Leopards are inherently territorial creatures. Both males and females begin establishing their own territories once they become independent from their mothers. For young females, this process is often a little less challenging—mothers are generally more tolerant and may allow their daughters to settle nearby. Research and what we’ve witnessed with female leopards on Londolozi is that daughters will often “inherit” portions of their mother’s range (if there is space to do so). In contrast, for young males, it isn’t always as easy. They are typically met with resistance from dominant males in the region, often their own fathers, which drives them to adopt a nomadic lifestyle before they reach sexual maturity. Around the age of three and a half to four years, these males leave the familiar landscapes of their youth and start exploring unfamiliar territory.

After spotting this young male leopard, this was the first moment he paused and gave us a beautiful, clear view of his face. Confirmation to Equaliser and me that this was a new leopard for us, and so begged the question… who was he?

To reach new areas, a young male will likely have to cross multiple territories controlled by established males, each one posing a potential threat. And yet, this wandering is a crucial part of his development. It’s nature’s way of ensuring genetic diversity. By dispersing far from the area where his mother or sisters reside, he increases his chances of breeding with unrelated females, helping to maintain a healthy leopard population.

On a recent crisp, wintery morning game drive, we headed out into the south western parts of Londolozi intending to search for cheetah. As we reached the open grassland, we began scanning our surroundings profusely, knowing all too well that spotting a cheetah can often be like searching for a needle in a haystack… high risk, with the potential for high reward.

Driving down a road towards a waterhole not too far from our southern boundary, and with an elevated view of the clearings up ahead, Tracker Equalizer erupted with a moment of discovery as he spotted a leopard silhouetted by the dawn light walking through the grass far in the distance (at least half a mile away from us). Elated by an impressive spot, we closed in on the distance between us and this leopard to get a closer view.

On a mission to explore uncharted land. He walked from bush to bush seeking out any scents or signs of the other leopards in the area.

The moment we got a closer view of it, given its size, we knew it was a very impressive but young male leopard. It was clear that it was not one of the dominant males we would expect to find in the area (the Mawelawela Male or the Nottens Male, now that the Nweti Male is no longer around). And so, upon closer inspection of his face through binoculars, we realised this was a young male leopard that we had never seen before.

While trying to keep up with him on the move, this young male dropped into a drainage line where he paused for a drink of water.

Relaxed with our vehicle presence, we spent a good hour and a half with this male as he seemed to explore uncharted land for the first time. He showed all the signs of being a new leopard in an area. He was very aware of his surroundings, stopping and listening to every noise he heard, possibly making sure that it wasn’t a dominant male in the area.

While sniffing around several boulders, he spotted a herd of wildebeest in the distance that caught his attention.

With the current male leopard dynamics on Londolozi, my hope is that we continue to see him explore Londolozi’s southern areas and hopefully decide to try to set up a territory in the deep south. Regardless, if he was just passing by, it was a truly spectacular morning spent with this young male whilst he explored new, uncharted land. He would stop every five minutes or so to sniff at a tree or a boulder, picking up on the scent of a male or female who had previously passed by.

He also eagerly showed off his stalking skills as he had numerous attempts at trying to stalk and close in on a herd of wildebeest.

Still intent on trying to close the gap between him and the herd of wildebeest, this young male leopard hid behind a bush in the grass, waiting for his moment to crawl a little closer.

Even with the power of social media and networking amongst guides in the Sabi Sands Nature Reserve and Greater Kruger National Park area, we have surprisingly not been able to identify this impressive young male leopard. With our immediate neighbours also not able to provide any clarity on his identity, it makes me think that this nomadic male must have passed through numerous dominant males’ territories to get to our southern grasslands. All of this is part of the learning process for young males and is nature’s way of diversifying the gene pool. By doing this, he moves far from the area in which potential sisters or mothers hold territory, meaning he has more of a chance of mating with females outside of his family.

Given the intriguing mystery around his identity, we felt privileged and grateful to have spent a wonderful morning with this leopard. As soon as we find out more information on his identity, I’ll be sure to update this blog on his information in the comments, so stay tuned!