On a cold blustery morning, we spend a long time following an enormous male leopard on a territorial patrol. The Nweti Male is the dominant male across a huge territory that spans the width of Londolozi’s southern section and extends far beyond our borders. Firstly the proximity of the Nweti Male’s territory is a fair distance from camp, it is dominated by various combretum thickets and open grasslands being rather challenging to find a leopard there, and the vast distances that this male covers, we do not see this supremely relaxed male leopard much. But when we do see him it is often a rule phenomenal sighting.
On this particular morning, we followed him around with the wind howling, as he went from termite mound to termite mound searching for any warthogs still hunkering down in their burrow. In between that, it also proved to be a perfect opportunity to scent mark as he went, re-establishing his territory and advertising to other passers-by that he was the dominant male in the area.
The sighting eventually culminated in scent marking on a large dead tree when he rose up on his back legs before moving on and settling down in the shade a good few kilometres from where we first joined up with him. What a magnificent morning.
Enjoy This Virtual Safari…
He is a large, tall, and long male that has an incredible coat and a tuft of hair on his neck
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Thank you for this glorious video Sean. I have yet to see an adult male lion at Londolozi. Perhaps next year. I cannot believe how much Londolozi has changed me. I feel so alive when I am there.
Londolozi is a magical place and it definitely has the ability to change you as a person.
Hard to tell when you’re most unlikely to ever see them together, but do you think Nweti is bigger than Maxim’s?
I think the Maxim’s Male is thicker set, the Nweti Male is taller and longer. I would love to see them side by side to be able to gauge for myself who is bigger.
Thanks for this special sighting, he really is a beauty! Counting down the days til we are with you all at Londolozi, if we get to see the Nweti make that would be a dream. See u soon
He is such an impressive male leopard, I hope you get to see him while you are here. See you soon.
Hi, it’s always a great pleasure to see leopards, especially when they are so fit and can be observed without disturbing them! This male is absolutely impressing, it seems that male adult leopards develop a particular skill in hunting warthog….
It is always time well spent, following a male leopard as he goes about his mission. Yes, I would say that male leopards hone that skill. It is a slightly easier strategy and being larger they are able to overpower the warthogs more swiftly than a female leopard would be able to.
Great to see another pf Londolozi’s fabulous leopard, Sean. He is one, I have not seen yet. Maybe next time. Till then, it’s wonderful to see them at least in a video.
The Nweti Male is a fabulous leopard, I hope you get to see him on your next trip.
Thank you for a great video Sean.
You are welcome, William.
Hi Sean, this is such a stunning video of the Nweti male leopard. He is huge and makes me think immediately of the Maxim’s male which is also a huge leopard. He certainly knows his territory and marking it off for no one else to intrude. Stunning video, thank you.
You are welcome, thanks for watching.
I’ve yet to see Maxim’s male but Nweti has been the largest male leopard I’ve viewed so far – impressive to say the least! 3 years ago I saw him in an altercation with White Dam male and fortunately for both, no blood was shed and White Dam slunk into the high grasses, not happy as his low volume chuffs implied. I know he mostly stays below your southern border so it’s surprising he ventured north marking territory. I had thought Ntomi was moving around the southern area, but I guess as a nomadic young leopard, he tries to stay under the radar. Thanks for showcasing him in the virtual safari today!
Both the Maxim’s Male and Nweti Male are super impressive leopards. The Nweti Male does venture onto Londolozi and is actually pushing further and further north. The Ntomi Male is now a territorial dominant male in Singita.
What a beautiful leopard!
He is indeed.
What a magnificent leopard, a real “handsome devil,” as my dad would say. I loved how you captured his focused sense of mission as he patrolled/marked his territory and searched termite mounds for a warthog meal! Terrific p0st!
Thanks so much, Paul. He is a handsome devil and it was a great morning spent with him as he was on a serious mission.
Where does Maxims fit in the hierarchy? We saw him this morning and he’s darn BIG!
Maxim’s Male is also an enormous male. I would say they probably weigh the same, the Nweti Male appears taller and longer, whereas the Maxim’s Male is shorter but more thickset.
Dear Sean, thanks for that video. Never saw such an impressive big male leopard. For me Tortoise Pan is a very big on, but Nweti seems to bee bigger. Hope, that he has a few cubs
The Nweti Male is a very big male, I would say a bit bigger than the Tortoise Pan Male.
We saw Nweti on Sept 8th on the MM side in the Sand River bed…initially resting in the shade and then getting up quickly to stalk and hunt (unsuccessfully, but in a very jaguar-ish fashion!) a reedbuck hidden in the grasses! Wow, he is a gorgeous cat!
That sounds like an amazing sighting. He is a magnificent male leopard.