The other day, I witnessed one of the most incredible leopard hunts, which guide Bryce Trodd explains in another blog post. During the sighting, I was very intrigued by the hunting abilities of leopard cubs and how they learn to become deadly predators from a young age.
Londolozi's most viewed leopard and prolific mother. This gorgeous female has raised multiple cubs to independence.
The Hunt
To briefly recap the sighting; the Nkoveni Female and her one-year-old male cub were successfully tracked down by three trackers on foot. As my guests and I drove up to see them, a duiker popped its head out of the bushes and dashed straight toward the Nkoveni Female. Within a flash she pounced, and with incredible accuracy, she brought the duiker down to the ground. What a moment to witness!
The young male cub, eager not to miss out on any action, leapt to his feet and rushed over to where his mother began to suffocate the helpless antelope. To my surprise, the mother released the antelope from her jaws and left it for the cub to finish off the job. Incredible!
Instinct vs Learnt behaviour
The age-old question that we as guides often find ourselves asking when observing animal behaviour. This memorable sighting got me thinking: Are Leopards born with the instinctual ability to take down prey or is it a process of a measured learnt behaviour through observation and learning from the mother?
The answer is a combination and blend of instinct, play, observation, and practice, guided primarily by their mothers.
A playful leopard cub stretches out a paw to its mother enticing a response!
Instinctual Play
From a young age, leopard cubs engage in playful behaviours, such as stalking and pouncing on their siblings or, in most cases, their mothers. They spend their time climbing trees, termite mounds and fallen branches as well as chasing after insects. These activities are crucial for developing the motor skills and coordination needed for hunting.
The Nkoveni Female’s cubs pounce on one another.
The Xinzele Female’s cub was as playful as ever; scaling trees and termite mounds around every corner.
Northern territory specialist born 2017. Successfully raised the Thumbela Female while establishing dominance in NW Marthly's dramatic lands
Two leopard cubs playfully test each other’s strength and agility.
Observation of the Mother
In a sighting from March last year, The Nkoveni Female managed to hunt an impala lamb in front of her two cubs. She effectively stalked the young antelope and caught it before dragging it up a tree. There is no doubt that the mother leopards play a crucial role in teaching their cubs how to hunt. Cubs watch and learn as their mother stalks, ambushes, and ultimately kills their prey. They observe her strategies of approaching prey silently and using cover for camouflage.
The Nkoveni powerfully hoists an impala lamb into an appleleaf tree. Leopards are incredibly strong predators, being able to climb a tree whilst holding prey 1.5 times their weight in their jaws.
Introduction to Prey
The nursing period of a leopard cub typically lasts around 3-4 months, although the mother will begin to lead them to their first carcass between two and three months of age. Only after six to seven months will a cub be completely weened off milk, at this stage, the cubs are familiar with the sight and smell of a carcass and would have likely witnessed their mother hoisting a carcass.
A female leopard hoists its prey in an elegant fashion. This is essential to preserve the meat for her and her cubs.
A young cub plays with the legs of a motionless impala hoisted in a tree by its mother.
As cubs begin to get older and stronger, if an opportunity presents itself where the mother is able to stalk and catch something while the cubs are with her, she will refrain from killing it and allow the cubs to practice catching and killing in a controlled environment. This was the exact behaviour we witnessed when the Nkoveni Female let her cub catch and kill the duiker. Through trial and error, they learn the most effective techniques for subduing prey.
As the Nkoveni Female suffocates an impala lamb in a tree, you can notice on the flank of the victim where a sharp puncture wound is bleeding. This is a result of the incredibly sharp claws that leopards have.
Independence
By the time they are about 15-18 months old, cubs are typically capable of hunting on their own. At this stage, they are close to becoming independent, though they may remain with their mother for a few more months.
After spotting some impala on the crest ahead, a leopard engages the hunting pose and stalks over a termite mound.
Hunting success doesn’t come immediately. Cubs often fail during their first independent attempts, but these experiences are crucial for developing their skills. They learn to adjust their approach based on the reactions of their prey. Once independent, young leopards continue to hone their hunting abilities through experience, eventually becoming proficient hunters in the absence of their mothers.
Mother leopards are such wonderful teachers.
Hi Nick, while it’s fantastic to see the Nkoveni family , it was a pleasure to see also the Xinzele female, it’s a while I haven’t heard of her. Some leopards are more skilled than other at hunting, some cubs learn early… the Nkoveni and the Ximungwe females are renowned for their abilities. Perhaps the cubs partially inherited that, anyway, it is diffused the theory of “inherited culture” among animals, like ourselves…
Hi Francesca, Thanks for the comment. The female leopards have incredible hunting abilities which are constantly being enhanced as the need to provide food for their offspring rises.
The Xinzele Female is raising cubs at the moment but we have not discovered the den on Londolozi yet. More on this to follow.
Nic, great video of the Nkoveni female allowing her cub to kill the duiker. Thanks for sharing your insights about the leopards .
Thanks William.
I saw this happening. Can’t find the picture I took.
Amazing that you witnessed in person. It is very rare to watch a leopard successfully hunt in the wild.
Nick, Thanks for a great post! We think the cubs learn from their mothers too. Your images are stellar and it’s cool to see Nkoveni taking front stage like her mother did for so many years! See you in June!
Michael and Terri! so great to hear from you. She is a phenomenal mother leopard and I hope you have some great sightings of her later this year.
Hi Nick, the way the cubs watch their mothers kill a prey is all a learning curve for them. They play with their siblings to get there posture right. When Nkoveni left the duiker so that her male cub can kill it is cruel to watch but necessary for the cub to learn on how to do it.
It is so interesting to see how a leopard mother (or also a cheetah mother) teaches her cubs how to hunt and kill. Though, of course, I always pity the poor victim because it suffers more if it is taken to cubs to be “practiced” on than if an adult leopard kills it real fast. But, of course, the young ones have to practice it to be able to do it other own one day.
Nature can be unforgiving indeed.
Hi Christa, Nature can be cruel indeed – but for one animal to survive, another has to pay the price and we are privileged to watch the natural cycle of life play out here in the wild.
There have been many articles written about how a predator learns how to hunt – nature vs nurture – and your blog highlights the nurturing aspect. I believe it’s a bit of both with the majority of a cub’s learning coming from watching and learning from its mother as was highlighted here by Nkoveni initially catching the duiker but not killing it, backing away and letting her son finalize the catch and kill. I know their success percentage isn’t that high so life becomes a series of stalk and (hopefully) kill exercises. I’m hoping the sub adults of Nkoveni and Three Rivers are watching, stalking, and practicing as before they know it, they will be sent on their way with no more help from their mothers.
I completely agree with you, Denise. Independence for both adolescent leopards is fast approaching.