro with rain is the increased chance of a successful hunt but the con, at least for us, is that the tracks can often get washed away making it a little difficult to find the leopard if it had not walked after the rain.

Leopard tracks in the wet sand after the rain

Our search was lengthy and complicated because of the numerous sets of tracks going in several different directions. It was quite difficult to unravel what had happened and which direction she had led the cubs and why there seemed to be tracks of them going all the way east and then all the way back west. It seemed out of character for a mother leopard to simply just move the cubs one way then change her mind and move them back.

The two cubs of the Ximungwe Female climb onto a boulder as they peer back at their mother

After some time we decided to double-check where we had seen the cub in case we had simply missed the Ximungwe Female in the long grass. As we got to where we had earlier seen the cub we spotted the Ximnugwe Female but still with only one cub. No more than a few minutes later ranger Jerry Sibiya radioed us to tell us that he had found a cub in a tree with an impala carcass. It all made sense, at least we thought so.

The Plot Thickens

We then safely assumed that the Ximungwe Female had simply caught an impala, returned and collected only one cub to lead it to the carcass. After reaching the carcass she then left on a mission to collect the second cub. But why were there tracks of the cub going west on top of the tracks going east? Surely the first cub taken to the carcass didn’t return with its mother to find the second cub.

Jerry’s voice crackled over the radio again- he could see a male leopard lying in a thick bush and based on the sheer size of the leopard knew instantly that it was the Maxim’s Male.

The Maxim’s Male very rarely spends a lot of time out in the open. Easily one of the biggest leopards at Londolozi but also one of the most elusive.

Male leopards play no role in raising their litters but they also won’t pose any threat to their cubs as ultimately it’s in their best interests that the cub survives and passes on their genes. So as unusual as it was to see a cub alone with a male leopard the cub was quite relaxed and was feeding on the impala at the top of the tree.

However, just as we thought for the second time that we now had unravelled the story, another leopard appeared on the scene, the Nsuku Male.

The Nsuku male is still only just over two years old but has already been mating with the Ximungwe Female.

The Nsuku Male approached the tree that both the cub and the impala carcass were in. He quickly scaled the tree and with nothing more than a snarl the cub moved off slightly and the Nsuku Male fed on the carcass. There was no aggression towards the cub whatsoever. Not too long after this, the cub tried to feed again and unfortunately dropped the carcass from the tree where a few hungry hyenas snapped up the remains and ran off. Again there was no aggression towards the cub from the Nsuku Male.

The Ximungwe Female mating with the Nsuku Male shortly after a mating bout with the Maxim’s male

The Unravelled Story

Later that morning we followed the Ximungwe Female all the way back to where the stranded cub was left in the company of the Maxim’s Male and Nsuku Male. She collected the cub turned straight back and led the cub to where she had left the first cub.

The Ximungwe Female went and found the stranded cub and led it back to where she had left the other cub

Now with all the facts, we assumed that the following had happened during the night. The Ximungwe Female had killed the impala and hoisted it into a tree. She went to collect both cubs and take them to the carcass for them to feed. Upon returning or shortly after, the two males arrived on the scene, most likely not at the same time.

Knowing that with both males there the likelihood of her keeping any of the impala carcass for herself and her cubs was slim and that having this many leopards crowded around a carcass could pose a potential threat to her cubs she decided to move them. Why only one cub was moved at a time we will never know. The great thing is that at least both cubs are still alive. Attempting to unravel the stories in the wild is one of the aspects of safari that, in my opinion, makes it so addictive!